This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
House Speaker Greg Hughes, who backed Donald Trump earlier and more staunchly than other Utah politicians of his stature, said Wednesday that he believes the new president is an honest man.
But Hughes didn't say Trump was correct — at least not about baseless statements that Trump's inaugural crowd was history's largest or that millions of illegal votes cost Trump the popular tally.
Rather: "I don't think he thinks he's lying when he says that," Hughes told The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial board.
Hughes, a Draper Republican, met with members of Trump's transition team in Washington, D.C., and was once considered a potential candidate for transportation secretary.
Hughes was among what has been billed by Trump's team as the largest crowd ever to attend a presidential inauguration, even as photo evidence conclusively shows that more people were in attendance to watch Barack Obama sworn in for the first time.
"I know there's this talk about the attendance," Hughes said. "He's pretty resolute that as far as the eye could see, it was a mass of humanity. Well, that's what I saw. I saw what he saw, and all you could see — and I have pictures — are people. You didn't see — like, from the overhead shot you see the white tarps on the lawn and you see them half-filled. From where he stood and where I stood, you could say and you could put your hand on a Bible and swear that there was no space between the shoulders of the people to the Washington Monument as far as your eye would allow you to see."
Asked why Trump is so "fixated" on the crowd size that he and his press secretary continued to address reports days later, Hughes said: "I think why he's fixated on it is that he saw that and he believed he had an incredible turnout and the news media was, 'This was sparsely attended.' 'Nobody showed up.' I don't think he's being dishonest when he says, 'This place was packed. It was as many people as you could fit in the National Mall.'"
Hughes said Trump's willingness to speak bluntly and off the cuff is what makes him so unique and why so many Americans perceive him as authentic — even as the discussion had turned Wednesday to Trump's repeated falsehoods.
"One of the things about Donald Trump that is completely different than everything we know about politics is that he will speak candidly as he understands it, and he doesn't mince words," Hughes said.
"I try to be careful with my words. I might sound — I'm being as blunt as I can, but I'm not talking to you like I rant to my pals. I do try to be a little bit more measured — some would argue I'm not, but I really am if you can believe it. He doesn't. He's not."
The topic of Trump's honesty was broached after Hughes mentioned a proposal from two of Trump's financial advisers to use $137 billion in tax credits to bring about a $1 trillion private investment in the nation's highways, bridges and public works. Investors are typically drawn to such projects by the promise of tolls, which are unpopular with voters.
"On the transportation front, we've heard $1 trillion, but we've also heard it's all public-private partnership, and there's just no way you can do that," said Hughes, a former chairman of the Utah Transit Authority board.
Twitter: @matthew_piper