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Ads Energetically Th...: Ads Energetically Thank Democrats Recently, we have seen several ads from liberal advocacy groups thanking various Democratic representatives for voting in favor of the Waxman-Markey energy bill. Some, like those from the group Americans United for Change, benignly mix images of nature with kind words of thanks. (Source: FactCheck.org)
O’Rourke Wrong on Gu...: O’Rourke Wrong on Gun Control Stat After the Colorado school shooting, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke advocated universal background checks for gun purchases, claiming that state laws mandating universal checks “have been shown to reduce gun violence by 50 percent.” But academic research doesn’t s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False ‘No Co...: Trump’s False ‘No Collusion’ Tweet President Donald Trump falsely claimed in a tweet that there were “No questions on Collusion” in a list of questions the special counsel reportedly has for the president. There are several inquiries about possible collusion among the questions published by the New York Times. On (Source: FactCheck.org)
Creepy Cap-and-Trade...: Creepy Cap-and-Trade Claims are Illusions It’s that spooky time of year, and legislation pending in Congress to curb carbon emissions is really giving the American Energy Alliance the willies. What’s haunting us is the group’s misuse of statistics in a new ad attacking Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina for (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on Capitol...: The Facts on Capitol Police’s Tampa Office In a July 6 press release about changes the U.S. Capitol Police is making in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, the agency announced it is adding field offices in Tampa and San Francisco to investigate threats against members of Congress. Since then, some Republicans hav (Source: FactCheck.org)
Mnuchin Spins Pre-CO...: Mnuchin Spins Pre-COVID Path to Debt Reduction The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in January forecast rising debt for the rest of President Donald Trump’s presidency and beyond. Yet, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed that before COVID-19 hit, the U.S. was experiencing “extraordinary” economic growth that “wou (Source: FactCheck.org)
O’Rourke Not Alone i...: O’Rourke Not Alone in Support of Mandatory Buyback Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has faced backlash from Republicans, and some Democrats, for his debate-night advocacy of a mandatory buyback program for so-called assault weapons. But Sen. Chuck Schumer went too far when he said, “I don’t know of any other Democr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney: Foggy on Fac...: Romney: Foggy on FactCheck Mitt Romney is a little unclear on the facts when it comes to FactCheck.org — and what we and other fact-checkers have said about Rick Santorum. In the same CNN interview in which he made a somewhat premature claim that Santorum was at the “desperate end” of his campaign (just be (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on the Inc...: The Facts on the Increase in Illegal Immigration Democrats and Republicans are pointing fingers over an increase in illegal immigration at the southern border, and notably an increase in children traveling alone. While Democrats argue the surge began before President Joe Biden took office, Republicans argue Biden’s welcoming po (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney’s Bain Years:...: Romney’s Bain Years: New Evidence, Same Conclusion New reporting cites strong evidence that Mitt Romney wasn’t actively managing Bain Capital while he was running the Olympics, despite what the Obama campaign (and some news reports) would have voters believe. Dan Primack, a senior editor at Fortune Magazine, reports on previously (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pataki’s Welfare Who...: Pataki’s Welfare Whopper Former New York Gov. George Pataki credits his “conservative policies” for reducing the number of New Yorkers on welfare by 1 million. In fact, the sharp decline was part of a national trend thanks largely to a 1996 federal overhaul of the nation’s welfare system. Under Pataki, N (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rick Perry Misuses ‘...: Rick Perry Misuses ‘Criminal Alien’ Data In discussing his decision to send the National Guard to the Mexico border, Texas Gov. Rick Perry repeatedly has misused data on “criminal aliens” arrested in Texas. Perry says 203,000 “illegal aliens” arrested since September 2008 “are responsible for over 3,000 homicides and al (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Talking Poin...: Trump’s Talking Points As the Republican National Convention begins today, we present here a rundown of President Donald Trump’s repeated false and misleading claims during the 2020 campaign. If Trump’s recent speeches are a guide, he may well repeat some of these claims during convention remarks this (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Biden’s...: FactChecking Biden’s Town Hall At a televised town hall in Philadelphia, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made false and misleading claims on COVID-19, health insurance, the 1994 crime bill and more: The town hall, which aired on ABC, was held in place of the second presidential debate, which was canc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Flawed Report Fuels...: Flawed Report Fuels Erroneous Claims About COVID-19 Death Toll Viral social media posts cite a flawed paper in falsely claiming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed death certificate procedures and violated federal law, resulting in wildly inflated COVID-19 deaths. The CDC hasn’t altered how death certificates for COVID-19 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misguided Co...: Trump’s Misguided Comparison President Donald Trump made an apples-to-oranges comparison to suggest that his predecessor and Democrats have changed their tune on election rigging. Trump cited a pre-election quote from then-President Barack Obama telling Trump to “stop whining” about rigged elections because (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rick Perry’s Whopper...: Rick Perry’s Whopper on Job Losses Texas Gov. Rick Perry falsely states that President Barack Obama “has overseen the loss of 1.4 million jobs.” Perry is referring to job statistics in 34 states that have lost jobs since Obama took office, ignoring the 16 states that have gained jobs. The total job loss in all 50 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Cherry-Picks S...: Trump Cherry-Picks Sondland Testimony President Donald Trump said he “turned off the television” after Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified that the president told him in a phone call, “I want nothing [from Ukraine]. I want no quid pro quo.” But Sondland had a lot more to say than that. Sondland, the U.S. ambassador (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misleading L...: Trump’s Misleading L.A. Story President Donald Trump claimed that federal immigration officials asked the Los Angeles Police Department in January to detain an “illegal immigrant,” but the police “let him go, and he killed somebody.” That’s not how it happened. The murder occurred last summer — before federal (Source: FactCheck.org)
Geithner’s GDP Whopp...: Geithner’s GDP Whopper Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made a false claim about the size of government spending being proposed by the Obama administration. On NBC’s "Meet the Press" July 25, he said the president is proposing spending "as a share of our economy" that is "lower" than it was during t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump on Toyo...: Video: Trump on Toyota’s Investment This week, CNN’s Jake Tapper explains why President Donald Trump was wrong to take credit for Toyota’s plan to invest over $1 billion in its largest manufacturing plant in Kentucky. Trump said, “Toyota just announced that it will invest more than $1.3 billion — it’s probably goin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton Misrepresent...: Clinton Misrepresents Trump Quote Hillary Clinton has turned a Democratic talking point into a TV ad that misrepresents a quote from Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention. “Donald Trump says he alone can fix the problems we face,” the Democratic presidential nominee says to the camera. Actua (Source: FactCheck.org)
Another Zero Pay Inc...: Another Zero Pay Increase for Congress Contrary to persistent Internet rumors — which we debunked in "Zero Pay Raise for Congress, Too" on Sept. 25, 2009, and again in "Retribution Fabrication" on Jan. 8 — there was no pay raise for members of Congress this year. Congress voted over a year ago to deny itself the autom (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misstates Nadl...: Trump Misstates Nadler’s Position on Starr Report President Donald Trump got his facts wrong when he said Rep. Jerrold Nadler “thought the concept of giving the Starr report” about President Bill Clinton “was absolutely something you could never do” in 1998. Nadler wasn’t against releasing any of the details from the Starr repor (Source: FactCheck.org)
Distorting Our Findi...: Distorting Our Findings, Part II On Sept. 10, we objected when the McCain-Palin campaign released an ad implying that we’d criticized Obama for “completely false” and “misleading” claims about Sarah Palin. We did use those words, but we used them to criticize anonymous Internet rumormongers, not Obama. Now that (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cohen, Trump at Odds...: Cohen, Trump at Odds Michael Cohen gave public testimony under oath that contradicted past statements by President Donald Trump on WikiLeaks, Stormy Daniels and a proposed Moscow real estate deal, as well as Trump’s Vietnam War deferrals and his net worth. Here we lay out the conflicting accounts of (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Guide to Clinton’s...: A Guide to Clinton’s Emails FBI Director James Comey announced on July 5 that he will not recommend criminal charges in connection with Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system while secretary of state. His decision, however, will not end the political debate over Clinton’s judgment. Here we provide (Source: FactCheck.org)
What’s in a Number?...: What’s in a Number? On April 20, President Barack Obama caused a bit of a splash when he gathered members of his Cabinet and directed them to cut (collectively) $100 million in expenses within the next 90 days. Now that sounds like a lot of money. And we’re not ones to complain about cutting costs w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Misleading U...: Biden’s Misleading Unemployment Statistic Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ winter meeting, President Joe Biden botched a statistic on the number of people receiving unemployment benefits, misidentifying them simply as the number of people “out of work.” His comment leaves the false impression that unemployment (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hoyer Revisits Mike...: Hoyer Revisits Mike Pence’s Emails Rep. Steny Hoyer wrongly claimed that Vice President Mike Pence “used a private server when he was governor of Indiana.” Pence did use a personal AOL account for some government business, but he did not have a “private server.” Hoyer, the House Democratic whip, brought up the vic (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democratic PAC Revis...: Democratic PAC Revisits Old Claims In ads airing in three states, a Democratic PAC repeats familiar, and misleading, attack lines — saying one Republican lawmaker voted to “essentially end Medicare” and another voted for billions in earmarks and turned a surplus “into a massive federal deficit.” The Majority PAC, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Mark Sanford Falsely...: Mark Sanford Falsely Accused in TV Ad John Kuhn, one of 16 Republicans seeking his party’s nomination in South Carolina’s special House election, falsely claims former Gov. Mark Sanford “supported a massive earmark spending bill.” Sanford in fact vetoed the bill, saying it was packed with “politically-driven, pork ba (Source: FactCheck.org)
Is Senate Immigratio...: Is Senate Immigration Plan ‘Amnesty’? Opponents of a bipartisan Senate immigration plan say it includes “amnesty” for illegal immigrants, but that label is not strictly accurate. Although the Senate plan includes a “path to citizenship,” it also requires illegal immigrants to pay a fine, pay back taxes, learn English (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz on Birthright C...: Cruz on Birthright Citizenship Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump have all wrongly attacked rival Ted Cruz for flip-flopping on birthright citizenship since his run for Senate in 2011. Cruz has consistently opposed the policy. What has changed is that Cruz questioned the chances of a successful legal (Source: FactCheck.org)
Real People Really M...: Real People Really Misleading in Florida TV ads by competing outside groups employ local residents to make misleading claims about Democrat Alex Sink and Republican David Jolly in Florida’s hotly contested special House race. An ad from American Crossroads features local residents making several distorted claims about S (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden Repeats False...: Biden Repeats False Claims at Gun Violence Meeting In remarks at a Feb. 3 gun violence prevention task force meeting, President Joe Biden repeated claims about gun rights and gun manufacturing that fact-checkers have previously found to be false. The president made those claims during the meeting in New York City with federal, st (Source: FactCheck.org)
Illinois School Dist...: Illinois School District’s Shift to Equitable Grading Is Misrepresented Online A school district in Illinois is considering implementing “equitable grading,” which would focus more on evaluating student learning than class participation or homework. A conservative website misrepresented the idea as a “race-based grading system” in a story that went viral. T (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democrats’ Misleadin...: Democrats’ Misleading Coronavirus Claims Democrats have criticized President Donald Trump for his administration’s response to the new coronavirus, making claims about cuts to public health programs and the silencing of government experts. But they haven’t always gotten their facts right: It’s true that the president’s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sleaze Sells...: Sleaze Sells When we ran an article yesterday calling the first TV spot from The National Republican Trust PAC one of the sleaziest false ads we’ve seen, the group had reported spending just under $1 million. But it seems that the attack, which featured Mohammed Atta, may have helped the upst (Source: FactCheck.org)
What Biden’s Marijua...: What Biden’s Marijuana Pardon Proclamation Does — and Does Not Do In early October, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation pardoning certain individuals previously charged with or convicted of simple marijuana possession offenses under federal and Washington, D.C., law. At the time, a senior administration official told reporters that “the (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on the ‘Gr...: The Facts on the ‘Green New Deal’ On Feb. 7, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced her Green New Deal in the House and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced a companion resolution in the Senate. The text of the legislation, which is a nonbinding resolution, lays out a broad vision for how the co (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Spam Metamorphosis...: A Spam Metamorphosis We’ve seen a lot of misleading spam this season claiming Sen. Barack Obama is guilty of one or all of the following: Now the claims have appeared in an ad from the conservative group Our Country Deserves Better PAC. The ad features organization chief Howard Kaloogian as he goes t (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Biography of a B...: The Biography of a Bad Statistic Politicians from Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Howard Dean have recently contended that abortions have increased since George W. Bush took office in 2001. This claim is false. It’s based on an an opinion piece that used data from only 16 states. A study by the Alan Guttmacher (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Line...: Video: Trump’s Line on Syria In this video, CNN’s Jake Tapper looks at President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of President Barack Obama’s response in 2013 to a chemical weapons attack in Syria. In an April 5 press conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Trump was asked about another chemical bombing a day (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: $4,000 Income...: Video: $4,000 Income Increase Doubtful It’s doubtful, as CNN’s Jake Tapper explains, that average household income would increase $4,000 a year if the corporate income tax is cut from 35 percent to 20 percent. That estimate comes from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, which doesn’t specify how President Do (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s COVID-19 Press Briefing President Donald Trump, at a July 28 briefing, made a few false and misleading statements about COVID-19: In putting a positive spin on the current coronavirus situation, Trump inaccurately suggested that large parts of the U.S. no longer have any transmission of the coronavirus. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Special Interest Bat...: Special Interest Battle in Midwest Races Two ads from the conservative Crossroads organizations claim Democratic Senate candidates in Iowa and Michigan who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline are backed by an environmental activist who “stands to profit by blocking Keystone.” That’s based on outdated information on the acti (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Distorts Biden...: Trump Distorts Biden’s Immigration Plans In remarks in the White House Rose Garden on July 14, President Donald Trump falsely described many of the immigration recommendations drafted by allies of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his vanquished rival Sen. Bernie Sanders. The proposals were conta (Source: FactCheck.org)
Groundhog Friday...: Groundhog Friday Yes, there were repeated debunked claims yet again in the presidential campaign this week. We summarize our fact-checking of these familiar talking points in our “Groundhog Friday” feature. Follow the links to our original stories for more on each claim. Democratic presidential n (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Education Ex...: 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. The National Center for Education Statistics referre (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz’s Misleading Ad...: Cruz’s Misleading Ad on Military Cuts A Ted Cruz TV ad running in South Carolina blames President Obama for “threatening 3,000 jobs at Fort Jackson.” Actually, only 180 jobs were cut. The potential for deeper cuts was avoided by a budget bill signed last year by Obama — and opposed by Cruz. The ad’s claim is based on (Source: FactCheck.org)
Johnson’s False Clai...: Johnson’s False Claim about Barnes’ Tax Plan Like many Democrats, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes says he wants to cut “middle-class” taxes and make sure the wealthy “pay their fair share.” But an ad from his opponent, Sen. Ron Johnson, in the race for U.S. Senate falsely tells the state’s voters that Barnes wants to “dou (Source: FactCheck.org)
Evidence Gaps in ‘20...: Evidence Gaps in ‘2000 Mules’ A conservative film now playing in select theaters around the country isn’t “determinative, definitive” proof of widespread voter fraud, as former President Donald Trump has claimed. “It’s called ‘2000 Mules,'” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania on May 7, “and basically [Joe] (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump on Bombing ISI...: Trump on Bombing ISIS Oil Fields Donald Trump says the U.S. is “just starting … as of two days ago” to heed his advice to “attack the oil” fields controlled by the Islamic State group. The U.S. has changed its policy, but it happened more than four weeks ago — not two days ago. The U.S. had been conducting limit (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rangel’s Assault Wea...: Rangel’s Assault Weapons Whopper Rep. Charlie Rangel falsely claimed there are “millions of kids dying, being shot down by assault weapons.” In fact, fewer than 100,000 persons younger than 20 years old died of gun violence, including suicide, over a 30-year period through 2010, government data show. About two-t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Our Most Popular Pos...: Our Most Popular Posts in 2020 As 2020 draws to an end, we present the 10 most popular stories on our website this year. Seven of the 10 were about the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID-19. Here is our list, in order: Hospital Payments and the COVID-19 Death Count In the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Santorum’s Twisted T...: Santorum’s Twisted Take on JFK & Religion Rick Santorum misrepresented what John F. Kennedy said in 1960 about church-state separation. According to Santorum, Kennedy said that religious people could “have no role in the public square” and “should not be permitted . . . to influence public policy.” But Kennedy didn’t say (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Wrong on Murde...: Trump Wrong on Murder Rate Donald Trump said that the murder rate in the U.S. is the “highest it’s been in 45 years” and “the press never talks about it.” The press doesn’t talk about it because Trump’s claim is wildly inaccurate. According to FBI data, the rate of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in 2 (Source: FactCheck.org)
What to Know About t...: What to Know About the Special Counsels Investigating Trump and Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Jan. 12 that he has appointed Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney, as special counsel for the investigation of how classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president ended up at Biden’s home in Delaware and his former (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s ‘Made in the...: Trump’s ‘Made in the USA’ Spin When asked why he doesn’t lead by example and have more of his products from the Donald J. Trump Collection made in the U.S., Trump wrongly responded, “They don’t even make this stuff here.” They do. When the interviewer cited Brooks Brothers as one example of a company that make (Source: FactCheck.org)
DCCC Exaggerates Imp...: DCCC Exaggerates Impact of ACA Repeal Democrats are telling the constituents of a Pennsylvania Republican that repealing the Affordable Care Act “would take health care away from 657,000 children in Pennsylvania with preexisting conditions.” No, it wouldn’t. That number comes from an Obama administration estimate for (Source: FactCheck.org)
Too Good to Check?...: Too Good to Check? Slate writer Tim Noah ‘fesses up to, and dissects, his erroneous telling of an anecdote about an Illinois man whose insurance company canceled his coverage while he was in the middle of chemotherapy. Noah’s July 27 column – which said, wrongly, that "the delay in treatment elimin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz, Paul: A Menage...: Cruz, Paul: A Menagerie of Misinformation Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul got laughs at the federal government’s expense at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, but the facts don’t jibe with the jokes. We’re not here to throw a wet blanket on the levity, but facts are facts. Cruz and His Lizard Boots Cruz, a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Latest CDC Data: Unv...: Latest CDC Data: Unvaccinated Adults 97 Times More Likely to Die from COVID-19 Than Boosted Adults As of early December, unvaccinated adults were about 97 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people who had received boosters, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. But a Twitter user falsely implied that the death rate for the unva (Source: FactCheck.org)
Factual Flubs in Flo...: Factual Flubs in Florida The four remaining candidates debated once again, this time in Tampa, Florida — where facts took a beating. Mitt Romney falsely claimed the Navy is smaller now than at any time since the start of World War I. (It had fewer ships as recently as four years ago.) And Newt Gingrich a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Just the Facts, Home...: Just the Facts, Home(page) Makeover We’ve given our Just the Facts! page a bit of a face lift. Be sure to check it out. And don’t forget to tune in every Friday for Emi Kolawole’s weekly vidcast. This week Emi covers school funding, energy policy, Jerome Corsi and war wounds. There’s even some time left over to tal (Source: FactCheck.org)
Declining Labor Part...: Declining Labor Participation Rates Republicans have tried to temper the latest jobs report — which showed a gain of nearly 300,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dipping to 5.5 percent — by noting that the labor force participation rate has continued to decline. But in at least two instances, the claims have gone (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton’s Trumped Up...: Clinton’s Trumped Up Zika Claim In Miami, Hillary Clinton falsely claimed that “my opponent in this race, his campaign officials” have called Zika “an insignificant issue.” That was said by an unpaid local supporter of Donald Trump, not “campaign officials.” Trump himself has called Zika a “big problem.” At the (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Keg Stand Obamac...: The Keg Stand Obamacare Ads Let’s clear this up: The edgy “got insurance?” Obamacare ads that have gone viral on the Web were not created by the Colorado state exchange or any other governmental agency, nor are they taxpayer-funded, as two Republican congressmen have claimed. The ads are the joint product o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Public Financing Com...: Public Financing Comes to Wisconsin Supreme Court Prompted by escalating campaign spending and the increasing use of attack ads, Wisconsin state legislators and Gov. Jim Doyle have enacted a bill to provide public financing for the Supreme Court’s candidates. Would-be justices would qualify for the funds by agreeing to limit spe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kerry’s Tax Ad: Lite...: Kerry’s Tax Ad: Literally Accurate, But Misleading A Kerry ad that claims to tell “the truth on taxes” falls short of doing so. It says that “after nearly four years under George Bush, the middle class is paying a bigger share of American’s tax burden and the wealthiest are paying less.” That’s true as far as it goes. However, th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Playing Politics wit...: Playing Politics with the Pay Gap Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn took a page from Democrats when she wrongly claimed that “the White House [is] paying women 88 cents for every dollar that a guy earns in comparable positions.” That’s not true for the same reason Democrats have been wrong when they’ve said women (Source: FactCheck.org)
Facebook Video Misre...: Facebook Video Misrepresents CDC Report on COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that side effects such as a sore arm or headache following a booster dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were less frequent than after the second dose. But a Facebook video from a chiropractor misrepresents the rep (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking McCarth...: FactChecking McCarthy’s Statistics House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy got some of his facts wrong during a recent appearance on Fox Business: McCarthy, a California congressman since 2007, has served as the House majority leader for nearly four years, assuming office on July 31, 2014, when Rep. Eric Cantor annou (Source: FactCheck.org)
John McCain’s Life E...: John McCain’s Life Expectancy Sen. John McCain’s primary opponent implied that if reelected, McCain may not live long enough to fulfill another six-year term. Actually, the odds are in his favor. Kelli Ward, a doctor and former Arizona state senator, noted that McCain would be 86 years old in 2022. “The life (Source: FactCheck.org)
Vets for Freedom Exe...: Vets for Freedom Exercise Freedom to Mislead The right-leaning Vets for Freedom, in an effort to drum up support for a resolution heralding “the strategic success of the troop surge in Iraq,” released this ad Oct. 1 in California. The ad, which criticizes Sen. Barack Obama, represents a $2.2 million buy – the largest statew (Source: FactCheck.org)
Republican Closing A...: Republican Closing Ads: Immigration In the final days of the 2018 election, Republicans across the country are running TV ads about immigration that falsely accuse some Democrats of wanting “open borders,” plotting to “abolish ICE,” supporting “sanctuary cities” and more. The ads contain evocative images of tattooe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sessions vs. Session...: Sessions vs. Sessions on Separating Families Attorney General Jeff Sessions now says that the administration “never really intended” to separate families as part of its zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration. But Sessions had previously acknowledged that that’s what would happen under this policy. In one interview, Se (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pelosi’s False ‘Wall...: Pelosi’s False ‘Wall Street’ Denial House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a nationally televised town meeting on Jan. 31: “No, we [Democrats] don’t get much support from Wall Street.” That’s not so. Democratic House and Senate candidates pulled down nearly $47 million from bankers, stockbrokers, hedge fund off (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactCheck.org Cited...: FactCheck.org Cited in Ad From time to time, we find that our work is cited by politicians or political groups. Last week, the League of Conservation Voters ran an ad in Virginia referencing our articles on the cap-and-trade energy bill: The LCV ad says that Republicans are attacking Democratic Rep. Tom (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pence’s Claim that I...: Pence’s Claim that ISIS ‘Has Been Defeated’ On the same day ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack against U.S. service members in Syria, Vice President Mike Pence declared that ISIS “has been defeated.” It is true that the U.S. and its allies have retaken virtually all of the land ISIS controlled in Iraq and Syri (Source: FactCheck.org)
Did Gingrich ‘Slash’...: Did Gingrich ‘Slash’ Federal Spending? Winning Our Future’s new TV ad falsely claims Newt Gingrich “slashed” spending in his four years as House speaker. Federal spending went up 18 percent from 1995 to 2000, the time frame mentioned in the ad. In addition, the ad credits Gingrich for “record-breaking surpluses.” Ther (Source: FactCheck.org)
Will Trump’s Wall St...: Will Trump’s Wall Stop Drug Smuggling? President Donald Trump says that his proposed wall along the Mexico border “will stop much of the drugs from pouring into this country.” We cannot predict the future, but the fact is that most illicit drugs pass undetected through legal ports of entry. Mexican cartels “transport (Source: FactCheck.org)
Picture This: McCain...: Picture This: McCain’s ‘Lobbyist’ Ad Misleading It would be understandable if Arizona voters watching Sen. John McCain’s new ad came away thinking J.D. Hayworth is one of those chauffeur-driven, jet-setting Washington lobbyists. Understandable, but wrong. The ad started to air June 8 in advance of the Aug. 24 GOP Senate pri (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Biden’s...: FactChecking Biden’s CNN Town Hall In a televised town hall, former Vice President Joe Biden made several false or misleading statements while commenting on climate change, veterans and health care: The presidential town hall was held in Iowa, which will be the first state to hold a primary for the 2020 election, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Yucca Mountain Mudsl...: Yucca Mountain Mudslide: Both Sides Dissemble on Nuclear Waste Dump in Nevada An Aug 19 ad in Nevada from the liberal Democratic group MoveOn.org Voter Fund attacks Bush for breaking a promise he never made, falsely claiming Bush vowed to veto legislation making Yucca Mountain a nuclear dump. Actually, all Bush promised was to veto temporary storage of nuc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cantor Sticking with...: Cantor Sticking with $3,100 Cost Estimate In a post announcing the launch of a video news release questioning the priorities of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Office of the Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia says that the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which Pelosi helped usher through the House of Represe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democratic Assault o...: Democratic Assault on Cassidy’s Record In a double-barreled assault on Rep. Bill Cassidy, two Democratic groups are airing an identical TV ad that claims Cassidy “voted for a plan that would cut veterans benefits.” That’s not accurate. The ad references a February 2012 vote related to a Republican-sponsored bill that (Source: FactCheck.org)
It’s Not News, Nor ‘...: It’s Not News, Nor ‘Scandalous,’ That Pfizer Trial Didn’t Test Transmission The COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials were designed to study the vaccine’s safety and efficacy in preventing symptomatic disease, not transmission. But online publications now misleadingly present the fact that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was not tested for transmission as a “shoc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Health Care Battle,...: Health Care Battle, Infomercial-Style The group Conservatives for Patients’ Rights has produced a 30-minute documentary-style commercial, which aired May 31 on NBC after “Meet the Press.” Hosted by former CNN anchor Gene Randall, the program, labeled “paid programming” throughout, was a very lengthy version of ads th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Sanders on In...: Video: Sanders on Income and Wealth Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, in his May 26 presidential announcement speech, said that “in America we now have more income and wealth inequality than any other major country on earth.” This video from FlackCheck.org explains why that is not really accurate. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cherry-Picking Toome...: Cherry-Picking Toomey’s Votes A liberal political action committee uses the old trick of cherry-picking votes, making it seem as if Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania chose to give tax breaks to “the super-rich and corporations” instead of funding education. There wasn’t any either-or vote, and, in fact, Toomey (Source: FactCheck.org)
Chamber of Commerce...: Chamber of Commerce Ad Misleads Some Business Owners This ad is a bit like those sweepstakes promotions that say “you may already be a winner.” Maybe, but not yet. The US Chamber of Commerce ad praises Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean of Illinois for supporting a small-business health plan that it says allows health-insurance pools tha (Source: FactCheck.org)
As Deaths Rise, Trum...: As Deaths Rise, Trump Sticks with Old Numbers During his July 14 press conference from the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump made the outdated claim that U.S. deaths from COVID-19 are down “tenfold.” Data from three different sources show that, as of July 14, the total number, and seven-day average, of daily de (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cadillac Plans and t...: Cadillac Plans and the Middle Class The liberal group Health Care for America Now is airing an ad that argues against a tax on high-cost employer-provided health care plans, a revenue-raising aspect of the Senate Finance Committee bill. "Some senators say they want to tax so-called ‘Cadillac’ health care plans, but (Source: FactCheck.org)
Megachurches in U.S....: Megachurches in U.S. Are Supporting Ukraine Relief, Contrary to Social Media Posts Several megachurches in the U.S. are actively raising funds to support Ukrainians in light of the Russian invasion. But social media posts have falsely claimed that “we haven’t seen a single American mega church offer anything to the Ukrainians.” On Feb. 24, Russian President Vla (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Twists Florida’...: Bush Twists Florida’s Jobs Ranking Jeb Bush uses some creative cherry-picking to back up the claim that as governor “we made Florida No. 1 in job creation.” Here’s the statistic with proper caveats: Florida gained more net jobs than any other state, regardless of size, in three of the eight years Bush was governor (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney Didn’t OK New...: Romney Didn’t OK New Benefits for Illegal Immigrants Texas Gov. Rick Perry is claiming that Mitt Romney “OKd health care for illegal immigrants” by signing Massachusetts’ 2006 health care overhaul law. But the law didn’t give illegal immigrants anything new. It merely continued and renamed a state program that had long allowed low (Source: FactCheck.org)
Q&A on Intelligence...: Q&A on Intelligence Community Whistleblower Update, Sept. 26: The House intelligence committee released a redacted version of the whistleblower complaint on Sept. 26, and the White House released a memo of the call on Sept. 25. Our story has been updated to reflect some of the information contained in those documents. A w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Opposition Overreach...: Opposition Overreach in Virginia Political attack ads all too often try to spin an opponent’s jaywalking tickets into felonies. As an example, consider Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes’ claim that his GOP primary opponent, Scott Taylor, “violated federal election law 19 times.” The claim results from overreaching by o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pro-Romney Super PAC...: Pro-Romney Super PAC Twists Obama’s Words A pro-Romney TV ad shows President Obama saying, “we tried our plan and it worked.” That twists his words way out of context. He was referring to his proposal to cut the deficit using both tax increases and spending cuts, like President Clinton. Obama wasn’t talking about past jo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Paul Repeats Baseles...: Paul Repeats Baseless Vaccine Claims Sen. Rand Paul gave false and misleading statements about vaccine safety in two separate interviews, including a claim that “many” children have developed “profound mental disorders” after vaccinations. There is no evidence that any currently recommended vaccine causes brain dama (Source: FactCheck.org)
Facts on Warren’s We...: Facts on Warren’s Wealth Tax Plan In her campaign speeches, Sen. Elizabeth Warren likes to say, “I’ve got a plan for that.” She has lots of plans, but there is one on which many of the others hinge: her plan for an “Ultra-Millionaire Tax,” an annual wealth tax on all assets over $50 million. Warren, one of two do (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fact: Trump TV Ad Mi...: Fact: Trump TV Ad Misleads on Biden and Ukraine With its candidate the subject of an impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has gone on the offensive with a TV ad that claims to present the “facts” about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Ukraine. In fact, the ad relies on speculation an (Source: FactCheck.org)
PhRMA Ad Misleads on...: PhRMA Ad Misleads on Medicare Drug Negotiation Legislation In TV ads, the pharmaceutical industry claims congressional plans to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices in Medicare would deny beneficiaries’ access to medicines their doctors prescribe. Experts say that’s unlikely, and an inaccurate portrayal of recent legisla (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Scientific Basis...: No Scientific Basis for Vaccine ‘Shedding’ Claims COVID-19 vaccines do not contain a live virus, so there isn’t a biological path for a vaccinated person to “shed” the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to those around them. Nor is there any evidence the vaccines cause reproductive problems. That means there’s no basis for social media cl (Source: FactCheck.org)
Loeffler-Warnock Run...: Loeffler-Warnock Runoff Starts with Attack Ads About a week after Georgia’s special election headed to a runoff, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican, and Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, both launched questionable attacks that the other candidate has disputed: The race between Loeffler, Georgia’s junior senator, and Warnock, a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misleads on Ba...: Trump Misleads on Ballots Again In early October, about 2,100 voters in Los Angeles County accidentally received mail-in ballots that were missing the presidential race entirely. The county sent corrected ballots to them. But President Donald Trump appears to have twisted the episode to claim the ballots “had e (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Twist on U.S...: Biden’s Twist on U.S. Economy Biden twisted international data on economic growth when he said the U.S. is “the only country in the world expected to continue to grow.” India, China and several Asian nations are expected to grow much faster than the U.S., just not as fast as they have in past years. Overall, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Republican Economist...: Republican Economist Asks ‘Retraction’ – But Our Facts Stand A Republican economist on the staff of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, Christopher Frenze, says FactCheck.org made “multiple and blatant factual errors” in an article we published Dec. 5, and he says a retraction is required. We don’t think so – but we are happy to post (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fast-Food Fortune Te...: Fast-Food Fortune Teller You don’t need a fortune teller to know that a business-backed group is twisting its cherry-picked facts in its latest ad attacking any increase in the federal minimum wage. Listen for the tip-off phrase: “up to.” The ad popped up on Washington, D.C., stations April 29, just one (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sotomayor, the Supre...: Sotomayor, the Supremes and the Firefighters Sonia Sotomayor isn’t mentioned in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today in a much-watched reverse-discrimination case, Ricci v. DeStefano. But you can bet the decision will be mentioned plenty in the upcoming Senate confirmation hearing that could put her on that court. Sotoma (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bill Clinton’s Econo...: Bill Clinton’s Economic Exaggerations Former President Bill Clinton — who will be called upon to help revitalize the U.S. economy if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency — made two inaccurate economic claims in a recent speech in Kentucky: Hillary Clinton said in a May 15 speech in Kentucky that she will put her husba (Source: FactCheck.org)
Vaccinated People No...: Vaccinated People Not More Susceptible to COVID-19 Than Unvaccinated Q. Are vaccinated and boosted people more susceptible to infection or disease with the omicron variant than unvaccinated people? A. No. Getting vaccinated increases your protection against COVID-19. Sometimes, certain raw data can suggest otherwise, but that information cannot be (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Distort Mislea...: Posts Distort Misleading Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Data A rigorous vaccine safety monitoring system has shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and only rarely have serious side effects. But an article shared on social media falsely says that CDC data show more than 18 million people “were injured so badly” by a Pfizer/BioNTech or M (Source: FactCheck.org)
Corbett’s Desperatio...: Corbett’s Desperation and Deceit We’ve noticed that the most deceitful attack ads often come from candidates who are most desperate. For example, consider the claim by Pennsylvania’s unpopular Republican Gov. Tom Corbett that his opponent “is promising to raise middle-class taxes,” when in fact Democratic nomine (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama Gets Caught Up...: Obama Gets Caught Up in Red Tape President Barack Obama incorrectly claimed his administration has undertaken an "unprecedented" review of burdensome regulations. In fact, every president since at least Jimmy Carter has done similar reviews, including one under Bill Clinton that resulted in the elimination of mo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Left Biden a ‘...: Trump Left Biden a ‘Generous’ Note Former President Donald Trump left a note for President Joe Biden, contrary to a popular claim online suggesting that he did not. Biden confirmed he received a letter, which he called “generous,” but did not disclose its contents. A popular tweet that migrated to left-leaning Fac (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Border Wall:...: Trump’s Border Wall: Where Does It Stand? In the final weeks of his presidency, President Donald Trump has returned to the signature issue that brought him to the White House — his pledge to build “a beautiful, gorgeous, big wall” on the southern border. On two separate occasions, Trump has said he is “completing the wal (Source: FactCheck.org)
RNC: Health Care “Ri...: RNC: Health Care “Risky Experiment” The Republican National Committee announced a new TV ad attacking President Obama’s proposed health care plan as a “risky experiment” that threatens “our health.” It said the ad would run in Arkansas, Nevada and North Dakota.
The ad says “trillions” have been committed to “r (Source: FactCheck.org)
RNC’s Steele to Seni...: RNC’s Steele to Seniors: “Stand With Us” The Republican National Committee says it will be running this new TV ad in Florida and on selected cable networks starting Sept. 1. It features GOP Chairman Michael Steele touting the party’s "Seniors’ Bill of Rights," which we said last week is a mixture of false, true and misl (Source: FactCheck.org)
Boehner’s ‘Bipartisa...: Boehner’s ‘Bipartisan’ Bunk House Speaker John Boehner exaggerates when he says “almost all” of the 46 “jobs bills” awaiting action in the Senate “passed the House on a bipartisan basis.” Exactly half of those bills got less than 20 Democratic votes, including two that got no votes and 12 others that got 10 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton’s Misleading...: Clinton’s Misleading Debt Claims In the final presidential debate, Hillary Clinton claimed that her proposals would “not add a penny to the debt.” But a nonpartisan budget watchdog group estimates that what she has detailed thus far would add $200 billion to the debt over 10 years. The same budget experts estima (Source: FactCheck.org)
Giuliani’s Tax Puffe...: Giuliani’s Tax Puffery A new radio ad boasts that Rudy Giuliani “cut or eliminated 23 taxes” while mayor of New York City, a boast he and his supporters have repeated many times on the campaign trail. We find that to be an overstatement. Giuliani can properly claim credit for initiating only 14 of thos (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Whopper in F...: Biden’s Whopper in Flint, Mich. Joe Biden falsely claimed on multiple occasions that the number of reported rapes in Flint, Mich., has skyrocketed since 2008 — providing different accounts at different events that do not square with FBI data. He started at a 152 percent increase, and since then has said rapes i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay Politicians didn’t take a holiday from false and misleading statements on July 4. We found misstatements on the Sunday talk shows that touched on Afghanistan, Michael Steele and immigration. A Firm Date for … What Exactly? On ABC’s "This Week," Republican Sen. John McCain of Ariz (Source: FactCheck.org)
Striking Out on Anti...: Striking Out on Antitrust The liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change features the national pastime in a new ad that attacks the insurance industry and calls for competition in the field.
