The president’s falsehoods on El Paso crime continued, and he misled the crowd on the trade deficit and South Korea’s contribution to U.S. military costs.
FactChecking Trump’s El Paso Rally
Stories by Lori Robertson
Director, FactCheck.org
Trump Is Wrong About Fact-Checkers
President Trump falsely suggested that fact-checkers didn’t hold then-President Barack Obama accountable for his false promise that if you like your health care plan or your doctor, you can keep them under the Affordable Care Act. We wrote as far back as 2009 that Obama couldn’t make that promise to everyone.
Did the Uninsured Increase by 7 Million?
Democrats have embraced a new talking point: “7 million Americans have become uninsured” under President Donald Trump. That’s backed up by a Gallup survey. So far, one other measure has picked up a statistical change in the uninsured rate, but others haven’t. We’ll go through the numbers.
FactChecking the State of the Union
The president strayed from the facts, mainly on immigration and the economy.
Harris’ Campaign Kickoff Claims
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris made a few false and misleading claims in two events that kicked off her 2020 presidential campaign.
Examining Shutdown Claims from Democrats
The weekslong partial government shutdown has led to around 800,000 federal employees not working or working without pay. It also has led to some false or questionable claims from Democrats about the shutdown’s impact on a host of federal services.
Pence’s Claim that ISIS ‘Has Been Defeated’
On the same day ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack against U.S. service members in Syria, Vice President Mike Pence declared that ISIS “has been defeated.” It is true that the U.S. and its allies have retaken virtually all of the land ISIS controlled in Iraq and Syria, but experts say the group still has tens of thousands of fighters and remains dangerous.
FactChecking Trump’s Immigration Address
In a national address, President Donald Trump called on Congress to provide $5.7 billion for a border wall to address what he called a “crisis” on the border. The president made some false and misleading claims, and provided some facts without context.
Misleading Border Crime Statistic
U.S. Border Patrol encountered 6,259 immigrants with criminal convictions, many of them for illegal entry charges, in fiscal 2018, according to the most recent statistics. Yet, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney misleadingly claimed authorities “had arrested 17,000 criminals at the southern border.”
Democratic Spin on Border Security Funds
Democrats say the Trump administration is asking for more money for a border wall even though it has spent only 6 percent of the funds that Congress has appropriated for border security over the past two years. That’s misleading. About 60 percent has been awarded to contracts.