New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the over-the-top claim that if the Trump administration “had done its job, the virus wouldn’t come” to New York. Cuomo pointed to a study that suggested government officials could have better mitigated the spread of the coronavirus in New York City, but it didn’t say they could have stopped it.
President Donald Trump’s extraordinary interview with “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace, who frequently fact-checked the president in real time, contained a long list of false, misleading and unsubstantiated claims.
In remarks in the White House Rose Garden on July 14, President Donald Trump falsely described many of the immigration recommendations drafted by allies of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his vanquished rival Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos used an outdated figure in claiming only 10% of school districts had “provided any kind of real curriculum and instruction program” after the coronavirus pandemic caused schools to shut down this spring. That was the case for 82 districts in late March, but by late April, 56% were doing so. In late May, the figure was 67%.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that through May 30, 14% of confirmed coronavirus cases led to hospitalizations — including 2% in intensive care units. But President Donald Trump falsely claimed “99%” of cases “are totally harmless.”
President Donald Trump has falsely claimed his administration invested “$2.5 trillion in all of the greatest equipment in the world” for the military. That’s approximately the total for defense budgets from 2017 to 2020, but the cost of purchasing new military equipment was 20% of that.
In signing an executive order on policing issues, President Donald Trump falsely claimed former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden “never even tried to fix this during their eight-year period.” The Obama administration took several steps to address police violence and community trust issues, some of which the Trump administration has dialed back.
President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that “our crime statistics are at a level that they haven’t been at,” calling the numbers “record setting.” The U.S. murder rate was lower in 2014, and the violent crime rate overall has been lower in several past years, with the lowest levels decades ago, according to FBI data.
The national semantics exercise over “pepper balls” and “tear gas” has continued. Attorney General William Barr objected to the description of “pepper spray” as a “chemical irritant.”
In a Rose Garden address to comment on a surprisingly strong May jobs report, President Donald Trump continued to repeat false, misleading and exaggerated claims about the economy, the administration’s response to COVID-19, the border wall, veterans programs and trade with China.