The ad says that "baseball and insurance are the only industries exempt from antitrust law." But that (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s and Pelosi’s...: Trump’s and Pelosi’s Immigration Spat President Donald Trump’s use of the word “animals” in what he says was a reference to MS-13 gang members has resulted in a spat between the president and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: Trump made his original “animals” comment during a May 16 roundtable discussion at the Whi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactCheck.org...: Video: FactCheck.org on the CBC Before the final debate began, Managing Editor Lori Robertson discussed the challenges of fact-checking the presidential election on the CBC News Network. Robertson spoke with Peter Armstrong on “On the Money.” Click here to watch the report. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Over the Top on TARP...: Over the Top on TARP It’s always fascinating to watch history being rewritten before one’s very eyes. A fresh example comes courtesy of the National Republican Congressional Committee, in a cookie-cutter press release attacking Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia and a slew of his fellow Democrats. We we (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Retweets Bogus...: Trump Retweets Bogus Fox Graphic On the morning of the Fox News/Google debate that Donald Trump has vowed to boycott, the Republican front-runner retweeted a bogus graphic that purports to show Fox News host Megyn Kelly posing with Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and his sister. The image is fake. It also claims (Source: FactCheck.org)
Life Cycle of a Rumo...: Life Cycle of a Rumor One thing we’ve noticed at FactCheck is that e-mail rumors tend to circulate, get debunked (ideally), go dormant for a while, and then flare up again. Think of it as a horde of zombies — they come at you, you kill them, you breathe a sigh of relief, and then there’s an extreme cl (Source: FactCheck.org)
Unraveling Wisconsin...: Unraveling Wisconsin GOP Candidate’s Abortion Position Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels — who opposes abortion rights —made headlines when he said in a radio interview last month that as governor, he would sign an abortion ban that included exceptions for rape and incest. A Facebook ad from the Republican Acco (Source: FactCheck.org)
McCain’s Gitmo Exagg...: McCain’s Gitmo Exaggeration Sen. John McCain exaggerated when he claimed that about 25 percent of prisoners released from Guantanamo have returned to terrorist activities in “leadership positions.” He said May 5 on “Fox News Sunday“: McCain: And, by the way, about a quarter of those who have been released (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Bad Apples Theor...: The Bad Apples Theory CBS’ "Face the Nation" on May 17 featured the divergent views of Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York. Host Harry Smith asked about President Obama’s decision to block the court-ordered release of pho (Source: FactCheck.org)
Freddie, Fannie and...: Freddie, Fannie and Barack – Corrected Turns out, our initial post “Freddie, Fannie and Barack” was erroneous. We’ve struck out the incorrect sections from our earlier post. We said originally that Obama was the fourth largest recipient of donations from troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That’s wron (Source: FactCheck.org)
Correcting Trump’s P...: Correcting Trump’s Press Conference Misinformation President Donald Trump has been holding daily press conferences to provide the latest information about the coronavirus from the federal government, but his rhetoric has sometimes been imprecise, misleading or outright incorrect. Here are three recent examples: These statements w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Would Miller ‘Destro...: Would Miller ‘Destroy’ Alaska’s Economy? In Alaska, a new group founded and financed by for-profit native corporations falsely charges in an ad that Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller’s proposals "would destroy a third of Alaska’s economy" by erasing "our fair share of federal dollars." A conservative, Miller advocate (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s One-Sided At...: Biden’s One-Sided Attack on Republican Budgeting President Joe Biden has repeatedly tried to flip the script about the GOP claiming to be the party of fiscal responsibility, saying Republicans’ plans would add $3 trillion to the debt over the next decade. There are some Republican proposals that would add to the debt, but the m (Source: FactCheck.org)
Disconnecting the Do...: Disconnecting the Dots in Arkansas A TV ad says Rep. Tom Cotton was “paid handsomely working for insurance companies” before joining Congress and now wants to transform Medicare in ways that would benefit the industry at the expense of seniors. But there’s no evidence Cotton did work for insurers. His only establi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay Surprisingly – considering that the topic du jour was taxes, which means numbers – the flubs and fibs on the Dec. 12 talk shows were few, and relatively minor. Not So Out-of-Context On "Meet the Press," the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee (Source: FactCheck.org)
Default ‘Danger’ Rev...: Default ‘Danger’ Revisited President Obama's communications director said we’ve "never" been in danger of defaulting before. That's not true. Congress has come close to failing to raise the debt ceiling before defaulting more than once in recent years, under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Headlines Distort th...: Headlines Distort the Facts on CDC Mask Order Headlines shared on social media distort the facts of a recent order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that mandates face masks be worn on public transportation. The order doesn’t require that individuals wear two masks. CDC guidance issued with the order does say (Source: FactCheck.org)
SCOTUS Nomination: W...: SCOTUS Nomination: What Polls Say The Line: Two-thirds of Americans believe that Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland deserves a Senate hearing and vote. The Party: Democratic President Obama, on March 16, nominated Judge Merrick Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Senate Maj (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Job Loss Exa...: Trump’s Job Loss Exaggeration Donald Trump distorted the facts when he claimed New York’s job losses during Hillary Clinton’s eight years as the state’s U.S. senator were “worse than just about any place in the country.” During that time, 14 states had steeper job declines than New York, and the state’s unemp (Source: FactCheck.org)
Free Money!!...: Free Money!! The ads are popping up everywhere. We’ve seen them on the sidebar at Facebook and on the front page of The New York Times‘ online edition. The ads are enticing, promising to tell you how you can get your hands on a share of free government money. The pitch is a scam, promising fr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Super Bowl Ads from...: Super Bowl Ads from Trump and Bloomberg The campaigns of President Donald Trump and Democrat Mike Bloomberg have purchased airtime during the preeminent TV ad event of the year: the Super Bowl. Both scheduled spots make claims that require context or further explanation. Trump’s campaign released one of two ads it has (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Premium Freeze? Do...: A Premium Freeze? Don’t Believe It. In defense of House members who are under attack for supporting that body’s health care bill, two liberal-leaning organizations are on the air with ads that go overboard in describing the wonders of the legislation. Americans United for Change and a labor union, the American Fede (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz Wrong on San Be...: Cruz Wrong on San Bernardino Shooter Sen. Ted Cruz claimed that the woman involved in the San Bernardino, California, shooting had “publicly posted on social media calls to jihad,” but the Obama administration had refused to look at social media in the visa vetting process. There were no such public messages, accord (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Syrian Refuge...: Video: Syrian Refugee Facts What religion are the Syrian refugees? Are they mostly men, women, or children? How many refugees will be admitted to the U.S.? Are they being sent to states with Republican governors? The following video from FlackCheck.org answers each of those questions. It’s based on our Nov. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rep. Labrador Spins...: Rep. Labrador Spins Immigration Bill Rep. Raul Labrador misrepresented key elements of the Senate immigration bill during a July 7 appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ‘Legalization of 11 million People’? Labrador, an Idaho Republican, repeatedly exaggerated the number of people living in the U.S. illegally who wou (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay This week’s Replay starts off with a dust-up about Fox News’ handling of – what else? – the Shirley Sherrod story. We also found misleading statements about unemployment and New Jersey’s budget. Dean: Fox ‘Absolutely Racist’ On "Fox News Sunday," former Democratic National Commi (Source: FactCheck.org)
TGIF...: TGIF The last weekend of summer may have knocked a day off of the work week, but the false and misleading claims didn’t take a break. As always, we were on the case. The highlight of the week, of course, was President Obama’s Sept. 9 address on health care to a joint session of Congre (Source: FactCheck.org)
Conway Overstates Ec...: Conway Overstates Economic Growth The U.S. does not currently have economic “growth over 4 percent,” as White House counselor Kellyanne Conway claimed recently. On a quarterly basis, real gross domestic product (which is adjusted for inflation) last grew at an annualized rate of more than 4 percent in the second (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pesky Proper Nouns...: Pesky Proper Nouns Out on the campaign trail, John McCain has been criticizing Barack Obama for proposing cuts in defense spending. But his criticism relies on a potentially misleading quote. And we found that McCain is dinging Obama for reducing spending on a program that McCain plans to eliminate (Source: FactCheck.org)
Durbin’s ‘History’ o...: Durbin’s ‘History’ of Misrepresentations Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue sought to discredit Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin’s account of President Trump using profanity to disparage African countries at an immigration meeting in the Oval Office, saying Durbin has a “history” of misrepresenting what was said (Source: FactCheck.org)
Help Us Win a Webby...: Help Us Win a Webby It’s Webby time again, and FactCheck.org is up for best Political Blog/Website. The annual awards competition recognizes “the best of the Internet.” It’s the 19th year that the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is awarding prizes. Last year, we won both the Webby (Source: FactCheck.org)
Voting by Mail in th...: Voting by Mail in the Swing States President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked mail-in voting as “fraudulent” and “corrupt,” even going so far to suggest it might be a reason to postpone the Nov. 3 election. But voters can use that option without giving a reason for doing so in six swing states that are crucial (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama Cherry-Picks U...: Obama Cherry-Picks Uninsured Figure Former President Barack Obama claimed that Republicans’ “sabotage of the Affordable Care Act has already cost more than 3 million Americans their health insurance.” That’s according to one estimate, but another found no significant change in the rate or the number of uninsured fr (Source: FactCheck.org)
FlackCheck Video: Fa...: FlackCheck Video: FactChecking Graham In this video, FlackCheck.org looks back at some of our past fact-checking of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s statements. Graham announced on June 1 that he is running for president. (Source: FactCheck.org)
U.S. Selling Oil fro...: U.S. Selling Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the Highest Bidding Companies Q: Is the Biden administration selling crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to other countries? A: The oil is sold to eligible companies that make the highest offers. Some of the companies are U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, and some that purchased oil have the (Source: FactCheck.org)
One Bridge, Two Brid...: One Bridge, Two Bridge Once upon a time, there were two Bridges to Nowhere. There was the Bridge to Nowhere, and the Bridge to Nowhere’s brother, the Bridge to Nowhere. Or, if you prefer, there was the Gravina Access Project, which would connect the town of Ketchikan to the island of Gravina for purpos (Source: FactCheck.org)
Did McCain Invent th...: Did McCain Invent the BlackBerry? John McCain is having his very own Al Gore moment. McCain’s top economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, waved his BlackBerry to a room full of reporters, explaining that "you’re looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create.” Gore was widely mocked for his claim that “I to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Security Sill...: Social Security Silliness Prior to the GOP debate in Florida, Republicans and Democrats alike floated false statements on Social Security. The Florida Democratic Party incorrectly says in a web ad that Mitt Romney "would privatize" Social Security, while Romney wrongly claims in a campaign flier that Rick (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Bachman...: FactChecking Bachmann We are periodically taking a look at past claims from the 2012 presidential candidates. Today's topic: Michele Bachmann. The Republican representative from Minnesota announced during this week's debate that she was running for the nation's highest office. Several claims from Bach (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pence Repeats Debunk...: Pence Repeats Debunked Russia Talking Point We’ve written this before, but we will restate it: The U.S. intelligence community says Russia waged an influence campaign during the 2016 campaign to help elect Donald Trump, but it made no determination on whether Russia’s meddling affected the election outcome. We repeat ourse (Source: FactCheck.org)
Shot off the Mark...: Shot off the Mark Earlier this week Americans United for Safe Streets, the gun safety advocacy group financially supported by New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, released a television ad attacking former Attorney General Bob McDonnell of Virginia, a Republican running to be the state’s governor. The a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Montana’s Chinese Co...: Montana’s Chinese Connection Montana Senate candidates Steve Daines and John Walsh accuse each other in TV ads of helping to ship American jobs to China, but both sides fail to support their exaggerated claims. The Montana race is one of several that will help decide control of the Senate in 2015. In Februar (Source: FactCheck.org)
SEIU Misleads on Lin...: SEIU Misleads on Lincoln’s Health Vote In the final days of a hotly contested Senate Democratic primary in Arkansas, the Service Employees International Union is running a misleading attack ad against Sen. Blanche Lincoln. In the ad, titled “Nancy,” an Arkansas resident by the name of Nancy Shaw talks about her daugh (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Repea...: Video: Trump’s Repeated Coronavirus Claims President Donald Trump has repeatedly misstated the facts at the White House coronavirus briefings. In this video, we feature five examples from our story “An April Filled With Repeats.” Not a “travel ban.” At least four times in April, the president said he had imposed a “trave (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Hearst on the...: Video: Hearst on the State of the Union Hearst Television — one of our media partners — produced this fact-checking video segment featuring our article on President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. The segment aired on numerous local TV news stations owned and operated by Hearst. It examined Biden’s claims about (Source: FactCheck.org)
Chrysler Paid in Ful...: Chrysler Paid in Full? Taxpayer beware: You have to read the fine print to know what the president means when he says Chrysler has paid back "every dime" of loans it received "during my watch." The company got $12.5 billion in bailout funds under the Bush and Obama administrations, but — despite what t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hoekstra’s Baseless...: Hoekstra’s Baseless Jobs Claim Pete Hoekstra, a former Michigan congressman running for Senate, falsely claims in a TV ad that President Obama’s stimulus “lost 2.6 million more jobs.” Since the stimulus became law on Feb. 17, 2009, the U.S. has lost about 428,000 jobs, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Obama’s Gun P...: Video: Obama’s Gun Proposal This video from FlackCheck.org covers some of the conflicting claims on guns in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings and President Obama’s announced actions for tighter gun controls. The video is based on our Jan. 8 article “Sorting Out Obama’s Gun Proposal,” which includes f (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ad from Super PAC Mi...: Ad from Super PAC Misleadingly Edits Utah Candidate’s Comments About Republican Base In TV and social media ads, Club for Growth Action misleadingly edited remarks by independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin of Utah to make it appear he said that “the Republican base is racist.” In fact, McMullin said “there is an element of the Republican base that is racist,” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Defense Incr...: Trump’s Defense Increase ‘Historic’? President Donald Trump told the nation’s governors that his first budget would include “a historic increase in defense spending.” But defense experts say that’s not the case. For fiscal year 2018, Trump has proposed a 9.4 percent increase in the base defense budget, which does no (Source: FactCheck.org)
A False Attack on To...: A False Attack on Toomey A Democratic ad falsely accused Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey’s bank of using a “controversial” loan tactic that forced 21 people out of their homes. In fact, only two of them lost houses, and there is no evidence that either home was a primary residence. The ad from th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Eric Cantor, the Fry...: Eric Cantor, the Fry Cook and the Whopper Did you hear the story about President Obama and the fry cook? House Majority Leader Eric Cantor did, but he got it wrong. Cantor writes in an op-ed that “a fry cook asked President Obama why his hours were being cut to part time because of Obamacare,” and then suggests the presi (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on CBO’s I...: The Facts on CBO’s Immigration Report Two senators opposed to the Gang of Eight immigration bill are telling only half the story with their claims that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned the bill would be bad for wages and unemployment. That may be true over the next decade, but the CBO’s conclusion w (Source: FactCheck.org)
O’Malley’s Mangled W...: O’Malley’s Mangled Wage Statistic Democratic presidential contender Martin O’Malley claims that “70 percent of us are earning the same or less than they were 12 years ago.” That’s not correct. Actually, weekly paychecks for rank-and-file workers are 6.6 percent higher than they were a dozen years ago, even after (Source: FactCheck.org)
Wrong Numbers on a T...: Wrong Numbers on a Tin Roof During his last press conference with White House reporters yesterday, President Bush defended his administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, saying, “don’t tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed.” He (Source: FactCheck.org)
Paul, Santorum Stret...: Paul, Santorum Stretch Truth on Iran Iran is very much in the news, with President Obama signing legislation that imposes new sanctions against Iran, which has warned it may retaliate by closing a key oil route. But there was more heat than light on the critical issue of Iran from two GOP presidential candidates thi (Source: FactCheck.org)
More Health Care Exa...: More Health Care Exaggerations Planned Parenthood is distributing a mailer in Ohio that criticizes Sen. John McCain’s health care plan. But it uses a bogus figure on what McCain’s plan would do to Ohioans’ taxes. The mailer says, “I see struggling patients every day. That’s why I was so horrified when I read a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Misleading E...: Obama’s Misleading Education Stat We’ve noticed that in talking about education, politicians like to use statistics that show the U.S. is way behind other countries. That certainly makes it easier to tout whatever education policies the pols are pushing. But sometimes kids in the U.S. perform better than politici (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump on ‘Race-Based...: Trump on ‘Race-Based Medicine’ for COVID-19 At a rally in Arizona on Jan. 15, former President Donald Trump waded into the debate over state policies allowing health systems to consider race as a risk factor when prioritizing the allocation of limited supplies of some COVID-19 therapeutics. According to Trump, it translate (Source: FactCheck.org)
Does a Fetus Feel Pa...: Does a Fetus Feel Pain at 20 Weeks? A number of Republican House members say scientific research proves a 20-week-old fetus can feel pain. This is a complicated and controversial topic in science, but the ability to feel pain at that specific point in gestation is unproven. The House Republicans made their remarks (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz Inflates IRS ‘A...: Cruz Inflates IRS ‘Agents’ Sen. Ted Cruz has repeatedly gotten basic facts about the Internal Revenue Service wrong when delivering one of his favorite applause lines, calling for its abolition. He did it — again — over the weekend in New Hampshire, when he said: Cruz, March 15: There are 110,000 agents at (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Security and...: Social Security and Spanish Ads We posted two new pieces on the main site today. The first looks at a common theme among Democratic congressional ads: the accusation that Republicans want to gamble away Social Security in risky private investments. We count 58 ads with such charges that have aired since Oct. 1. (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Ad Abou...: FactChecking Ad About Donating ‘Our Masks and Supplies’ to China A Democratic group’s ad attacking President Donald Trump leaves the misleading impression that medical equipment donated by U.S.-based organizations and businesses to China early in the global coronavirus outbreak came from the Trump administration. “He shipped China 17 tons of A (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Education Ad: G...: Bush Education Ad: Going Positive, Selectively Bush released an ad May 12 claiming “dramatic results” from his Texas school reforms and touting his “No Child Left Behind” law as “the most significant education reforms in 35 years.” But some of those Texas claims were scaled back last year after school officials were shown to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Correcting Misinform...: Correcting Misinformation About Dr. Fauci Dr. Anthony Fauci has announced that in December he will step down from his positions as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and its laboratory of immunoregulation. Fauci has worked for the National (Source: FactCheck.org)
Danish Study Doesn’t...: Danish Study Doesn’t Prove Masks Don’t Work Against the Coronavirus Q: Did a recent study in Denmark show that face masks are useless for COVID-19? A: No. The study found that face masks did not have a large protective effect for wearers — not that masks provide no protection at all or don’t offer benefits to others. Are masks proven to be usel (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden Pads Economic...: Biden Pads Economic Stats In a speech in Miami, Vice President Joe Biden puffed up two statistics related to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. from overseas. Biden claimed 54 percent of U.S. companies with facilities in China said they “plan on coming home” next year, citing an industry survey. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hunter Biden Left Uk...: Hunter Biden Left Ukrainian Company in 2019, Contrary to Ted Nugent Post Hunter Biden served on the board of the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings from 2014 to 2019. But Ted Nugent posted a Facebook meme falsely insinuating that Hunter’s payments from the company ended with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In May 2014, Hunter Biden — the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Why It’s Easy to Mis...: Why It’s Easy to Misinterpret Numbers of Deaths Among the Vaccinated Raw numbers of hospitalizations or deaths among those who are vaccinated are not a good indicator of whether vaccines are effective. If the large majority of a population is vaccinated, it’s not surprising if most deaths are among the vaccinated. But social media posts misuse dat (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gohmert Piles Distor...: Gohmert Piles Distortion Upon Distortion Rep. Louie Gohmert went on Fox News and accused President Obama of a pattern of discrimination against Christians, particularly in the military, but many of his examples were false, distorted or incomplete. Here are just a few of the claims Gohmert made about the Obama administra (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama Still Wrong ab...: Obama Still Wrong about $79 Billion Figure Again tonight Obama said that the U.S. was paying too much for the war in Iraq, while the Iraqis have a “$79 billion surplus.” As we’ve pointed out when Obama said it on the campaign trail, when he repeated it at the last debate, and even when Biden mentioned the figure in the vi (Source: FactCheck.org)
TV Ad Distorts Trump...: TV Ad Distorts Trump’s Gun Position An ad from an anti-Donald Trump super PAC uses a partial quote from Trump to distort his position on gun control. What is the Republican front-runner’s position on guns, the ad asks, and then cuts to a video of Trump saying, “I hate the concept of guns. I’m not in favor of it.” T (Source: FactCheck.org)
Q&A on the Omicron V...: Q&A on the Omicron Variant On Nov. 24, South Africa told the World Health Organization that amid a recent increase in COVID-19 cases, it had identified a new variant — later named omicron — with a high number of mutations, raising concerns that it could spread more easily than other variants of the coronav (Source: FactCheck.org)
A ‘Smart’ New Look f...: A ‘Smart’ New Look for Mobile Devices FactCheck.org is proud to announce we have a new mobile version of our website that will make it easier for you to read us on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Below is a little information on some of the changes that will make your reading experience easier and mo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Future Fund’s Faulty...: Future Fund’s Faulty Fusillade The American Future Fund, a conservative advocacy group, is launching an offensive on multiple fronts against the proposed health care bill. Its television ad mixes bits of recycled images and false claims with new falsehoods, while its print ad sticks closer to the facts but beg (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video Twists Advice...: Video Twists Advice on Delta Variant and Vaccination An epidemiologist recommended that people get the COVID-19 vaccine because some evidence suggests an unvaccinated person who gets the delta variant is “twice as likely to require hospital treatment” than someone infected with the alpha variant. But a Facebook video twists that ad (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s April 2022 R...: Biden’s April 2022 Remark About Some Ukraine Aid Covering Pensions Is Not ‘Breaking’ News President Joe Biden said in April 2022 that some of the funding in a Ukraine aid package that Congress later overwhelmingly approved could be used to pay pensions for Ukrainians amid the ongoing war with Russia. That is not a new development, as several viral tweets have misleadi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Overstated Stats...: 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 perc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Jay Inslee’s Green J...: Jay Inslee’s Green Jobs Claim In an op-ed and at a town hall, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has claimed that the top two fastest-growing jobs in the United States are in clean energy: solar photovoltaic installers and wind turbine technicians. That’s not the case — at least not yet. The governor is referring to (Source: FactCheck.org)
DNC Radio Ad on Terr...: DNC Radio Ad on Terrorism: Accurate (Mostly) A Democratic National Committee radio ad released Aug. 12 says President Bush opposed creation of the Department of Homeland Security “for almost a year after 9/11.” In fact, he opposed creation of a new department for less than nine months. It also says Kerry “fought to establis (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Cherry-Picke...: Trump’s Cherry-Picked ACA Rates Republican front-runner Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed, for months, that premiums under the Affordable Care Act are “going up 35, 45, 55 percent.” Trump cherry-picks insurers’ rate increases on the ACA marketplaces. The average premium increase was 8 percent for HealthCare.g (Source: FactCheck.org)
Childish Georgia Ads...: Childish Georgia Ads TV ads in Georgia’s GOP Senate primary have taken a childish turn. Ads depicting his opponents as helpless, crying babies have helped multimillionaire businessman David Perdue take a lead in the polls over a crowd of rivals that includes three House members and a former secretary (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz, Rubio Twist Co...: Cruz, Rubio Twist Court ‘Precedent’ Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz distort the history of Supreme Court appointments in arguing that President Obama should not be allowed to fill the vacancy left by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. They say there’s “a long tradition” and historical “precedent” for (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Claim...: Video: Trump’s Claim on Diversity Visas In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews President Donald Trump’s bogus claim that other countries are abusing a U.S. immigration program to send the U.S. “the worst of the worst.” Trump was referring to the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which uses a comp (Source: FactCheck.org)
Lindsey Graham’s ‘En...: Lindsey Graham’s ‘Enemy Combatant’ Exaggeration Sen. Lindsey Graham exaggerated when he claimed “all the information” that led to the capture of Osama bin Laden came from “enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay.” Detainees provided “key information” about bin Laden’s “courier network,” but “other sources” provided “other inte (Source: FactCheck.org)
Who Killed Food Town...: Who Killed Food Town? In Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur misrepresents the facts when she accuses her Republican rival, Rich Iott, of running Food Town supermarkets "straight into the ground" after taking over as CEO of the company from his father. Her ad attacks Iott f (Source: FactCheck.org)
Early Data on Omicro...: Early Data on Omicron As many Americans and others around the globe prepare for holiday travel and get-togethers, the omicron variant continues to be a concern. While the available data on transmission, vaccine effectiveness and severity of disease are still preliminary, here’s what we’ve learned so f (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Canadian Tra...: Trump’s Canadian Trade Tale In making his case for renegotiating NAFTA, President Donald Trump told GOP donors that the U.S. has a trade surplus with Canada — but only because the trade balance “doesn’t include energy and timber.” That’s false. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. ran a trade surpl (Source: FactCheck.org)
Senators Claim Infra...: Senators Claim Infrastructure Bill Is ‘Paid For’; Experts Disagree Both Democratic and Republican senators who negotiated a bipartisan infrastructure bill have claimed the legislation is “paid for.” But a budget watchdog group says the bill only pays for about half of the $548 billion in new spending. The crux of the disagreement is that the sen (Source: FactCheck.org)
Carson Rewrites Laws...: Carson Rewrites Laws of Thermodynamics Ben Carson claimed that prevailing theories of how the universe began and how planets and stars formed violate the second law of thermodynamics. His comments represent a misunderstanding of scientific concepts. Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon and Republican presidential (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pelosi’s True Spin...: Pelosi’s True Spin Nancy Pelosi accurately — but misleadingly — said more private jobs were created last year than under Bush. Her statement was true. But it's also true that there were still 2,065,000 fewer private jobs in May than there were when Obama took office At last year's pace of job creat (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney’s Ad ‘Deceitf...: Romney’s Ad ‘Deceitful & Dishonest’? The Obama campaign is in a lather over Mitt Romney’s first TV spot, calling it “a deceitful and dishonest attack” because of an edited quote from 2008. That’s a matter of opinion. We find a far more consequential issue is the ad’s exaggerated claim that the new health care law is (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney Distorts Fact...: Romney Distorts Facts on Jeep, Auto Bailout Mitt Romney falsely claimed in a recent speech that “Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.” Chrysler says it is considering adding Jeep production sites in China to address rising demand in that market. But the company says it is “a leap (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Mischaracterize...: Bush Mischaracterizes Kerry’s Health Plan A Bush ad claims Kerry’s healthcare proposals would put “big government in charge” of medical decisions. In fact, Kerry’s plan would leave 97% with the insurance they have now — while up to 27 million who aren’t insured would gain coverage. Bush’s claim turns out to be based on o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking the Veep Debate FlackCheck.org, our sister website for political literacy, looks at a sampling of the claims that we flagged during the only vice presidential debate of the general election. For more information on these false and misleading statements, and others made during the debate between (Source: FactCheck.org)
Q&A on the FBI’s Sea...: Q&A on the FBI’s Search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Home Former President Donald Trump announced that the FBI had searched Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Florida, home on Aug. 8. Trump’s son Eric told Fox News that the search warrant involved “more than 30 FBI agents” and that he was told it concerned documents sought by the National Arch (Source: FactCheck.org)
Schumer Falsely Clai...: Schumer Falsely Claims ‘All’ Americans Got Out of Afghanistan A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has conceded that the New York Democrat falsely claimed that “all” Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan “have come out.” Government officials say that fewer than 100 U.S. citizens, and an unknown number of U.S. legal pe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Spinning Immigration...: Spinning Immigration Data Both sides in the immigration debate are simply misstating the facts. President Obama exaggerated when talking about declines in illegal border crossings, and Republican Rick Santorum made a misleading claim about the foreign-born population in the United States. Obama on Border (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Evidence Offshore...: No Evidence Offshore Wind Development Killing Whales Q: Is the development of offshore wind energy farms in the U.S. killing whales? A: Whales have been dying at an unusual rate along the Atlantic Coast since 2016, often from ship strikes or entanglements with fishing gear. Federal agencies and experts say there is no link to offsh (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Barton Apology,...: The Barton Apology, Stretched Too Far In a new ad, the Democratic National Committee inaccurately accuses "the Republican Party" of endorsing Rep. Joe Barton’s notorious public apology to the CEO of BP. The ad goes too far when it tries to grease all Republicans with the same oily mess the Texas Republican made for h (Source: FactCheck.org)
More on Palin’s Fals...: More on Palin’s False Energy Claim There’s more on Sarah Palin’s claim, made in her ABC News interview, that Alaska produces 20 percent of the nation’s energy supply. As we noted in our original article, official statistics from the federal government show that Alaska produces only 3.5 percent of the total energy (Source: FactCheck.org)
Return of the False...: Return of the False Tax Claims Every once in a while bogus emails get revised, recycled – and widely recirculated. That is happening now with a viral email that purports to list income tax increases that take effect this year and that “were all passed under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare” without Repub (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kaine Twists Words o...: Kaine Twists Words of GOP Rivals In a speech in Michigan, Tim Kaine cherry-picked the words of his Republican opponents, Donald Trump and Mike Pence, to leave a misleading impression of their public statements on military service members and white nationalist David Duke. Kaine made his comments during a speech i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Boasts...: Biden’s Boasts Vice President Joe Biden went too far in boasts about job growth and deficit reduction. Biden was the keynote speaker at the AFL-CIO and American Federation of Teachers Summit on Career and Technical Education and Workforce Development on Nov. 13. His comments centered on job opp (Source: FactCheck.org)
More Health Care Ads...: More Health Care Ads? So now that President Obama is set to sign this health care bill into law, you won’t have to hear all kinds of claims about it, right? Well, not so fast. The end of the health care ad wars isn’t here yet. Liberals are getting in the first shots — praising Democratic House members (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Tucker Carlso...: Video: Tucker Carlson Misrepresents Vaccine Safety Reporting Data Social media posts repeatedly misuse unverified reports to a federal database designed to detect safety issues in vaccines to falsely claim that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous. In this video, FactCheck.org and Univision Noticias teamed up to debunk misleading statements spread b (Source: FactCheck.org)
Stacey Abrams Oppose...: Stacey Abrams Opposed Boycotts in Atlanta, Contrary to Facebook Post Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams opposed the state’s new election law and gun laws, but she spoke out against corporations using economic sanctions to protest the laws. Yet, a social media post falsely claims Abrams “lobbied to move” the MLB’s All-Star Gam (Source: FactCheck.org)
Whitman Ad Misfires...: Whitman Ad Misfires A Meg Whitman ad falsely accuses her opponent in the California GOP gubernatorial primary of presiding over a spending increase of nearly 14 percent in the department he headed as state insurance commissioner. The true increase is half that.
