Where Did the Term “Trumped Up” Come From?

According to Merriam-Webster, the term “trump up” is a transitive verb meaning to concoct, especially with intent to deceive.  The term trumped-up goes back to the early 18^th century and comes from the idiomatic “trump up” as to devise deceitfully or dishonestly.  There is also an association with someone concocting extra details to make something sound more impressive.  Sound familiar?

How appropriate is it then that we now have the embodiment of that term in a man whose very name bears witness to those traits?  Yes, the man, the myth, the legend in his own mind, Donald J. Trump.  The king of deceit and the wizard of whoppers now owns the term, trumped up.  It has also become the mantra of an entire political party.

As I write this, Donald Trump’s GOP is stretching the truth like an elephant trying to fit into a girdle.  They have initiated a fundraising campaign promising VIP status for unsuspecting and gullible folks still willing to put their money where their little black hearts tell them.  Yes, you too can become a “Gold Trump Patriot” or receive an Official Trump Platinum Membership by contributing “any amount today.”  One online ad has a countdown timer stating that “after 5 minutes, you’ll NEVER get this chance again.”  You can then click the $5, $10, $15, $20, $1,000, $1,500, or $2,500 button to get your guarantee of VIP status.  If you can’t find your credit card before the timer hits zero, just hit the refresh button to start the timer anew.

Time is running out, maybe

The Guru of Grift has a ready group of gullible glassy-eyed cultists willing to finance his lifestyle with the mere promise of a make-believe title.  There is no government agency to protect the “poorly informed” from political messaging such as this.  You too can become a “Trump Majority Strategist” or a founding member of the “America First Society.”  When it comes to truth in political speech, the speech is protected, the people are not.  Trumped-up titles are but child’s play for politicians and grifters.

As P.T. Barnum never said, “there’s a sucker born every minute.”  Yes, even this famous quote by one of the biggest grifters and conmen of our country was fake.  The real story of this famous quote about the prime targets for lies and misinformation is fascinating.  It involves P.T. Barnum but the real characters were just as interesting.  If you’ve heard of The Cardiff Giant then perhaps you know about one of the biggest hoaxes in America, at least before Trump.

In 1869, a farmer was having a well drilled on his property when workers discovered a giant petrified man.  People came from miles around to Cardiff, a small town south of Syracuse, New York.  Right away the find was given Biblical significance with comparisons to “Goliath who was slain by David.”  Within the first two weeks, over 3,000 people had paid to glimpse the ten feet, four-and-a-half-inch giant under a hastily constructed tent.

A Syracuse pastor questioned how anyone could, “refuse to believe, what is so evidently the fact, that we have here a fossilized human being, perhaps one of the giants mentioned in Scripture?”  Could there be a Biblical connection?  Yes, there was.

It seems that the property owner, William Newell, and a relative, George Hull, had a heated argument with a Methodist preacher who insisted on a literal interpretation of the Bible.  Sort of like our Supreme Court of today and its interpretation of the Constitution.  According to the preacher, Genesis 6:4 stipulated that “there were giants in the earth in those days.”

So, Hull bought a large block of gypsum in Iowa, shipped it to Chicago, and had a German stonecutter carve the “ancient, petrified man.”  He then shipped it by rail to New York and quietly buried it on Newell’s property.  A year later Newell had his laborers “discover” the giant.  This wasn’t a get-rich-quick scheme even if it turned out that way.  Hull, an atheist, wanted to prove a point about people’s gullibility particularly when it came to literal interpretations of the Bible.

Cardiff Giant

When P.T. Barnum offered to buy the “Giant” for $150,000, he was turned down.  So, he did what any good huckster would do, he “trumped up” his own giant.  It wasn’t long before fake giants were popping up all over the world.  One was “found” in Ireland.  Even after the "Cardiff Giant" was exposed by the German sculptor to be a hoax, people still flocked to see it and believe it.  The "Cardiff Giant" was later showcased at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.

So, who coined the phrase, “there’s a sucker born every minute?”  Well, credit is given to a banker named David Hannum who bought the “Cardiff Giant” and exhibited it for even higher fees.  He sued P.T. Barnum claiming Barnum’s was a hoax and said of Barnum’s customers, “there’s a sucker born every minute.”  Since all the so-called giants were fake, we would have to agree that there are more than enough gullible people to go around to be fooled by “trumped up” hoaxes like voter fraud and all the crazy stuff that is fodder for the QAnon crowd.

So, if you don’t want to become a Trump Majority Strategist, or a founding member of the America First Society, or become a Diamond Trump Patriot, own a Trump Platinum Membership, join the Trump NRSC Advisory Board or any of a dozen or more such non-organizations, perhaps I could interest you in a large rock I found in my backyard.  I believe it may be the head of a giant buried vertically.  For a hefty fee, I will let you remove it.  You shouldn’t have to dig too much as, this is Florida, and you will soon find water, hopefully right where I would like my new well.

Footnote:  When the owners of the “real Cardiff Giant” sought an injunction against P.T. Barnum, the judge responded, “Bring your giant here, and if he swears to his own genuineness as a bona fide petrifaction, you shall have the injunction you ask for.”  No trumped-up charges for that judge.  We could use such clear thinking in the jurists who have managed to populate our Supreme Court of today.