For all of Donald Trump's presidency and most of his 2016 campaign, his critics have implored the media with a simple message: Call a lie a lie.

Trump has stated literally thousands of falsehoods by now, and his critics argue that to keep suggesting Trump might simply be getting his facts wrong gives him a pass. Journalists often resist the L-word because it implies intent.

His conspiracy theories about President Obama's birth certificate, polls and his loss of the popular vote persist. But these stories and plenty more before them reinforce the alternative: Trump does not grasp basic facts.

Either Trump is lying or he truly doesn't grasp basic facts and the implausibility of his own conspiracy theories. Whatever you think about Trump, neither is a quality you want in the leader of the free world.