The smackdown between Whitman a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misleads on Ru...: Trump Misleads on Russia Hacking On the eve of his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump made some questionable claims about the U.S. intelligence community’s finding that Russia hacked into U.S. political organizations to interfere in the 2016 presidential election: The pre (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kansas School Sports...: Kansas School Sports Act Doesn’t Require ‘Genital Inspections,’ Contrary to Online Posts Kansas passed a bill allowing only “biologically female” students to play on girls’ and women’s athletic teams from elementary through college. Social media posts misleadingly claim the bill will allow “forced genital inspections” of students. The bill doesn’t mention genital ins (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney’s Immigration...: Romney’s Immigration Exaggeration Mitt Romney exaggerates when he says President Obama “did nothing on immigration” for three and a half years, even when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. Obama supported and lobbied for the DREAM Act, which would have created a path to citizenship for some illegal imm (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cancer Rates and Unj...: Cancer Rates and Unjustified Conclusions A number of opponents of new health care legislation, most recently our old friend Betsy McCaughey on "The Daily Show," have claimed that cancer survival rates are higher in the U.S. than in countries with nationalized health care. They conclude from this that the state of genera (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton on Global Do...: Clinton on Global Domestic Violence Laws Hillary Clinton repeatedly has said “more than half the nations in the world” have no laws on domestic violence. That’s wrong. The United Nations reports that 125 countries — two-thirds of all nations — had such laws on the books as of April 2011. Clinton, who has made women’s ri (Source: FactCheck.org)
Senator Johnson Dist...: Senator Johnson Distorts Report on Violence in Defense of His Remarks on BLM, Antifa Sen. Ron Johnson, as he predicted, got himself in trouble for saying he “never felt threatened” by those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, but he “might have been a little concerned” if they were “tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters.” In response to cr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rove Vs. Brokaw, and...: Rove Vs. Brokaw, and Other Sunday Squabbles Republican strategist Karl Rove and NBC’s "Meet the Press" guest host Tom Brokaw got into a tussle on that program Sunday over whether the Bush administration had planned to use oil money to partly fund the Iraq war. Rove also overstated opposition to Democratic health care legis (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democrats Misleading...: Democrats Misleadingly Claim ‘Republicans’ Plan’ Would ‘End’ Social Security, Medicare As part of his plan to downsize the federal government, Republican Sen. Rick Scott says he wants all federal legislation to “sunset” in five years, and “[i]f a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.” Well, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were all created by legi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cheney & Edwards Man...: Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts Cheney wrongly implied that FactCheck had defended his tenure as CEO of Halliburton Co., and the vice president even got our name wrong. He overstated matters when he said Edwards voted “for the war” and “to commit the troops, to send them to war.” He exaggerated the number of ti (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Media Posts F...: Social Media Posts Falsely Claim Magic Johnson Donated Blood for People with COVID-19 In a 2012 documentary, Magic Johnson discussed his HIV diagnosis and how it has affected his career. Social media posts are sharing an image from the documentary to falsely claim it shows Johnson donating blood for people with COVID-19. Johnson hasn’t donated HIV-infected blood f (Source: FactCheck.org)
DeSantis’ Dubious CO...: DeSantis’ Dubious COVID-19 Vaccine Claims While announcing a request for a grand jury probe into “crimes and wrongdoing” related to the COVID-19 vaccines, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his panel of contrarian experts repeatedly suggested the shots were too risky. But such claims are unsupported and based on flawed analys (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton Goes Too Far...: Clinton Goes Too Far in Criticizing Trump In an op-ed, Hillary Clinton went too far with her criticism that President Donald Trump has shown a “complete unwillingness to stop” Russian interference in U.S. elections. The Trump administration has taken a number of steps to combat foreign interference in future elections. A (Source: FactCheck.org)
Competing Attack Ads...: Competing Attack Ads in Florida Miss Mark Competing attack ads ask what voters “really know” about Florida congressional candidates Alex Sink and David Jolly. But don’t count on the ads to clear things up, as both rely on misleading claims. An ad from the Sink campaign attacks Jolly’s lobbying past, but uses thinly conne (Source: FactCheck.org)
Liberal Groups Criti...: Liberal Groups Criticize GOP Over Stimulus, Redux The liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change (along with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees labor union) released a new ad attacking Republicans for not supporting President Obama’s economic stimulus plan. Here is our review of an earlier a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Deficit Arithmetic:...: Deficit Arithmetic: Cut Everything 34% Now? Without an increase in the debt ceiling, could Washington avoid default simply by cutting spending? That's what two leading Republicans, Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sen. Jim DeMint, urged over the weekend. What they didn't say is that this would require instant cuts of at least 34 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Health Care and the...: Health Care and the Founding Fathers Expect January to be dominated by House-Senate wrangling over the final shape of the gargantuan bill to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system. Some opponents of the measures, though, are readying themselves for another potential fight, this one in the courts. An Arkansas (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Claims about...: Video: Claims about the GOP Tax Plan In this video, we highlight six common — and inaccurate — claims from Republicans and Democrats about the GOP tax plans. The House and Senate have both passed their versions of tax legislation, and the differences in the two bills now need to be reconciled in a conference committ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump on Clinton’s T...: Trump on Clinton’s Tax Plans Donald Trump repeatedly claims that Hillary Clinton is going to “raise your taxes very substantially.” She’s not, unless you are among the top 10 percent of taxpayers. Analyses by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center and the pro-business Tax Foundation both concluded that almost all (Source: FactCheck.org)
TGIF...: TGIF President Obama’s unexpected Nobel Peace Prize may end up being the story of the week, but it was the third-party groups that occupied most of our attention here at FactCheck.org. Once again, health care dominated the discussion, though we also saw some new ads on taxes and on cl (Source: FactCheck.org)
Airlines Are Encoura...: Airlines Are Encouraging, Not Banning, Vaccinated Passengers Airlines are encouraging people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine to fly once again. Yet social media posts falsely claim that airline executives around the world are discussing banning vaccinated passengers due to a risk of blood clotting at high altitudes. Experts say there (Source: FactCheck.org)
Schumer Exaggerates...: Schumer Exaggerates Proposed Defense Cuts Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York exaggerated Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to cut military spending during an exchange with Bob Schieffer on “Face the Nation.” Schumer criticized a group of conservative Republicans for proposing a bill to cut non-defense fede (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Practically Fact-F...: A Practically Fact-Free Attack on Reid Former Nevada state Sen. Sue Lowden, who is running for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November, goes after Reid in a new ad for trying to force "one-size-fits-all government health care" on all Americans. Maybe "one-size (Source: FactCheck.org)
Tax Cuts and America...: Tax Cuts and Americans: It’s Complicated Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell misrepresented public opinion about the Bush tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of the year. In his weekly remarks Nov. 20, he made this unequivocal statement: McConnell, Nov. 20: Americans don’t think we should be raising taxes on (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Stump Speeches...: Trump Stump Speeches: Economy Editor’s Note: For weeks, President Donald Trump has been campaigning in states that are key to the Republican Party’s chances of maintaining control of the House and Senate. We have reviewed seven speeches he gave from Oct. 10 to Oct. 22. This is the second in a series of storie (Source: FactCheck.org)
GOP Medicaid Spin...: GOP Medicaid Spin Republicans are spinning their health care bills’ impact on Medicaid: Toomey’s office says that the senator meant that the bill doesn’t cut off Medicaid expansion eligibility for anyone, not that no one would lose insurance coverage under the bill. It’s correct that the Senate bi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gingrich’s Plan: Nea...: Gingrich’s Plan: Nearly Zero Tax for Romney Newt Gingrich joked that he ought to rename his proposed 15 percent flat tax the “Mitt Romney Flat Tax,” so “all Americans would pay the rate Mitt Romney paid.” Actually, not all Americans. Under Gingrich’s tax plan, Romney would likely pay closer to zero percent. Although he h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Whole Truth About th...: Whole Truth About the Cain ‘Lie Detector’ A so-called lie detector featured in a new ad supporting Herman Cain uses voice-stress technology that is no more reliable than “flipping a coin,” according to one university study by a criminal-justice researcher. Two other academics called it “charlatanry.” The ad says that “on (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton Misuses Stat...: Clinton Misuses Stat on CEO Pay Hillary Clinton said the “average American CEO” makes 300 times more than the typical worker, but she was referring to a study that looked at pay disparity between CEOs and average workers only at the top 350 companies — a fraction of the 246,240 chief executives in the U.S. Clin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Stories Falsely Cite...: Stories Falsely Cite ‘Stanford Study’ to Misinform on Face Masks Stanford Medicine says it “strongly supports the use of face masks to control the spread of COVID-19.” Yet viral stories falsely claim a “Stanford study” showed that face masks are unsafe and ineffective against COVID-19. The paper is a hypothesis, not a study, from someone with (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Airli...: Video: Trump’s Airline Safety Claim In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper examines President Donald Trump’s suggestion that his “very strict” policies on commercial aviation were responsible for “the best and safest year on record.” As we wrote, in the United States, there have been no deaths from U (Source: FactCheck.org)
Russian Rhetoric Ahe...: Russian Rhetoric Ahead of Attack Against Ukraine: Deny, Deflect, Mislead As Russia amassed troops on the Ukrainian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and other Russian officials repeatedly denied that their country had plans to invade Ukraine. They blamed the U.S., Ukraine and others for the tension, insisting that (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misrepresenting McAu...: Misrepresenting McAuliffe’s Budget Plan Three new ads — two from the Ken Cuccinelli campaign and another from a super PAC that supports him — claim Terry McAuliffe’s budget plan would increase spending by $14 billion and that he would raise taxes on the typical family by $1,700 to pay for it. But that’s based on an inf (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Claims on IG...: Trump’s Claims on IG, Wisconsin Election At the White House coronavirus task force press briefing on April 7, President Donald Trump distorted the facts about the person he dismissed as the chief watchdog for spending under the new pandemic relief legislation and the Wisconsin election, which took place as scheduled des (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s CPAC Speech In his first public speech since leaving office, former President Donald Trump delighted his audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference with numerous false and misleading claims, many of them criticisms of his successor. Trump spoke on Feb. 28 in Orlando at the conc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Retweets Bogus...: Trump Retweets Bogus Crime Graphic Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump retweeted a bogus graphic purporting to show the percentage of whites killed by blacks and other homicide data delineated by race. Almost every figure in the graphic is wrong, some of them dramatically so. Trump’s Twitter account ret (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misquotes Fauc...: Trump Misquotes Fauci on Coronavirus Threat Defending his early response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that in late February, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was saying, “This is no problem. This is going to blow over.” In a Feb. 29 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Santorum’s Puffery o...: Santorum’s Puffery on Iran Rick Santorum has a history of taking a hard line on Iran, but he engaged in a bit of revisionist history when he regaled South Carolina Republicans with the tale of a Senate battle over an Iran sanctions bill: Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator who is preparing to run for p (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Mis-tweets...: Obama’s Mis-tweets In a "Twitter Town Hall" event, President Barack Obama repeated a disputed claim about the electric car battery market, and he claimed that the payroll tax holiday is worth $1,000 to "almost every single American" when many will get less than that. Obama took questions from Twitt (Source: FactCheck.org)
Opening Ads in the P...: Opening Ads in the Perdue-Ossoff Runoff In the first TV ads of the runoff campaign that could help decide the balance of the Senate, Republican Sen. David Perdue warned his opponent would “radically change America,” while Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff accused his opponent of downplaying the coronavirus. The ad from (Source: FactCheck.org)
Baseless Conspiracy...: Baseless Conspiracy Theory Follows Deaths of Haitian President, Other National Leaders Following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, social media posts baselessly suggest that he and other world leaders were killed or died because they opposed COVID-19 vaccination in their countries. All the leaders named in the posts, except Moïse, died of natura (Source: FactCheck.org)
Do Processed Foods C...: Do Processed Foods Contain GMOs? A controversial GMO labeling bill signed into law by the president has raised interesting scientific and regulatory questions: Do foods processed from genetically modified organisms, like refined sugar and soybean oil, contain genetic material? If not, would they be labeled as GM (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ongoing Clinical Tri...: Ongoing Clinical Trials Will Decide Whether (or Not) Ivermectin Is Safe, Effective for COVID-19 Studies on whether ivermectin is beneficial in treating COVID-19 patients haven’t been conclusive, and health officials have warned people not to self-medicate. But multiple large trials are continuing to assess the antiparasitic drug. Yet, Sen. Rand Paul reportedly said research (Source: FactCheck.org)
NRSC Distorts Braley...: NRSC Distorts Braley Tax Record In Iowa, a Republican ad claims that Democratic Senate nominee Bruce Braley “voted to raise taxes on every single Iowa taxpayer.” That badly distorts Braley’s clearly stated position. The fact is, Braley voted most recently to raise taxes on only about the top 1 percent, while ke (Source: FactCheck.org)
Readers Talk Back on...: Readers Talk Back on Insurance Costs We received a number of e-mails after we said, in our article "Pushing for a Public Plan," that "the average monthly payment for workers with employer-sponsored coverage is … $280 for a family policy." It seems that a lot of you weren’t satisfied with the finding, which is from t (Source: FactCheck.org)
FlackCheck Video: Te...: FlackCheck Video: Ted Cruz Announcement Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in an address at Liberty University on March 23, became the first person to officially declare himself a candidate for president in 2016. This “Campaign Watch” video from FactCheck.org’s sister website, FlackCheck.org, reviews several claims we fact-checked f (Source: FactCheck.org)
Dems, GOP Exaggerate...: Dems, GOP Exaggerate Spending ‘Cuts’ Senate Democratic leaders, under pressure from Republicans to cut the budget, have been misleading the public by claiming they already have "cut" spending by $41 billion. The fact is that the Democrats haven’t "cut" any spending. Congress hasn’t passed a budget for fiscal year 20 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Scientist to CEI: Yo...: Scientist to CEI: You Used My Research To “Confuse and Mislead” The business-backed Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released two ads last week to “counter global warming alarmism.” One of the ads says research shows “The Antarctic ice sheet is getting thicker, not thinner…Why are they trying to scare us?” Actually, scientists say incre (Source: FactCheck.org)
Liberal Union Joins...: Liberal Union Joins Attack on Romney in Florida Newt Gingrich is getting help from a surprising ally: the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The liberal-leaning labor group is running a TV ad in Florida slamming Mitt Romney for profiting personally from a company later convicted of Medicare fraud wh (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misleading Late Atta...: Misleading Late Attack on Kathy Barnette in Pennsylvania Senate Race A late attack ad from a super PAC supporting one of Kathy Barnette’s opponents in the Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary makes several misleading claims about Barnette, who has surged in the polls. Released just days before the May 17 primary, the attack ad against Barnette w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hijacking History in...: Hijacking History in Arkansas In a new TV ad, Rep. Tom Cotton tries to rewrite history with the claim that President Obama “hijacked the farm bill, turned it into a food stamp bill.” Food stamp funding has been part of farm bills going back to 1973. Cotton’s ad seeks to explain the congressman’s vote earlier (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Record on Ma...: 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. Earnest made the statement during a press briefing (Source: FactCheck.org)
Invoking Trump in Do...: Invoking Trump in Down-Ballot Ad A labor union distorts Donald Trump’s position on Medicare in a TV ad, claiming Trump says “you have to look at Medicare going away.” But Trump has said — repeatedly — that he wants to keep Medicare and preserve the current level of benefits. The ad from Unite Here Tip State and (Source: FactCheck.org)
FlackCheck.org Video...: FlackCheck.org Video: Minimum Wage Hike What would happen if the federal minimum wage were raised to $10.10 per hour? The following video from our sister site, FlackCheck.org, shows how the details of a Congressional Budget Office analysis of a proposed wage hike have been twisted and cherry-picked. The video is based (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking October Debate Claims In this video, we highlight several claims made by some of the candidates in the Oct.15 Democratic presidential debate: For more about these and other claims, please see “FactChecking the October Democratic Debate.” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Studies Show Boosted...: Studies Show Boosted Immunity Against Omicron with Booster Doses Neither primary vaccination nor natural immunity is generally stopping infections with the omicron variant, but research shows booster doses substantially increase protection. Yet, Republican Sen. Rand Paul claimed that a case of COVID-19 provides “an immunity better than the vac (Source: FactCheck.org)
Calls to Abolish ICE...: Calls to Abolish ICE Not ‘Open Borders’ Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated claims, Democrats are not advocating open borders, not even the ones who are calling to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The small minority of Democrats in Congress calling for the end of ICE have all said they would like to h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rahm’s Plan: Tax Cut...: Rahm’s Plan: Tax Cut or ‘Largest’ Hike in History? Rahm Emanuel and his leading opponent are airing less-than-truthful TV ads about taxes in the closing days of Chicago's Feb. 22 mayoral election. In dueling ads, Emanuel and fellow Democrat Gery Chico spar over sales taxes. Emanuel says his plan will "lower taxes," and leave "mor (Source: FactCheck.org)
Corzine, Christie Sp...: Corzine, Christie Spar Over Income Taxes With their race coming down to the wire, the candidates in New Jersey’s gubernatorial contest are attacking each other as ferociously as ever. A TV ad from Republican Chris Christie accuses Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine of not paying state income taxes last year. Corzine’s campaign (Source: FactCheck.org)
62%: Conventional Wi...: 62%: Conventional Wisdom or “Dubious Research”? The liberal group Health Care for America Now has come out with another ad attacking the health insurance industry. The ad is running as part of a million dollar ad buy, according to the group. It repeats a claim that is being made repeatedly as the debate over overhauling the he (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fiorina’s Selective...: Fiorina’s Selective Record at HP Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina repeatedly has said “we doubled the size of the company” and “took the growth rate from 2 percent to 9 percent,” while she was CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Both statistics pertain to revenue, but Fiorina uses different time frames to boo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Santorum’s Bragging...: Santorum’s Bragging Rights Rick Santorum puffs up his credentials a bit in saying he "defeated three Democratic incumbents." He defeated two incumbents; in two other congressional elections, he was the incumbent. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator and representative, has touted his Democrat-defeating (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video From Biden’s A...: Video From Biden’s Address to Congress Misleadingly Edited In his April 28 address to Congress, President Joe Biden said, “No one should have to choose between a job and a paycheck or taking care of themselves and their loved ones — a parent, or spouse, or child.” Partisan social media accounts misleadingly edited his words in a viral vi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Wrong About Wa...: Trump Wrong About Wall Effect in El Paso President Donald Trump falsely claimed that El Paso went from “one of the most dangerous cities in the country to one of the safest cities in the country overnight” after “a wall was put up” along the Mexico border. Here are the facts: The president, who is locked in a budget sta (Source: FactCheck.org)
The President’s Tax...: The President’s Tax Returns After Democrats gained control of the House in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump repeated his long-running statement that he wouldn’t release his tax returns because they were under audit, making false claims in the process: During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trum (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ohio Group Won’t Tak...: Ohio Group Won’t Take ‘No’ for Answer A pro-business group in Ohio committed an audacious misappropriation of an elderly woman’s emotional opposition to the state’s new collective bargaining law. The group’s TV ad uses her story of how firefighters saved her great granddaughter’s life to make it appear she support (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Data Manipulation...: No Data Manipulation at NOAA Top Republicans on the House science committee claim a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist “confirmed” that his NOAA colleagues “manipulated” climate data for a 2015 study. But that scientist denies that he accused NOAA of manipulating data. Rep. Lama (Source: FactCheck.org)
Mirror Image...: Mirror Image The rumor that President Barack Obama refuses, or doesn’t know how, to say the pledge of allegiance just won’t die. Since early in his presidential candidacy, we’ve been getting e-mails with photos that purport to show Obama failing to properly salute the flag during the pledge o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Former Judge Janice...: Former Judge Janice Rogers Brown Was Not Nominated to the Supreme Court Republicans did not nominate former Judge Janice Rogers Brown to the U.S. Supreme Court. A Facebook post falsely claims that Brown — not Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — was the first Black woman to be nominated to the nation’s highest court. On Feb. 25, President Joe Biden nominate (Source: FactCheck.org)
Palin’s Constitution...: Palin’s Constitutional Stretch At the Conservative Political Action Conference, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said that the Senate was “in violation of Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of our U.S. Constitution” by failing to “pass a budget.” She’s referring to a budget resolution. But that constitutional clause (Source: FactCheck.org)
Liberal Ads Oversell...: Liberal Ads Oversell Health Care Law A liberal group has launched several radio ads criticizing House Republicans who voted to repeal the health care law. But some of the claims lack needed context and may give listeners the impression that the law’s benefits are more extensive than they really are. Americans United (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Can’t Designat...: Trump Can’t Designate Antifa — or Any Movement — Domestic Terrorist Organization As some nationwide protests have turned violent, President Donald Trump pointed to the anti-fascist movement antifa, claiming: “The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.” But there is no such official federal designation for domestic ter (Source: FactCheck.org)
False Claim Ukraine...: False Claim Ukraine Got Aid ‘Before Schedule’ President Donald Trump, who last year froze hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid for Ukraine, claimed “they got all” of it “long before schedule.” That’s false. The freeze that Trump directed lasted about two months last summer and not all of the money was later disbur (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Campaign Kic...: Trump’s Campaign Kickoff Claims At a rally in Orlando on June 18, President Donald Trump officially launched his reelection campaign. Trump boasted that under his leadership, the country is “thriving, prospering and booming,” and he asked voters for four more years to “keep America great.” “Nobody’s done what w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Charting Ryan’s Debt...: Charting Ryan’s Debt Exaggeration Rep. Paul Ryan exaggerates future growth of the federal debt in a chart contained in his newly released budget plan. The chart relies on Congressional Budget Office projections from last year that do not account for actions taken since then to reduce federal deficits by nearly $2 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sweet: Another Stret...: Sweet: Another Stretch by Obama The Chicago Sun-Times’ columnist and Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet reports on an Obama exaggeration that we missed. Sweet said Obama "went too far" when he said, in his health care speech to Congress and the nation Sept. 9: Obama, Sept. 9: One man from Illinois lost his cov (Source: FactCheck.org)
Objection! In Re San...: Objection! In Re Santorum, Trial Lawyers Withhold Evidence A TV ad by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) PAC portrays Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania as being “out-of-this-world” on women’s issues. The ad shows him cruising through space and accuses him of saying he “questions why some women work.” In fact, (Source: FactCheck.org)
‘Government-Run’ Non...: ‘Government-Run’ Nonsense The U.S. Chamber of Commerce puts a new twist on a tired old falsehood about “government-run health care” in one of its new ads attacking Democratic lawmakers. We noted other dubious claims as well. An ad against Sen. Jon Tester in Montana accuses him of favoring “government-run (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on White N...: The Facts on White Nationalism In the wake of the attack on two New Zealand mosques, President Donald Trump said he did not see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world, but rather “a small group of people that have very, very serious problems.” Experts, however, say there are a number of indicato (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kobach’s Bogus ‘Proo...: Kobach’s Bogus ‘Proof’ of Voter Fraud Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, claims to have “proof” of voter fraud in New Hampshire that’s widespread enough to have swung a U.S. Senate election in favor of the Democrats. He doesn’t. Kobach’s proof? He says several thousand pe (Source: FactCheck.org)
The $79 Billion Iraq...: The $79 Billion Iraqi Surplus, Reconsidered We’ve criticized both Barack Obama and Joe Biden several times now for claiming that the U.S. is spending $10 billion a month to Iraq while that nation is sitting on a $79 billion surplus. We wrote that the $79 billion figure was out of date because Iraq had since passed a $22.3 (Source: FactCheck.org)
School Shooting Spaw...: School Shooting Spawns Conspiracy Theories The internet has been rife with rumors about the school shooting that left 17 dead in Florida on Feb. 14. We’ve debunked several of them. Initially, the rumors focused on the alleged shooter himself, Nikolas Cruz. But, as students who survived the shooting started advocating stri (Source: FactCheck.org)
Nadler’s Russia Clai...: Nadler’s Russia Claim Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler went too far when he claimed that President Donald Trump “worked with the Russians to try to rig the 2016 election.” The special counsel investigation found there were “multiple contacts … between Trump Campaign officials and individuals with ties to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kentucky Coal Connec...: Kentucky Coal Connections In an interesting twist, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell is under fire from his Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, for “personally” taking “$600,000 from anti-coal groups.” But where did most of this alleged “anti-coal” money come from? Wells Fargo. The bank. McConnell’s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Second Ladies in Com...: Second Ladies in Combat Zones In several recent speeches to members of the military, President Joe Biden has sprinkled in a curious piece of trivia about his wife, Jill, saying he thinks she is the only second lady to visit a war zone. She isn’t. Jill Biden accompanied then-Vice President Biden on a visit to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Full FactCheck.org R...: Full FactCheck.org Report on Last Debate Up We stayed up all night, and into the morning, but we do have a full analysis of last night’s debate to show for our efforts. Feel free to check it out here and see all the items we found during our live coverage of the debate right here on The Wire. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Partisan Claims of ‘...: Partisan Claims of ‘Russia Hoax’ Revived Ahead of 2020 Election President Donald Trump and his supporters on social media are citing unverified “Russian intelligence” from 2016 as evidence that Hillary Clinton “was behind the entire Russian collusion hoax.” But that so-called intelligence is largely a reflection of publicly available informat (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s 77-Cent Exag...: Obama’s 77-Cent Exaggeration A TV spot from the president’s reelection committee says women are “paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men.” That’s not true. The ad falsely states that the pay gap is for doing “the same work.” It also implies that discrimination by employers is responsible f (Source: FactCheck.org)
Spinning GDP...: Spinning GDP The White House is claiming the economy grew 3.1 percent last year, while the statisticians at the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis put growth at 2.9 percent. What gives? Answer: The White House is spinning the numbers, focusing on a little-used measure to m (Source: FactCheck.org)
Spinning the CBO Ins...: Spinning the CBO Insurance Estimate The Congressional Budget Office projects that the Senate health care bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 22 million in 2026 — a figure that both sides in the debate are distorting: On June 22, Senate Republicans introduced the Better Care Reconciliation Act — (Source: FactCheck.org)
Homestretch Fact-Str...: Homestretch Fact-Stretchers In the homestretch to Election Day, both sides stretch the facts in their TV spots. President Obama greatly exaggerates his differences with Mitt Romney over troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, while Romney repeats a false claim that the president plans a $4,000 tax incr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Parsing McConnell’s...: Parsing McConnell’s Job Description A laid off coal miner in an Alison Lundergan Grimes TV ad poses a question to Sen. Mitch McConnell: “Why’d you say it’s not your job to bring jobs to Kentucky?” McConnell doesn’t dispute saying it and no recording exists; but he claims that he misunderstood a reporter’s question (Source: FactCheck.org)
Two More Webbys for...: Two More Webbys for FactCheck Once again, FactCheck.org has been awarded the Webby for best politics website by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The announcement was made May 1. This makes us a four-time winner of the prestigious Webby Award. The awards are recognized as the “Oscars of (Source: FactCheck.org)
Palin’s big energy b...: Palin’s big energy blooper We published this article on our home page late Friday: Energetically Wrong September 12, 2008 Palin says Alaska supplies 20 percent of U.S. energy. Not true. Not even close. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Harry Reid’s Wild Ex...: Harry Reid’s Wild Exaggerations In a floor speech, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid made some wildly exaggerated claims about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s endorsement of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump: Reid made his remarks on the Senate floor on the day that Trump was i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump on U.S....: Video: Trump on U.S. Nuclear Arsenal In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper and FactCheck.org review the accuracy of President Donald Trump’s tweet about the modernization of the U.S. nuclear weapons program. The president tweeted that his “first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nu (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pruitt on Climate Ch...: Pruitt on Climate Change, Again The head of the Environmental Protection Agency told CNBC that he “would not agree” that “human activity,” or carbon dioxide emissions, is the “primary contributor” to global warming. But climate scientists say it’s “extremely likely” that human activity, including CO2 emissions, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Christie Misrepresen...: Christie Misrepresents State Workers’ Contract Chris Christie is misrepresenting the facts about New Jersey union contract negotiations under his predecessor. Christie has been battling state unions since becoming New Jersey governor in 2010. On CBS’ "Face the Nation" Feb. 27, he exaggerated the generosity of contract terms n (Source: FactCheck.org)
Is Illegal Immigrati...: Is Illegal Immigration Linked to More or Less Crime? President Donald Trump said it’s “not true” that immigrants in the U.S. illegally are “safer than the people that live in the country,” providing several crime statistics he claimed represented the “toll of illegal immigration.” Sen. Bernie Sanders made the opposite claim, saying (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Graham...: FactChecking Graham Sen. Lindsey Graham has joined the field of candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination. Graham, who has served in Congress for more than 20 years, made the announcement today in his home state of South Carolina. Here’s a look back at our past fact-checking of Gra (Source: FactCheck.org)
More than 100 Protes...: More than 100 Protesters Arrested in Ottawa, Despite Claims in Facebook Video More than 100 people were arrested during the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa. But a video on social media falsely claimed protesters were released “in the middle of nowhere” because the arrests were “illegal.” An associate professor of law who observed the protests said that “ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Kushner Downp...: Video: Kushner Downplays Russia’s 2016 Actions In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper examines Jared Kushner’s claim that Russia’s 2016 election interference amounted to little more than “a couple Facebook ads.” That’s contradicted by the report from special counsel Robert S. Mueller, which detailed the Russian (Source: FactCheck.org)
Super PAC Polishes H...: Super PAC Polishes Huntsman’s Resume A super PAC backing Jon Huntsman for president makes three misleading or false claims in a TV ad now running in New Hampshire: The ad also says that the “economy’s worse” under Obama — which is an opinion that either side can support with reams of data. Unemployment is at 9 perce (Source: FactCheck.org)
Nazi Symbols at Town...: Nazi Symbols at Town Halls: The Real Story Recent comments by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that swastikas and other Nazi imagery had been appearing at lawmakers’ town hall meetings on health care set off furious rounds of tweeting and blogging by outraged conservatives. The episode began when the California Democrat was as (Source: FactCheck.org)
False Reports of Wis...: False Reports of Wisconsin Assembly’s Action on 2020 Electors A resolution introduced in the Wisconsin Assembly to reverse the state’s 2020 presidential electoral votes for President Joe Biden was referred to the Rules Committee on Jan. 25. The committee chair tweeted that the resolution was “illegal” and would not advance. But conservative (Source: FactCheck.org)
So Far, Vaccines Rem...: So Far, Vaccines Remain Effective Against Variants So far, COVID-19 vaccines have been effective against variants of the coronavirus. Scientists are monitoring the situation carefully, with updated or new vaccines a possibility in the future, if need be. Social media claims blaming vaccination for an impending variant “disaster” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Giuliani’s Obstructi...: Giuliani’s Obstruction Distortions In an interview about the Mueller report, Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, distorted the facts in repeatedly making the case that there was “no obstruction” by Trump. Giuliani made his claims in an April 21 interview on “Fox News Sunday” — three days aft (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Surrogates Den...: Trump Surrogates Deny Plagiarism New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says there is “no way that Melania Trump was plagiarizing Michelle Obama’s speech.” Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign manager, called the allegation “absurd.” We were reluctant to join the pack in pointing out the obvious when the two conventio (Source: FactCheck.org)
Let Election 2010 Be...: Let Election 2010 Begin Believe it or not, ads for the midterm elections are on the air already. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced radio ads this week that attack 28 House Republicans for voting against such how-could-they-possibly-oppose-them measures as “tax breaks … for Americ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Campaign-Sty...: 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: The president-elect also repeated some claims we have already debunked on the size of this election victory and the impact of (Source: FactCheck.org)
The “Government-Run”...: The “Government-Run” Mantra The claim that the House bill would amount to "government-run health care" suffered a blow last week, when the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the so-called "public plan" in the revised bill wouldn’t offer much in the way of competition to private insurers. But that ha (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz on the Global C...: Cruz on the Global Cooling Myth and Galileo Sen. Ted Cruz cited a 1975 Newsweek article on “global cooling” to question the evidence of global warming, and in the process made several incorrect and unsubstantiated claims. In an interview with the Texas Tribune (at the 14:24 mark), Cruz, who recently announced his candidacy (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney’s Health Care...: Romney’s Health Care Law Killed Jobs? The Perry campaign has been pushing a questionable claim that the Massachusetts health care law, signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney in 2006, “killed 18,000 jobs.” But that number was churned out by an economic model used by a conservative think tank, and it’s unknown whether the fig (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Mixed Record...: Trump’s Mixed Record on Gun Control When asked what he was going to do about the “gun problem,” President Donald Trump responded that “we have done much more than most administrations.” Trump has taken some action to strengthen federal gun control, but his administration also has eased gun restrictions. Trump made (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Misrepresent M...: Posts Misrepresent Moderna CEO’s Remarks on Vaccine Production Moderna’s CEO said in January that the company’s total production in 2019 was “100,000 dose,” referring to all its vaccines and therapeutics. Online posts distorted the remarks to falsely claim Moderna made COVID-19 vaccines “before the pandemic started.” Moderna’s first batch of (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Errs in Reply...: Trump Errs in Reply to Streep On Twitter, President-elect Donald Trump falsely wrote that a reporter “totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad.” As we have written before, the reporter never changed his story about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Trump’s tweet was in re (Source: FactCheck.org)
Largest Tax Cut in H...: Largest Tax Cut in History? Will the Republican tax plan be the “largest tax cut in history,” as the Trump administration has repeatedly said? That’s still unknown. But past tax cuts have been larger than cost estimates of the GOP plan. President Donald Trump and others in the administration have been makin (Source: FactCheck.org)
RFK Jr. Video Pushes...: RFK Jr. Video Pushes Known Vaccine Misrepresentations A video stoking fears of the COVID-19 vaccines in the Black community is being promoted online. But the film repeats misrepresentations about vaccines, generally, and exploits historical cases of unethical medical conduct to suggest without evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are uns (Source: FactCheck.org)
