The number of people who drank the kool-aid is astonishing. To the same tune, I think that if you tell people that politicians lie, majority of them will be deeply shocked, hurt, and offended.
I’m not sure that’s true in general. I see many people do the polar opposite: spout “every politician is the same, they’re all crooks”. Which isn’t helpful either.
Could be a generational or cultural thing, though.
If you do it as a blanket statement — i.e. all politicians lie all the time — then yes, I will be pretty irritated.
Some politicians spout dangerous nonsense most of the time.
Other politicians can be trusted most of the time, and when they lie it tends towards 'spin' or 'being economical with the truth' (such as: "we are spending more on education than ever before" — when this is true in nominal/absolute terms but false in real/per-pupil terms).
There is a world of difference between these positions, and treating them alike (as many do) undermines democracies.
