“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” now President-elect Donald Trump said at a rally during his presidential campaign.

Ah, what confidence, Mr. Trump.

How do you convince someone you know what you are doing? Say it with the utmost confidence.

Trump spews out facts that have absolutely no credibility, and people eat it up because of how confidently he says them. This is why fact checking has become necessary in our election. Trump’s confidence allows him to get away with derogatory, offensive and incorrect statements. He can make lies sound believable.

“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” Trump tweeted in 2012.

Wrong.

Global warming is real. Hundreds of studies has proven it, and many Americans agree. In the first presidential debate, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton stated that Trump said global warming is a hoax, and he claimed that he never said that. The evidence is in his tweets. He did, in the past, state that global warming is not real.

“Because based on what [Clinton is] saying, and based on where she’s going and where she’s been, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb on the ninth month on the final day. And that’s not acceptable,” Trump said about abortion in the third presidential debate.

Wrong.

Abortion that late in pregnancy is illegal in all but nine states in the US, making it so rare that it almost never occurs. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, only 1.3% of abortions occur in 21 weeks or later during pregnancy. A full pregnancy is usually around 40 weeks. If only 1.3% of abortions are occurring after 21 weeks, then there are virtually no abortions on the final day of the ninth month like Trump claims. He is creating a false image of abortions that can scare and rile up his supporters.

“They even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. And believe me, there’s a lot going on. Do you ever hear these people? They say there’s nothing going on. People that have died 10 years ago are still voting. Illegal immigrants are voting. I mean, where are the street smarts of some of these politicians?… So many cities are corrupt, and voter fraud is very, very common,” Trump said.

Wrong.

Voting fraud is not common. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, voting fraud is extremely rare. In fact, the center conducted a study in 2007 showed that voting fraud allegations are most likely false. In a 2014 study by The Washington Post found that there were only 31 credible cases of voting fraud between 2000 and 2014. This is out of the over 1 billion ballots cast. This proves voting fraud is almost negligible. The election is not rigged and Trump’s claims are false.

According to Trump, any candidate can build a wall, but “nobody builds walls better” than Trump.

Any candidate can think of a plan against ISIS, but Trump says, “Nobody would be tougher on ISIS than Donald Trump. Nobody.”

Any candidate can create jobs, but Trump said he “will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

Any candidate can have a good temperament, but Trump has “a winning temperament.”

Any candidate can have respect for women, but according to Trump, “Nobody has more respect for women than me. Nobody.”

According to Trump, he is the greatest at everything!

Want to be as confident as Mr. Trump? Start by assuring your audience that you know best and you are the best. Never back down from your words, even if they are plainly false. Accuse others of being wrong, even if you are, in fact, the wrong one in the situation. Say ridiculous statements; your audience will believe anything you say, so you might as well take it far. Appeal to fear, it will make your audience look to you for help. Speak broadly about your plans, don’t say what they are, but assure your audience they are the best because who would have better plans than you?

With total confidence, you can convince a country of anything. You can twist your disrespectful, racist and offensive comments to positively fuel your campaign.

If the President-elect Donald Trump can do it, so can anyone.

Opinion articles written by staff members represent their personal views. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent WSPN as a publication.