Webbys Honor FactChe...: Webbys Honor FactCheck.org We’re happy to announce that FactCheck.org is both the 2017 Webby Award and People’s Voice winner for best political blog or website. This is the fourth consecutive year that we’ve won both awards, which honor excellence on the internet. Since 2007, we’ve won a total of 18 Webbys (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Spin on AIDS...: Trump’s Spin on AIDS Epidemic In his campaign rally speeches, President Donald Trump often boasts of his administration’s plan to end the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. in 10 years. It’s true he has proposed funding for that initiative, but he’s wrong to say “the previous administration spent no money” on such eff (Source: FactCheck.org)
Again with the Wheel...: Again with the Wheelchair First the Republicans claimed President Obama’s health care law taxes “sick puppies,” and now Mitt Romney’s campaign claims the law taxes “wheelchairs.” Wrong again. At issue is a new 2.3 percent excise tax on certain medical devices. The tax is set to kick in next year to help o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Swapped Prison...: Trump Swapped Prisoners, Too Criticizing the Biden administration’s recent prisoner swap of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner as “a one-sided disaster,” former President Donald Trump wrongly boasted that his administration “got 58 hostages released from various hostile countries w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pro-Bush Puffery on...: Pro-Bush Puffery on Economy, Medicare The ad by the pro-Bush group Progress for America Voter Fund claims the economy was already in a recession when Bush took office, but the National Bureau of Economic Research (which dates business cycles) says the recession actually began in March 2001, after Bush took office in (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misleading A...: Trump’s Misleading Ad on Coronavirus Testing A new Trump campaign ad claims that President Donald Trump took “fast action” in regard to testing for the novel coronavirus. While “fast action” is subjective, pandemic experts say the U.S. did not move quickly to set up an adequate system and in fact lagged behind other countri (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Budge...: Video: Trump’s Budget Double Count President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 is the subject of this week’s fact-checking video from CNN’s Jake Tapper. The Trump administration says it expects 3 percent economic growth to pay for big tax cuts and balance the budget in 10 years. But budget expert (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump, ISIS and Iraq...: Trump, ISIS and Iraqi Oil President Donald Trump claimed that the Islamic State, or ISIS, would not exist if the U.S. “kept the oil when we got out” of Iraq. In fact, ISIS largely has been funded through extortion, robbery, taxes and Syrian oil, according to government reports and terrorism financing expe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Dems Mislead on McMa...: Dems Mislead on McMahon’s Tax Stance A TV ad funded by two Democratic PACs falsely claims Linda McMahon’s “tax plan hurts middle-class families.” Actually, her tax plan would reduce the marginal income tax rates for middle-income families — married couples earning roughly between $70,700 and $142,700 — while k (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Baselessly Lin...: Posts Baselessly Link COVID-19 Tests to Vaccine Conspiracy Theory The COVID-19 vaccines currently in use must be administered via injection. But Instagram posts baselessly suggest that Bill Gates and George Soros will use COVID-19 tests to secretly vaccinate people who haven’t yet received the shots. There is no evidence for that conspiracy the (Source: FactCheck.org)
McCarthy Misleads on...: McCarthy Misleads on State and Local Revenue House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy misleadingly argues that federal aid to state and local governments is unnecessary because state and local tax receipts were “the highest… in American history” in the third quarter. State budget experts say the third quarter revenues were in (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pfizer CEO Got Vacci...: Pfizer CEO Got Vaccinated, Contrary to Claim in Video A video making the false claim that the Pfizer CEO “refuses” to get a COVID-19 vaccine has been circulating on Facebook. But the pharmaceutical company’s chief executive has said that he’s gotten his first shot. No vaccine or medical product is 100% safe, but the safety of vacci (Source: FactCheck.org)
Killing Afghan Civil...: Killing Afghan Civilians? Obama did say that troops in Afghanistan were killing civilians, a claim that Palin calls “untrue.” Here’s the whole quote, from a campaign stop in New Hampshire: Obama, August 2007: We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misleads on Pr...: Trump Misleads on Preexisting Conditions The Department of Justice is siding with plaintiffs in a lawsuit that it said, if successful, would end Affordable Care Act protections for those with preexisting conditions. Yet, President Donald Trump claimed that “preexisting conditions are safe” and that he “will always fight (Source: FactCheck.org)
GOP YouTube Debate F...: GOP YouTube Debate Flubs The CNN/YouTube debate among Republicans lacked any talking snowmen, but we did note a few false and misleading statements by the candidates. The Nov. 28 debate, which took place in St. Petersburg, Florida, was hosted by CNN and YouTube.com and moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. (Source: FactCheck.org)
In Pennsylvania Rall...: In Pennsylvania Rallies, Trump Distorts Voting Issues In the swing state of Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump repeatedly rattled off false and misleading claims about ballots and voting in arguing to his supporters “the only way we can lose, in my opinion, is massive fraud.” On Oct. 26, Trump spoke in Allentown, Martinsburg and L (Source: FactCheck.org)
Old and New Claims i...: Old and New Claims in Trump’s CPAC Address In a two-hour address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2, President Donald Trump made questionable and false claims about the fight against ISIS, tariffs and African American income. He also repeated a bevy of claims we’ve debunked before. We focused on ne (Source: FactCheck.org)
Online Claims Misrep...: Online Claims Misrepresent Washington Bill Aimed at Runaway Transgender Youth Q: Does a proposed law in Washington state say that the government can take children away from parents who don’t agree to gender transition surgery? A: No. Under the bill, licensed youth shelters no longer have to report the location of a runaway child to the child’s parents if t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Food-Aid Foolery...: Food-Aid Foolery To learn a bit about how partisans create false political propaganda, take a few moments to study what’s behind this headline: “More People Getting Government Food than Actually Working.” That claim — appearing on the conservative GOPUSA site — is far from true. The number of adu (Source: FactCheck.org)
More Guns, Fewer Mur...: More Guns, Fewer Murders? On CNN’s "State of the Union with Candy Crowley," Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah perpetuated a falsehood about gun ownership and lower murder rates. Lee: And to the contrary, I think there is abundant research suggesting that in cities where more people own guns, the crime rate (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Claims...: FactChecking Claims About the Conflict in Ukraine Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, following months of military buildup and, as we’ve written, repeated denials by Russian officials that their country planned to invade. As is often the case with major news events, we have seen several false and mislead (Source: FactCheck.org)
Good Debt Chart, Hyp...: Good Debt Chart, Hyped Narration A visually striking new ad from a Republican Senate candidate provides a stark image of the U.S. debt problem — and almost gets the numbers right. The 30-second spot hit the airwaves in Wisconsin April 7. It shows GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde climbing up the foothills of an Ev (Source: FactCheck.org)
Still Clubbing Trump...: Still Clubbing Trump on Taxes A rereleased TV ad says Donald Trump “supports higher taxes,” even though Trump has issued a tax plan, since the ad originally aired, that would significantly cut taxes for individuals and businesses. The 30-second ad, called “Politician,” comes from Club for Growth Action, the s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay To wrap up the Labor Day weekend, we present the Lindsey Graham edition of a holiday-delayed Sunday Replay, with cameos from a few minor characters. Graham on Democratic Legislation On NBC’s "Meet the Press," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was skeptical about two Democrat-bac (Source: FactCheck.org)
Groundhog Friday...: Groundhog Friday We give a rundown of repeated claims in our “Groundhog Friday” feature. This week’s edition includes claims on jobs, Iran, the trade deficit and income inequality. Follow the links to our original stories for more on each claim. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Oba (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Tax R...: Video: Trump’s Tax Returns Donald Trump says “there’s nothing to learn” from his income tax returns — a false claim that is the subject of this week’s fact-checking video by CNN’s Jake Tapper. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has declined so far to release his income tax returns because, he (Source: FactCheck.org)
Scary Medicare Claim...: Scary Medicare Claims A new TV ad in Florida harkens back to the notorious “death panel” falsehood. It wrongly claims Medicare benefits could be “rationed” and seniors denied treatment by the new health care law. In fact, the law specifically forbids rationing or restriction of benefits. American Cros (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay The talk shows’ factual failures included misinformation from Karl Rove (about write-in ballots in Alaska), from a former president (about college graduation rates and health in the U.S.) and from a current one (of Iran, about several topics). Rove’s Spelling Lesson Republican st (Source: FactCheck.org)
Republican-funded Gr...: Republican-funded Group Attacks Kerry’s War Record A group funded by the biggest Republican campaign donor in Texas began running an attack ad Aug. 5 in which former Swift Boat veterans claim Kerry lied to get one of his two decorations for bravery and two of his three purple hearts. But the veterans who accuse Kerry are contradi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking Trump on Ford’s Testimony In this week’s video, CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews the multiple false statements that President Donald Trump made about Christine Blasey Ford’s sworn testimony at Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. Ford testified that Kavanaugh, Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, assa (Source: FactCheck.org)
Physician Numbers Up...: Physician Numbers Up Under Obamacare President Donald Trump said that “many of our best and brightest are leaving the medical profession entirely because of Obamacare.” But the number of physicians has increased since 2010, when the Affordable Care Act became law. “We have anecdotes of physicians thinking about leav (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump vs. Fiorina: W...: Trump vs. Fiorina: Who Knows Putin Best? Donald Trump implied he had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the course of taping an episode of CBS’ “60 Minutes” in which they were both interviewed — but the two men were interviewed separately, in different countries. “I got to know him very well because we were both on (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on Frackin...: The Facts on Fracking Chemical Disclosure Q: Are the chemicals in fracking solution protected from being made public by a law passed while Dick Cheney was vice president? A: Yes. A 2005 law bans the federal government from requiring companies to disclose fracking chemicals. But 28 states do require disclosure of some fra (Source: FactCheck.org)
White House Fact-Che...: White House Fact-Checking We welcome competition – or rather, colleagues – in the fact-checking business. But the latest entrant to our line of work is an entity we’ve actually fact-checked, and will continue to fact-check. Regularly. The White House, according to its official blog, is encouraging people (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Minimum Wage...: Biden’s Minimum Wage Exaggeration President Joe Biden overstated the impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15, claiming that “if you’re making less than $15 an hour,” and working 40 hours a week, “you’re living below the poverty wage.” Not everyone earning less than that would be below the federal povert (Source: FactCheck.org)
Senate Bill: Do Prem...: Senate Bill: Do Premiums Go Up or Down? Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer tweeted that premiums would be 300 percent higher under the Senate Republican health care bill for a 64-year-old earning $56,800 in 2026, compared with current law. Republican Sen. John Barrasso said the bill “lowers the rates for insurance 30 percen (Source: FactCheck.org)
SciCheck and Our Com...: SciCheck and Our Commitment to Transparency FactCheck.org launched a feature in 2015 called SciCheck to increase public knowledge and understanding of science and scientific research. Since then, we have posted more than 250 SciCheck articles and videos on subjects such as climate change, Zika, childhood vaccinations, and, (Source: FactCheck.org)
What’s in a Number?...: What’s in a Number? The National Republican Congressional Committee has released a new ad attacking Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello of Virginia for voting with "(Barack) Obama and Nancy Pelosi" for the Waxman-Markey energy bill. It’s part of a broader effort to target several Democratic members. The (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Guide to the Tax C...: A Guide to the Tax Changes The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is now law. The House and Senate approved the bill on Dec. 19. It passed 227-203 in the House with no Democratic votes and 12 Republican “no” votes. The Senate then passed the bill 51-48 along strict party lines, with one Republican senator, John McCain, (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Life of the Moth...: The Life of the Mother Illinois Republican Rep. Joe Walsh falsely claimed that there wasn’t “one instance” where an abortion would be necessary to save the mother’s life. But the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said that more than 600 women die each year due to complications from pr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Polio Elimination Du...: Polio Elimination Due to Vaccination, Not End of Pesticide Use Polio, a paralytic disease caused by a virus, has been eliminated in the U.S. — and nearly wiped out globally — thanks to vaccines. But social media posts are reviving old, false claims that polio is instead caused by pesticides and outbreaks of the disease ended when people stop (Source: FactCheck.org)
At It Again...: At It Again The conservative 60 Plus Association is attacking Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio by dredging up old exaggerations we’ve seen plenty of times before. The claims about the health care law are starting to sound like a broken record: The group claims it’s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Twisted Facts and Fa...: Twisted Facts and Falsehoods in Media Fund Ad The latest ad from the Media Fund — the group headed by former Clinton White House aide Harold Ickes — shows the White House lawn being given over to corporate logos and a neon sign saying “Corporate Headquarters.” There’s no question Bush is pro-business, but this ad goes far ov (Source: FactCheck.org)
Warren’s Role in Asb...: Warren’s Role in Asbestos Case Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown and challenger Elizabeth Warren are accusing each other of “not telling the truth.” Brown says Warren worked to “restrict payments” to asbestos victims, while Warren says she worked to “get more money” for them. We find Warren is correct; Brown’s ad (Source: FactCheck.org)
Videos: Clinton and...: Videos: Clinton and Trump Fact-checks CNN’s Jake Tapper and FactCheck.org offer two fact-checking videos this week covering claims made by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. This first video examines Trump’s false claim that John Podesta, Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, “was quoted in WikiLeaks as saying, il (Source: FactCheck.org)
‘Death Tax’ Talking...: ‘Death Tax’ Talking Point Won’t Die In calling for the repeal of the estate tax, President Donald Trump repeated a popular myth that a farmer’s heirs often have to “sell the farm” in order to pay the tax. In fact, less than 1 percent of the heirs of farm owners are expected to have to pay any estate tax. A professo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Commentators Push Un...: Commentators Push Unfounded Claims About Ohio Train Derailment The derailment of a freight train carrying toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio has sparked a slew of unfounded claims by conservative commentators. There’s no indication that this incident will rise to the level of a “domestic Chernobyl”; it has been covered steadily by the media; fe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rudy Giuliani’s Bogu...: Rudy Giuliani’s Bogus Election Fraud Claims A New York court suspended former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s law license in that state for making “demonstrably false and misleading statements” about the 2020 presidential election results to the courts and the public at large, while serving as former President Donald T (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Attacks Obama,...: Bush Attacks Obama, With All Due Respect Jeb Bush claims that President Obama “believes that America’s leadership and presence in the world is not a force for good.” But we found 19 instances of Obama describing the U.S. as “a force for good,” or something very similar. Bush’s remark, which he made on Sept. 30 in a camp (Source: FactCheck.org)
Whistle-blower? Not...: Whistle-blower? Not So Much An ad from a Democratic group claims that Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick “blew the whistle on the disastrous health care website.” But Kirkpatrick didn’t expose any secret wrongdoing. She merely criticized HealthCare.gov in mid-November, weeks after the site’s launch, by which time its tec (Source: FactCheck.org)
Does Obama’s Plan ‘G...: Does Obama’s Plan ‘Gut Welfare Reform’? A Mitt Romney TV ad claims the Obama administration has adopted “a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements.” The plan does neither of those things. Romney’s ad also distorts the facts when it says that under President Obama’s plan “you wouldn’t have to work and (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton’s Misleading...: Clinton’s Misleading Ad on Drug Prices A Hillary Clinton TV ad claims that “in the last seven years drug prices have doubled.” That’s inaccurate. A report, provided by her campaign, says brand-name drug prices on average have more than doubled. But more than 80 percent of filled prescriptions are generic drugs, and th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Touts Strong J...: Trump Touts Strong Jobs Report, Flubs Some Facts In a Rose Garden address to comment on a surprisingly strong May jobs report, President Donald Trump continued to repeat false, misleading and exaggerated claims about the economy, the administration’s response to COVID-19, the border wall, veterans programs and trade with China. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton Wrong on Gar...: Clinton Wrong on Garland Vote Former President Bill Clinton mistakenly claimed that President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals by a “97 to nothing” vote. The Senate voted 76-23 to confirm Garland, who had been nominated by Clinton. On March 16, Preside (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump and the Corona...: Trump and the Coronavirus Death Rate The World Health Organization says that 3.4% of reported COVID-19 patients worldwide have died – a global fatality figure that President Donald Trump dismissed as “a false number.” It’s not a false number, although experts say Trump has a point that the fatality rate may ultimate (Source: FactCheck.org)
‘Jackpot’ Ad Is a Lo...: ‘Jackpot’ Ad Is a Loser A new TV ad from a conservative group attacks Rep. Gary Peters’ record as Michigan Lottery commissioner. It’s called “Jackpot,” but there are no winners when the facts are this badly distorted. The ad says Peters, who was the state commissioner from 2003 to 2007, “outsourced mill (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Make Unfounded...: Posts Make Unfounded Claims About Political Affiliation of John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Republican President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, was affiliated with the anti-immigrant Know-Nothing Party and was a supporter of slavery and the Confederacy. Social media posts claim without evidence that Booth was a Democrat. President Abraham L (Source: FactCheck.org)
Boehner and the Medi...: Boehner and the Medical Device Tax House Speaker John Boehner exaggerated when he said the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax in the Affordable Care Act “is costing us tens of thousands of jobs that are being shipped overseas.” It’s true that companies have announced the elimination of several thousand position (Source: FactCheck.org)
Establishing Facts...: Establishing Facts New radio ads boosting Newt Gingrich urge conservatives to reject the GOP “establishment” that nominated Bob Dole and John McCain. But in 1996, Gingrich announced that he had voted for Dole over Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan in Georgia’s Republican primary. And in 2008, he mad (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Whoppers of 2022...: The Whoppers of 2022 The midterm elections are finally over, but it won’t be long before the 2024 campaign cycle — which will really start in 2023 — gets going. Before that happens, we’ve put together this list of the year’s biggest whoppers that politicians and others made over the past 12 months. P (Source: FactCheck.org)
Texas-Size Mudballs...: Texas-Size Mudballs in GOP Senate Runoff A bitter GOP primary contest in Texas for a U.S. Senate seat has come to this: an ad featuring a grieving mother who links one of the candidates to her son’s suicide. A Texas super PAC is airing a TV ad that features a distraught mother who says Ted Cruz, a lawyer, “should be abs (Source: FactCheck.org)
Boehner and the Cost...: Boehner and the Cost of Cap and Trade On Sept. 20 on NBC’s "Meet the Press," House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio claimed that according to the Department of Treasury, the Democrats’ proposed cap-and-trade system would be costly for American families: Boehner, Sept. 20: It’s a cap-and-trade system, this big gia (Source: FactCheck.org)
Reid Wrong on Planne...: Reid Wrong on Planned Parenthood Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid claimed in a floor speech that 30 percent of U.S. women get their health care from Planned Parenthood. That’s false. By one measure, the number is less than 3 percent. Reid’s spokesman told the Washington Post Fact Checker that the senator misspo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Gets Ahead of...: Trump Gets Ahead of Himself on COVID-19 Therapies President Donald Trump touted two drugs — including one currently on the market for other uses — that he said show “really good promise” as therapies to COVID-19. But he left the misleading impression that the drugs were “approved” to treat the coronavirus and available for “imme (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay We found a larger-than-usual number of deceptions on the Sunday shows this week, from whoppers to cherry-picked statistics, on subjects as diverse as immigration, the Reagan tax cuts and the new health care law. Here’s our rundown. A Tax Hike for 50 Percent of Small-Business Owne (Source: FactCheck.org)
Darla Shine’s Measle...: Darla Shine’s Measles Misinformation Over a nearly 18-hour Twitter spree, Darla Shine, the wife of Bill Shine, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications, made a series of false and misleading statements about measles and vaccines. We don’t typically analyze statements made by the spouses of p (Source: FactCheck.org)
Twisting Tillis’ Tax...: Twisting Tillis’ Tax Record Two new ads from Senate Majority PAC wrongly claim North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis “raised taxes on 80 percent of North Carolinians.” The claim is based on the Democratic super PAC’s misreading of an analysis of a 2013 Tillis-backed tax plan. The ad hangs on an analys (Source: FactCheck.org)
Vote for Us...: Vote for Us Voting for the 23rd annual Webby Awards is already underway, and we need your help to win another trophy. FactCheck.org again is among the five finalists competing in the category for Websites: News & Politics. The other nominees, which were first announced April 2, are the Washi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rand Paul Baselessly...: Rand Paul Baselessly Says Only Anti-Trump Protesters Arrested at MAGA March In an appearance on Fox News, Sen. Rand Paul claimed without evidence that only counterprotesters were arrested at the Million MAGA March and its tumultuous aftermath, and that they were solely responsible for the outbreaks of violence there. The Washington, D.C., police question (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump ‘Recommended’...: Trump ‘Recommended’ Ohio for Convention? Donald Trump told Fox News that he “recommended” that the Republican National Convention be held in Ohio, saying, “I wanted it to be here.” But Trump announced his intention to run for president nearly one year after the Republican National Committee had selected Cleveland for th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Is Obamacare Causing...: Is Obamacare Causing Health Care Layoffs? Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers blamed the Affordable Care Act for a recent loss of health care jobs, but she based her comment on a reported December downtick that was preliminary and minuscule at that, and that economists say had nothing to do with the new health care law. In fact, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Perry ‘Never’ Raised...: Perry ‘Never’ Raised Taxes? Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he “never raised taxes” in his 14 years as governor of the state. That’s not the case. During his tenure, he increased taxes on businesses, cigarettes, fireworks, diesel equipment and insurance. It’s true that Perry did not raise broad-based taxe (Source: FactCheck.org)
In His Own Words: Tr...: In His Own Words: Trump on Russian Meddling In a tweet about Russia’s interference in the 2016 president campaign, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that he “never said Russia did not meddle in the election.” Before and after the Nov. 8, 2016, election, Trump has expressed the opinion that Russia did not hack the Demo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Haley Barbour’s ‘Amn...: Haley Barbour’s ‘Amnesia’ Haley Barbour accused a fellow governor of “amnesia,” claiming he was forgetting “the fact that Obama had the biggest Democratic majorities in Congress since Lyndon Johnson.” But it was actually Republican Barbour who was having a memory lapse. He forgot about the Democrats’ mass (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kerry Health Care Ad...: Kerry Health Care Ad: Exaggerated, But Mostly on Target Kerry released a TV ad June 3 in which he tells a small gathering that 43 million don’t have health care. That’s not true — he means they don’t have health insurance. He also says health care “ought to be a right that we make accessible and affordable to every single American.” B (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hospitals Overwhelme...: Hospitals Overwhelmed by Another Surge of COVID-19 Patients, Financial Strain The seven-day average of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. has increased by 322% in two months, straining the ability of medical staff in some states to care for patients. Despite the rising numbers, an Instagram post questioned whether COVID-19 is “truly a pandemic that was (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Budget Would...: Trump’s Budget Wouldn’t Erase Deficits, CBO Said Under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018, there would have been hundreds of billions of dollars in deficits each year from 2018 to 2027, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That contradicts Acting White House Chief (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democrats Misleading...: Democrats Misleadingly Suggest Widespread GOP Support for FairTax Bill Unlikely to Become Law Few Republican lawmakers have publicly supported a bill to replace most federal taxes with a national sales tax, a plan that has almost no chance of becoming law, or even passing in the GOP-led House of Representatives — certainly not in the 118th Congress. But that has not stop (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s ‘Most Import...: Trump’s ‘Most Important’ Speech Was Mostly False In what he billed as perhaps “the most important speech I’ve ever made,” President Donald Trump continued his attempt to deceive the American public into believing the election was “rigged.” Trump has presented no evidence for such an explosive charge. Nor have his lawyers, who h (Source: FactCheck.org)
About That Kilkenny...: About That Kilkenny E-Mail So far, we’ve received roughly 43,937,809 (note: number is exaggerated for effect) e-mails asking us whether the chain e-mail from Wasilla’s most famous non-Palin, Anne Kilkenny, is accurate. As we wrote earlier this week, yes, Kilkenny is a real person and she did in fact write (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Tweets Twist...: Trump’s Tweets Twist Facts In the wake of another terrorist attack in Britain, President Donald Trump fired off several tweets about the need for his court-blocked travel ban, contradicting statements from members of his own administration and distorting the facts in the process. Trump’s tweets came in the (Source: FactCheck.org)
False: Voting machines in Alberta election can flip votes A long block of text circulating on Facebook warns voters that machines in use in the Canadian province of Alberta's election can be pre-loaded in favor of one party, or they can flip a person's selections. This is false; the tabulators used to scan and count hand-marked votes from advance polling are publicly tested to show they dispense accurate results and the paper ballots are conserved should a court require a recount. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
Biden’s Wage Claims:...: Biden’s Wage Claims: Mostly Malarkey President Joe Biden has been saying “wages are up” and rising “faster than inflation.” “Even after accounting for rising prices, the typical American family has more money in their pockets than they did last year,” the president said Dec. 3. Well, not so fast. While weekly payche (Source: FactCheck.org)
Outdated Attacks on...: Outdated Attacks on Ryan The Obama campaign points to old proposals by Rep. Paul Ryan in saying that Mitt Romney would pay “less than 1 percent in taxes” under Ryan’s plan and that seniors would pay $6,000 more for Medicare. Ryan’s 2010 budget proposal would have eliminated capital gains and dividend tax (Source: FactCheck.org)
More State of the Un...: More State of the Union A section of our story "Obama’s State of the Union Address" was inadvertently dropped when we posted the article Thursday. It shows that Obama spoke a little too sweepingly when he claimed that lobbyists have been cut out of policymaking jobs in his administration. We’ve added th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Groundhog Friday...: Groundhog Friday Here is our latest edition of Groundhog Friday, an occasional feature highlighting false or misleading claims that we have flagged in the past, but which keep cropping up. Follow the links to our original articles for more information on our debunking of the claims. Donald Trump (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hoyer Inflates CBO’s...: Hoyer Inflates CBO’s Shutdown Cost Estimate The recent five-week partial government shutdown will reduce real U.S. gross domestic product by $3 billion, on net, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. At least twice, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has said CBO put the cost at $11 billion, neglecting to explain that t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Reviewing the Facts...: Reviewing the Facts in Anti-Harris Ad on Accused Child Rapist Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, urged her Twitter followers “to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.” That appeal is now being used in an attack ad to portray her as helping to free an accused child rapist. The ad is the wo (Source: FactCheck.org)
FEMA Staff and Contr...: FEMA Staff and Contracted Medical Workers Are Required to Follow Vaccine Mandate The Federal Emergency Management Agency is deploying contracted medical workers to understaffed hospitals, where they are required to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates. But social media posts falsely claim that “doctors and nurses are being forced to quit over the mandates,” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fetterman Ad Pushes...: Fetterman Ad Pushes Back on Crime A sheriff featured in an ad defending U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman accurately states that Fetterman “voted with law enforcement experts nearly 90% of the time” on the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, and voted to give “a second chance” to nonviolent offenders. But it’s what (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama on Taxes...: Obama on Taxes Obama said that “I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans.” He also said the cut would go to “95 percent of families.” The latter is correct. The Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center analyzed the two candidates’ tax plans and found Obama’s would cut (Source: FactCheck.org)
RNC Ad Mischaracteri...: RNC Ad Mischaracterizes Murtha A Republican National Committee Internet ad uses video of Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania to make it seem he said something that he didn’t. What Murtha said was US allies think the US presence in Iraq makes America a bigger threat to world peace than North Korea or Iran. He was (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay All of the misstatements that crept into the Sunday shows this weekend (at least, all the ones we found) had to do with the economy, the topic that is most on voters’ minds as the midterm elections approach. Beware the Third Rail White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod made an i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Khanna Voted For — a...: Khanna Voted For — and Against — Raising Debt Limit During Trump Era In the early hours of Feb. 9, 2018, Rep. Ro Khanna voted against a budget bill that also raised the federal debt limit. Khanna opposed the bill because it did not include a provision to protect so-called Dreamers — immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Ye (Source: FactCheck.org)
Benton’s Bogus Viagr...: Benton’s Bogus Viagra Ad Don Benton, a Republican from Washington state who is running for U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, is airing a false and misleading ad that says: "Patty Murray voted to use taxpayer money to give Viagra to sex offenders.” The ad goes on to say, “What if I told yo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Numbers (Sec...: Biden’s Numbers (Second Quarterly Update) Since President Joe Biden took office: This is our second quarterly update of “Biden’s Numbers,” the continuation of a regular feature we began in 2012 on statistical measures of the country’s economic and social well-being under the occupant of the White House. As we’ve said ma (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ford Motor Co. Does...: Ford Motor Co. Does U-turn on Bailouts A Ford TV ad slams competitors for accepting bailout funds, even though the company’s CEO lobbied for the bill. The company — the only one of the Big Three not to receive a bailout — feared a collapse of GM and Chrysler at the time would have hurt suppliers and, in turn, Ford its (Source: FactCheck.org)
Distortions and Miss...: Distortions and Misstatements At First Presidential Debate In the first of three scheduled debates between Bush and Kerry both candidates sometimes departed from the facts. Bush glossed over significant problems with US reconstruction efforts in Iraq when he claimed that the US is “spending money” and that 100,000 Iraqi security forces h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Economic Sle...: Obama’s Economic Sleight of Hand In Cleveland, President Barack Obama claimed he created more private-sector jobs in the past 27 months than President George W. Bush created “during the entire seven years before this crisis.” But that’s like comparing apples and mangoes. The president is absolving himself (Source: FactCheck.org)
How Many ‘Lost Jobs’...: How Many ‘Lost Jobs’ in Illinois? Republican Bruce Rauner claims in TV ads that Illinois has lost 90,000 jobs in five years under Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. But Illinois has lost 3,400 jobs in five years — not 90,000 — by the standard definition of “jobs” used by practically all economists and journalists. Rauner (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump University’s D...: Trump University’s D- Rating Donald Trump gets an ‘F’ for a video he posted to YouTube purporting to tell the “truth” about Trump University, the real-estate program that has been the subject of three ongoing lawsuits alleging fraud. In the video, Trump holds up a sheet of paper showing that the Better Busin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz Distorts Trump’...: Cruz Distorts Trump’s Position Sen. Ted Cruz mischaracterized Donald Trump’s position on Planned Parenthood, claiming that both Trump and Hillary Clinton “support taxpayer funding for it.” In August 2015, Trump suggested he might be open to federally funding portions of Planned Parenthood unrelated to abortion (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Falsely Claims...: Trump Falsely Claims He Inherited ‘Empty’ Stockpile More than once, President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that the federal stockpile of emergency medicine and supplies he inherited from his predecessor was an “empty shelf.” While the government does not publicize all of the contents of the repository, at the time Trump took o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misinforming Voters...: Misinforming Voters From The Stump It’s not just the TV ads that contain bum information. Both Bush and Kerry pepper their “stump speeches” with dubious factual claims. In this article we examine three excerpts from each candidate’s recent appearances. In one of them Bush claims “real after-tax incomes are up almo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Falsehoods Follow Ge...: Falsehoods Follow George Floyd’s Death Cities across the country erupted in protests and riots after George Floyd, a black man, died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. The incident was captured on cellphone video that showed Floyd repeatedly saying, “I can’t bre (Source: FactCheck.org)
Winning? Super PAC C...: Winning? Super PAC Compares Republican to Charlie Sheen In a new TV spot called “Tiger Blood,” a Democratic super PAC compares a Florida Republican Senate candidate to party boy actor Charlie Sheen. Winning? Not really. The video ties together a shocking list of allegations against Connie Mack IV, and most are true. But when closely e (Source: FactCheck.org)
Mind-meld: Sotomayor...: Mind-meld: Sotomayor and Conservative Luminaries We’ve just updated our recent Ask FactCheck item on Sonia Sotomayor and the Second Amendment to reflect the latest news: A ruling by three judges on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreeing with her judgment that the amendment doesn’t apply to state and local governments. T (Source: FactCheck.org)
Would Bush Eliminate...: Would Bush Eliminate Overtime Pay for 8 Million? The latest TV ad from the MoveOn.org Voter Fund says “George Bush wants to eliminate overtime pay for 8 million workers,” referring to new overtime rules that the Department of Labor has proposed. The 8-million figure (hotly denied by the Bush administration, of course) comes fro (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Biden’s...: FactChecking Biden’s CNN Town Hall In a prime-time town hall aired on CNN, President Joe Biden overstated some facts and misled on others. The town hall was broadcast on July 21 from Cincinnati, Ohio. The COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. are highly effective in preventing symptomatic disease, hospitalizati (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump, Pence ‘Acid W...: Trump, Pence ‘Acid Wash’ Facts The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email system while secretary of state continues to be a rich source of attack lines for her opponents. But not all of them are accurate: The FBI on Sept. 2 released a two-part summary of its investigation of Clinton an (Source: FactCheck.org)
Vaccines Benefit Tho...: Vaccines Benefit Those Who Have Had COVID-19, Contrary to Viral Posts There is no evidence that vaccines could cause harm to people who already have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or have become ill with the disease COVID-19. On the contrary, recent studies show the vaccine gives an important immunity boost to those previously infected and suggest t (Source: FactCheck.org)
McCain’s $6.8 Billio...: McCain’s $6.8 Billion Boast McCain repeated a questionable boast when he said, “I saved the taxpayers $6.8 billion” by reining in a defense contract. As we mentioned in our analysis of the first debate, there is more to the story. McCain certainly did lead a fight to kill the contract, and the effort ended (Source: FactCheck.org)
‘Dealergate’: Mistak...: ‘Dealergate’: Mistaking Anecdotes for Data Ever since Chrysler announced that it wanted to shed 789 of its 3,188 nationwide dealerships, speculation and outright accusations have circulated to the effect that Republican donors were being singled out. The list of dealers slated for closing contained some who had given to R (Source: FactCheck.org)
Videos: FactChecking...: Videos: FactChecking Cruz and Clinton This week, CNN’s Jake Tapper and FactCheck.org bring you two fact-checking videos featuring claims made by Sen. Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton. The first video looks at Cruz’s claim that Sen. Marco Rubio and Donald Trump, two of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination (Source: FactCheck.org)
COVID-19 Vaccines Do...: COVID-19 Vaccines Don’t Contain Fetal Tissue Despite persistent claims to the contrary, none of the three authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines contains fetal tissue. In an early phase of development, two of the coronavirus shots — the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna — were tested in cell lines that were l (Source: FactCheck.org)
Will Ferrell, Pygmy...: Will Ferrell, Pygmy Horses and Health Insurance MoveOn.org Political Action’s latest video is a satirical send-up of a public service announcement titled "Protect Insurance Companies." It features a collection of actors – including "Saturday Night Live" alum (and Dodge Stratus driver) Will Ferrell, "Mad Men"’s Jon Hamm and "Th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misleading G...: Trump’s Misleading Gun Rhetoric In a bipartisan meeting with members of Congress, President Donald Trump made false and misleading claims about his predecessors’ actions on gun control legislation and shootings in “gun-free zones.” During the meeting, Democrats repeatedly told the president that as a Republican (Source: FactCheck.org)
Health Care Summit:...: Health Care Summit: We Rebut A Pre-buttal The conservative American Future Fund has released an attack ad in anticipation of President Obama’s health care summit with Democrats and Republicans at the Blair House on Thursday. The group said the ad would air on cable television during the week.
