The Daily Show Convenes a Panel of Con Men to Spot Trump's Lies

In preparation for Thursday's presidential debate, Daily Show correspondent Michael Kosta assembled a panel of "professional liars" — a hypnotist, a magician, and a convicted con man once on the FBI's Most Wanted list — to examine Donald Trump's performance in the first debate and break down his methods.

Timon Krause, the hypnotist, compared Trump's erratic blather to what he does. "One way to put someone into hypnosis is using sensory overload," he said. "So I could say 'focus on your breathing, the rate of your blinking, my words, your heart rate,' and then deliver a simple message like 'sleep,' and it's going to go by unchallenged because you're not thinking critically. Trump does that a lot. He says we need better forest management, then suddenly he focuses on the clean forests and the leaves on the floor. At a certain point, his audience is in an almost trance-like state and he delivers a simple message, something like 'and that's why you've gotta vote for me.'"

Brett Johnson, the con man who served seven years in federal penitentiary, said it reminded him of a prison debate. "Might versus right. Loudness just boiling over, just steamrolling over your opponent."

Alexis Conran, the magician, messed up a card trick. 

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.