During floor addresses urging Congress to act on President Obama’s $1.9 billion request for emergency funds to combat the Zika virus, a number of senators made claims that were either misleading or lacked context.
What Zika Means for Americans
Locations: International
Putin Did Not Call Trump a ‘Genius’
Donald Trump continues to make the puffed-up assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin called him a “genius.” Russian language experts tell us that Putin described Trump as “colorful” or maybe “bright,” but he never called Trump a genius.
Trump’s Education Exaggeration
Donald Trump claimed in an Indiana speech that the U.S. ranks “last in education” and “first in terms of spending per pupil” among 30 countries. He’s wrong on both counts, as measured by federal and international organizations.
Trump on Clinton’s ‘3 a.m. Call’
Donald Trump says that “instead of taking charge” during the Benghazi attacks, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “decided to go home and sleep.” Clinton says she was continuously engaged in responding to the attack and “did not sleep all night.”
Trump’s Foreign Policy Speech
In his foreign policy speech, Donald Trump claimed ISIS “is making millions and millions of dollars a week selling Libya oil.” But an expert on Libya’s oil operations told us there’s no evidence that the Islamic State is producing or selling oil out of that country.
Clinton Overstates Nuclear Achievement
Hillary Clinton overstates the impact of a 2011 nuclear agreement with Russia in a TV ad that says she was responsible for “securing a massive reduction in nuclear weapons.”
VA Funds and Syrian Refugees
Q: Did President Obama cut benefits for veterans by $2.6 billion to give the money to Syrian refugees?
A: No. The Department of Veterans Affairs transferred funds to close a $2.6 billion gap in a health care program. The transfer is unrelated to Syrian refugee aid.
U.S. Foreign Military Support
Republican Donald Trump criticized U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany and South Korea, saying “we can’t afford it.” We’ll answer the question: What exactly does the U.S. provide in terms of military support to these countries?
Inhofe Misleads on Bees
Sen. James Inhofe made misleading claims in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency about the relationship between neonicotinoid pesticides and bees.
Smith Still Wrong About Warming ‘Halt’
Rep. Lamar Smith at a recent hearing claimed a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change “confirms the halt in global warming.” It doesn’t. In fact, the authors of the paper write, “We do not believe that warming has ceased.”