It says that the presid (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s Immigration Address In a national address, President Donald Trump called on Congress to provide $5.7 billion for a border wall to address what he called a “crisis” on the border. The president made some false and misleading claims, and provided some facts without context: Trump, who campaigned on a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Original Mavericks,...: Original Mavericks, Old Bunk A new McCain ad, “Original Mavericks,” repeats the claim that Gov. Sarah Palin “stopped the Bridge to Nowhere” last year. We’re here to tell you that no matter how many times she and McCain say it, it’s still misleading. We refer you to our story of last week, GOP Convention Spi (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on Trump’s...: The Facts on Trump’s Post-Election Legal Challenges On Nov. 19, President Donald Trump’s legal team spouted a gusher of false and unfounded allegations of voter fraud at a 90-minute press conference. We could fact check it, but we’re not going to. We’re not going to fact check Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, for repeating (Source: FactCheck.org)
Timeline of FBI Inve...: Timeline of FBI Investigation of Trump’s Handling of Highly Classified Documents The FBI on Aug. 8 executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. A federal judge magistrate signed the warrant after “finding probable cause that evidence of multiple federal crimes would be found” at Trump’s property. A property rece (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kudlow’s Unsupported...: Kudlow’s Unsupported USMCA Jobs Claim White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow claimed without evidence that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement would add “180,000 new jobs per year” in the U.S. Kudlow may have been referencing an April analysis done by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which estimated (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Trade-Balanc...: Trump’s Trade-Balance Mistake President Donald Trump is saying that the U.S. balance of trade improved by a “tremendous” $52 billion in the second quarter of 2018. But the correct figure is much smaller — $22 billion — as two economists with expertise in trade statistics have confirmed for us. Actually, the g (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bodybuilder Died fro...: Bodybuilder Died from COVID-19, Not the Vaccine as Social Media Posts Claim A 62-year-old bodybuilder who had heart disease died after contracting COVID-19. But vaccine opponents are falsely suggesting that he died from the COVID-19 vaccine. He didn’t. He’d been vaccinated 18 months before his death. No vaccine or medical product is 100% safe, but the s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tel...: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Just Argue The Dec. 5 edition of ABC’s “This Week” played host to a heated discussion about the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” legislation. Claims pinged back and forth regarding the recent Pentagon investigation of troop attitudes toward the law. But we caught several people putti (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Full Fact-Check...: The Full Fact-Check of the V.P. Debate We posted several items to The Wire last night as Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden were debating. But in the wee hours of Friday, we also posted a full article on the misleading statements and factual errors we found in their exchange. See our story on the v.p. debate at FactC (Source: FactCheck.org)
COVID-19 Is Caused b...: COVID-19 Is Caused by a Virus, Not Snake Venom The COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a novel coronavirus, first isolated in January 2020. But a viral video has been spreading a conspiracy theory that the pandemic has actually been a plot to poison people with snake venom. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is spread f (Source: FactCheck.org)
What President Biden...: What President Biden Inherits As President Joe Biden takes office, he inherits: These are some of the numbers by which the future successes or failures of the new president will be measured. The Disease — Biden takes office exactly one year after the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in the United States o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fighting Premium Spi...: Fighting Premium Spin with More Spin In a mailer to Virginia voters, the conservative Heritage Action calls out President Obama for breaking his promise to save families up to $2,500 in premiums per year under his health care overhaul. But the group makes its own misleading claims about premiums in the process. Heri (Source: FactCheck.org)
More “Funding the Tr...: More “Funding the Troops” Bunk Democrats are running an attack ad in Washington, D.C., and nationally on cable networks that says Republicans "delayed funding for our men and women in uniform, then they voted against it." But it’s not true. Senate Republicans did delay a vote on military funding, as part of t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s War Stance,...: Obama’s War Stance, Revisited Donald Trump’s campaign manager falsely stated that “everybody just took [then Senator Barack Obama] at his word” in 2008 when he said he would have voted against invading Iraq. In fact, Obama publicly spoke out against the war in October 2002, before the U.S. Senate voted on the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Campaign Takes...: Trump Campaign Takes Biden’s ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ Remarks Out of Context President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign claims a video it posted on social media shows Joe Biden botching the Pledge of Allegiance. But Biden’s words were taken out of context. He wasn’t trying to recite the full pledge, as the post could lead some to believe. The 8-second c (Source: FactCheck.org)
World’s Nicest Night...: World’s Nicest Nightmare On MSNBC Wednesday morning, senior McCain advisor Nicolle Wallace said that John McCain won’t cut taxes for corporations, and that in fact he is “their worst nightmare.” The quote is at about 5:10 in the above video, but if you rewind a bit, you’ll see host Joe Scarborough grill (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kaine Misleads on We...: Kaine Misleads on Weinstein’s Donations Asked if the Clinton-Kaine campaign will return contributions it received from movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, Sen. Tim Kaine repeatedly said the campaign is over. That’s true, but it doesn’t mean the campaign can’t refund donations. As of June 30, the Hillary for America campaign (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s Press Conference In his first press conference since July, President-elect Donald Trump repeated some false and misleading claims on jobs, health care and his tax returns: Trump hasn’t held a press conference since July 27, 2016, during the Democratic National Convention. The purpose was to discu (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gingrich Makes a Mes...: Gingrich Makes a Mess with Janitors Claim Newt Gingrich got it wrong when he claimed “an entry-level janitor gets paid twice as much as an entry-level teacher” in New York City. An entry-level “cleaner” is the closest thing to Gingrich’s description of an “entry-level janitor,” and someone in that position is paid substa (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ted Cruz on Deportat...: Ted Cruz on Deportations Sen. Ted Cruz claimed at the Dec. 15 Republican presidential debate that 12 million people were deported under President Clinton and 10 million people under George W. Bush. But those figures are inflated. We were asked on Twitter to fact-check Cruz’s statement, which came when th (Source: FactCheck.org)
How Does the Inflati...: How Does the Inflation Reduction Act Address Climate Change? Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate plans to hold its first vote on Aug. 6 on the Inflation Reduction Act, surprising legislation that he and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a previous holdout, announced on July 27. The budget reconciliation bill that the two De (Source: FactCheck.org)
More California Fact...: More California Fact-Twisting Republicans aimed more distorted attacks at Democrat Francine Busby in the June 6 special House election to fill the seat vacated by convicted GOP congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who resigned after pleading guilty to accepting bribes. A National Republican Congressional Comm (Source: FactCheck.org)
Targeting Obama with...: Targeting Obama with Bonus ‘AIG’itation The American Issues Project, a conservative group, has released an ad attacking President Obama and congressional Democrats for the bonuses issued by American International Group after it received federal bailout funds. The ad is scheduled to run for the next week on a $500,000 a (Source: FactCheck.org)
New Evidence Support...: New Evidence Supports Bush Military Service (Mostly) With Democrats openly accusing President Bush of being “AWOL” from his Air National Guard service during the 1970’s, the White House released personnel and payroll records showing Bush was paid and credited for service during the period in question. And despite a six-month gap in (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sleazy, False and ‘R...: Sleazy, False and ‘Racist’ Hit in LA A conservative group falsely claims in a web ad that Democrat Janice Hahn "hired hardcore gang members with taxpayer money to be gang intervention specialists" in South Los Angeles. It's true that Hahn, a city councilwoman running in a special election for Congress, supports the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Second Quarter GDP G...: Second Quarter GDP Growth Not a ‘Record’ The estimated second quarter gross domestic product growth rate of 4.1 percent is not “record” or “close-to-record GDP,” as President Donald Trump recently claimed. The actual record is four times higher and occurred back in 1950. The Trump administration has been touting the sec (Source: FactCheck.org)
CDC Document Discuss...: CDC Document Discusses Strategy To Protect Displaced People From COVID-19 A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document reviews the challenges of using a “shielding” approach to protect high-risk people living in places such as refugee camps from COVID-19. But conservative commentator Candace Owens misinterpreted it to mean the agency was propo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Twists Jobs Nu...: Trump Twists Jobs Numbers President Donald Trump says his agenda is all about “jobs, jobs, jobs.” But at a rally in Nashville, and a speech earlier the same day in Detroit, Trump made several misleading claims about jobs, and the effect he has had on them since taking office. Trump made a few other mislea (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misleading A...: Trump’s Misleading Attack on Martinez Donald Trump took several verbal jabs at Republican New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez after she declined to attend his rally in Albuquerque. But his criticism of her effort to keep Syrian refugees out of New Mexico was way off base. Trump wrongly claimed that “Syrian refugees are b (Source: FactCheck.org)
U.S. COVID-19 Vaccin...: U.S. COVID-19 Vaccines Follow Conventional Health Standards and Protocols Clinical and real-world studies have shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing serious disease, and there is a long history of vaccine requirements in the U.S. But a list of bogus claims, shared around the world in recent months, falsely attributes unique chara (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Gingric...: FactChecking Gingrich Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has appeared in our fact-checking stories before. We’ll be taking a close look at the claims he makes on the campaign trail, now that the former House speaker has decided he will run. So we’ll be listening to see if he repeats sta (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Mislead on Num...: Posts Mislead on Number of Election Day Votes in Maricopa County About 540,000 voters went to polling places in Arizona’s Maricopa County on Election Day, including roughly 250,000 who voted in person and over 290,000 who dropped off mail-in and provisional ballots, according to election officials. But online posts falsely claim that while 540 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Social Secur...: Obama’s Social Security Stumble President Barack Obama rewrote the history of the Social Security system during a Dec. 7 press conference, claiming that only widows and orphans originally benefited from the program. Obama was defending a deal the administration reached recently with congressional Republicans to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Osama Bin Missing: W...: Osama Bin Missing: Who’s Tried Hardest to Tackle Top Terrorist? In an extraordinary interview with Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace on Sept. 24, former President Bill Clinton took on critics who have questioned why he didn’t do more during his time in the White House to eliminate Osama bin Laden. Wallace raised the question because, he said, v (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bachmann’s Bad Econo...: Bachmann’s Bad Economics Michele Bachmann wrongly claims there is “not one shred of evidence that lowering the payroll tax rate created jobs.” Actually, the economy has gained more than 1.4 million jobs in the 11 months since the payroll tax holiday began. That’s 84 percent more jobs than were added in t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ad Suggests Trump Lo...: Ad Suggests Trump Loves Nuclear War A TV ad from a Democratic political action committee could leave voters with the false impression that Donald Trump said he “loves” war “including with nukes.” The ad uses two clips back-to-back of Trump speaking at events that were actually several months apart. In the ad, Trump (Source: FactCheck.org)
DNC Chair Throws Tru...: DNC Chair Throws Truth to ‘Wolves’ Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz falsely claimed that seniors with preexisting medical conditions would be denied Medicare coverage under the GOP's plan. The House GOP plan specifically says insurance companies “must agree to offer insurance to all Medicare beneficiaries.” She also (Source: FactCheck.org)
CNN Video Shows Cana...: CNN Video Shows Canadian Fire Gear Donated to Ukraine, Not ‘Fake Footage’ A recent Facebook post falsely claims that CNN footage from the war in Ukraine was faked, citing a firefighter’s jacket bearing the name of a Canadian city. But the footage was shot in Ukraine. The jacket was donated by a Canadian organization. Since Russia launched its invasion (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Foreign Poli...: Trump’s Foreign Policy Speech In his foreign policy speech, Donald Trump claimed that “now 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. Trum (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Economic Spi...: Biden’s Economic Spin In a speech on inflation and the economy, President Joe Biden made some misleading claims and used political spin to criticize Republicans and promote his policies. Biden spoke on May 10. Biden cited two reasons for high inflation: the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian President Vlad (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Misleads on Pre...: Bush Misleads on Premium Growth Jeb Bush said President Obama promised to lower health insurance premiums, but now “the president’s own team” says premiums will increase by “$2,900 over the next 10 years.” That’s misleading. Obama did not promise to cut premiums; he promised to cut the rate of growth in premium (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misplaced Ba...: Trump’s Misplaced Baltimore Bias President Donald Trump misleadingly suggested Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein may be biased against him because Rosenstein “is from Baltimore” and “there are very few Republicans in Baltimore.” Rosenstein, who has testified that he is not a member of any political party (Source: FactCheck.org)
Distortions Galore a...: Distortions Galore at Second Presidential Debate Both candidates played loose with the facts at the second Presidential Debate in St. Louis Oct. 8. Bush claimed Kerry’s health-care plan would lead to rationing and “ruin the quality of health care in America,” a claim unsupported by neutral experts. Kerry claimed the Bush admini (Source: FactCheck.org)
Warren Misleads on H...: Warren Misleads on Her Kids’ Schooling Sen. Elizabeth Warren misleadingly told a group of school-choice activists that her children “went to public schools,” not private ones. Warren’s campaign later clarified that her daughter attended public school, while her son mostly attended private school. The subject of where (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Guide to Our Coron...: A Guide to Our Coronavirus Coverage Today we launched a new Coronavirus Coverage page to help readers navigate our website and more easily find the articles they want to read. The landing page provides a list of our latest stories — those published in the past seven days — our most popular political fact-checking s (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s West Virginia Rally At a rally in West Virginia, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that his administration is “bringing back to America” manufacturing jobs “by the hundreds of thousands.” In fact, about 70,000 manufacturing jobs have been added since he took office, federal labor statistics sho (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Extreme Weather-...: The Extreme Weather-Warming Connection Rep. Lamar Smith made several incorrect claims in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece regarding connections between climate change and severe weather. In an op-ed titled “The Climate-Change Religion,” Smith, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Committee on Science, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gingrich Spanish Rad...: Gingrich Spanish Radio Ad Pulled Before we got a chance to write about it, Newt Gingrich yanked a Spanish-language radio ad off the airwaves in Florida. The reason: No, it wasn’t a stellar fact-checking by journalists. Rather, it was Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s complaint that the ad’s criticism of Mitt Romney (Source: FactCheck.org)
It’s Official: Obama...: It’s Official: Obama “Born in the U.S.A.” Of all the nutty rumors, baseless conspiracy theories and sheer disinformation that we’ve dealt with at FactCheck.org during campaign 2008, perhaps the goofiest is the claim that Barack Obama is not a “natural-born citizen” and therefore not eligible to be president under the con (Source: FactCheck.org)
Giuliani’s Misleadin...: Giuliani’s Misleading Attack on de Blasio and Crime Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani misleadingly contrasted his mayoral record on crime with a recent spike in murders under Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, citing the uptick as evidence that Democratic mayors are “a danger to their people.” Major crimes are down under de B (Source: FactCheck.org)
Blurring the Record...: Blurring the Record in Utah A group supporting Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch claims in a TV ad that a Republican challenger “voted to allow state employees to double dip, collecting a pension and a pay check.” That’s a gross exaggeration. Hatch’s opponent, former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, actually authored a bill (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactCheck’s Most Wan...: FactCheck’s Most Wanted Enthusiastic truth-seekers (and angry partisans) have been inundating us with questions this election cycle. We’re thrilled to be your go-to guys, but sometimes the rumors take a long time to untangle — the truth is rarely straightforward enough to fit neatly into an ad, a sound (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay On this week’s Sunday talk shows, we found false claims on the debt, discretionary spending, foreign-funded attack ads and polling data. Wrong on Debt On ABC’s "This Week," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made a false claim about the federal debt — a claim that we debunk (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Comparing Bar...: Video: Comparing Barr, Mueller Remarks This fact-checking video by CNN’s Jake Tapper compares what special counsel Robert Mueller and Attorney General William Barr have said about Mueller’s decision not to make a determination on whether President Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice. Tapper asks these three (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Bogus Boast...: Trump’s Bogus Boast on Ford Donald Trump took multiple bows for getting Ford to change its plans to build new manufacturing facilities in Mexico, and instead build a “massive plant” in Ohio. The problem: Ford says it hasn’t changed its plans at all. After tweeting his accomplishment over the weekend, Trump (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Texas Doctor...: Video: Texas Doctor Spreads False Claims About Moderna, Pfizer Vaccines Update, Aug. 23, 2021: The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which was previously authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, received full approval from the agency on Aug. 23 for people 16 years of age and older. Update, Feb. 10, 2022: The Moderna COVID-19 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Tweets Misrepresent...: Tweets Misrepresent Border Data As of July, there had been more than 1.3 million “encounters” at the southwest border in fiscal year 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. That does not mean that 1.3 million people crossed the border, nor does it mean that 1.3 million people tried to illega (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ad Links Warnock to...: Ad Links Warnock to ‘Defunding the Police’ A conservative group’s deceptive TV ad suggests that Democrat Raphael Warnock supports defunding the police. He has said multiple times that he doesn’t. The ad, from the American Crossroads super PAC, features Harris County, Georgia, Sheriff Mike Jolley accusing Warnock of being (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s False and Ex...: Biden’s False and Exaggerated Supreme Court Claims In remarks following the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made several false and exaggerated claims while arguing that the Senate should wait until after the Nov. 3 election to let the next president choose her Supreme Cour (Source: FactCheck.org)
Optimistic Job Stats...: Optimistic Job Stats Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, talked jobs with NBC "Meet the Press" host David Gregory on Sunday. The interview came a few days after the release of encouraging numbers — employment rose by 162,000 in March, the biggest one-month increase (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video Doesn’t Prove...: Video Doesn’t Prove Capitol Police Allowed Jan. 6 Protesters to Enter Capitol More than 400 people have been charged in relation to the Jan. 6 events at the U.S. Capitol, and there is ample evidence that many protesters defied and assaulted Capitol Police officers that day. Yet viral social media posts are falsely claiming a video clip proves that “Capitol (Source: FactCheck.org)
Our Year-end Appeal...: Our Year-end Appeal Update: As of Jan. 1, our total stood at $83,607. We will be processing additional late-arriving paper checks in the days to come, and will update again in a few days when we make our regular quarterly financial report. Thanks to all who made year-end donations. Your gifts will (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Evidence for Kari...: No Evidence for Kari Lake’s Claim that Maricopa County Ballots Lacked Chain of Custody Records A judge on Dec. 24 dismissed Kari Lake’s claim that there was no chain of custody for 300,000 mail-in ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, during the 2022 election, yet posts on social media continue to spread the baseless claim. Every mail-in ballot in the county had a unique ba (Source: FactCheck.org)
Crossroads Changes P...: Crossroads Changes Plane False Attack After yanking an ad with a false claim off the air in North Dakota, Crossroads GPS is back with an amended version that is technically accurate, but still grossly misleading. The original ad claimed that Democratic Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp “spent taxpayer dollars on privat (Source: FactCheck.org)
Deceptive Second Ame...: Deceptive Second Amendment Ads Ads posted on Facebook from a committee working to reelect President Donald Trump claim that Democrats are calling for the Second Amendment to be repealed. To support the claim, the Trump campaign pointed to statements by a few state lawmakers and one candidate for U.S. Senate. T (Source: FactCheck.org)
Anti-Trump Protests...: Anti-Trump Protests in London Not ‘Fake News’ President Donald Trump claimed not to have seen the large groups of anti-Trump protesters during his trip to the United Kingdom this week, and then falsely labeled media reports of those protests “fake news.” In reality, images and video support reporting by major news organizati (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Off-Base on Cr...: Trump Off-Base on Cruz Loan Rates Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed that the loan rates Sen. Ted Cruz received during his 2012 Senate run were “lower than you could get, lower than anybody could get.” In fact, the evidence shows the interest rates Cruz reported were attainable at the time. On (Source: FactCheck.org)
Revisiting Trump’s W...: Revisiting Trump’s Wiretap Tweets CNN’s report that federal investigators “wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort” has prompted some readers to ask why we don’t “correct” our March 6 article “Examining Trump’s Wiretap Claim.” Simply put, there is nothing to correct at this time. Let’s start at th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Media Posts M...: Social Media Posts Mislead on COVID-19 Vaccines, Deaths in Afghanistan Afghanistan has implemented a COVID-19 vaccination program and, although administration of vaccines has slowed due to internal armed conflicts, the program is still underway. But some prominent conservative purveyors of misinformation in the U.S. have made false claims about vacc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz Cherry-picks Te...: Cruz Cherry-picks Terrorism Comments Sen. Ted Cruz has criticized President Obama and the White House for not mentioning how religious discrimination fueled terrorist attacks in Paris and Libya this year. But to make his point, Cruz focuses on certain remarks and ignores others. Cruz, a GOP presidential candidate, m (Source: FactCheck.org)
Campaigning on Singl...: Campaigning on Single Payer? On “Meet the Press” on June 28, former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney falsely claimed that President Obama had called for a “single-payer” health care system on the campaign trail: Romney: President Obama, when he was campaigning, said he wanted a sing (Source: FactCheck.org)
NRSC’s Attack on Hic...: NRSC’s Attack on Hickenlooper Lacks Proof, Context A Republican TV ad strongly implies — without proof — that former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper accepted donations in exchange for not penalizing an oil and gas company involved in a fatal home explosion in 2017. “A community devastated, but no one went to jail. No fines under (Source: FactCheck.org)
Falsehoods About For...: Falsehoods About Ford In the days after Christine Blasey Ford came forward to describe an alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when they were teenagers, a series of falsehoods about the woman circulated online, questioning her credibility and motives. Ford, a California prof (Source: FactCheck.org)
Late Ad Misleadingly...: Late Ad Misleadingly Claims Republican Candidate for Governor Could ‘Slash’ State Police Funding Tudor Dixon, a Republican candidate for governor in Michigan, proposes to phase out the state’s individual income tax, though she has not detailed how she would cut state government spending to make up for the lost revenue. Since the tax helps to fund the state police budget, a g (Source: FactCheck.org)
Evidence Still Lacki...: Evidence Still Lacking to Support Ivermectin as Treatment for COVID-19 Randomized controlled trials haven’t found ivermectin is beneficial in treating COVID-19, although results for ongoing studies will provide a more definitive answer. Yet, a video presents two weak studies as “powerful” and “overwhelming” evidence that the medication works to comb (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton’s Email Brag...: Clinton’s Email Brag Hillary Clinton gave an odd — and factually inaccurate — account of how the controversy over her email habits as secretary of state mushroomed into a public spectacle. Clinton chalked it up to her pride in her work at the State Department and her desire for government transparenc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Immigration...: Obama’s Immigration Amnesia President Barack Obama tried to rewrite history by claiming that his position had not changed regarding legal authority for executive orders on immigration that he is now considering. During a press conference in Brisbane, Australia, Obama was asked what had changed since he made (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rand Paul’s Supply-s...: Rand Paul’s Supply-side Distortion Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul claimed that 20 million jobs were created after President Ronald Reagan’s dramatic tax cuts in the 1980s, and that this was the “last time” such job growth took place. Paul is wrong on both counts. The fact is that the economy added just over 16.1 million (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misleading ‘Defund t...: Misleading ‘Defund the Police’ Attack on Dr. Oz Dr. Mehmet Oz has been outspoken about opposing defunding the police. But an ad from a conservative super PAC misleadingly claims that the Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate was “a spokesman for a group who wanted to defund the police.” The tangential link the ad relies on (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Media Posts M...: Social Media Posts Misrepresent Victims of Hospital Bombed in Mariupol Russian planes bombed a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, killing three people and injuring at least 17, including two pregnant women seen in photos shared around the world. Social media posts falsely claimed one woman “posed” as the two women. One of the women died of h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Stockman’s Fiery Rhe...: Stockman’s Fiery Rhetoric David Stockman claims that discretionary spending is "out of control." But it’s up just 1.6 percent this year. The former Reagan administration budget director caught our attention with an incendiary quote to The Fiscal Times news site, where he urged fellow Republicans to shut (Source: FactCheck.org)
Nadler Gets the Fact...: Nadler Gets the Facts Wrong on Russia Probe Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, misrepresented the facts regarding two key moments in the special counsel’s investigation of President Donald Trump and his campaign: Nadler, a New York Democrat, appeared March 24 on CNN’s “State of the Union” to disc (Source: FactCheck.org)
We Rebut American Pr...: We Rebut American Progress Action Fund’s Rebuttal We posted the following update to our Oct. 20 article, “Obama’s False Medicare Claim” Update, Oct. 21: The Center for American Progress Action Fund issued a rebuttal to this article, claiming our analysis is “flawed,” that this article “relies solely on the denials of McCain sen (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Media Posts M...: Social Media Posts Make Unsupported Claims About Zelensky’s Income, Net Worth Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had an income of about $623,000 in 2020, according to his financial disclosure submitted to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption in Ukraine. But posts on social media claim, without evidence, that he has a monthly income of $ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gorsuch’s ‘Mainstrea...: Gorsuch’s ‘Mainstream’ Measurement Supporters of Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination describe him as a “mainstream judge.” Their evidence: He has sided nearly 99 percent of the time with the majority on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and 97 percent of the court’s rulings were unanimous. But thos (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Misleading Dark Mo...: A Misleading Dark Money Attack on Ossoff A Republican TV ad falsely suggests that “liberal megadonors” are spending $1 billion in “dark money” to help Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s Senate runoff race. That’s how much multiple experts estimate may be spent on all candidates in both Georgia Senate elections for the ent (Source: FactCheck.org)
Reid Wrong on AFP Cr...: Reid Wrong on AFP Criticism Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wrongly blamed the conservative group Americans for Prosperity for promoting a “false” story of a woman whose insurance premiums went up $700 per month. AFP didn’t feature that woman’s story in any of its ads. In a floor speech on Feb. 26, Reid l (Source: FactCheck.org)
Group Blows Fuse Wit...: Group Blows Fuse With Electric Bill Claim A conservative group goes too far in TV ads that claim a new EPA regulation on coal power plants will make Ohio’s electric bills “skyrocket.” Utility officials say it’s too soon to determine how big the impact will be. Nationally, projections from the Energy Information Administ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cantor Mislabels Opp...: Cantor Mislabels Opponent, The Sequel A new ad from House Republican Leader Eric Cantor again misrepresents his primary opponent’s role on a state economic forecasting board, and this time the ad misappropriates our credibility by citing a story in which we dinged Cantor for twisting the facts. The ad again paints Da (Source: FactCheck.org)
Generals Contradict...: Generals Contradict Biden on Afghanistan Advice Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, contradicted President Joe Biden’s claim last month that top military advisers didn’t recommend keeping a residual force in Afghanistan. In a Sept. 28 Senate hearing, both (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Faulty ‘Doub...: Trump’s Faulty ‘Double Standard’ Document Claim Former President Donald Trump made a series of faulty comparisons to other past presidents to argue that he was being held to a double standard regarding the FBI’s pursuit of his presidential documents. Trump accused several of his presidential predecessors of storing White House (Source: FactCheck.org)
DCCC’s Troop Pay Dec...: DCCC’s Troop Pay Deception Republican Rep. Jeff Denham of California is suing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee over an ad accusing him of turning his back on pay for troops while voting to guarantee his own pay. We find the ad’s claims to be distorted and misleading. Voting Against Pay for T (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Day 3 of the...: Video: Day 3 of the Convention CLEVELAND — FactCheck.org’s Lori Robertson talks with USA Today‘s Paul Singer about claims made during the third day of the Republican National Convention. The video can be found here. Robertson and Singer discussed these statements: See our full story, “FactChecking Day 3 of the (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s Town Hall In an Oct. 15 town hall on NBC News, President Donald Trump made false and misleading claims on the coronavirus, the economy and more: The NBC News town hall was held in Miami and hosted by “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie. Over on ABC News, Democratic presidential nominee Jo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Health Sensors Misco...: Health Sensors Misconstrued as Government Tracking ‘Microchips’ A digital device company is developing gel sensors that would monitor the wearer’s health and could potentially help to detect future outbreaks of disease. But conspiracy theorists are falsely claiming that the sensors are actually COVID-19-detecting microchips that will be used (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Wrong About WT...: Trump Wrong About WTO Record When it comes to litigation brought to the World Trade Organization for dispute resolution, the U.S. wins the vast majority of cases it brings, and it loses most of the cases brought against it. That’s generally how other countries fare before the WTO as well. Those facts run con (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kingston’s False ‘Am...: Kingston’s False ‘Amnesty’ Connection Less than a week before the Republican runoff election for Senate in Georgia, Rep. Jack Kingston is falsely claiming that his opponent, David Perdue, “sat on a board promoting amnesty for illegal immigrants.” Perdue did not sit on the board in question, and he had nothing to do w (Source: FactCheck.org)
A ‘Willie Horton’ Ad...: A ‘Willie Horton’ Ad in Nebraska Every now and then we see a powerful attack ad that is factually accurate, but makes such a strong appeal to fear that we urge viewers to pause to consider all the facts. That’s the case in Nebraska, where a TV ad has been compared to the infamous Willie Horton ad. The National R (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Says Kerry Will...: Bush Says Kerry Will Raise Taxes $900 Billion; Kerry Says That’s False In its first attack ad to hit the airwaves, the Bush campaign accuses Kerry of proposing to raise taxes by $900 billion. Kerry denies that. And Bush’s ad fails to mention that Kerry’s “new government spending” would provide health insurance to more than 26 million who don’t have (Source: FactCheck.org)
‘Unequivocal’ Eviden...: ‘Unequivocal’ Evidence that Humans Cause Climate Change, Contrary to Posts of Old Video There is “unequivocal” evidence that humans are causing global warming, the U.N. climate change panel has said. But viral posts revive a 2014 video of Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman falsely claiming “climate change is not happening.” The channel, which supports the scien (Source: FactCheck.org)
Facebook Post Recycl...: Facebook Post Recycles Misleading Assessment of Vulnerable and Endangered Species Climate change and other human-caused factors continue to put many species at risk, according to conservation groups. But a social media post misleadingly claims polar bears, whales and koala populations are “recovered” or increasing. All three species remain “critically endanger (Source: FactCheck.org)
Explaining McCain’s...: Explaining McCain’s Defense ‘Cut’ Sen. John McCain says the budget deal President Donald Trump reached with Democratic leaders “basically freezes last year’s funding in place, which is a cut of $52 billion” in defense spending. In fact, the deal doesn’t cut the defense budget at all. The legislation — known as a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Let’s Get to Work –...: Let’s Get to Work – On the Facts Let’s Get to Work, a political committee largely financed by Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott’s wife, is at it again — falsely claiming that Attorney General Bill McCollum used a “chartered airplane” to commute to work and charged taxpayers $280,000. McCollum has acc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney vs. Santorum:...: Romney vs. Santorum: A Misleading Contrast Pro-Romney forces are looking beyond Michigan, hammering Rick Santorum in four other states with a new TV ad making some misleading claims. With much of the political focus on upcoming Republican primaries in Michigan and Arizona, the ad from Restore Our Future sets its sights fu (Source: FactCheck.org)
Club for Growth: Cha...: Club for Growth: Chafing Chafee’s Record The Club for Growth is running a TV ad attacking Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, claiming he voted for wasteful spending projects such as a “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska. In fact, Chafee didn’t vote specifically for any of the items mentioned. All were relatively (Source: FactCheck.org)
Florida GOP Attacks...: Florida GOP Attacks Crist with Misleading Claims About the IRS and Police President Joe Biden and Democrat Charlie Crist have said that they don’t support calls from some activists to defund the police. And a law that both men supported provides funding for the IRS to potentially hire tens of thousands of new employees — most of whom would work in cust (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Power Puffer...: Trump’s Power Puffery At a meeting on international trade, President Donald Trump falsely claimed his policies have reduced the cost of electricity for U.S. businesses. In fact, electricity costs have increased in Trump’s first 10 months in office. The president made his boast during a meeting on trad (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Misinterpret N...: Posts Misinterpret NYC Health Tweet About Omicron Subvariant XBB.1.5 An unclear tweet from New York City health officials was meant to caution residents that the latest omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, might be more likely than previous variants to infect vaccinated or previously infected people. Social media posts misinterpreted the tweet to mean tha (Source: FactCheck.org)
Harris, Warren Wrong...: Harris, Warren Wrong About Brown Shooting On Aug. 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in what the Obama administration’s Department of Justice determined was an act of “self-defense.” But Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren re (Source: FactCheck.org)
Recycled Spin at New...: Recycled Spin at New Hampshire GOP Debate At the latest debate, the Republican presidential candidates repeated several claims they’ve made before. The candidates participated in a roundtable-style discussion at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where they reiterated false and misleading lines about the federal health (Source: FactCheck.org)
Opposition Overreach...: Opposition Overreach in Nevada Here we go again: opposition researchers spinning sensational-sounding claims from flimsy facts. This time it’s a Democratic ad claiming GOP Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada voted “23 times” against banning terrorists from buying guns. The fact is, there has not been a single up-or-down v (Source: FactCheck.org)
Guilt By Association...: Guilt By Association in Louisiana In a classic case of misdirection, the Senate Majority PAC claims the “out-of-state billionaire Koch brothers” are spending millions to elect Republican Bill Cassidy so that he will “fight for them” on issues such as their “fight to let flood insurance premiums soar.” The problem (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pork Radio...: Pork Radio Former GOP presidential nominee John McCain is running attack ads again — this time against a fellow Republican who may contest his Senate seat this year. Hotline’s Reid Wilson has the script for a new radio spot McCain is running against former congressman (and current Arizona r (Source: FactCheck.org)
Were Funds Shifted A...: Were Funds Shifted Away from Hurricane Relief? As Hurricane Florence continued to threaten the East Coast, Sen. Jeff Merkley released a document that he said shows nearly $10 million that could have been used for hurricane recovery efforts was recently diverted from the Federal Emergency Management Agency — which oversees fed (Source: FactCheck.org)
U.S. Not Ranked the...: U.S. Not Ranked the ‘Cleanest’ Country President Donald Trump recently said “we’ve got the cleanest country in the planet right now” when it comes to “clean air” and “clean water.” Rankings compiled by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities say otherwise. Out of 180 countries studied, the U.S. comes in at No. 2 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pelosi’s ‘Crumbs’ Co...: Pelosi’s ‘Crumbs’ Comment in Context President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence ridiculed House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi for likening $1,000 bonuses paid to some employees as a result of the GOP tax cuts to “crumbs.” Pelosi says the “crumbs” comment was comparing what workers got in the Republican ta (Source: FactCheck.org)
Photo Shows 2018 Fra...: Photo Shows 2018 France World Cup Celebration, Not Vaccine Protest Social media posts are misrepresenting an old photo from France by suggesting the sea of people in the streets shows “[p]eople are waking up against vaccine tyranny.” The photo actually shows a celebration in Paris after France won the 2018 World Cup.
How d (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Claims...: Trump’s False Claims About Dairy Farms In a campaign rally in Wisconsin, President Donald Trump falsely claimed the state’s dairy farms were “decimated” under the Obama/Biden administration but “now … are doing very well,” and he greatly overstated the potential impact of the new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Tweets...: Trump’s False Tweets on Syria After announcing a withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria at the border with Turkey, President Donald Trump tweeted incorrect statements about the conflict. On Oct. 7, Trump claimed the United States’ involvement in Syria was originally supposed to last “30 days,” but experts told us (Source: FactCheck.org)
Chiropractor Again P...: Chiropractor Again Peddles False, Misleading COVID-19 Claims The delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is more transmissible than previous forms of the virus, and has helped spur an increase in cases, including in children. But a chiropractor in a Facebook video wrongly claims that “it is not showing more of a problem.” Tha (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Evidence Sanctuar...: No Evidence Sanctuary Cities ‘Breed Crime’ In a pre-Super Bowl interview on Fox, President Donald Trump claimed sanctuary cities “breed crime.” But limited research on the effect of such policies has found no evidence that they lead to overall increases in crime rates. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement documented n (Source: FactCheck.org)
False Claims About P...: False Claims About Palin Readers have been filling up our inbox with questions regarding claims being made about McCain’s v.p. pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. We found many charges to be false or misleading. Palin didn’t cut funding for special needs education, for instance. Nor was she ever a member of t (Source: FactCheck.org)
What We Know About t...: What We Know About the Claims of Military Dogs Left in Kabul Q: Did the U.S. abandon its military dogs during its withdrawal from Afghanistan? A: The Department of Defense maintains that none of its military service dogs were left behind. But animal welfare groups say some contract working dogs — which did not belong to the U.S., though s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Former Presidents Ar...: Former Presidents Are Not Allowed to Take Home Official Records The National Archives recovered 15 boxes of materials from former President Donald Trump’s time in office. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, claimed that the law allowed Trump to “take documents when he left the White House.” But a former president isn’t allowed to take po (Source: FactCheck.org)
Miscasting McAuliffe...: Miscasting McAuliffe’s Abortion Stance An ad from a conservative super PAC claims without evidence that “Terry McAuliffe supports abortion on demand at any time for any reason — paid for by Virginia taxpayers.” The McAuliffe campaign tells us that he “supports keeping existing Virginia laws on when abortions are legal (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney’s Shaky Job C...: Romney’s Shaky Job Claims Mitt Romney has taken to saying that he created more than 100,000 net jobs through his work in the private sector, and more jobs as governor than President Obama has created since taking office. But the first claim is unproven, and the second is misleading. It’s true that the pri (Source: FactCheck.org)
Campaign Funny Busin...: Campaign Funny Business An ad from the Romney campaign mocks President Obama’s proposal to create a “Secretary of Business,” but misrepresents the president’s proposal. The ad says that “his solution to everything is to add another bureaucrat.” But in fact, Obama’s plan actually seeks to consolidate mor (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama Oversells U.S....: Obama Oversells U.S. Economy In a recent speech, President Obama criticized Republicans for making claims about the economy and health care that are “not supported by the facts.” But Obama resorted to some spin of his own. The president gave his economic address June 1 at Concord Community High School in Elk (Source: FactCheck.org)
Stimulus Saves First...: Stimulus Saves First Lady’s Brother? We figured that people would recognize this latest chain e-mail for the hoax that it is. It makes a ridiculously false claim about Craig Robinson, who is the head coach of Oregon State University’s men’s basketball team and First Lady Michelle Obama’s older brother. But judging (Source: FactCheck.org)
Even Opponents Call...: Even Opponents Call Iowa Anti-immigration Ad Factually Accurate An ad running heavily in Iowa says meatpackers replaced Iowans with thousands of foreign workers and then cut wages “almost in half.” That claim is true, according to academics who studied the Iowa meatpacking industry. But the same academics disagree with the ad’s anti-immigrati (Source: FactCheck.org)
RGA Not Amused by Da...: RGA Not Amused by Daggett Chris Christie, the Republican nominee in New Jersey’s gubernatorial contest, recently called the candidacy of Chris Daggett, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator who’s running on the Independent ticket, an "amusement." But the Republican Governors Association i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Playing Video Games...: Playing Video Games in Kansas Primary In the closing days of the Senate Republican primary in Kansas, Sen. Pat Roberts released an ad that takes a video clip of his opponent, Milton Wolf, out of context to cast doubt on Wolf’s opposition to President Obama’s policies. The ad shows Wolf, who is a distant cousin of Oba (Source: FactCheck.org)
