On Sept. 26 and 27, President Donald Trump spoke for about two hours and 15 minutes in five appearances. We’ve compiled many of the president’s false and misleading claims from those remarks.
FactChecking Trump’s Weekend Claims
Issues: polls
Survey Says: Trump Misleads on Debate Performances
Railing against a Fox News guest who said Donald Trump won the presidency despite poor debate performances, Trump held up a series of opt-in online surveys to misleadingly claim that “polls” showed he “won every single debate.” Scientific polls showed otherwise.
Trump vs. Clinton
Donald Trump said he can beat Hillary Clinton in November, citing “so many” polls that show “we beat her and we beat her easily.” In fact, only four of 40 polls listed on Real Clear Politics show Trump beating Clinton — none easily.
Trump Wrong on Iran, Polling
Donald Trump made two false statements on ABC’s “This Week” while discussing foreign policy and the Republican presidential primary.
Santorum’s Exaggerations
Why do politicians often exaggerate, when the truth would serve just as well?
Rick Santorum had us asking that question of ourselves again when he made several puffed-up claims on “Fox News Sunday.”
Arguing that a come-from-behind win is still possible in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Santorum said Kansas had been “down almost 20 points in the first half” before beating Ohio State the night before in an NCAA Final Four basketball game.
Gunning Down the Truth in Michigan
With Rick Santorum polling well in Mitt Romney’s birth state, a high-stakes TV shootout has broken out in Michigan. But some shots are off the mark. An amusing Santorum ad features a Romney look-alike machine-gunning mud at a cardboard cutout of Santorum. But …
Overstated Stats
Congressional Republicans appearing on CBS’ "Face the Nation" repeated a couple of false claims we’ve talked about before.
The first guest, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, inflated some statistics when he talked about opposition to the health care bill. His claim, that 60 percent of Americans support repealing the bill, was immediately countered by host Bob Schieffer, who pointed out: "Well, you know, a new poll out this morning in the Washington Post does not suggest that a majority of Americans are against this,
A Bogus Ad on Breast Cancer, Rove Vs. Brokaw, and Pelosi’s Promise
In Episode 3, we explore the false claims in an ad about breast cancer and health care legislation, look into a testy exchange between Republican strategist Karl Rove and “Meet the Press” host Tom Brokaw, and add context to an RNC ad that criticizes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for the ethics of members of her party.
Clinton Spins Her Donors
The debt-strapped Clinton campaign is appealing for money with an e-mail telling potential donors that polls “consistently” show she would beat McCain in November, and that she’s leading Obama in the popular vote. We find both claims are misleading. A number of recent polls actually show Clinton tied with McCain, or even trailing. For most of 2008, polls have shown McCain ahead.
Cell Phones and Political Polls
Q: Are polls skewed because many people only have cell phones?
A: Poll-takers worry a lot about this. A recent study indicates that polling results aren't yet affected very much. We're not so sure.