Former president Barack Obama wants you to now believe that he was actually mad about giant Wall Street handouts that he voted for, then arm-twisted lawmakers to expand — and then rescinded when some of the money might have gone to help homeowners. Obama’s foray into pure fiction is not only absurd — it is a reminder that history can repeat itself if we allow reality to be memory-holed.

Obama’s comments came in a new interview with the New York Times’ Ezra Klein.

“When we came into office, the economy was in a free fall,” the former president said. “We had to scramble and do a bunch of stuff, some of which was inherited, some of which we initiated to stabilize the financial system. People hated it. It’s hard to just underscore how much the bank bailouts just angered everyone, including me.”