He Said, She Said in...: He Said, She Said in the NY-20 The latest dust-up in the special election campaign for New York’s 20th district House seat, which we’ve written about here and here, involves the National Republican Trust PAC. It’s a twisted tale. We’ll start on March 13, when Politico.com’s Ben Smith reported that the National (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump Talks I...: Video: Trump Talks Immigration Donald Trump’s trip to Mexico and his speech in Arizona on immigration are the focus of this week’s fact-checking video from CNN’s Jake Tapper. Tapper reviews five statements from Trump about immigration, including claims about the number of people living in the U.S. illegally a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump on the Paris A...: Trump on the Paris Agreement Trump made two claims about the Paris Agreement, a global accord aimed at addressing climate change, that require context: Trump made his claims at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on his 100th day in office, April 29. Trump, April 29: Our government rushed to join internatio (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sanders on Climate L...: Sanders on Climate Link to Terrorism Sen. Bernie Sanders went too far with his debate claim that “climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism.” One study concluded that man-made climate change likely worsened a drought in Syria and contributed to instability there. But the report stops short of dra (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay The first set of Sunday shows since the midterm elections featured a number of Republicans talking about how they’ll exercise their increased power. We’d just like to set the facts straight — on the budget, the health care law, taxes and other subjects. Democrats, too, weren’t im (Source: FactCheck.org)
Our Annual Fundraisi...: Our Annual Fundraising Appeal It is that time of year when we ask for you to help support fact-based reporting on major public policy issues. This year, we have brought you reports on the Capitol riot, including a same-day fact-checking article of then President Donald Trump’s falsehood-filled speech at the r (Source: FactCheck.org)
NRCC’s Sneak Preview...: NRCC’s Sneak Preview of 2014 In a sneak preview of the 2014 campaign, a GOP ad in North Carolina says Rep. Mike McIntyre “voted to spend $1.8 trillion on Obamacare” and “keep Obamacare’s taxes.” Spoiler alert: The ad is misleading. In fact, McIntyre voted twice against the health care bill, and he voted twic (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fact-Checking Obama’...: Fact-Checking Obama’s Oil Speech In his June 15 speech to the nation on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama overstated some things, including how quickly he assembled a government team to work with BP. Here are some statements that we found to be less than accurate. Administration Respons (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Repeats ‘Crimi...: Trump Repeats ‘Criminal Alien’ Claim President-elect Donald Trump repeated an exaggerated claim that there are “probably 2 million” or “even 3 million” criminals living illegally in the U.S. One estimate puts the figure at about 820,000. Trump made his remarks in an interview with Lesley Stahl on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Graham Goes Too Far...: Graham Goes Too Far in Kavanaugh’s Defense Sen. Lindsey Graham went beyond what is publicly known about an accusation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was involved in a sexual assault as a teenager, saying “everybody named in regard to being there said it didn’t happen.” It’s true that all four of the people Chr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Axelrod Wrong on Hea...: Axelrod Wrong on Health Care Ads Claim White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod incorrectly claimed that Republican Scott Brown “didn’t run one ad on health care in the entire campaign” against Democrat Martha Coakley. In fact, a Brown campaign TV spot attacking health care legislation ran heavily in the days before T (Source: FactCheck.org)
Newt’s Erroneous Eth...: Newt’s Erroneous Ethics Alibi Newt Gingrich falsely claimed the House ethics panel that voted to reprimand him in 1997 was “a very partisan political committee.” He was also off base when he said the inquiry was “a Pelosi-driven effort.” In fact, the House Committee on Ethics is the only House panel evenly di (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Long-Term View...: The Long-Term View As part of his ongoing health-care-overhaul tour, President Barack Obama held a town hall event July 1 in Annandale, Va. Among the president’s messages: Medicare and Medicaid spending are getting out of control. And he’s right. Obama said: “And for those who rightly worry about d (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misleading Mailer in...: Misleading Mailer in NJ In New Jersey’s 3rd congressional district, Republican candidate Jon Runyan made an early attack on Democratic incumbent John Adler in a campaign flier he released June 1. The flier exaggerates when it says Adler “created” the state’s estate tax, and makes true, but misleading, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Health Care and the...: Health Care and the “One Way Hash” Here at FactCheck.org, we like to complicate things. The statement isn’t meant to be (entirely) a flippant one. It really is true that a lot of what we do here is to take what appear to be pretty simple claims and show that the reality is far more complicated than it might appear (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz Distorts ACA Im...: Cruz Distorts ACA Impact on Seniors, Children Sen. Ted Cruz says his “fight against Obamacare must continue,” and so must our fact-checking of claims about the law. Cruz distorted the impact of the Affordable Care Act on two vulnerable populations — the elderly and special needs children: Medicare Advantage On Oct. 16, when (Source: FactCheck.org)
Spinning Popular Sup...: Spinning Popular Support for Emergency Declaration With the Senate set to vote on whether to oppose his border emergency declaration, President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to close ranks on what he says is an “80 percent positive issue.” That’s spin. A recent poll asked if the U.S. “should have basically open borders o (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s Press Conference Donald Trump’s recent press conference garnered a lot of media attention for his put downs of two high-profile journalists, but he didn’t treat the facts much better: Trump’s Aug. 25 press conference in Iowa was marked by a confrontation with Emmy Award winning TV host Jorge Ramo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sanders Stretches St...: Sanders Stretches State of the Rich Sen. Bernie Sanders claims that in the United States, “almost all of the wealth rests in the hands of the few.” He exaggerates. At most, the top 0.1 percent of U.S. families own 22 percent of the nation’s wealth, and Federal Reserve Board economists put the figure at 14 percent. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama and Cruz Clash...: Obama and Cruz Clash on Immigration President Obama and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz made seemingly conflicting statements about public opinion on the president’s plan to address immigration issues in the U.S. Obama claimed that “most Americans support the types of reforms I’ve talked about tonight,” in a Nov. 20 address to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Timeline of Contradi...: Timeline of Contradictory Statements on Trump’s Health Since President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 2 that he had tested positive for COVID-19, White House staff and the president’s physicians have provided confusing and at times contradictory information about the president’s health. Trump’s medical team has portrayed his illness (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Gets Refugee N...: Trump Gets Refugee Numbers Wrong Donald Trump keeps saying he “heard” the Obama administration plans to accept 200,000 Syrian refugees. He misheard, because that’s inaccurate. The administration has said its goal is to accept 185,000 total refugees of all nationalities over the next two fiscal years. It is commi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kerry Blames Corpora...: Kerry Blames Corporate Tax Code for Shipping Jobs Overseas A Kerry ad released July 20 returns to a theme he and his Democratic allies have been pushing for months: a claim that tax incentives to locate jobs overseas is a big problem that is Bush’s fault and that Kerry promises to fix. Kerry’s latest ad — all positive — paints his tax fi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump vs. Clinton...: Trump vs. Clinton Donald Trump, in conceding a second-place finish in Iowa, 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. Tr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democrats Distort Vo...: Democrats Distort Vote on Climate Change A Democratic video says 240 House members “voted in 2011 that climate change was a ‘hoax.’ ” Not exactly. The 2011 vote was ultimately a referendum on who should set climate change policy — the Environmental Protection Agency or Congress. It was not a vote on whether climate chan (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sanders’ Deceptive E...: Sanders’ Deceptive Endorsement Ad The Bernie Sanders campaign misappropriates the credibility of two New Hampshire newspapers in a new TV ad that boasts of his endorsements for the Democratic presidential nomination. The ad, titled “Endorsed,” leaves the misleading impression that the Nashua Telegraph and the Val (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hagler’s Widow Refut...: Hagler’s Widow Refutes Rumors About How He Died Hall of Fame boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler “died on March 13 of natural causes,” according to a statement posted on his official website. In a Facebook post, his widow, Kay Hagler, wrote that his death was not the result of a COVID-19 vaccination, as social media posts have claim (Source: FactCheck.org)
NRCC: ‘Obamacare’ Ta...: NRCC: ‘Obamacare’ Taxes Sick Puppies A Republican claim that the federal health care law taxes “heart attacks, sick puppies and even new babies” is a dog. Turns out it’s a reference to excise taxes on certain medical devices. The National Republican Congressional Committee crams a highlight reel of misleading clai (Source: FactCheck.org)
COVID-19 Vaccines Re...: COVID-19 Vaccines Reduce Hospitalization and Death Rates, Contrary to Social Media Claims Those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are more prone to serious illness and are dying at higher rates than those who are vaccinated. But partisan social media accounts, including a post by a member of former President Donald Trump’s campaign legal team, continue to mislea (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz Misquotes Clapp...: Cruz Misquotes Clapper on Refugees Ted Cruz misrepresented the words of the U.S. national intelligence director, claiming that James Clapper “said among those [Syrian] refugees are no doubt a significant number of ISIS terrorists.” Clapper didn’t say that. Instead, Clapper said it was a “huge concern” that ISIS co (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Statem...: Trump’s False Statements About How Democratic Leaders Handled Protests President Donald Trump has made false statements and implications about how three Democratic officials responded to violent protests that followed George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis: The inaccuracies come as the president has scolded state and local officials, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misinformation...: Trump Misinformation on Georgia Ballot Rejections The percentage of mail-in ballots rejected in Georgia due to signature issues this year was about the same as in the 2016 and 2018 general elections. Nevertheless, a tweet from President Donald Trump wrongly compared the number of ballots rejected for signature issues in this ele (Source: FactCheck.org)
The President’s Trum...: The President’s Trumped-Up Claims of Voter Fraud In a July 30 tweet, President Donald Trump suggested for the first time that the 2020 election should be postponed, drawing — once again — false distinctions between mail-in and absentee ballots. With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obamacare for the Mo...: Obamacare for the Mortgage Industry? A slate of new ads from the 60 Plus Association evoke a well-worn conservative punching bag — “Obamacare” — to attack seven senators for supporting a lesser-known plan to overhaul the housing finance market. But the group stretches the analogy to absurd lengths to make the case t (Source: FactCheck.org)
What to Know About T...: What to Know About Trump-Era Bank Deregulation and Bank Failures With the recent failure of two midsize banks, some Democrats have blamed deregulation championed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. While the law did reduce oversight of small and midsize banks, experts are divided over whether deregulation in 2018 ultimately caused Signatur (Source: FactCheck.org)
DeVos’ Outdated Stat...: DeVos’ Outdated Statistic on School Efforts Education Secretary Betsy DeVos used an outdated figure in claiming only 10% of school districts had “provided any kind of real curriculum and instruction program” after the coronavirus pandemic caused schools to shut down this spring. That was the case for 82 districts in late M (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Security Scar...: Social Security Scare Seniors beware: The Obama and Romney campaigns are making false claims about taxing Social Security benefits: Scaring Senior Citizens This back-and-forth with the campaigns started with President Obama’s speech to the AARP on Sept. 21. Obama said Romney’s tax plan “could mean hig (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Clinton on Co...: Video: Clinton on Comey Comments This week, CNN’s Jake Tapper discusses Hillary Clinton’s false claim that FBI Director James Comey said her public statements about her handling of classified emails were “truthful.” At a July 7 House Oversight Committee hearing, Comey told Congress, “There was classified materia (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney’s Economic Ex...: Romney’s Economic Exaggerations Mitt Romney mistakenly claimed the U.S. is experiencing "the worst recovery … in America's history," citing the Wall Street Journal. But the newspaper article said it was "the worst, or one of the worst, since the government started tracking these trends after World War II." That (Source: FactCheck.org)
Stop the @#%! ‘Profa...: Stop the @#%! ‘Profanity’ Do "bleep" and "@#%!" count as low-down, shocking "profanity"? Michele Bachmann says they do. The GOP House member from Minnesota is claiming in a fundraising appeal to conservative donors that her Democratic election opponent, Tarryl Clark, released a "shocking, profanity-laced (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Pawlent...: FactChecking Pawlenty We are periodically taking a look at past claims from the 2012 presidential candidates. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty released a web video, announcing that he was running for president, and he'll kick off his campaign in Iowa. In recent months, we have found him straying fro (Source: FactCheck.org)
More Bush Distortion...: More Bush Distortions of Kerry Defense Record Bush ads released April 26 recycle some distortions of Kerry’s voting record on military hardware. We’ve de-bunked these half-truths before but the Bush campaign persists. The ads — many targeted to specific states — repeat the claim that Kerry opposed a list of mainstream weapon (Source: FactCheck.org)
Q&A on Border Detent...: Q&A on Border Detention of Children The controversy surrounding family separations at the U.S. Southern border has prompted outrage, opinions and finger-pointing. It has also raised a number of questions, including from our readers. “Are there really children being separated from their parents at the border and bei (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Baseless Cla...: Trump’s Baseless Claim on Iranian Execution Donald Trump speculates on Twitter that Shahram Amiri — an Iranian nuclear scientist who defected to the U.S. and reportedly became a CIA spy — was executed in Iran recently “because of Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails.” There is no evidence of that. To the contrary, it had been w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bill Clinton: Give M...: Bill Clinton: Give Me a Break A new Romney ad would have viewers believe that former President Bill Clinton was commenting on President Obama’s handling of the economy when he said, “Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.” That’s false. Clinton’s 2008 comment was aimed at (Source: FactCheck.org)
NRCC, Again, Cherry-...: NRCC, Again, Cherry-picks Data The National Republican Congressional Committee once again uses selective evidence to attack a congressman for supporting President Obama. This time, the target is Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia. Joe McCormick, a coal miner from Seth, West Virginia, says in an NRCC (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fact-Checking…’The V...: Fact-Checking…’The View’? We generally don’t take it upon ourselves to parse ABC’s morning gabfest. But we noticed that when the chat turned to Palin’s record on earmarks McCain got it wrong. He was correct on one point: Palin vetoed $500 million in spending as governor. She axed over $230 million in stat (Source: FactCheck.org)
Warren’s Hollow Sena...: Warren’s Hollow Senate Election Claim Sen. Elizabeth Warren cited the hollow and misleading statistic that in the recent election the “majority of voters supported Democratic Senate candidates over Republican ones.” That advantage is mostly due to the fact that California had two Democrats squaring off for a Senate s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Group’s ‘Obamacare T...: Group’s ‘Obamacare Tax Form’ Evades Facts A conservative group misleads taxpayers on the Affordable Care Act and the Internal Revenue Service’s future role in enforcing it. Americans for Tax Reform posted a “projected” IRS tax form on its website that claims to “help families and tax specialists prepare” for new tax prov (Source: FactCheck.org)
Crossroads GPS’ Twis...: Crossroads GPS’ Twisted Tale An ad from Crossroads GPS leaves the false impression that a Colorado woman “had to go back to work” to pay for health care insurance mandated by the Affordable Care Act. She told a local TV station that her decision to get a job had nothing to do with the health care law. The Cr (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fake News, Real Fact...: Fake News, Real Fact-Checking "Daily Show" anchor Jon Stewart has an uneven record of fact-checking political figures. In September 2008, we called him out for getting his gun facts wrong — he called Joe Biden "crazy reckless" and wrong when he referred to his Beretta shotgun, claiming that Beretta "is a hand (Source: FactCheck.org)
2005 Energy Bill Dej...: 2005 Energy Bill Deja Vu Palin threw out an old canard when she criticized Obama for voting for the 2005 Energy bill, saying, “that’s what gave those oil companies those big tax breaks.” It’s a false attack Clinton used against Obama in the primary and McCain himself has hurled. It’s true that the bill g (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Exaggerate Lab...: Posts Exaggerate Lab Findings About COVID-19’s Impact on Immune System Outside of long COVID or very severe cases, most research suggests COVID-19 doesn’t cause lasting damage to the immune system. A few studies have found evidence of some possible damage, but nothing as severe as an immunodeficiency. People on social media, however, are misinterpre (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Call to ‘Bri...: Trump’s Call to ‘Bring Back the Death Penalty’ At a campaign rally hours after the mass murder in Pittsburgh, President Donald Trump told his supporters “we have to bring back the death penalty.” The federal government and 31 states already have the death penalty. But there hasn’t been a federal execution in 15 years, and sta (Source: FactCheck.org)
HealthCare.Gov Impro...: HealthCare.Gov Improves Estimates The so-called window shopping feature on HealthCare.gov has been improved and, as a result, so has the accuracy of the site’s estimated monthly premiums. HealthCare.gov allows visitors to anonymously surf the site to compare health plans on the federal exchange and obtain premium (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Campaign Kic...: Biden’s Campaign Kickoff Claims Former Vice President Joe Biden kicked off his third campaign for president with a speech in Pittsburgh that contained a few false and misleading statements: Biden, a former Delaware senator and Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017, has run unsuccessfully for president (Source: FactCheck.org)
Boehner Misrepresent...: Boehner Misrepresents FactCheck.org’s Findings Last week House Republican Leader John Boehner’s office issued a "Leader Alert" titled "10 Facts Every American Should Know About Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990-Page Gov’t Takeover of Health Care." It’s a partisan document containing misleading characterizations of the bill. But the bull (Source: FactCheck.org)
When Economists Disa...: When Economists Disagree, Part II In a post last week, we explained some of the difficulties involved in trying to determine whether or not the stimulus package will work. As we said at the time: Well, for one thing, economists have very little data with which to work. There are plenty of theoretical models out t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Dubious Health Savin...: Dubious Health Savings Claim Obama said that his health care plan would cut costs, saving $2,500 a year per family. When we asked health care experts about this claim earlier this year, they were quite skeptical. M.I.T.’s Jonathan Gruber told us, “I know zero credible evidence to support that conclusion.” Ob (Source: FactCheck.org)
Defending Spending?...: Defending Spending? Bush’s Blooper President Bush slipped up in his hour-long interview with NBC’s Tim Russert over the weekend, claiming that the growth of discretionary federal spending has slowed markedly since he took office. But in fact, annual growth has been in double digits for the past three years, far hi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Retraction: Health I...: Retraction: Health Insurance Market Concentration Note: We are retracting one of our Sept. 10 criticisms of President Obama’s speech on health care. We said that he "overstated the degree of concentration in the insurance industry." We have continued to research the subject, and the following information turned up by our reporte (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FBI Notes on...: Video: FBI Notes on Clinton CNN’s Jake Tapper takes a look this week at the FBI’s summary of its investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email system for government business. As we wrote, the FBI contradicted some past statements made by Clinton and her campaign: Tapp (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pfizer/BioNTech’s CO...: Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 Vaccine Formulation Tweaked to Improve Stability With the release of its pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer switched the buffer used in its formulation to increase the stability of the product, allowing it to remain at refrigerator temperatures for longer. The Food and Drug Administration OK’d the change, which is also being ma (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz’s Conservative...: Cruz’s Conservative Credentials A pro-Rand Paul super PAC cherry picks two fiscal votes to label Sen. Ted Cruz as a “phony” conservative. In fact, fiscal conservative groups that score congressional votes rank both presidential candidates as among the most conservative in the Senate. The ad, from America’s Libe (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Texas-size Whopper...: A Texas-size Whopper Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, at a nationally televised meeting of House Republicans in Baltimore, accused President Obama to his face of running up deficits a dozen times greater than the GOP’s. The president said, "That’s factually just not true, and you know it’s not true," and h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Groundhog Friday...: Groundhog Friday As we head into the party conventions, here is our latest edition of Groundhog Friday, an occasional feature highlighting repeat offenses. Follow the links to our original articles for more information on our debunking of the claims. Donald Trump on the Iran nuclear deal, July 12 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Q&A on Biden’s Stude...: Q&A on Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness The White House announced on Aug. 24 that President Joe Biden will take action this year to cancel thousands of dollars in federal student loan debt for millions of Americans, fulfilling a campaign promise he made during the 2020 election cycle. Under his plan, individuals who me (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pre-Thanksgiving Lef...: Pre-Thanksgiving Leftovers The latest GOP debate was thin on memorable moments or major factual bloopers, but we do have some leftover claims to dispute before we shut down for the Thanksgiving holiday. We wouldn’t want anybody’s turkey dinner to be spoiled by worries that terrorists have come over the bor (Source: FactCheck.org)
More Census Nonsense...: More Census Nonsense Here are a couple of new falsehoods being circulated about the Census, to add to the bogus claims we told you about back in March: Both of these falsehoods have already started to circulate on the Internet, and we’ve been asked about both of them. So here are the facts: Bob Barr’ (Source: FactCheck.org)
The “Willie Horton”...: The “Willie Horton” Ad Of 2004? An ad by the Republican group “Progress for America Voter Fund,” mostly funded by wealthy GOP donors, suggests Kerry can’t defend against terrorists “who want to kill us.” It shows images of Osama bin Laden and the attacks of September 11, 2001. The ad claims Kerry has “a 30-year (Source: FactCheck.org)
Debate Watch...: Debate Watch The six Republican presidential candidates who are set to meet and debate again on Dec. 10 have all made some claims that don’t line up with the facts. Will they repeat this shopworn spin, or have they tired of these talking points? Here’s what to watch and listen for when they g (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Distort Testim...: Posts Distort Testimony of Federal Health Officials on Employee Vaccinations Federal health officials testified at a Senate committee hearing that about 60% of their employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. But viral online posts have distorted their comments to misleadingly claim that half of the employees “are refusing” the vaccines. The (Source: FactCheck.org)
McCormick’s Denounce...: McCormick’s Denouncement of ‘Structural Bigotry’ Not an Endorsement of BLM Amid nationwide protests after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Dave McCormick, then CEO of a hedge fund, emailed his colleagues, calling on them to “be agents of change” and to show “solidarity by denouncing and eradicating structural bigotry around us.” A new ad from a super PAC (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s Business Boasts As President Donald Trump listed the accomplishments of his trip to Asia, one example remains a mystery. “Vietnam is ordering at least $12 billion worth of Boeings. And I think they were going a different route. But now they’re going the route of ordering from us,” Trump said, wh (Source: FactCheck.org)
Recycled Exaggeratio...: Recycled Exaggerations: Local Ads Pressure Congress in Home States The pro-Bush group Progress for America released a new TV ad highlighting Social Security’s long-term fiscal deficit by telling voters that the system will go bankrupt “sooner than you think.” But the ad fails to mention that the system isn’t projected to go “bankrupt” for anoth (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sorting Out the Part...: Sorting Out the Partisan Tax Spin on Inflation Reduction Act Both political parties are spinning the facts on whether the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act would raise taxes. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says the climate bill “does not raise taxes” but merely closes tax “loopholes.” Republicans say it does raise taxes and would break Presi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Texas Lt. Gov. Patri...: Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick’s False Claim About Unvaccinated Black People The majority of United States residents who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 are white, according to available state data and survey research. That contradicts Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s claim that, “in most states,” Black residents are “the biggest group” of unvaccina (Source: FactCheck.org)
Scaring, and Mislead...: Scaring, and Misleading, Seniors Again In what is becoming a bit of a pattern, a group that backs Sen. Barack Obama is trying to convince senior citizens that Sen. John McCain would be their worst nightmare. The AFL-CIO is distributing a mailer that claims McCain is “turning his back on retirees,” by “privatizing Soci (Source: FactCheck.org)
She’s No ‘Buffett’s...: She’s No ‘Buffett’s Secretary’ A liberal group’s TV spot features a working mother who says she’s like “Warren Buffett’s secretary” and pays higher tax rates than “many billionaires and millionaires.” Not quite. With her $40,000 income and three kids, she’d actually pay a far lower rate than Buffett says he pa (Source: FactCheck.org)
Our Angry Readers...: Our Angry Readers We’d like to respond to readers who disliked our article on Social Security’s red ink. We’ve received dozens of complaints and criticisms, expressing disappointment and sometimes outright anger at our finding that Social Security is in fact contributing to the federal deficit, an (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pelosi Inflates Tax...: Pelosi Inflates Tax Cuts Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi claimed that the new tax law will provide “at least a $1.3 trillion tax break for corporations.” That’s misleading. It’s true that the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that cutting the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Will Global Warming...: Will Global Warming Benefit Civilization? Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt suggests that global warming isn’t necessarily “a bad thing” because “humans have most flourished during times of … warming.” But recent years have been the warmest humans have seen over at least the last millennium. This record w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Challenges Bir...: Trump Challenges Birthright Citizenship Donald Trump says the issue has been “fully vetted now” and he was right all along: It would not take a constitutional amendment to end the practice of extending automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. of parents in the country illegally. Trump told Bill O’Reilly of Fo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s ‘Chain Migra...: Trump’s ‘Chain Migration’ Fable President Donald Trump repeatedly has claimed that Sayfullo Saipov — the Uzbekistan national who was arrested for a deadly terrorist attack in New York City last year — brought 22 people with him into the United States through “chain migration.” There’s no evidence of that, and i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Republican Attack Ad...: Republican Attack Ad Withdrawn, Revised The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) withdrew and revised an ad attacking Charlie Wilson, a Democratic candidate for the House in Ohio. The NRCC removed a reference to an FBI investigation before re-airing the ad. The ad attacks Wilson for his role in a 1990’s e (Source: FactCheck.org)
Examining Biden’s Fa...: Examining Biden’s Farm Bankruptcy Claim Joe Biden claimed that farm bankruptcies increased last year “due largely to Trump’s unmitigated disaster of a tariff war.” International trade was a factor, but there were additional reasons that predate the trade war — such as years of relatively weak prices, declining incomes (Source: FactCheck.org)
Maybe It’s a Trend...: Maybe It’s a Trend Last month we were happy to note the launch of PolitiFact.com, a joint project of the St. Petersburg Times of Florida and Congressional Quarterly of Washington, D.C. Today we welcome The Washington Post‘s new feature, “The Fact Checker,” written by veteran journalist Michael Dobb (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Little Ditty ‘Bout...: A Little Ditty ‘Bout Taxes and Trade The Obama-Biden campaign has released a radio ad in Indiana featuring favorite native son John Mellencamp. In the ad, Mellencamp says, “John McCain will keep giving tax breaks to companies shipping American jobs overseas.” Mellencamp is referring to an aspect of the tax code that (Source: FactCheck.org)
Republican Overreach...: Republican Overreach on IRS While there has been plenty to find fault with in the revelation that the IRS targeted some tea party groups seeking tax exempt status, some of the Republican rhetoric has been an overreach. Bachmann’s Overreach Bachmann, who led a House effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kerry’s PAC Touts He...: Kerry’s PAC Touts Health Insurance For All Kids A new TV ad released by Sen. John Kerry’s PAC asks voters to support his child healthcare proposal, insuring “eleven million children in America” who currently lack coverage. The ad fails to mention that the plan is quite expensive. One expert places the cost at $264 billion over (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bachmann’s Wrong on...: Bachmann’s Wrong on Texas Tuition Michele Bachmann is wrong to say allowing illegal immigrants in Texas to pay in-state tuition is “an abuse of an executive power.” Gov. Rick Perry did not impose the policy by executive fiat. The Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill in 2001, and Perry signed it. Minnesota R (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misuses Data i...: Trump Misuses Data in 9th Circuit Attack President Donald Trump wrongly tweeted that the largest federal appellate court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, is “overturned more than any circuit in the country, 79%.” During the 2017 term, the Supreme Court reviewed just 15 of the thousands of cases ruled on b (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cruz’s Nonfactual Il...: Cruz’s Nonfactual Illegal Immigration Figures Sen. Ted Cruz says there will be “20 or 30 million” people living in the U.S. illegally “in another 10, 20 years” if the Senate immigration bill becomes law. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the bill, if enacted, will reduce future illegal immigration by 33 pe (Source: FactCheck.org)
DNC State of the Uni...: DNC State of the Union Attack An ad released by the Democratic National Committee in advance of President Bush’s Jan. 31 State of the Union address accuses him of breaking his word on jobs, education, body armor for troops and the federal deficit. We find it misleading in most respects, but close to the mark (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pork, Served Two Way...: Pork, Served Two Ways, in Iowa A TV ad from Rep. Bruce Braley says his Republican opponent in the Iowa Senate race “never wrote one measure to slash spending” as a state senator — implying her record is devoid of any effort to cut spending. But that’s not the case. The ad says Joni Ernst “never sponsored a bil (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Claim...: Trump’s False Claim About Mexico’s Violence Making a pitch for border wall funding, President Donald Trump falsely tweeted that Mexico is “now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world.” That’s wrong. Although the number of homicides reached a record high in Mexico in 2017, the homicide rates were higher in (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on Manhatt...: The Facts on Manhattan Crime The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a “field hearing” in Manhattan on April 17 to draw attention to “how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New Yor (Source: FactCheck.org)
Did Obama Misquote C...: Did Obama Misquote Churchill? In the New York Times‘ "Caucus" blog today, Kate Phillips offers a well-documented and thorough analysis of a lingering controversy: Did Winston Churchill really say about torture what President Obama says he did? There has been considerable back-and-forth elsewhere regarding thi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Bogus Voter...: Trump’s Bogus Voter Fraud Claims Revisited President Donald Trump continues to claim — without any evidence — there was massive voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election. On Jan. 23, the new president told congressional leaders that between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused him to lose the popular vote to H (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama and Islamic Hi...: Obama and Islamic History President Obama ticked off some accomplishments of the Islamic world during his speech in Cairo on June 4. Namely, he said: Obama: It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and pr (Source: FactCheck.org)
CBO Didn’t Say Tax C...: CBO Didn’t Say Tax Cuts Were ‘Virtually Paid For’ The chief economic adviser to President Donald Trump recently said Congressional Budget Office numbers show the “entire $1.5 trillion tax cut is virtually paid for by higher revenues and better nominal GDP.” That’s not what the numbers show, experts told us. In April, the CBO’s n (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democratic Radio Ads...: Democratic Radio Ads Can Stand Clarification Radio ads being run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee refer to three Ohio Republicans as “rubberstamp Republicans” for initiatives supported by the President. In fact, their voting records are about average for Republican House members. The ads also say all three (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Accusa...: Trump’s False Accusation Donald Trump has accused Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign of buying the rights to a racy photo of Trump’s wife, Melania, and giving the photo to a super PAC that used it in an ad. But Trump has provided no evidence of that, and the photographer who took the photo told us no one contacted (Source: FactCheck.org)
The 2022 FactCheck A...: The 2022 FactCheck Awards We are very serious fact-checkers, but we also like to have a bit of fun. That’s why every two years, on Election Day, we recognize a few of the many political ads we see during the campaign cycle with some not-to-be-taken-seriously awards. A couple of things that stood out among (Source: FactCheck.org)
Credit Where it Isn’...: Credit Where it Isn’t Due The McCain-Palin campaign is running a series of upbeat ads designed to appeal to workers in three states (Michigan, Ohio, and New Mexico – for some reason the New Mexico ad isn’t on McCain’s YouTube channel, but it sounds pretty much like the Ohio one). Sometimes even upbeat ads (Source: FactCheck.org)
Scott Overstates Tax...: Scott Overstates Tax Increases in Inflation Reduction Act The Inflation Reduction Act proposes to raise over $700 billion in new revenues over 10 years to be spent on energy, climate change initiatives, health care and deficit reduction. But not all of those revenues come via higher taxes. More than half comes from health care savings a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking Trump’s Big Speech In this video, we review five false, misleading or exaggerated claims from President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech on Aug. 27 at the Republican National Convention. Here are the claims that we cover in our video: For more information on these and other claims, please see “Fin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ed Gillespie’s ‘Sanc...: Ed Gillespie’s ‘Sanctuary Cities’ Attacks Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie is airing a misleading TV ad in Virginia that says Democrat Ralph Northam was the “deciding vote” in “favor of sanctuary cities that let dangerous illegal immigrants back on the streets.” It’s true that Northam, as the state’s lieut (Source: FactCheck.org)
Security Assistance...: Security Assistance and the July 25 Phone Call Democrats and the White House legal team have made competing arguments about whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned U.S. security aid to his country in his July 25 phone call with President Donald Trump. The fact is, it’s unclear what Zelensky was referring to w (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Error-filled...: Trump’s Error-filled Cabinet Meeting For more than an hour, President Donald Trump presided over a cabinet meeting, reeling off numerous false or misleading claims: Trump made his remarks during an Oct. 21 cabinet meeting, which started — after a prayer from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson — with (Source: FactCheck.org)
Perry’s Border Bragg...: Perry’s Border Bragging Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry routinely boasts that border apprehensions dropped 74 percent in Texas after he sent state law enforcement to the border last year. But Perry takes too much credit. There was a sharp decline in apprehensions of individuals illegally crossing into the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Already Had COVID-19...: Already Had COVID-19? Vaccines Boost Immunity, Not ‘Wipe Out’ Antibodies Studies show the COVID-19 vaccines boost the antibody levels and improve the immune response of those who previously had COVID-19. The vaccines do not “wipe out” the antibodies developed by a person who had recovered from the disease, as social media posts have falsely claimed fo (Source: FactCheck.org)
Club Flub in PA Sena...: Club Flub in PA Senate Race An ad attacking the Democrats’ nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania claims she “gave millions in grants to her husband’s company” while working for the state, and that the couple “pocketed thousands.” That twists the facts. The grants went to a public charity, which her husban (Source: FactCheck.org)
Why Do They Do It?...: Why Do They Do It? Why do politicians persist in peddling exaggerations, twisted facts and outright falsehoods? Here's a theory from a veteran political reporter. Jon Keller of WBZ in Boston offered up his explanation in his "Keller @ Large" commentary for Sept. 15. It was prompted by our coverage (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama, McConnell Tak...: Obama, McConnell Take Oil Import Data for Spin President Barack Obama and Sen. Mitch McConnell used the same data to score apparently conflicting points about U.S. dependency on foreign oil. Obama said oil imports account for less than half of consumption, while McConnell said 60 percent of our oil comes from abroad. Both can (Source: FactCheck.org)
RGA Continues Attack...: RGA Continues Attack on Corzine The Republican Governors Association is on air with another ad, with one old and one slightly revised claim about New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine’s record on taxes and jobs. In one instance, the group even cites our article, “Corzine’s Misleading Calls on Christie,” as the source of (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Rally Photo Is...: Trump Rally Photo Is From 2020, Not Recent Wisconsin Rally, as Social Media Posts Claim Former President Donald Trump held a rally in Wisconsin on Aug. 5. Posts on social media circulated a photo to claim that the recent Trump rally in Wisconsin attracted a “massive” crowd. But the photo was from a previous Trump rally and was shared by Eric Trump in 2020. On Aug. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump vs. Cuomo, Rou...: Trump vs. Cuomo, Round 2 President Donald Trump continued his misleading attacks on Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as it ravages the state. Trump also repeated his misleading claim that “New York had a chance to get 16,000 ventilators a few years ago and they (Source: FactCheck.org)
White House on Clima...: White House on Climate, Heat Deaths In a recent “fact sheet” on the threat climate change poses to human health, the White House cherry-picked data on the estimated number of premature deaths due to future extreme temperatures: The April 4 fact sheet announced the Obama Administration’s release of a new report from (Source: FactCheck.org)
ACA Impact on Per Ca...: ACA Impact on Per Capita Cost of Health Care Rep. Chris Van Hollen claims the Affordable Care Act “has resulted in significantly reducing the per capita cost of health care.” To be clear, the per capita cost of health care is rising. Van Hollen’s office says he meant that the ACA has significantly reduced the growth in heal (Source: FactCheck.org)
AARP Claims Bush’s P...: AARP Claims Bush’s Plan Is a Homewrecker AARP’s latest TV ad shows a suburban home being flattened to repair a clogged kitchen sink, and claims that the creation of individual accounts would “dismantle Social Security” and “lead to huge benefit cuts.” The ad is intended to be humorous but presents a distorted picture. I (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay Once again, the Sunday talk shows produced more than a few misstatements. Among the topics of misinformation: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill, border security, the popularity of the Republican Party, and U.N. sanctions against Iran. Here’s what we found. Oil Industry Official or Bur (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fox News and Dominio...: Fox News and Dominion Voting Not Owned By Same Company, Contrary to Online Posts Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News for defamation, alleging the news organization spread lies about the company after the 2020 election. After the suit was settled, social media posts falsely claimed that Fox and Dominion Voting Systems were owned by the same company, BlackRoc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Measuring Merkley’s...: Measuring Merkley’s Record An ad from a Koch-backed group labels Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley an ineffective leader because he “wrote only one bill that became law” in six years. This kind of claim is an attack ad staple, but it betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the ways of Congress. First-term senator (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump on Britain’s U...: Trump on Britain’s Universal Health Care President Donald Trump tweeted that while Democrats are pushing for universal health care, “thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U[niversal] system is going broke and not working.” But the London demonstrators marched in support of the system and urged the gov (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Black Unemplo...: Video: Black Unemployment Under Trump In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews President Donald Trump’s claim that the black unemployment rate is the lowest in recorded history “because of my policies.” While it’s true that the black unemployment rate recently reached its lowest level in decades, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sessions’ Dubious Dr...: Sessions’ Dubious Drug Claims In an address to law enforcement, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made two dubious claims about marijuana and opioids: Sessions made his claims on March 15 during an address to law enforcement at the Justice Department. He first discussed trends in violent crime, correctly no (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misinformation, Spec...: Misinformation, Speculation Follow Trump COVID-19 Diagnosis The news that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump contracted the novel coronavirus led to a wave of social media posts spreading misinformation — and politically charged speculation. Some of posts tapped into baseless conspiracy theories, and others shared outrigh (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump vs. Club for G...: Trump vs. Club for Growth Donald Trump repeatedly has accused Club for Growth of airing attack ads against him because he refused to give the conservative group a $1 million donation – or what Trump calls “a form of extortion.” Club for Growth tells a much different story. It claims Trump offered to make (Source: FactCheck.org)
‘Second Poorest’ Nat...: ‘Second Poorest’ Nation? In a September 10 press conference, President Barack Obama characterized Afghanistan as "the second poorest country in the world." It’s an impoverished country indeed, but second poorest? The CIA World Factbook doesn’t think so. It lists Afghanistan as number 210 of 227, with a p (Source: FactCheck.org)
Meek Ad Heeds Fact-C...: Meek Ad Heeds Fact-Checking? Rep. Kendrick Meek of Florida is out with an ad that rewords an earlier attack on his Senate Democratic primary opponent, Jeff Greene. We had called Meek’s previous ad false for saying Warren Buffett personally criticized Greene. But Meek tweaked the claim in a new ad, and this t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Are Democrats Causin...: Are Democrats Causing Delays in Court? A multi-million dollar ad campaign blames Democrats for the fact that “courtrooms sit empty.” In fact, there are now half as many judicial vacancies as when Bush took office. And of the 46 federal judgeships that remain vacant, Bush has named only 16 replacements. The ad also say (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Guide to Moderna’s...: A Guide to Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna’s mRNA vaccine is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized and fully approved for use in the U.S. Here, we give a rundown of basic facts about the vaccine and an overview of how it works. Vaccine name: mRNA-1273, marketed as Spikevax Design type: mRNA Population: Adul (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misleading B...: Trump’s Misleading Boast on Premiums President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Obamacare is “dead,” but recently he has been making a misleading boast about low insurance premium growth for 2019 marketplace plans. Trump claimed that “the rates are far lower than they would have been under the previous administ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Important Notice to...: Important Notice to FactCheck.org Subscribers Since last year’s election FactCheck.org has been working on plans to add new features to the Web site, and a new design. We hope to launch the “new” FactCheck.org Web site sometime in July. Meanwhile, as the first step, we are upgrading our subscription email service effective i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rahall Twists Jenkin...: Rahall Twists Jenkins’ Words Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia takes a quote from his Republican opponent, Evan Jenkins, out of context to falsely imply that Jenkins is “comfortable” with raising “seniors’ out-of-pocket costs” for Medicare by $6,000. Actually, Jenkins was talking about nominal copays for Med (Source: FactCheck.org)
Muddying the Clean W...: Muddying the Clean Water Act Kentucky Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell misrepresented cases involving the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Water Act. Paul and McConnell, along with many other lawmakers, have expressed concern that the new Clean Water Rule finalized by the EPA on May 27 extend (Source: FactCheck.org)
