Well. Exaggeration is part of Trump’s charm, am I right? He told us this in the Art of the Deal. So why should we be surprised to learn that he overstated the amount he raised for veterans?

When Donald Trump skipped a GOP debate in January to host a fundraiser for veterans, he touted its success by citing the $6 million raised for veterans groups. One problem — that figure is inaccurate.

Following the rally in Des Moines, Iowa, the Trump campaign said the event raised $5 million and Trump personally contributed an additional $1 million. But campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told CNN Friday the amount raised was actually less than $6 million.

Lewandowski said he did not “know the exact number” off the top of his head and would confirm the number in coming days. He explained the discrepancy by saying at the time of the rally, Trump believed he had raised $6 million but more money had been pledged than was actually donated.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually netted about $4.5 million. Lewandowski told CNN that number is incorrect.

If Corey Lewandowski says it, I believe it!

Speaking of exaggeration: I was amused to see a Trump surrogate downplaying Trump’s . . . exaggerated claims about immigration, in a big way:

The first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump for president doesn’t envision one of Trump’s main campaign promises – a wall at the Mexican border – ever becoming a reality that stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.

“I have called it a virtual wall,” Rep. Chris Collins said in an interview with The Buffalo News.

“Maybe we will be building a wall over some aspects of it; I don’t know,” the Clarence Republican said of Trump’s proposed barrier to keep illegal immigrants and drugs from crossing the southern border.

Collins, who has become one of the presumptive GOP nominee’s main media surrogates, also cast doubts on another central Trump campaign promise: the candidate’s vow to deport the nation’s 12 million undocumented immigrants.

“I call it a rhetorical deportation of 12 million people,” Collins said.

He then gestured toward a door in his Capitol Hill office.

“They go out that door, they go in that room, they get their work papers, Social Security number, then they come in that door, and they’ve got legal work status but are not citizens of the United States,” Collins said. “So there was a virtual deportation as they left that door for processing and came in this door.”

So according to this Trump surrogate, Trump’s central claims are pure bullshit.

(ASIDE: Lawyers would call it a “constructive wall” and a “constructive deportation.” You might have to be a lawyer to get the joke, but a law professor once explained to us that a “constructive” anything means that it’s not really that thing.)

Once of the truly curious things about watching Trump’s rise is the way he can say or do literally anything without suffering a hit in his popularity. Imagine Trump himself saying what you just read from the surrogate. Now imagine one of Trump’s biggest fans. Would they be disturbed?

I don’t think they would be.

Politico (cached link; no links for bullies):

The Never Trump moment is over.

While a small group of Republicans has wrung its hands raw over the choice between the GOP’s nominee and Hillary Clinton, the party’s firmament – social and intellectual conservatives, the lobbyist and donor class, powerful operatives and outside groups – is increasingly getting in line behind Donald Trump.

Never mind that many of them complain about his bombastic and unpredictable political style. The thawing has slowly but surely begun – and it’s visible everywhere — from mega-donors like Foster Friess rallying Republican governors to Trump, to Mitt Romney’s allies agreeing to raise money for him, to leaders of the Never Trump movement conceding their cause is lost.

As I said on May 4: “In coming weeks, my decision to leave the Republican party will be confirmed, as the majority of Republicans ‘rally around’ an obvious con man who would be the ruin of limited government and constitutionalism.”

It’s happening quickly.

P.S. If you’re more interesting in promoting constitutional principles than in promoting a con man, your refuge is this blog, and the Constitutional Vanguard. If you’re not a member, what are you waiting for? Sign up here. Once you have joined the group, you can join our troll-free closed Facebook group (100 strong as of this writing).

P.P.S.: I am getting a LOT of requests from people whom I cannot verify are on the list.