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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

TV Ad Attacking Brian Kemp Makes Unsubstantiated Georgia Election Claim

TV Ad Attacking Brian Kemp Makes Unsubstantiated Georgia Election Claim

The Georgia secretary of state’s office is investigating a conservative watchdog group’s claims of illegal “ballot harvesting” in the state during the November 2020 general election and a special election runoff in January 2021. But the pending investigation is not evidence that “widespread illegal ballot harvesting” elected Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, as a conservative super PAC’s TV ad claims. 

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil Stocks Declined Under Trump, Contrary to His Claim

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil Stocks Declined Under Trump, Contrary to His Claim

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was set up in the 1970s as an emergency source of oil in the event of unexpected supply disruptions. When Donald Trump took office as president in January 2017, the reserve held 695.1 million barrels of crude oil. The last full week before he left office in January 2021, it held 638.1 million barrels, or about 8% less.

Save America

A Republican leadership PAC formed by former President Donald Trump.

TV Ad Features Cherry-Picked Comments from Rep. Ted Budd About Putin

TV Ad Features Cherry-Picked Comments from Rep. Ted Budd About Putin

In late February, Republican Rep. Ted Budd described Russian President Vladimir Putin as “erratic,” a “thug” and “intelligent.” He also said Putin has “strategic reasons” for wanting to “protect” his country’s borders, but called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “evil” and pledged support for Ukrainians. But a new TV ad from Republican Pat McCrory cherry-picks from Budd’s remarks to claim the congressman “excuses Putin” for Russia’s deadly attack on Ukraine.

Examining U.S. ‘Energy Independence’ Claims

Examining U.S. ‘Energy Independence’ Claims

When politicians say that the United States was “energy independent” under former President Donald Trump, some people may get the false impression that the U.S. was 100% self-sufficient. The country still relied on foreign sources of energy, including oil.

FactChecking Trump’s CPAC Speech

FactChecking Trump’s CPAC Speech

Former President Donald Trump’s keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference included several false and misleading claims, some of which we’ve fact-checked before. Here we focus on assertions about foreign policy and energy.

Rick Scott Proposed ‘All Americans’ Should Pay Income Tax, Then Denied That He Did

Rick Scott Proposed ‘All Americans’ Should Pay Income Tax, Then Denied That He Did

A multipart policy plan released by Sen. Rick Scott on Feb. 22 says “all Americans” should have to pay “income tax,” while saying that “over half of Americans” currently do not. But in an interview later that day, after criticism from congressional Democrats, the Florida senator falsely claimed that he had not suggested increasing federal income taxes for that many people.

Latest CDC Data: Unvaccinated Adults 97 Times More Likely to Die from COVID-19 Than Boosted Adults

Latest CDC Data: Unvaccinated Adults 97 Times More Likely to Die from COVID-19 Than Boosted Adults

As of early December, unvaccinated adults were about 97 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people who had received boosters, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. But a Twitter user falsely implied that the death rate for the unvaccinated included people who had only one or two doses of a vaccine. The CDC said “unvaccinated” means someone has “not been verified to have received COVID-19 vaccine.”