When serving as then-Presi- dent Trump’s attorney in 2018, Rudy Giuliani was a guest on the Sunday morning show “Meet the Press.” During the interview with host Chuck Todd, Mr. Giuliani gave a contradictory and confus- ing comment that explains how supporters of the former president view the subject of truth.

Mr. Giuliani said that “truth isn’t truth” when explaining that he would not allow Special Counsel Robert Mueller to rush Mr. Trump into testifying because he doesn’t want investigators to trap the president in a lie. Meaning Mr. Giuliani recognizes a Trump lie when he hears one.

The same can be said about former Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Unlike lying to MAGA supporters, having Mr. Trump lie to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators carried legal consequences that the Trump team sought to avoid.

On the one hand, where Mr. Giuliani brought confusion regarding truth, former FBI Director James Comey brought clarity when he responded via Twitter: “Truth exists and truth matters. Truth has always been the touchstone of our country’s justice system and political life.

People who lie are held accountable. If we are untethered to truth, our justice system cannot function and a society based on the rule of law dissolves,” Mr. Comey tweeted.

“Truth isn’t truth” is why some believe the pandemic was a hoax. “Truth isn’t truth” is why people believe critical race theory is taught in K-12 schools and needs to be banned. “Truth isn’t truth” is why questions of ethics and conflicts of interest over Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas are characterized as a witch hunt.

Republican Congressman George Santos, indicted by a federal grand jury on 13 charges ranging from wire fraud and money laundering, also played the witch hunt victim card. Distorting the truth by playing the victim allows current and future lies, misinformation, corruption, and injustice to thrive within sympathetic echo chambers. Playing the victim in Rep. Santos’ case becomes a form of manipulating and misleading others by highlighting how much you are harassed and wrongly treated.

Yet, you leave out your own corruption that led to the scrutiny in the first place. Mr. Trump has become the ultimate “victim.” In Mr. Trump, we have a former president twice impeached, found liable for sexual abuse, his company found guilty of tax evasion, and now he faces a 37-count federal indictment for retention of classified documents and conspiracy with a top aide to hide them from the government and his attorneys.

“The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” said Mr. Trump in his remarks to supporters in Georgia. Ironically, the criminal charges remind us that protecting classified material was part of Mr.Trump’s political platform in his 2016 presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton.

The hypocrisy is simply part of the overall corruption of a man who knows how to manipulate the emotions of his MAGA followers. Political hypocrisy should ultimately come with a political price of personal accountability. Therefore, if there is a willingness to avoid lying to a special counsel, there should be a willingness to avoid lying to the American people. Consequences should be paid in both cases. Mr. Trump has already vowed to stay in the race even if convicted. As a nation, we shouldn’t be put in that situation. Even Richard Nixon had enough decency left within himself to resign, go away, and spare the country further pain.

The writer is founder of the faith-based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America.