If They Keep Saying...: If They Keep Saying It, It Must Be So Today’s Washington Post has a story about the repetition of deceptive statements in the campaign, leading with McCain’s and Palin’s claim that Palin told Congress “Thanks, but no thanks” for the Bridge to Nowhere. It’s a standard line in their stump speeches, despite the fact tha (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Barrass...: FactChecking Barrasso’s Claims About Stimulus Check Recipients Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming defended his vote against the American Rescue Plan Act, in part, by claiming that the legislation would provide $1,400 stimulus checks to prisoners and “illegal immigrants” who shouldn’t receive them. But, last year, when he and his fellow Republica (Source: FactCheck.org)
‘WHO Has No Authorit...: ‘WHO Has No Authority to Dictate U.S. Health Policy’ The World Health Organization can make recommendations after the declaration of a global emergency, but it has no control over any nation’s decisions. Yet conservatives in the U.S. falsely claim that amendments proposed by the Biden administration to existing global health regula (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Misleading A...: Trump’s Misleading Attacks on Biden Over Fracking President Donald Trump and his allies continue to ignore Joe Biden’s written plan to only prohibit permits for new oil and gas drilling on federal land and waters. That plan would allow for extraction methods, such as fracking, to continue under existing permits and in nonfederal (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama, Romney Surrog...: Obama, Romney Surrogates Spin Jobs Data A lackluster jobs report for June generated a flurry of false and misleading statements on the Sunday talk shows by surrogates for Obama and Romney: ‘Record June’ for Auto Jobs? The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest job figures July 6, showing that the U.S. added 80, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Playing Politics wit...: Playing Politics with Violence Against Women An ad from Alison Lundergan Grimes knocks Sen. Mitch McConnell for voting “two times against the Violence Against Women Act” — evidence, Grimes concludes, that McConnell has forgotten that “over half the voters in Kentucky are women.” But McConnell has never opposed the central p (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Misidentify Ma...: Posts Misidentify Man Shown in Photo with Ghislaine Maxwell Ghislaine Maxwell, who is charged with assisting accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, is scheduled to go on trial on Nov. 29. Social media posts are circulating a photo that falsely claims to show Chief Justice John Roberts in an affectionate pose with Maxwell. The photo actua (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sessions Wrong on Bu...: Sessions Wrong on Bush Tax Cuts Sen. Jeff Sessions wrongly claimed that federal revenues "went up every single year" after the Bush tax cuts were "put in." Actually, federal revenues declined for three straight years after the first tax cut was signed in 2001. The Alabama Republican made his statement on "Face (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biggest Deficit in H...: Biggest Deficit in History? Yes and No Kerry said Feb. 26 that Bush’s budget deficit is “the largest in history.” But by the most important measure that’s not quite true. This year the deficit is projected to be in the neighborhood of half a trillion dollars, a record. That’s 4.5% of the entire economy, a figure large (Source: FactCheck.org)
RNC Mischaracterizes...: RNC Mischaracterizes Feingold’s Censure Resolution A GOP radio ad accuses Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin of proposing to censure President Bush “for pursuing suspected members of al Qaeda,” which isn’t true. Feingold has stated he supports wiretapping suspected terrorists. His measure would censure Bush for ordering w (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Guide to the CDC’s...: A Guide to the CDC’s Updated Mask Recommendations Citing new data on the delta variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that fully vaccinated people wear face masks indoors in some parts of the country. The July 27 updated guidance comes two months after the CDC said those who are fully vaccinated larg (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Misle...: Video: Trump’s Misleading Post on Pelosi Ripping Up SOTU Address President Donald Trump posted a five-minute-plus video on social media that falsely implied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disrespected a Tuskegee airman and other Americans during the State of the Union. The social media posts claim to show “powerful American stories ripped to shred (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Bogus ‘Catch...: Trump’s Bogus ‘Catch and Release’ Statistic In arguing for border wall funding, President Donald Trump claimed — without any evidence — that only 2 percent of those apprehended crossing the border and released pending immigration hearings appear in court. Actually, Trump administration officials put the figure at about 50 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fouling Lugar’s Foe...: Fouling Lugar’s Foe The Republican primary for Sen. Richard Lugar’s seat is apparently too close for comfort. Both Lugar’s campaign and the American Action Network are airing misleading attack ads against Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock, the senator’s challenger for the nomination. The ads strain (Source: FactCheck.org)
Abortion and the Hea...: Abortion and the Health Care Bills If you don’t keep your eye on the health care overhaul bills making their way through Congress, it’s easy to find your knowledge quickly outdated. We posted an article Friday dealing with accusations by some conservative groups that the bills would mandate government-funded abort (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Romney...: FactChecking Romney We are periodically taking a look at past claims from the 2012 presidential candidates, and today it's Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is set to announce in New Hampshire that he'll seek the Republican nomination for the second time. Here's a recap of some of our f (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cain’s ‘Fiscal Hocus...: Cain’s ‘Fiscal Hocus Pocus’ A former chief of staff of the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation calls Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan “a terrific example of fiscal hocus pocus” that would have the effect of “drastically increasing taxes on the working poor and middle class.” Edward Kleinbard, now a professor of (Source: FactCheck.org)
MoveOn PAC Internet...: MoveOn PAC Internet Ad: Creative Editing An Internet ad by the anti-Bush group MoveOn PAC paints Cheney as a fear-monger and Edwards as a candidate of compassion, trust and hope. It uses snippets from speeches by each of the candidates, artfully edited and enhanced with music and sound effects that play on emotions. Opi (Source: FactCheck.org)
CBO’s Obamacare Pred...: CBO’s Obamacare Predictions: How Accurate? So, was the Congressional Budget Office really “way, way off … in every aspect” of how it predicted that Obamacare would work, as the White House claims? No, it wasn’t. The CBO actually nailed the overall impact of the law on the uninsured pretty closely. It predicted a big drop (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton Spins U.S. R...: Clinton Spins U.S. Rank on Gender Pay Hillary Clinton cited data from the World Economic Forum to present a misleading picture of U.S. performance on gender pay disparity compared with other countries around the world. Speaking at the Women in the World Summit on April 23, Clinton said the World Economic Forum ranked (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump on Defi...: Video: Trump on Deficits In this week’s video, CNN’s Jake Tapper explains that federal deficits are rising rather than “coming down,” as President Donald Trump claimed. On Feb.19, Trump said, “I don’t know if you noticed, but deficits seem to be coming down.” The president appeared to be referring to th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Who Benefits From Co...: Who Benefits From Corporate Tax Cut? In advocating for a corporate tax cut, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin overstates the consensus when he says “most economists believe that over 70 percent of corporate taxes are paid for by the workers.” In fact, who bears the brunt of corporate taxes — investors or labor — is (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay This week, we find guests on the Sunday public affairs shows making false statements about disclosure of political funds, whether a Senate candidate pushed to have terrorists tried in his home state or favored letting states ban private health insurance, and whether middle-income (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ben Carson on Nonpro...: Ben Carson on Nonprofit Failures Ben Carson said “9 out of 10 nonprofits fail.” Yet data on nonprofits show that half of the organizations that received their tax-exempt status 20 years ago were still considered active by the IRS in 2015. Carson, who currently ranks second in an average of national polls for the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Spread Unfound...: Posts Spread Unfounded Claims About Russia’s Use of COVID-19 Vaccines Russia developed a COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in 2020. President Vladimir Putin has said he received three doses of the vaccine, and the government continues to urge Russians to get vaccinated against the disease. But social media posts falsely claimed Putin “ordered the destru (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton: Economy Bet...: Clinton: Economy Better Under Democrats Hillary Clinton says the U.S. economy does better with a Democrat in the White House, citing research by two Princeton economists. But the authors of that report do not credit Democratic fiscal policies for the economic growth. In fact, the authors say “our empirical analysis doe (Source: FactCheck.org)
What Do the New Coro...: What Do the New Coronavirus Variants Mean for the Pandemic? Q: What are the risks of the newly identified coronavirus variants? A: It’s not yet known whether mutant versions cause more severe disease, but some are likely more contagious. Scientists expect vaccines will work but are monitoring the situation. Subject: COVID-19 Mutation in (Source: FactCheck.org)
Do Assault Weapons S...: Do Assault Weapons Sales Pay NRA Salaries? A Connecticut Democrat didn’t get his facts straight when he claimed NRA executives “pay their salaries” by taking “a cut” of assault weapons sales. In arguing that the NRA “represents gun manufacturers” and not “gun owners anymore,” Sen. Christopher Murphy discounted NRA member (Source: FactCheck.org)
We Won a Webby...: We Won a Webby We are proud to announce that FactCheck.org has won the 2011 Webby Award in the Politics category. Known as “the Oscars of the Internet,” the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. This is our third Webby — we won last year and in 2008 — a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pelosi: Dubious “Lef...: Pelosi: Dubious “Leftovers” The Hill newspaper reported today that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is already spending "leftover" money from a proposed new tax surcharge: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Democrats could use a proposed new tax on the wealthy to pay down the deficit, if there’s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Vote for Us...: Vote for Us The midterm elections are seven months away, but voting for the Webby People’s Voice Award already has begun. So, if you share our mission of holding politicians accountable, please consider casting a ballot for FactCheck.org in the “News & Politics” category. Thanks to our dedic (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Comey Hearing...: The Comey Hearing After former FBI Director James Comey testified about his private conversations with President Donald Trump regarding the agency’s Russia investigation, the president’s lawyer gave a brief statement that contained inaccurate and disputed claims: Comey testified before the Senate (Source: FactCheck.org)
Deutch Misses Mark i...: Deutch Misses Mark in Attack on Scott Rep. Ted Deutch accused Florida Gov. Rick Scott of “trying to manipulate the outcome of elections,” providing examples that went beyond the facts: Deutch, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, made his remarks during an interview on CNN’s “New Day.” (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking the MSN...: FactChecking the MSNBC Democratic Forum The Democratic presidential candidates were interviewed by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in a Nov. 6 forum. And they stretched the facts on a few topics: Maddow interviewed the candidates one by one at the Friday night forum, held at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Clin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking the Second Debate In this video, we review some of the claims made on June 27 during round two of the first Democratic debate. For our complete analysis, read “FactChecking Round Two of the Democratic Debate.” (Source: FactCheck.org)
White House Press Se...: White House Press Secretary Repeats Russia Talking Point In her first press briefing, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeated a false talking point about the Russia investigation. McEnany claimed the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election ended in “the complete and total exoneration of (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gingrich Spreads Con...: Gingrich Spreads Conspiracy Theory Newt Gingrich claimed that a Democratic National Committee staffer “apparently was assassinated” after “having given WikiLeaks something like … 53,000 [DNC] emails and 17,000 attachments.” But there’s no evidence for his claim. The former Republican House speaker is spreading a c (Source: FactCheck.org)
Zuckerberg-backed Gr...: Zuckerberg-backed Group Spins Immigration A group with ties to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hijacks the credibility of news organizations in a misleading ad that supports a bipartisan immigration overhaul bill. The ad, featuring Sen. Marco Rubio, attributes several quotes to media outlets, but the quotes come from opinio (Source: FactCheck.org)
GOP Hits Turbulence...: GOP Hits Turbulence with FAA Claim A number of Republicans are using misleading numbers when they say the Federal Aviation Administration should cut consultants and travel before resorting to furloughs that are causing airport delays. For example, Rep. Bill Shuster, who chairs the House Committee on Transportation (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hedge Fund Managers’...: Hedge Fund Managers’ Tax Rates Sen. Bernie Sanders says firefighters, police officers, nurses and truck drivers all pay higher effective tax rates than hedge fund managers. That’s accurate for some in those occupations, but it’s not the case across the board. Single firefighters, police officers and nurses who (Source: FactCheck.org)
Schiff Wrong on Whis...: Schiff Wrong on Whistleblower Contact Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House intelligence committee, wrongly implied that his committee had no contact with the whistleblower before receiving the complaint. Schiff claimed, “We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower,” when the whistleblower had in fact reached o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Viral Posts Lift Bog...: Viral Posts Lift Bogus ‘Quarantine’ Story from Satire Site A satire site a month ago published a joke about the Biden administration creating “quarantine camps” for the unvaccinated. Now that fabricated story is circulating online, presented as if it’s real. Some employers have required their employees to be vaccinated, or undergo regul (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama Wrong on AARP...: Obama Wrong on AARP Endorsement At his town hall event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, President Obama went too far in claiming the support of AARP: Obama: We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors. … [A]nother myth that we’ve been hearing about is this notion that somehow we (Source: FactCheck.org)
Update on Kerry’s “S...: Update on Kerry’s “Shrinking Middle Class” — Still Shrinking in 2003 In our Aug. 3 article, “Kerry’s Dubious Economics,” we said Kerry based his claim that “our great middle class is shrinking” on some pretty stale numbers. We said his statement “may well be untrue” because it was based on 2002 figures and didn’t account for recent economic growth (Source: FactCheck.org)
Saudi Arabia and the...: Saudi Arabia and the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Zacarias Moussaoui, a convicted 9/11 co-conspirator, says members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family helped finance al Qaeda in the years just prior to the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Saudi government says that “there is no evidence to support Moussaoui’s claim,” citing U.S. governme (Source: FactCheck.org)
DNC Misquotes Pawlen...: DNC Misquotes Pawlenty The Democratic National Committee takes Tim Pawlenty's comments on his presidential campaign out of context. In a web video posted May 22, the DNC claimed that Pawlenty said, "I don't know," in response to a question about why he was running. But the reporter had asked when the f (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s School Safet...: Trump’s School Safety Funding Falsehood At an event for law enforcement officials, President Donald Trump boasted that his administration recently provided “historic levels of funding to improve school safety” and “hire more officers” through the newly created STOP School Violence Act. But the new law does not fund sch (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sanders’ Tweet on Re...: Sanders’ Tweet on Retirement Savings Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted that “more than half of older workers have no retirement savings.” But that figure includes retirees, not just “older workers,” and does not include workers with pension plans. In all, 73 percent of older workers — age 55 to 64 — have defined-contribut (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kerry Ad Falsely Acc...: Kerry Ad Falsely Accuses Cheney on Halliburton A Kerry ad implies Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton and is profiting from the company’s contracts in Iraq. The fact is, Cheney doesn’t gain a penny from Halliburton’s contracts, and almost certainly won’t lose even if Halliburton goes bankrupt. The ad claims Cheney (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactCheck’s ‘People’...: FactCheck’s ‘People’s Voice’ Victory We would like to thank you, our loyal readers, for making us the 2013 Webby People’s Voice Winner in the politics category. Our win this year marks the sixth time that your votes have made us the recipient of a Webby Award, which honors excellence on the Internet. And, as always, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Florida’s COVID-19 V...: Florida’s COVID-19 Vaccination Analysis Is Flawed, Experts Say The state of Florida recently announced that it was no longer recommending that younger males receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, based on an unpublished analysis that purportedly found an increased risk of cardiac-related death following vaccination. But experts who specialize in th (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Huckabe...: FactChecking Huckabee, Fiorina and Carson The Republican presidential field has three new contenders. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson all announced their intention to seek the Republic nomination. We present here some of the past claims fro (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts on DACA...: The Facts on DACA Congress is trying to agree on a bipartisan plan on what to do about DACA, after the Trump administration announced a “wind-down” of the program on Sept. 5, 2017. Lawmakers face a March 5 deadline set by the president to come up with a legislative fix. Senate Majority Leader Mitc (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Ted Cru...: FactChecking Ted Cruz Texas Sen. Ted Cruz became the first major Republican candidate to declare himself officially in the 2016 presidential race. In announcing his presidential ambition, Cruz repeated a number of dubious claims we have heard before, and a few we haven’t. Some highlights: Cruz announc (Source: FactCheck.org)
How Many Would Repea...: How Many Would Repeal ‘Obamacare’? Mitt Romney says “most Americans want to get rid of” President Obama’s two-year-old health care law. Is he right? That depends on which poll-taker is asking the question, and how it’s worded. Romney made the assertion at a rally in Louisiana on March 23, marking the second annive (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Trillion-Dol...: Obama’s Trillion-Dollar Exaggeration President Obama has repeatedly and falsely claimed that “right now, we’re scheduled to spend nearly $1 trillion more” in tax cuts for the “wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.” That’s simply not true. The Bush tax cuts — which Obama and Congress extended for two years — expire at t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Guns Acquired Withou...: Guns Acquired Without Background Checks The Line: 40 percent of guns are purchased without a background check. The Party: Democratic gun-control advocates (Source: FactCheck.org)
Revising Romney’s Re...: Revising Romney’s Revision Rick Perry’s campaign claims Mitt Romney’s 2010 book “praises Obama’s $800 billion stimulus, while [the] 2011 edition calls it a ‘failure.’ ” Not so. It’s true that Romney revised his words in the paperback edition, but his original version said the stimulus was “far less than su (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bogus Claims of Deba...: Bogus Claims of Debate Moderator Bias A tabloid story alleging that Kristen Welker, moderator of the final presidential debate, is politically biased has spawned several falsehoods on social media. Welker hasn’t donated to any federal candidates, and she wasn’t “busted” for revealing a question to the Clinton campaig (Source: FactCheck.org)
We’re on TV Again...: We’re on TV Again Thursday night to-do list: (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking Trump’s Fact-Checking Claim In this week’s video, CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews President Donald Trump’s suggestion that fact-checkers didn’t hold then-President Barack Obama accountable for his false promise that if you like your health care plan or your doctor, you can keep them under the Affordable Care Act. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Speech and T...: Obama’s Speech and Those Frivolous Earmarks President Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, and we caught several factual errors and misstatements in his remarks. See our full story on FactCheck.org for all the details. Here’s just one item we found: Obama exaggerated a bit in describing the Children’s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s State...: Video: Trump’s State of the Union President Donald Trump made a series of exaggerations and false statements in his first State of the Union to Congress on Jan. 30. In this video, we look at the president’s statements on trade, job creation, auto plants, wages, the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program and U.S. aid to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fauci’s Financial Di...: Fauci’s Financial Disclosure Forms Are Publicly Available In a hot-mic moment, Dr. Anthony Fauci called Sen. Roger Marshall a “moron” after the Kansas Republican asked Fauci to publicly release “a financial disclosure form.” Marshall appeared unaware that federal law already requires Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy (Source: FactCheck.org)
Young Children Do No...: Young Children Do Not Receive Medical Gender Transition Treatment Families seeking information from a health care provider about a young child’s gender identity may have their questions answered or receive counseling. Some posts share a misleading claim that toddlers are being “transitioned.” To be clear, prepubescent children are not offered t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Not So Swift...: Not So Swift A new fundraising plea from the Democratic National Committee highlights the link between a new conservative group’s health care ads and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — but it goes too far in its claim of a connection. An e-mail message from David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign ma (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Supporters T...: Obama’s Supporters Take to the Small Screen The ink is still drying on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and the government’s corresponding Web site for tracking its progress is still being programmed. But Americans United for Change, a liberal group, already is airing an ad that lauds President Obama for its pas (Source: FactCheck.org)
TV Ad Distorts Facts...: TV Ad Distorts Facts on Federal Voting Rights Bill A TV ad from a conservative group distorts the facts about the “For the People Act,” a voting rights bill approved by the Democratic-controlled House and now in the Senate. The ad, paid for by Restoration Action, says: “No more voter ID. Signature verification on absentee ballots (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s False...: Video: Trump’s False Donations Claim President Donald Trump got it wrong. Hillary Clinton did not donate $700,000 to the campaign of the acting FBI director’s wife, as CNN’s Jake Tapper explains in this week’s video collaboration with FactCheck.org. In a series of tweets on July 25 and 26, Trump criticized Attorney (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sanders Wrong on Vot...: Sanders Wrong on Voter Turnout 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. The overall turnout was 60.2 percent in 2016, up from 58.6 percent four years earlier. In addition, the percentage of eligible voters ca (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Cohen vs. Tru...: Video: Cohen vs. Trump Our latest collaboration with CNN’s Jake Tapper is on Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony and instances where he contradicted past statements made by President Donald Trump. Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, said he was in Trump’s office in July 2016 when Roger Stone (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video Makes Unsubsta...: Video Makes Unsubstantiated Claim About Chinese Maneuvers After Pelosi Visit to Taiwan China held live-fire military drills around Taiwan as a response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island on Aug. 2. But a video posted on social media made unfounded claims that China had attacked a Taiwanese armory. An expert told us that the claim was false and a ma (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden Floats Baseles...: Biden Floats Baseless Election Conspiracy [UPDATE: See our latest story ‘Trump Proves Biden Right on USPS Funding, Mail-In Ballots’] Editor’s note, Aug. 14: Joe Biden’s June 23 remarks that President Donald Trump “wants to cut off money for the post office so they cannot deliver mail-in ballots” have been confirmed — by the president himself. In an Aug. 13 interview, Trump admitted that he opposes a coronaviru (Source: FactCheck.org)
Ron Paul Ad Invokes...: Ron Paul Ad Invokes Reagan, Imprecisely Ron Paul wrongly suggests Ronald Reagan reluctantly agreed to a "debt ceiling compromise" in 1987. There was no disagreement over raising the debt ceiling. In fact, Reagan said he had "no objection whatsoever" to raising the debt ceiling. Reagan opposed the main provision of the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Another False Tax At...: Another False Tax Attack (And One That’s Just Deceptive) There they go again. Earlier this month, we called out Democrats for falsely accusing a Republican House candidate in Hawaii of pledging to protect tax breaks for sending jobs overseas. All he did was sign a pledge not to raise taxes. Now a Democratic candidate is making the same (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Sneaky ‘FactCheck’...: A Sneaky ‘FactCheck’ Front Group A sneaky Ohio group, using a name similar to ours, is accusing a Cleveland-area real-estate developer of making false and misleading claims in a local zoning fight. But the fact is we have nothing to do with “SouthEuclidFactCheck.org” and don’t endorse the statements that group i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Muslim...: Trump’s False Muslim Claim Trump wrongly claimed that a Pew Research Center survey found that among the world’s Muslims, “27 percent, could be 35 percent, would go to war” against the U.S. The Pew Research Center says it has conducted no survey that asks such a question, nor did experts we consulted know o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Arkansas Race Off to...: Arkansas Race Off to Misleading Start The Arkansas Senate race got off to a dubious start as both major party candidates found themselves under attack in misleading TV ads: Cotton, a freshman House Republican, announced he would run for the Senate on Aug. 6. That same day the Pryor campaign went on TV in Little Rock (Source: FactCheck.org)
Post Misleadingly Eq...: Post Misleadingly Equates 2016 Democratic Effort to Trump’s 2020 ‘Alternate Electors’ After the 2016 presidential election, some progressive Democrats tried to convince electors for Donald Trump to switch their Electoral College votes to Hillary Clinton. But a conservative commentator misleadingly claimed in a social media post that the Democrats were “calling for (Source: FactCheck.org)
Consumer Reports on...: Consumer Reports on HealthCare.gov GOP Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy falsely claimed Consumer Reports warned “Americans not to go to the [HealthCare.gov] website because of the fear of having fraud.” The consumer advocate initially advised people to wait until the website’s many technical problems were worked out, (Source: FactCheck.org)
RNC Misleads on ‘Imm...: RNC Misleads on ‘Immoral’ Democratic Bill Republican National Committee tweets in recent days have attacked a Democratic-sponsored bill in the House as “immoral” because it “would spend $54 billion taxpayer dollars on foreign countries” but not address “the border crisis here at home.” But that’s the same amount that Rep (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Bogus Terror...: Trump’s Bogus Terrorist Claim At a military base in Florida, President Donald Trump complained that “radical Islamic” terrorist attacks are “not even being reported” by the “very, very dishonest press.” That’s nonsense. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later revised Trump’s criticism of the media by cl (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Muddies Immigr...: Trump Muddies Immigrant Voting Issue Donald Trump mangled the facts when he claimed that the Obama administration is “letting people pour into the country so they can go and vote.” People who come into the country illegally are not permitted to vote, and the consequences for doing so are severe. Immigrants must resi (Source: FactCheck.org)
FlackCheck.org Video...: FlackCheck.org Video: Midterm Deceptions FlackCheck.org, our sister website for political literacy, looks at two recent political campaign ads that mislead viewers using common patterns of deception. One of the TV ads doesn’t tell the whole story about a cut in the pensions of military retirees that never happened. And (Source: FactCheck.org)
Mistaken Tax Facts...: Mistaken Tax Facts In a TV ad attacking GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the League of Conservation Voters claims the average Wisconsin family pays $7,500 a year in federal income tax. Not so. For the family pictured in the ad with the income specified by the league, the tax would be $724. We of (Source: FactCheck.org)
Viral Tweet Distorts...: Viral Tweet Distorts Facts on Consequences of Impeachment A viral tweet that migrated to Facebook distorts the facts on the consequences of a potential, second impeachment of President Donald Trump. Impeachment alone would not strip Trump of his pension or bar him from pursuing office in the future, as the post falsely claims. The House (Source: FactCheck.org)
Anti-Alito Ad Uses S...: Anti-Alito Ad Uses Selective Quotes IndependentCourt.org, a project of the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary, released an ad suggesting that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito would endanger privacy rights. It says “an independent analysis found that Alito often goes out of his way to narrow the scope (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Distorts Facts...: Trump Distorts Facts in Pennsylvania Rally As the Department of Justice investigates his handling of highly classified documents, former President Donald Trump spoke for nearly two hours in a rally in Pennsylvania that was filled with false, exaggerated and misleading statements: Trump made his remarks Sept. 3 in Wilkes-B (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Jr.’s False No...: Trump Jr.’s False Noncitizen Voting Tweet Amid a contentious Florida recount, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a six-year-old, and outdated, story to suggest hundreds of thousands of noncitizens could have voted in the state. The story includes an update saying just 85 noncitizens were ultimately removed from the state’s voter r (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Corona...: Trump’s False Coronavirus Claim About Lupus Patients President Donald Trump once again touted hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. This time, the president falsely claimed that “people with lupus” who take hydroxychloroquine “aren’t catching this horrible virus.” While it’s too (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking the Mic...: FactChecking the Michigan Senate Race The Michigan Senate race pits Democratic Rep. Gary Peters against Republican Terri Lynn Land, a former Michigan secretary of state, to replace the retiring Sen. Carl Levin. The two candidates have faced plenty of attacks from outside spending groups, who have poured enough money (Source: FactCheck.org)
Facts Falling Off th...: Facts Falling Off the Fiscal Cliff In press conferences on the so-called fiscal cliff, House Speaker John Boehner greatly exaggerated the negative effect on the economy of raising taxes on upper-income individuals. The “fiscal cliff” is shorthand for a $560 billion mix of tax hikes and deep spending cuts that are (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama Didn’t ‘Praise...: Obama Didn’t ‘Praise’ Castro Sen. Ted Cruz went too far when he claimed that President Barack Obama praised the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Obama offered neither praise nor criticism in his official statement on Castro’s death. Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Cruz, a Cuban-American, spoke about the Cub (Source: FactCheck.org)
Social Media Posts M...: Social Media Posts Make Baseless Claims About Gender Identity of Uvalde Shooter Police are still investigating the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, but as of May 26 they had shared no evidence about the shooter’s gender identity. Despite that lack of evidence, Rep. Paul Gosar and others claimed the gunman was transgender. Social media posts (Source: FactCheck.org)
Perry Misleads on Jo...: Perry Misleads on Jobs Texas Gov. Rick Perry used grossly misleading statistics to criticize the unemployment picture under President Obama. Perry said there are “90 million people that are out of work” and “more women out of the workforce now than at any time in our history.” The 90-million figure inc (Source: FactCheck.org)
A False Hit on Critz...: A False Hit on Critz We’ve written about misrepresentations in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s attack on Tim Burns, the GOP candidate in the Pennsylvania 12th. Being equal-opportunity fact-checkers, we can’t let a false attack ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee (Source: FactCheck.org)
Images Show IRS Educ...: Images Show IRS Educational Program, Not Training of Agents The IRS Criminal Investigation division’s “Adrian Project” educates the public about the IRS through community outreach sessions with high school and college students. Posts on social media are sharing a video from one of the sessions to falsely claim it shows agents in training. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Meme Spreads Falseho...: Meme Spreads Falsehood About Vaccine Transfer Through Eating Meat Livestock and poultry are not being vaccinated against COVID-19. But a meme is spreading the falsehood that those who eat meat from vaccinated animals will get “VAXXED” by consuming the meat. That simply isn’t possible, according to immunologists. All of the authorized and appro (Source: FactCheck.org)
Another Abortion Fal...: Another Abortion Falsehood from Obama’s ‘Truth Team’ The Obama campaign is falsely accusing the Republican Party’s platform of calling for banning abortions even in cases of rape or incest. That’s not true. The 2012 platform is silent on exceptions — leaving that decision up to Congress and the states — just as it was in 2008 and i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Mitt the Ripper?...: Mitt the Ripper? OK, we get the joke. But there’s a problem with the satirical TV spot that the Stephen Colbert “super PAC” is running against Mitt Romney in South Carolina. Romney didn’t bump off the companies that the ad jokingly claims he did. For those who haven’t been watching the Comedy (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democrats Mislead on...: Democrats Mislead on Military Pay, Pensions Several Democrats have claimed that the president’s emergency declaration could “raid” or “take money away” from military pay and pensions to fund construction of the border wall. But the basis for their claims — a news story — says the Pentagon may use “leftover” funds in those (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump on ‘Unfair’ U....: Trump on ‘Unfair’ U.S.-Japan Security Treaty President Donald Trump described a security treaty with Japan as an “unfair agreement” negotiated by “stupid” American officials in which “Japan doesn’t have to help us at all” if the U.S. is attacked. But that ignores the benefits in the treaty for the U.S. The Treaty of Mutual (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump on Hairspray a...: Trump on Hairspray and Ozone For at least five years, Donald Trump has been making false claims about hairspray and its impact on the ozone layer. Most recently, the likely Republican presidential nominee made comments at a campaign rally in West Virginia: Hairspray is made up of chemicals that make hair sti (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Benghazi Timelin...: The Benghazi Timeline, Clinton Edition We still get questions about whether the Obama administration misled the public when it initially claimed that the Benghazi attacks on Sept. 11, 2012, began “spontaneously” in response to an anti-Muslim video on the internet. We refer readers to our article “Benghazi Timeline,” w (Source: FactCheck.org)
All Wet on Water Qua...: All Wet on Water Quality Data During a recent congressional hearing, Rep. Steve King of Iowa underestimated what scientists know about the relationship between farming practices and water quality. To start, the term “bison” is scientifically more accurate than “buffalo” when referring to North American popula (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Game of Telephone...: A Game of Telephone in Colorado A Crossroads GPS ad exaggerates a few personal anecdotes to claim that “many Coloradans pay roughly 100 percent more for health insurance since Obamacare.” The ad, attacking Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, also tries to pin a shortage of doctors in rural areas on the health care law. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Outside Groups Twist...: Outside Groups Twist Truth in Nevada Senate Race Dueling attack ads from outside groups in the Nevada Senate race rely on twisted facts. An ad from the conservative American Crossroads attacks Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley for an ethics probe related to her efforts on behalf of a kidney program and kidney doctors, including h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bogus ‘Sharpiegate’...: Bogus ‘Sharpiegate’ Claim Resurfaces in Pennsylvania Election Dominion voting machines have had no issues reading ballots filled out with Sharpie pens. But an Instagram video spread the false claim that ballots filled out with Sharpies could not be counted by voting machines in Pennsylvania’s 2022 election. A Pennsylvania Department of Stat (Source: FactCheck.org)
Colorado’s Contracep...: Colorado’s Contraception Controversy Both sides in the Colorado Senate race are misleading voters in TV ads on Republican Rep. Cory Gardner’s proposal to allow the sale of birth control pills over-the-counter. Gardner’s Plan Gardner’s TV ad begins with the candidate saying, “What’s the difference between me and Mar (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton’s ‘Secret’ E...: Clinton’s ‘Secret’ Email Accounts The Republican National Committee thinks it has the smoking gun that proves Hillary Clinton used “multiple secret email addresses” as secretary of state. It doesn’t. The RNC made its claim in a May 18 blog post hours after the New York Times published copies of emails that Clinto (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democratic Spin on B...: Democratic Spin on Bipartisan Support for American Jobs Plan Several independent studies show strong bipartisan support for many of the main spending components of the $2.7 trillion American Jobs Plan. Still, those polls also show most Republicans oppose the overall plan, particularly its call for infrastructure spending to be offset by hi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gary Johnson’s False...: Gary Johnson’s False Marijuana Claim Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson claimed that “no politicians outside of Bernie Sanders and myself support legalizing marijuana” at the “congressional, gubernatorial, senatorial level.” He’s wrong. There are at least 20 other members of Congress and one governor who, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden and Abbott Twi...: Biden and Abbott Twist Their Border Narratives President Joe Biden, who recently made his first visit as president to the southern border, and Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who greeted Biden in Texas, offered competing versions of who’s to blame for a spike in illegal immigration. But both twisted some facts to fit their (Source: FactCheck.org)
$8 Million Worth Of...: $8 Million Worth Of Distortions Two misleading Bush ads accusing Kerry of supporting tax increases on gasoline and middle-class parents were running heavily last week. According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group of TNS Media Intelligence, which tracks TV ads in the top 100 markets, the two Bush ads accounted (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking GOP Res...: FactChecking GOP Response to Obama Gun Plan Republican response to President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce gun violence has been peppered with misleading claims. In a speech on Jan. 16, the president laid out an ambitious plan to curb gun violence. Obama called on Congress to enact laws to require a universal background ch (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s ‘Super V’ Recovery President Donald Trump has been boasting for weeks of a “super V” economic recovery. But figures released today show an economy still far from fully recovered. The “super V” phrase is now a staple at his campaign rallies. On Oct. 28 in Arizona, he said, “This is going to be bette (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Position on...: Biden’s Position on Osama bin Laden Raid Questioned by a Fox News reporter, former Vice President Joe Biden denied that he told then-President Barack Obama “not to go after [Osama] bin Laden” in what turned out to be a successful mission to kill the 9/11 mastermind. The Republican National Committee immediately called i (Source: FactCheck.org)
Front Group Claims E...: Front Group Claims EPA Threatens 7 Million Jobs Chemical and oil lobbies were behind an ad that dogged Obama's Midwestern bus tour, attacking anti-smog regulations proposed by the administration. Their trade groups are among the business organizations backing a front group calling itself the "Coalition for American Jobs," whic (Source: FactCheck.org)
Reign Maker...: Reign Maker We rarely give much attention to hyper-local races like state auditor. But we couldn’t resist this object lesson, from Massachusetts auditor candidate Guy Glodis, in why politicians need to check not only their claims but their spelling: (Originally posted at Blue Mass Group) Gl (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking the Hou...: FactChecking the House Speaker Election There were some factual missteps in several nominating speeches by lawmakers as Rep. Kevin McCarthy repeatedly fell short of the votes needed to become speaker of the House on Jan. 3 and 4. We found that Republican Reps. Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, Kat Cammack and Scott Perry mad (Source: FactCheck.org)
Infrastructure Bill...: Infrastructure Bill Proposes Voluntary Pilot Program for Per-Mile Vehicle Fee, Not ‘Driving Tax’ A Senate-approved $1 trillion infrastructure bill would create a voluntary pilot program aimed at studying per-mile user fees for motor vehicles to fund the Highway Trust Fund. The bill does not include a “driving tax,” as some social media posts misleadingly claim. A bipartisan (Source: FactCheck.org)
Liberal Group Attack...: Liberal Group Attacks Dean on Gun Control A new liberal group is running a TV ad in Iowa attacking Howard Dean for his record on gun control. The ad says Dean was endorsed repeatedly by the National Rifle Association for governor of Vermont — which is true. Dean’s position has shifted a bit since then, however. The ad at (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Facts About ‘Fat...: The Facts About ‘Fat Cats’ Even though we are serious-minded fact-checkers, we are not completely without humor, and MoveOn.org’s latest TV ad on “fat cats” and the “Buffett Rule” is pretty funny. But the ad may leave an im-purr-fect impression. One that’s off by more than a whisker. The TV ad says, “Presi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Manufactured...: Biden’s Manufactured Jobs Claims Declaring “manufacturing is back,” Vice President Joe Biden gave a rosy — but not entirely accurate or complete — picture of U.S. manufacturing at a March 28 campaign stop in Iowa. Biden spoke about U.S. manufacturing to hundreds of people at PCT Engineered Systems in Davenport, (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Big Webby Win for...: A Big Webby Win for FactCheck We’re very happy to announce that FactCheck.org has won the 2010 Webby Award (also known as "the Oscars of the internet") in the Politics category. Thanks to your votes, we also won this year’s Webby People’s Voice award. This is our second Webby — we also won in 2008 – and it’s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sanders Wrong on Hom...: Sanders Wrong on Homeless In his recent video address to supporters, Sen. Bernie Sanders said homelessness “is increasing.” Actually, the number of homeless people has decreased steadily each year since 2010, going down by more than 72,000, or 11.4 percent. Sanders made his claim in online video remarks h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Specious Tra...: Trump’s Specious Trade Tweets In recent tweets, President Donald Trump has made erroneous statements about U.S farmers, and soybean prices in particular, while complaining about trade barriers: The president has made negotiating better trade deals a high priority in his first term. In his attempt to gain leve (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden Video on Trump...: Biden Video on Trump ‘Silencing’ Expert Over the weekend, the Biden campaign posted a video that claims the Trump administration silenced Dr. Nancy Messonnier for “speaking out” about the new coronavirus at a Feb. 25 press briefing. But the campaign’s support for the claim is awfully thin. Messonnier, director of the N (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump’s Speec...: Video: Trump’s Speech on Clinton The latest fact-checking video from CNN’s Jake Tapper focuses on three claims that Donald Trump made in his June 22 speech attacking Hillary Clinton’s character. The video, part of an ongoing collaboration between CNN’s “State of the Union” and FactCheck.org, only covers some of (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Perry...: FactChecking Perry Rick Perry has made false or exaggerated claims on U.S. oil imports, the federal debt, Social Security and the federal health care law. The Texas governor gave a speech Aug. 13 in South Carolina to announce he will run for the Republican presidential nomination. As we have for ot (Source: FactCheck.org)
Reid’s Cowboy Poetry...: Reid’s Cowboy Poetry Puffery Sen. Harry Reid vastly overstated annual attendance figures for the federally subsidized National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Nevada. The Senate majority leader claimed that "tens of thousands of people" visited the annual event in Elko, Nev., "every year." He was speaking on the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking the Democratic National Convention This video reviews some of the statements that we fact-checked during the Democratic National Convention, which ended Aug. 20 with former Vice President Joe Biden accepting his party’s nomination for president. Our video covers these five claims: Please see our convention storie (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s False Milita...: Trump’s False Military Equipment Claim President Donald Trump has falsely claimed his administration invested “$2.5 trillion in all of the greatest equipment in the world” for the military. That’s approximately the total for defense budgets from 2017 to 2020, but the cost of purchasing new military equipment was 20% o (Source: FactCheck.org)
NRCC Distorts McInty...: NRCC Distorts McIntyre’s Fiscal Record The National Republican Congressional Committee distorts Rep. Mike McIntyre’s record on balanced budgets and congressional pay in a TV ad: The NRCC also says McIntyre “charged us for his anniversary in a five-star Italian hotel” in 2011. That’s misleading. McIntyre was one of six (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump on His...: Video: Trump on His Tax Returns CNN’s Jake Tapper examines President Donald Trump’s claims about his tax returns in this week’s fact-checking video. After Democrats won the House majority in the midterm elections, opening the possibility they might issue a subpoena to obtain the president’s tax returns, a repor (Source: FactCheck.org)
Research Rebuts Clai...: Research Rebuts Claims Linking COVID-19 Vaccines to Male Infertility A new study found there was no negative effect on sperm levels in men after receiving the COVID-19 vaccines, undercutting suggestions that the shots affect male fertility. But social media posts have made the baseless claim that vaccinated men “are effectively sterile.”
