We look back at some of the more questionable science-related claims from 2016 on topics such as climate change, Zika, GMOs, marijuana and the human mind.
FactChecking Science in 2016
Person: Donald Trump
The Whoppers of 2016
Donald Trump again dominates our annual review of political falsehoods.
Groundhog Friday
On his so-called “victory tour,” President-elect Donald Trump has been repeating some inaccurate talking points that we’ve flagged before.
Clinton Counties
Q: In the election, did Hillary Clinton only win 57 out of 3,141 counties?
A: No. Clinton won at least 487 counties, according to two different counts of preliminary results.
Trump, Russia and the U.S. Election
President-elect Donald Trump again discounted the possibility that Russia was behind the hacking of U.S. political organizations, including the Democratic National Committee’s servers, despite evidence to the contrary.
Trump’s Campaign-Style Exaggerations
President-elect Donald Trump kicked off his “victory tour” in Cincinnati, delivering a campaign-style speech that contained campaign-style exaggerations.
Obama’s Record on Manufacturing Jobs
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that 805,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since President Barack Obama has been in office. In fact, there has been a net loss of 303,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2009.
Trump Landslide? Nope
Despite Donald Trump and his campaign manager describing his election victory as a “landslide,” Trump’s margin of victory actually ranks among the closest in the Electoral College.
Trump Sticks With Bogus Voter Fraud Claims
President-elect Donald Trump baselessly claimed that he “won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” Even the author of the study upon which the claim is based doesn’t buy that.
Trump on Climate Change
President-elect Donald Trump told the New York Times he had an “open mind” about climate change, but he went on to repeat some of the same false and misleading claims that have been used by those who reject mainstream climate science.