President Trump answered critics who said he waited too long to condemn the white nationalists who staged a protest in Charlottesville, Virginia that turned violent. We put into context some of his statements.
Trump Press Conference, in Context
Locations: National
Obama Center Not Federally Funded
Q: Did President Trump cancel funding to build Barack Obama’s presidential library?
A: No. That story originated on a satirical news site. All presidential libraries have been constructed using private or non-federal funds.
Medicare Scare Tactics
Democratic TV ads warn seniors that “right now, your Medicare coverage is in danger” of “deep, automatic cuts” by “unelected Washington bureaucrats.” But those cuts, according to current estimates, wouldn’t be implemented until 2023, and they would amount to a fraction of Medicare growth that year.
Earth Won’t Go Dark for Days
Q: Did NASA confirm that there will be 15 days of darkness on Earth in November?
A: No. Variations of that false claim have been circulating since at least 2015.
CO2: Friend or Foe to Agriculture?
Rep. Lamar Smith said climate change “alarmists” ignore the “positive impacts” of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, such as increased food production and quality. But the impact of increased CO2 levels on agriculture is more complicated than that — and, on balance, likely negative, particularly in the future.
Invented Malia Obama Stories
Q: Was Malia Obama fired from an internship for smoking marijuana? Was she arrested for buying marijuana in Chicago?
A: No. Those spoof stories were made up to troll conservative readers.
Trump’s Misleading Blame on Opioids
President Donald Trump misleadingly cited a 23 percent decline in federal drug prosecutions between 2011 and 2016 to claim that the Obama administration ignored the opioid crisis.
Video: Trump on the RAISE Act
In a segment that aired on several local NBC news stations, FactCheck.org Deputy Managing Editor Robert Farley discussed President Donald Trump’s inaccurate claim that the RAISE Act “prevents … new immigrants from collecting welfare.”
‘Buy America’ Spin
Sen. Tammy Baldwin goes too far when she says U.S. steelworkers were “left behind” last year by Republican leaders who killed her “buy America” bill.
Trump Didn’t Pass Out
Q: Did President Donald Trump collapse while giving a speech in New Jersey?
A: No. That story was published by a self-described satirical website.