(Source: FactCheck.org)
Groundhog Friday...: Groundhog Friday This week, the candidates for the White House repeated claims they’ve made before on nuclear weapons, jobs and wages. Follow the links to our original stories for more information on each claim. Groundhog Friday is our occasional feature highlighting the false and misleading talk (Source: FactCheck.org)
GM Korea Didn’t Anno...: GM Korea Didn’t Announce Move to Detroit General Motors will close one of its four assembly plants in South Korea in May. It did not say it was moving production to Detroit instead, as President Trump claimed. “That was not part of the announcement,” GM spokesman Patrick Morrissey said in a phone interview with FactChec (Source: FactCheck.org)
O’Malley’s Economic...: O’Malley’s Economic Talking Point Martin O’Malley, a Democratic candidate for president, often says Maryland earned or achieved “the highest median income of any state in America” when he was governor. In fact, Maryland had the highest median household income before O’Malley became governor. O’Malley, who served (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama’s Spin on Jobs...: Obama’s Spin on Jobs Bill President Obama exaggerates when he claims “independent economists” say his jobs bill “would create nearly 2 million jobs.” The median estimate in a survey of 34 economists showed 288,000 jobs could be saved or created over two years under the president’s plan. Obama also claimed (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kerry’s Attack Video...: Kerry’s Attack Video Misleads on Veterans, Jobs The Kerry campaign Feb. 27 e-mailed a new attack ad to supporters, asking them to pass it on to friends. The ad accuses Bush of breaking his word. But the Kerry ad itself falsely implies that Bush has cut off health benefits for 200,000 veterans, and overstates the number of jobs (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden on the 1994 Cr...: Biden on the 1994 Crime Bill Former Vice President Joe Biden defended his support decades ago for a controversial crime bill, saying in a speech in South Carolina, “There’s another part of my long record that’s being grossly misrepresented: the 1994 crime bill.” We’ll go through Biden’s points about what was (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Secret: Bachmann...: No Secret: Bachmann Gets It Wrong Rep. Michele Bachmann's claim that Democrats "secretly" hid $105 billion in health care spending is way off base. It's true that the new health care law contains many billions in future spending, but there was no secret about that. The Minnesota Republican told "Meet the Press" h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Misquote Biden...: Posts Misquote Biden’s Year-Old Remarks on Tanks for Ukraine President Joe Biden announced on Jan. 25 that the U.S. would provide Ukraine with 31 tanks. After the announcement, a meme on social media misquoted Biden’s remarks from March 2022, suggesting he said that sending tanks to Ukraine would cause World War III. Biden said sending wea (Source: FactCheck.org)
Loans to Mobsters, T...: Loans to Mobsters, Ties to BP? Kirk’s Attack Ads Go Too Far Republican Rep. Mark Kirk is attacking his Democratic opponent in the Illinois race for the U.S. Senate with two ads that go beyond what the facts support. The ads make unsupported claims about the role Giannoulias played at his family’s troubled bank and strain to tie him to B (Source: FactCheck.org)
FlackCheck Video: Fa...: FlackCheck Video: FactChecking Rick Perry Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, is running for president for the second time. This video from FlackCheck.org looks at several claims made by Perry on immigration, jobs and taxes that we have previously checked. For more, see our June 4 item “FactChecking Perry.” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Attack Ad Leaves Mis...: Attack Ad Leaves Misleading Impression on Vance’s View of Trump Voters It’s well known that JD Vance — Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate in the Ohio Republican primary for U.S. Senate — was no fan of the former president just a few years back. Vance’s past quotes practically write his opponents’ attack ads for them. But the truth isn’t enough in pol (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: More Clinton...: Video: More Clinton Email Spin This week, CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews Hillary Clinton’s oft-repeated claim that using a private email account and server while secretary of state was “absolutely permitted.” As we have written before, federal regulations did allow Clinton to send and receive emails outside the gov (Source: FactCheck.org)
Stimulus Jobs: The F...: Stimulus Jobs: The Fine Print The White House announced April 14 that a new report shows that the Recovery Act has been responsible for 2.2 million to 2.8 million jobs through the end of March. As always, we advise reading the fine print. As we’ve written before, it’s not possible to know what might have happ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Russia Inves...: Trump’s Russia Investigation Repeats In his first extended interview since the completion of the special counsel probe, President Donald Trump repeated several false and misleading claims regarding the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The FBI investigation began in late July 2016, and Ro (Source: FactCheck.org)
Crist Ads Misreprese...: Crist Ads Misrepresent DeSantis Statements on Abortion and Background Checks on Guns Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to eliminate state permit requirements for carrying concealed firearms, and he supports banning abortion, with limited exceptions, after 15 weeks of pregnancy. But political ads from former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s campaign misleadin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Spreads Distor...: Trump Spreads Distorted Claim on Wuhan Lab Funding The Wuhan Institute of Virology received $600,000 as part of a larger five-year U.S. government grant to a U.S.-based nonprofit studying emerging infectious diseases. But President Donald Trump put the figure at $7.5 million, saying he “ended it.” We asked the White House where t (Source: FactCheck.org)
A False Claim of Bla...: A False Claim of Blame in Mass. Senate Race Republican Gabriel Gomez falsely claims his opponent in the Massachusetts Senate race blamed him for the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., and compared him to Osama bin Laden: Gomez and Markey are competing for the Senate seat left open by former Sen. John Kerry when he became s (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Employee Exa...: Trump’s Employee Exaggeration in Jersey Donald Trump told an audience in New Jersey that he has more employees “than almost anybody in New Jersey.” That’s nonsense. He used to own Trump Entertainment Resorts, one of the state’s top 100 employers, but he lost control of it in bankruptcy. He still owns three golf courses (Source: FactCheck.org)
Viral Posts Misuse V...: Viral Posts Misuse VAERS Data to Make False Claims About COVID-19 Vaccines Social media posts repeatedly misuse unverified data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System to falsely claim that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous, and even lethal. But the government database is not designed to determine if vaccines cause health problems. No vaccine or (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Attacks Bush o...: Trump Attacks Bush on Sanctuary Cities Donald Trump says that “the state of Florida had sanctuary cities while Jeb Bush was governor,” and “nobody said anything.” But we could find no evidence that any Florida city or county fit the bill of a sanctuary city at that time, at least not officially. Making his regular pit (Source: FactCheck.org)
Health Care Nostrums...: Health Care Nostrums The Republican National Committee has released a new Web ad about health care. The RNC has some fun with the issue, framing its ad as a parody of pharmaceutical advertisements. Warning: trying to sort out fact from fiction in this video may lead to headaches, shortness of patienc (Source: FactCheck.org)
Internet “Whispering...: Internet “Whispering Campaigns” Falsely Accuse Teresa Heinz Kerry False allegations about Kerry’s wife have been circulating for months, but the velocity of the Internet “whispering campaign” picked up substantially with the approach of the Fall campaign. One false message claims Teresa Heinz Kerry gave $4 million to a foundation that used the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Revisiting Clinton a...: Revisiting Clinton and Classified Information At his July 5 press conference, FBI Director James Comey said a “very small number” of emails sent and received by Hillary Clinton over her private server “bore markings indicating the presence of classified information” — contradicting Clinton’s claims that she “never received n (Source: FactCheck.org)
Post Misconstrues Pu...: Post Misconstrues Public Health Awareness Campaigns About Blood Clots The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Pfizer tweeted in February about the dangers of blood clots in veins, which are relatively common and affect as many as 900,000 Americans each year. A story shared on social media, however, misleadingly linked those public health (Source: FactCheck.org)
FlackCheck.org Video...: FlackCheck.org Video: Immigration Claims This FlackCheck.org video highlights misleading claims about immigration that were made after President Obama announced his executive actions in late November. The video includes fact-checked statements from Obama, Sen. Ted Cruz, Reps. Tom Cotton and Michele Bachmann, and Rick Sa (Source: FactCheck.org)
What Vice President...: What Vice President Harris Said — And Didn’t Say — About Hurricane Relief In a “fireside chat” with actress Priyanka Chopra, Vice President Kamala Harris said the Biden administration is “thinking about the families in Florida [and] in Puerto Rico” and “what we need to do to help them in terms of an immediate response and aid.” But she also talked abou (Source: FactCheck.org)
Migrants Not Respons...: Migrants Not Responsible for Latest COVID-19 Surge Infectious disease experts say low vaccination rates, resistance to protective measures such as wearing a mask and the highly transmissible delta variant are driving the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But with numerous Republicans criticizing the Biden administration (Source: FactCheck.org)
A Misleading Anti-Bi...: A Misleading Anti-Biden Ad from Trump Backers A misleading television ad from the Committee to Defend the President falsely suggests that former President Barack Obama is criticizing his former vice president, Joe Biden, for his racial attitudes. The pro-Trump super PAC’s ad begins with an image of Biden and a narrator sayin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Romney’s ‘Fiscal Con...: Romney’s ‘Fiscal Conservative’ Whopper Mitt Romney says, “If you want a fiscal conservative, you can’t vote for Rick Santorum, because he’s not.” Really? Three fiscally conservative groups rate Santorum’s lifetime voting record as better than most other Republican lawmakers, and one of them considers him a “Taxpayer H (Source: FactCheck.org)
Debatable Facts in S...: Debatable Facts in South Carolina In a spirited debate between South Carolina congressional candidates Elizabeth Colbert Busch and Mark Sanford, we found a couple of misleading statements — and one seemingly contradictory exchange about Sanford’s voting record that isn’t. The first and only debate in the high-pro (Source: FactCheck.org)
False Claim on Pell...: False Claim on Pell Grants in Indiana A Democratic incumbent in Indiana falsely claims his Republican challenger wants to abolish the popular federal Pell Grant program for needy college students. Rep. Joe Donnelly, who is running for reelection in Indiana’s 2nd District, based his charge on a questionnaire Republic (Source: FactCheck.org)
Distorted Graphic in...: Distorted Graphic in Georgia Governor Race When it comes to political images, seeing shouldn’t always be believing. Case in point is an image recently tweeted by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that is misleadingly presented to make his polling advantage over Republican rival David Perdue appear larger than it actually is in a hy (Source: FactCheck.org)
The $79 Billion Iraq...: The $79 Billion Iraqi Surplus, Re-reconsidered During the 2008 campaign, we repeatedly called out then-candidate Barack Obama for complaining that the U.S. was spending billions in Iraq while the Iraqi government sat on a projected $79 billion surplus. We said that Obama’s projection didn’t account for updates to the Iraqi bu (Source: FactCheck.org)
MoveOn.org: Starved...: MoveOn.org: Starved for Facts Would you believe that one in six Americans is "going hungry"? You shouldn’t, because it’s not true. Nevertheless, the liberal group MoveOn.org claimed something close to that in an end-of-the-year appeal for donations to Feeding America, the national anti-hunger charity. MoveOn’ (Source: FactCheck.org)
Will Paris Have a ‘T...: Will Paris Have a ‘Tiny’ Effect on Warming? President Donald Trump and his top environmental official said the Paris Agreement would reduce the global average temperature by only 0.2 degrees Celsius. Former Vice President Al Gore said that’s “not true.” Who’s right? Trump and Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Pro (Source: FactCheck.org)
Rand Paul Revises Hi...: Rand Paul Revises History of Cheney Criticism Sen. Rand Paul dismissed comments he once made about Dick Cheney’s motives for invading Iraq by claiming they were made “before I was involved in politics for myself.” That’s false. Paul made his remarks in a 2009 speech he delivered during a statewide tour he launched to raise h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden, FDR and the I...: Biden, FDR and the Invention of Television In a sit-down interview with CBS Evening News’ Katie Couric that aired Sept. 22, Sen. Joe Biden tried to make a historical comparison between political leadership during the trying economic times of today and yesterday. But he got some of his history wrong. Biden told Couric: “Wh (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gun Laws, Deaths and...: Gun Laws, Deaths and Crimes President Barack Obama claimed that “states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths.” Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, meanwhile, has made nearly the opposite claim, saying states with stringent gun control laws have “the highest gun crime rates (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misleading Attack on...: Misleading Attack on Murkowski’s Gun Vote After a spate of mass shootings, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was one of 15 Republicans who voted in June for a gun bill that provides money for states that have or want to enact red-flag laws to temporarily remove firearms from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or othe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Swiftly Defending De...: Swiftly Defending DeLay A newly formed conservative group is running a TV ad in Houston implying that liberal billionaire George Soros is “the source” of an earlier anti-DeLay ad by liberal groups. The pro-DeLay ad is somewhat misleading. Soros gave the liberal groups early funding two years ago, but th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Super PAC Ads Distor...: Super PAC Ads Distort New York Congressional Candidate’s ‘Help Not Handcuffs’ Quote The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, is running ads on TV and social media that distort Democratic House candidate Josh Riley’s positions on crime. One ad misleadingly claims that the New York Democrat said he “supports help not handcuffs” for criminals. An (Source: FactCheck.org)
Anti-Biden Ad Mislea...: Anti-Biden Ad Misleads on Race Claims The Committee to Defend the President has been running a six-second Facebook ad targeting older voters in North Carolina that takes former Vice President Joe Biden’s words out of context to brand him as a KKK sympathizer who twice used the “N-word.” The Committee to Defend the P (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s CPAC Speech Former President Donald Trump’s keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference included several false and misleading claims, some of which we’ve fact-checked before. Here we focus on assertions about foreign policy and energy. We’ve debunked many of Trump’s bogus (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Evidence Excess D...: No Evidence Excess Deaths Linked to Vaccines, Contrary to Claims Online COVID-19 vaccines substantially reduce the risk of dying from COVID-19, and serious side effects are very rare. Excess deaths among working-age adults in 2021 and 2022 were driven by COVID-19 and other factors, not vaccination. Faulty logic underlies claims that vaccines caused m (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Dodgy B...: FactChecking Dodgy British Claims Every now and then, we like to check in on what our British cousin is up to, just to remind ourselves that Americans have no monopoly on political spin. The FactCheck Blog is a project of a TV network, Channel 4 News, and it regularly skewers British politicians for false, mislea (Source: FactCheck.org)
Scientific Evidence...: Scientific Evidence and the EU Court A controversial European Union court decision about vaccines raises two interesting scientific questions: How do scientists decide whether vaccines can cause conditions such as autism or multiple sclerosis? And how certain can they be when they make their conclusions? Recently ne (Source: FactCheck.org)
No New Revelation on...: No New Revelation on Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 Randomized controlled trials — the highest standard of evidence — have found that hydroxychloroquine isn’t beneficial in treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Yet social media posts are claiming the drug works, and conservative outlets have touted an unpublished, and much-crit (Source: FactCheck.org)
Hitler and Chemical...: 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. The Nazis manufactu (Source: FactCheck.org)
Our Annual Year-end...: Our Annual Year-end Appeal During the presidential campaign, the Obama campaign emailed fundraising appeals with subject lines such as “This is critical” and “Absolutely urgent” to lament how the Democrats were being outraised and outspent by Republicans. But here’s something to consider: The Obama and Rom (Source: FactCheck.org)
More Carbon Tax Dist...: More Carbon Tax Distortions Crossroads GPS claims that Colorado Sen. Mark Udall “voted to enact a carbon tax.” Udall did no such thing. Republican Thom Tillis claims that Sen. Kay Hagan “supported a carbon tax” that would destroy “up to 67,000 jobs in North Carolina over the next ten years.” That’s not accu (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Misattribute P...: Posts Misattribute Phrase ‘Domestic Supply of Infants’ in Draft Opinion on Abortion In a footnote of a draft opinion on abortion access, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quoted from a 2008 government report on the demand for adoption in the U.S., which used the phrase, “domestic supply of infants.” Posts on social media critical of the opinion have misleadingl (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: FactChecking...: Video: FactChecking Trump’s Immigration Address In this video, we review four statements that President Donald Trump made during his national address on illegal immigration. In his Jan. 8 speech, the president called on Congress to appropriate $5.7 billion for a wall along the Southwest border to address what he called a “cris (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s bin Laden ‘P...: Trump’s bin Laden ‘Prediction’ Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump exaggerates his prescience on the 9/11 terrorist attacks when he claims he “predicted Osama bin Laden” in a 2000 book. Trump’s claim came during an interview on the Alex Jones Radio Show on Dec. 2 (starting at the 4:40-minute mark). (Source: FactCheck.org)
Holiday Announcement...: Holiday Announcement Both the Washington and Philadelphia offices of FactCheck.org will be closed from Dec. 24 through Monday, Jan. 3, in observance of Christmas and New Year’s. When we resume, we will be taking a different approach to our coverage of weekend public affairs shows. We will continue to (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kasich’s Misleading...: Kasich’s Misleading Attack on Christie Ohio Gov. John Kasich took a swipe at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s governance, saying “we have a balanced budget” but “they don’t over in New Jersey.” That’s misleading. The state constitution requires New Jersey to have a balanced budget, and it does. The Kasich campaign cit (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sanders Exaggerates...: Sanders Exaggerates Inequality Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders claims that “in America we now have more income and wealth inequality than any other major country on earth.” Not really. Sanders excludes nations such as Russia, Turkey and Brazil from his definition of “major.” Sanders has made this claim a part of h (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pryor’s Prior Partis...: Pryor’s Prior Partisan Votes Tom Cotton accuses Sen. Mark Pryor of “toeing the line” for President Obama and the Democratic Party, claiming Pryor voted with them 90 percent of the time. But the party unity figure is wrong (it’s actually 80 percent), and the presidential support figure, although accurate, sho (Source: FactCheck.org)
McConnell’s Bloated...: McConnell’s Bloated Tax Boast A new ad from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell grossly oversells the percentage of Kentuckians that McConnell “saved” from income tax hikes last year. The ad says McConnell saved 99 percent from “Obama’s tax increases,” but the actual figure is closer to 1 percent to 2 pe (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Misleads on Ai...: Trump Misleads on Aid to Puerto Rico President Donald Trump claims that “Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane” and that it received “more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before.” Neither of those statements is true. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as of the end o (Source: FactCheck.org)
Putin Did Not Call T...: 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,” depending on how one translates Putin’s words, but he never called Trum (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Preexisting Cond...: The Preexisting Conditions Debate Democrats and Republicans have made competing claims on whether the latest version of the GOP health care bill maintains protections for people with preexisting medical conditions. President Donald Trump has said, “Preexisting conditions are in the bill. And I mandate it.” While (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gates’ Investment in...: Gates’ Investment in Startup Firm Is Not Related to Baby Formula Shortage A fund backed by Bill Gates has invested in a startup working to develop lab-manufactured breast milk, but it won’t reach the market for several years. Yet, social media posts make baseless claims that Gates is behind the current baby formula shortage — which stems from supply-ch (Source: FactCheck.org)
Another Webby Win fo...: Another Webby Win for FactCheck.org FactCheck.org has been awarded the 2015 Webby for best Political Blog/Website by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. And thanks to our amazing readers, we also won the People’s Voice Webby in the same category. This is the second consecutive year that FactChec (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fiorina Misleads on...: Fiorina Misleads on Student Loans Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina gave a misleading description of the options available for college students who need loans to pay for their education. She said the government had “nationalized” the industry, when, in fact, private and federal student loans are ava (Source: FactCheck.org)
FlackCheck Video: Ma...: FlackCheck Video: Marco Rubio Announcement The latest “Campaign Watch” video from FlackCheck.org highlights past claims we have fact-checked from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. On April 13, Rubio became the third Republican U.S. senator to officially declare that he will run for president in 2016. (Source: FactCheck.org)
Health Care Costs Di...: Health Care Costs Didn’t Double Several readers asked us about Republican comments and news reports saying that a new Congressional Budget Office report had found that the federal health care law would cost double the original estimate. But that’s not what CBO’s report said. Instead, the report shows that the g (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Trump’s...: FactChecking Trump’s CPAC Speech President Donald Trump made a triumphant return to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the place where Trump says he gave his first major political speech and concluded, “I think I like this business.” But we found that Trump’s speech to his conservative “friends (Source: FactCheck.org)
Kerry & Bush Duel Ov...: Kerry & Bush Duel Over Medicare Premiums – Who’s To Blame For The 17% Increase? A Bush ad falsely claims that Kerry “voted five times to raise Medicare premiums.” Actually, Kerry voted for maintaining the same premium formula that had been in place since well before he was elected to the Senate. The Bush ad also falsely implies that Kerry referred to require (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama on ’60 Minutes...: Obama on ’60 Minutes’ In an hour-long, one-on-one interview after a self-described "shellacking" at the polls, President Barack Obama reflected on his first two years in office during an appearance on "60 Minutes." We found the president overstated his case on spending for veterans and the U.S. market (Source: FactCheck.org)
Stretching the Truth...: Stretching the Truth in Arkansas The conservative group Americans for Prosperity stretches the truth to attack Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas for “higher gas and grocery bills.” The Arkansas race is one of nine competitive races considered critical to whether Republicans can regain control of the Senate. Already, t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Distorts Biden...: Trump Distorts Biden’s Tax Plan President Donald Trump falsely claims that Democrats propose “doubling, tripling, quadrupling your taxes” and that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s plan specifically would result in “doubling and tripling your taxes.” Biden proposes to raise an additional (Source: FactCheck.org)
Diversity Programs S...: Diversity Programs Supported by SVB Wrongly Labeled as Donations to BLM A database that claims to show corporate contributions to the “BLM Movement & Related Causes” doesn’t show any contributions from Silicon Valley Bank to Black Lives Matter. But some conservative commentators are citing it to falsely claim that the bank gave more than $73 million (Source: FactCheck.org)
FactChecking Clinton...: FactChecking Clinton’s Voter Suppression Claims In remarks in Alabama, Hillary Clinton took aim at state laws that she said disenfranchise minority voters. But she went too far in a couple of instances when discussing the impact of Wisconsin and Georgia laws in the 2016 election, when she ran for president: The former Democrat (Source: FactCheck.org)
Video: Trump Blames...: Video: Trump Blames Corker for Iran Deal CNN’s Jake Tapper, in the latest fact-checking video with FactCheck.org, deconstructs President Donald Trump’s misleading claim that Sen. Bob Corker was “largely responsible” for the Iran nuclear deal. Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, (Source: FactCheck.org)
Spicer Digs Hole Dee...: Spicer Digs Hole Deeper on Gitmo While correcting President Donald Trump’s tweet about Guantanamo Bay detainees who have returned to the battlefield, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer incorrectly claimed that in contrast to the detainees transferred or released by the Obama administration, “under the Bush (Source: FactCheck.org)
Final Week Spin...: Final Week Spin With the midterm elections now just days away, many campaigns and outside groups are making their final appeals. And, as has been the case all election season, some of the claims miss the mark. And we’ve seen repeats of claims we already debunked in new ads in races from North Ca (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Bailout Bill?...: The Bailout Bill? Does the financial regulatory bill put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts? Or does it "institutionalize" them? Viewers of the Sunday political talk shows and recent C-SPAN clips from the Senate floor might well be wondering, as Democrats (the "end of bailouts" crowd) and some Rep (Source: FactCheck.org)
No Surge in Athlete...: No Surge in Athlete Deaths, Contrary to Widespread Anti-Vaccine Claims Sports medicine experts say there has been no increase in sudden death or cardiac injury among U.S. athletes since the COVID-19 vaccines became available. Yet anti-vaccine campaigners, comparing unreliable numbers to an unrelated study, have again spread a false narrative about v (Source: FactCheck.org)
Making Ends Meet...: Making Ends Meet Sen. Barack Obama has said several times that he has proposed cuts that pay for “every dime” of his spending proposals, a claim we’ve called “misleading.” The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center’s analysis, for one, found that “without substantial cuts in government spending” Obama’s p (Source: FactCheck.org)
Heather Graham Teach...: Heather Graham Teaches Us About Polls The liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org Political Action has released another health care ad featuring a Hollywood celebrity. Last time it was Will Ferrell talking of pygmy horses and executive compensation. This time it’s actress Heather Graham dressing up as a track and field run (Source: FactCheck.org)
But That’s Not the C...: But That’s Not the Campaign’s Position The two new articles we posted today at FactCheck.org have a common theme: saying the other candidate for president doesn’t support something he actual does. Check out the full articles to see how radio ads on clean coal and stem cell research are false: Not Coming Clean on Coal (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Twists Biden’s...: Trump Twists Biden’s Position on School Choice/Charter Schools In a series of virtual tele-rallies, President Donald Trump repeatedly distorted Joe Biden’s position on education, claiming the former vice president wants to “end school choice” and “abolish charter schools.” Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, opposes feder (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Border Claim...: Trump’s Border Claims After a group of migrants tried to breach the U.S. border at Tijuana, with some throwing rocks and border agents responding with tear gas, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said there were no “reported serious injuries on either side of the border.” But P (Source: FactCheck.org)
More Florida Fouls...: More Florida Fouls Newt Gingrich falsely claimed he never favored a federal mandate requiring individuals to have health insurance. Romney repeated a false accusation that President Obama failed to denounce Hamas rocket attacks in a speech to the United Nations. And Santorum insisted that Muslim te (Source: FactCheck.org)
Berg Gets Sunk...: Berg Gets Sunk Readers have been champing at the bit to know our view of the lawsuit brought against Obama by a Philadelphia Hillary supporter, which alleges that the candidate is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. (We know —this again?) Of course only a judge is qualified to legally determine th (Source: FactCheck.org)
Day One of the Publi...: Day One of the Public Impeachment Hearings During the first day of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into the president’s conduct regarding Ukraine, the ranking members of the House intelligence committee made several statements that lacked context and required more information. House Democrats launched the publi (Source: FactCheck.org)
Gasoline Prices Up D...: Gasoline Prices Up Due to Global Supply-Demand Issues, Russian Invasion of Ukraine U.S. presidents have little control over the price that consumers pay for gasoline. As the Energy Information Administration explains, gasoline prices are mainly affected by the price of crude oil, a fossil fuel that is refined into gasoline. And the price of crude oil is set on (Source: FactCheck.org)
Clinton Wrong on Deb...: Clinton Wrong on Debate Claim Hillary Clinton, who declared that she is “now back to being an activist citizen and part of the resistance,” falsely claimed that no debate moderator ever asked Donald Trump, “so exactly how are you going to create more jobs”? It was asked in two of the three presidential debate (Source: FactCheck.org)
Q&A on the Nunes Mem...: Q&A on the Nunes Memo Lawmakers have made several claims about a controversial memo from House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes. The memo, written by Republican committee staff and released Feb. 2, raises concerns about a court order for electronic surveillance that the (Source: FactCheck.org)
Obama Fumbles ‘JV Te...: Obama Fumbles ‘JV Team’ Question President Obama enjoys his sports analogies, so let’s just say that he fumbled when he was asked whether he made a “misjudgment” eight months ago in dismissing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as the equivalent of “a jayvee team.” Obama said he “wasn’t specifically referring” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bum Rap for Rahm...: Bum Rap for Rahm Sen. Rand Paul distorted an old quote from Rahm Emanuel during an appearance on Fox Business, as he disparaged the reaction of liberals to last weekend’s shootings in Tucson. The Kentucky Republican, who took office just this month, was asked on Wednesday by Fox host Andrew Napol (Source: FactCheck.org)
Fiorina Misleads on...: Fiorina Misleads on HP and Iran Carly Fiorina made several false, misleading and unsubstantiated claims in responding to questions about Hewlett-Packard’s involvement with a foreign subsidiary that sold products in Iran. We can’t say what Fiorina knew about an HP subsidiary’s dealings in Iran and when she knew (Source: FactCheck.org)
Student Lenders’ Sli...: Student Lenders’ Slippery Jobs Numbers Would overhauling the student loan program really "jeopardize more than 30,000 private sector jobs," as claimed by those who oppose it? We find that figure to be a stretch. A widely quoted, independent expert says any job loss is likely to be much less, and that it’s possible no (Source: FactCheck.org)
Pigs and Pit Bulls...: Pigs and Pit Bulls The McCain camp has put out a Web ad painting Obama as “ready to smear.” McCain ad, “Lipstick” [Title: Sarah Palin on: Sarah Palin] Palin: Do you know they say, the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick. [Title: Barack Obama on: Sarah Palin] Obama: But you k (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Nails Kerry’s P...: Bush Nails Kerry’s Poor Attendance at Intelligence Committee Hearings A Bush-Cheney ’04 ad released Aug. 13 accuses Kerry of being absent for 76% of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s public hearings during the time he served there. The Kerry campaign calls the ad “misleading,” so we checked, and Bush is right. Official records show Kerry not pres (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump Doubles Down o...: Trump Doubles Down on Inaccurate Hurricane Forecast President Donald Trump inaccurately stated in his Sept. 1 tweet that Alabama “will most likely be hit” by Hurricane Dorian — a statement that was fact-checked in real time by the National Weather Service. Despite that, Trump has now twisted the facts by using an altered forecast (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Stats on Border...: The Stats on Border Apprehensions Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said monthly border apprehensions have returned to “previous levels” since dropping significantly after President Donald Trump took office. That’s true: There was a sharp rise in those apprehended at the Southwest border (Source: FactCheck.org)
Dueling Distortions...: Dueling Distortions in North Carolina It didn’t take long for the governor’s race in North Carolina to turn ugly. Although it’s only June, Republican Pat McCrory and Democrat Walter Dalton both find themselves under attack from outside groups spending heavily on misleading TV ads: Case No. 1: Lobbying for Tax Breaks? (Source: FactCheck.org)
Tax Cut Ads Clip Som...: Tax Cut Ads Clip Some Details The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced on June 1 a radio ad and robo-call campaign against several congressional Republicans for voting against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (a.k.a. the stimulus bill). However, the attacks don’t tell the whole stor (Source: FactCheck.org)
The Last Ad of the 2...: The Last Ad of the 2008 Campaign? A new Democratic National Committeeradio ad in Minnesota asks listeners to call Norm Coleman to tell him "it’s time to concede" his long-fought race against Al Franken for the U.S. Senate, and "to stop putting his political ambition ahead of what’s right for Minnesota." Earlier (Source: FactCheck.org)
Democrats’ Misleadin...: Democrats’ Misleading Tax Line The Line: The top 1 percent will get 83 percent of the tax cuts under the new tax law. The Party: Democratic The Republican tax plan was signed into law just last month, and Democrats already have a well-worn, and misleading, talking point about it: 83 percent of the tax cuts go (Source: FactCheck.org)
Sunday Replay...: Sunday Replay On this week’s Sunday talk shows, we caught the education secretary making a greatly inflated claim about high-school dropouts. Plus, Florida lawmakers made exaggerated statements on tax cuts and support of environmental bills. Too Cool for School On ABC’s "This Week," Secretary (Source: FactCheck.org)
New Round of Sotomay...: New Round of Sotomayor Ads Begins Independent groups are taking to the airwaves to weigh in on the debate over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, whose confirmation hearings began July 13 in the Senate. The liberal Change Campaign Committee and Hispanic group Presente.org are airing a Spanish-language radio a (Source: FactCheck.org)
Outsourcing Jobs: Th...: Outsourcing Jobs: The PRESIDENT Said That? A Kerry ad has Bush saying that sending jobs overseas “makes sense.” But Bush didn’t say that. The quote is actually from Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers. The Kerry campaign claims Bush signed the report containing those words, but that’s wrong, too. Some Bush administration (Source: FactCheck.org)
Bush Strains Facts R...: Bush Strains Facts Re: Kerry’s Plan To Cut Intelligence Funding in ’90’s The Bush campaign accused Kerry of “a pattern” of trying to cut intelligence funding. Bush personally accused Kerry of attempting to “gut the intelligence services” with a “deeply irresponsible” 1995 proposal. It’s true that Kerry proposed cuts in 1994 and 1995, and the his 1994 (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misinformation Direc...: Misinformation Directory As part of our efforts to combat the spread of misinformation, we’ve put together a list of websites that have posted deceptive content. We hope it will serve as a reference for readers who may come across unfamiliar websites. This is not an exhaustive list. We will continue to u (Source: FactCheck.org)
Commentator Ben Shap...: Commentator Ben Shapiro Didn’t Receive $20K in Federal Loan Forgiveness Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro criticized the Biden administration’s decision to forgive some student loan debt. Liberal social media accounts then falsely claimed Shapiro had received a loan of about $20,000 that had been forgiven as part of the federal Paycheck Protection (Source: FactCheck.org)
Counting Mail-In Bal...: Counting Mail-In Ballots Delays Results, But Doesn’t Denote Fraud Mail-in ballots have become a popular way to vote in the U.S. But the unfounded claim persists that mail ballots lead to rampant fraud and, if counted after Election Day, they are suspect. By law, many states don’t start counting mail ballots until after polls close, and some con (Source: FactCheck.org)
Examining Uvalde’s P...: Examining Uvalde’s Police Spending For the fiscal year ending in September, spending on police is expected to account for 37% of general fund expenditures in the city of Uvalde, Texas. But police spending is projected to make up about 17% of the city’s total operating expenditures, contrary to imprecise claims mad (Source: FactCheck.org)
Photo of Man in Hall...: Photo of Man in Halloween Costume Isn’t Mark Kelly Social media posts, including one retweeted by Donald Trump Jr., falsely claim that a yearbook photo shows Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly dressed as Hitler for Halloween. Kelly’s campaign and several of his former classmates told FactCheck.org that the photo is not of Kel (Source: FactCheck.org)
Trump’s Bogus Embass...: Trump’s Bogus Embassy Boast President Donald Trump often likes to boast about his ability to negotiate better deals for the government. This week, the boast was the cost of a new embassy in Jerusalem, and it was a doozy. “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars versus a billion dollars. Is that good?” Trump (Source: FactCheck.org)
Facebook’s ‘Fake New...: Facebook’s ‘Fake News’ Initiative In a radio interview with WHYY’s NewsWorks in Philadelphia, FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely talks about the recent announcement that FactCheck.org will work with Facebook to combat fake news on the popular social media site. In response to an increase in the circulation of fa (Source: FactCheck.org)
IRS Officials Misled...: IRS Officials Misled Congress, Public IRS officials gave false or misleading information on numerous occasions regarding its now discredited practice of targeting conservative groups that sought nonprofit status. A Treasury inspector general’s report issued May 14 found the IRS used “inappropriate criteria,” beginnin (Source: FactCheck.org)
Cash Attack Conferen...: Cash Attack Conference On Monday, FactCheck.org hosted a post-election conference on political advertising in the 2010 election by outside groups. Our liberal and conservative panelists played some TV ads to illustrate their points – and we couldn’t resist pointing out that we had found a few of them t (Source: FactCheck.org)
Al Franken on GOP Su...: Al Franken on GOP Support for Roy Moore Sen. Al Franken said Republican Roy Moore — who has been accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls — is running for the U.S. Senate “with the full support of his party.” That’s not entirely accurate. Moore has the support of President Donald Trump and the Republican Nationa (Source: FactCheck.org)
Posts Share Fake Che...: Posts Share Fake Chelsea Clinton Quote About Global Childhood Vaccination Effort An international initiative called the Big Catch-Up aims to increase vaccination among children who have missed routine vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In describing the project, Chelsea Clinton did not say it was time to “force-jab every unvaccinated child in America,” no (Source: FactCheck.org)
Defaming DeLay?...: Defaming DeLay? Two liberal groups released an ad calling on former House Republican leader Tom DeLay to resign, but Houston TV stations pulled it off the air after a lawyer for DeLay wrote a letter calling the ad “reckless, malicious and false” and threatening to sue. DeLay’s primary complaint (Source: FactCheck.org)
Viral Posts Misrepre...: Viral Posts Misrepresent CDC Announcement on COVID-19 PCR Test Scientists consider polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests a highly reliable tool for diagnosing COVID-19. But social media posts are misrepresenting a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement regarding the eventual discontinuation of its own test, falsely (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden on Economic Gr...: Biden on Economic Growth and Trump’s Tax Cuts Former Vice President Joe Biden wrongly says “most of the conservative think tanks,” including the Heritage Foundation, agree that the tax cuts championed by President Donald Trump “generated virtually no growth at all.” There are many economists who might agree with Biden, the p (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden’s Flint Fiasco...: Biden’s Flint Fiasco, Continued Murder, rape and robbery are declining in spite of police layoffs in Flint, Mich. — according to the most recent official report released by the State Police. Those and other reported “index” crimes were down 11.5 percent overall during the first six months of this year, compared (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misleading Border Cr...: Misleading Border Crime Statistic U.S. Border Patrol encountered 6,259 immigrants with criminal convictions, many of them for illegal entry charges, in fiscal 2018, according to the most recent statistics. Yet, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney misleadingly claimed authorities “had arrested 17,000 criminal (Source: FactCheck.org)
Post Distorts Histor...: Post Distorts History of Presidential Efforts to Fight Child Sex Trafficking Efforts to stop child sex trafficking in the U.S. have been underway for decades, led by presidents including Joe Biden. But an Instagram post makes the false claims that former President Donald Trump was the first to “acknowledge that children are being sold for sex in the U.S.” (Source: FactCheck.org)
Misleading Michigan...: Misleading Michigan GOP Primary Voters The Republican candidates in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District entered the final weeks of the primary trading misleading claims in TV ads that rely on deceptive tactics to distort the facts: Michigan’s 4th Congressional District is now represented by Rep. Dave Camp, chairman (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden on Hezbollah,...: Biden on Hezbollah, and other late debate goodies In today’s Washington Post, Michael Dobbs, a.k.a. The Fact Checker, writes about a few more stumbles from the debate, including a couple items that we didn’t have in our story on Friday. Dobbs, a former diplomatic reporter, says Sen. Joe Biden was wrong when he said the U.S. and (Source: FactCheck.org)
Idaho Doctor Makes B...: Idaho Doctor Makes Baseless Claims About Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines A viral video features a doctor making dubious claims about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments at a forum hosted by Idaho’s lieutenant governor. Dr. Ryan Cole claims mRNA vaccines cause cancer and autoimmune diseases, but the lead author of the paper on which Cole based that claim (Source: FactCheck.org)
Biden Misleads on To...: Biden Misleads on Top 1% Tax Rate The top 1% of taxpayers, on average, pay a higher effective tax rate than middle-income people, contrary to a claim Joe Biden made on the campaign trail. As a result of a low tax rate for capital gains earned by many wealthy Americans, Democratic presidential candidate Biden said (Source: FactCheck.org)