The most recent statistical measures of how the U.S. has changed since the president took office.
Biden’s Numbers (First Quarterly Update)
Stories by D'Angelo Gore
Staff Writer, FactCheck.org
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
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.
Former Judge Janice Rogers Brown Was Not Nominated to the Supreme Court
Republicans did not nominate former Judge Janice Rogers Brown to the U.S. Supreme Court. A Facebook post falsely claims that Brown — not Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — was the first Black woman to be nominated to the nation’s highest court.
Save America
A Republican leadership PAC formed by former President Donald Trump.
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
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 Biden’s State of the Union Address
The president stretched the facts on gas prices, jobs, tax cuts and more.
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
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.