This week’s fact-checking video by CNN’s Jake Tapper concerns several claims by President Donald Trump to justify his national emergency declaration for a border wall.
Video: Trump’s Border Wall Spin
Stories by Lori Robertson
Director, FactCheck.org
Democrats Mislead on Military Pay, Pensions
Several Democrats have claimed that the president’s emergency declaration could “raid” or “take money away” from military pay and pensions to fund construction of the border wall. But the money is actually leftover funding due to lower-than-expected recruits and fewer early retirements.
Old and New Claims in Trump’s CPAC Address
In a two-hour address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2, President Donald Trump made questionable and false claims about the fight against ISIS, tariffs and African American income. He also repeated a bevy of claims we’ve debunked before.
The Facts on the Born-Alive Debate
Republicans and Democrats traded accusations on the topic of abortion after a “born-alive” bill failed in the Senate. Democrats say the legislation was unnecessary and aimed at restricting access to legal abortion, while Republicans say it was about protecting babies. We’ll go through what the recent legislation said and what both sides are saying about it.
Trump’s Habit of Inflating Trade Deficits
When asked whether he would impose tariffs on cars imported from the European Union, President Donald Trump, as he regularly does, used an inflated figure for the trade balance between the U.S. and the EU. The deficit was $101 billion for 2017, not $151 billion, as he repeatedly claims.
FactChecking Trump’s El Paso Rally
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.
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.