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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

State of the Union Anecdotes Debunked

State of the Union Anecdotes Debunked

It is customary for presidents to invite guests to the State of the Union address to provide anecdotal evidence that supports the president’s policies. But it turns out President Donald Trump’s speech included misleading descriptions of two such guests.

Bloomberg Misleads on Stop-And-Frisk

Bloomberg Misleads on Stop-And-Frisk

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg misleadingly stated that he “cut” the police practice of stop-and-frisk — a policy that he “inherited” — by “95%” by the time he left office as mayor of New York. There were nearly twice as many stops in his last year as mayor compared with the year before he took office.

Trump Has Condemned White Supremacists

Trump Has Condemned White Supremacists

Former Vice President Joe Biden wrongly claimed President Donald Trump has “yet once to condemn white supremacy, the neo-Nazis.” Trump has specifically condemned white supremacists and neo-Nazis on a few occasions.

Biden Miscasts Hot Mic Moment About Trump

Biden Miscasts Hot Mic Moment About Trump

Joe Biden falsely claimed that a hot mic at a NATO reception caught “leaders of the free world” privately saying “they didn’t think [President Donald Trump] knew anything, they didn’t trust him et cetera.” Biden has turned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mild ribbing about Trump holding long, unscheduled press interviews into something far worse.

Trump Repeats Falsehoods in Celebrating Acquittal

Trump Repeats Falsehoods in Celebrating Acquittal

A day after his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial, President Donald Trump made celebratory remarks in the White House on Feb. 6, thanking many Republican politicians and repeating several false and misleading claims, many of which we’ve checked before.

Buttigieg Gives Trump Too Much Blame for Debt

Buttigieg Gives Trump Too Much Blame for Debt

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg blamed tax cuts backed by President Trump for creating the nation’s debt problem. But while those tax cuts are worsening the nation’s debt, spiraling deficits and debt over the next decade were projected even before those tax cuts were enacted.

Biden vs. Sanders on Social Security and Medicare

Biden vs. Sanders on Social Security and Medicare

Sen. Bernie Sanders says former Vice President Joe Biden has a long history of supporting cuts to Social Security. Biden says the opposite is true. We sort through some of the competing claims.

Trump Yanks Steyer Quote Out of Context

Trump Yanks Steyer Quote Out of Context

President Donald Trump used a truncated quote from Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer to falsely suggest that Steyer thinks “Democrats are going to destroy the economy in 15 minutes if they get in control.” That was Steyer paraphrasing Trump.