Sen. Bernie Sanders wrongly claimed that voter turnout in 2016 was “the lowest … in 20 years.” In fact, turnout was higher than it was in 2012.
Sanders Wrong on Voter Turnout
Locations: National
Beer, a Cure for Gin Addiction?
Sen. Bill Cassidy said William Wilberforce, a late 18th century British politician, “pushed the sale of beer” to successfully combat “drunkenness related to gin” in England. But Wilberforce wasn’t born until after the so-called gin epidemic had ended in the early 1750s, and its conclusion wasn’t due to beer.
Trump Takes More Undue Credit
President Donald Trump wrongly boasted that Toyota’s plan to invest over $1 billion in its largest manufacturing plant in Kentucky would “not have been made if we didn’t win the election.” A Toyota spokesman told us the car company had long been planning to make the investment.
Hitler and Chemical Weapons
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has apologized profusely for his much-criticized comparison of Syria’s Bashar Assad to Adolf Hitler, but his clarification that he meant Hitler did not drop chemical bombs from airplanes requires some historical context.
Trump Didn’t Increase Social Security
Q: Did President Trump increase monthly payments to Social Security beneficiaries?
A: No. Trump had nothing to do with the automatic cost-of-living increases for 2017, which were announced by the Social Security Administration last October.
Steve King on ‘Criminal Aliens’
Rep. Steve King wrongly suggested that “28 percent of the inmates in our federal penitentiaries” are immigrants in the country illegally. About 21 percent of federal inmates are non-U.S. citizens, but that includes those who came to the U.S. both legally and illegally.
Trump Distorts Stimulus
While calling for new infrastructure investments, President Trump distorted the facts about President Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill. Trump described it as an “infrastructure bill” but “[n]obody ever saw anything being built” and most of the money was used on “social programs.”
Justices Didn’t Oppose Gorsuch
Q: Did all eight Supreme Court justices write a letter opposing Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to fill a court vacancy?
A: No. That false claim was made on a liberal website that misrepresented a court ruling regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Partisan Spin on Gorsuch Vote
As the Senate considers Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, senators on both sides have engaged in partisan spin over the number of votes required to approve his nomination.
Medicaid’s Doctor Participation Rates
It’s a common criticism of the Medicaid program — that the doctor participation rate is lower than the rate for Medicare or private insurance. The implication is that Medicaid patients cannot access care, and it has gotten worse under the ACA. But experts say that’s misleading.