President Donald Trump often dismisses news stories or media outlets that he doesn’t like as “fake news.” How often? A database of his public remarks contains 320 references last year to “fake news.” Usually, it’s a general complaint about news coverage — such as his Christmas Eve tweet: “The Fake News […]
Facts Check
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 computer lottery system to randomly issue up to […]
Bogus Claim on Mosque Raid
Q: Were 11 would-be terrorists arrested in a late-night raid at a mosque? A: No. The FBI confirmed that there has been no such raid. FULL QUESTION Late Night Raid On Michigan Mosque Nets 11 ISIS Terrorists and More Than 40 Vests True story or not? FULL ANSWER Federal immigration […]
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 21 percent will reduce federal […]
The DACA Population Numbers
President Donald Trump said he has “heard” varying numbers on the DACA population — from 650,000 to 3 million. In fact, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said there were 689,800 active DACA recipients as of Sept. 4, 2017. DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was instituted […]
Freeman Didn’t Say ‘Lock Her Up’
Q: Did actor Morgan Freeman say that Hillary Clinton should be jailed? A: No. He has donated to Democrats and endorsed Clinton for president in 2016. FULL ANSWER Morgan Freeman endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. But, in October, a website called Your News Wire — which brews conspiracy […]
Cold Facts on the Globe’s Hottest Years
Sen. James Inhofe misleadingly claimed that the statistics behind the globe’s likely hottest years on record — 2014, 2015 and 2016 — were “meaningless” because the temperature increases were “well within the margin of error.” Taking into account the margins of error, there’s still a long-term warming trend. Inhofe, a […]
Bogus Black Lives Matter Stories Won’t Die
Q: Were a dozen or more women found dead in a freezer with “Black Lives Matter” carved in them? A: No. Versions of that false story have been circulating online for almost two years. FULL ANSWER Different versions of an internet hoax that originated almost two years ago are still […]
Manufacturing Jobs ‘Roaring Back’?
Vice President Mike Pence touted the latest jobs report as proof that “manufacturing is roaring back.” The previous administration made a similar claim, but experts then and now said it’s premature to declare a manufacturing renaissance. The economy added 196,000 manufacturing jobs last year — the most in any year […]
Cornyn’s ‘Generous’ Immigration Claim
Texas Sen. John Cornyn says the U.S. is “the most generous country in the world when it comes to legal immigration.” It’s true that the U.S. gives permanent legal status and citizenship to more immigrants than other industrialized nations, but it also has the third largest population in the world. […]