In this week’s fact-check video, CNN’s Jake Tapper looks at seven false or misleading claims President Donald Trump made at a recent campaign rally in Wisconsin.
At the Oct. 24 rally, Trump said:
- “As you know, we started the wall, $1.6 billion.” As we have written, Congress approved $1.6 billion to replace existing barriers and add some fencing in new areas along the U.S.-Mexico border. But the new barriers are not like any of Trump’s wall prototypes, which Congress specifically prohibited.
- “You know, many presidents don’t get a chance to put a Supreme Court justice on.” That’s false. Actually, only four presidents haven’t gotten a chance to get a justice confirmed — and two of them (Zachary Taylor and William Henry Harrison) died in office.
- “The Democrat health care plan would obliterate Medicare,” referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All bill. As we have written, the senator’s bill proposes adding benefits to Medicare and expanding coverage. Trump also overstates the Democratic consensus around the Medicare for All plan.
- “We did something for our veterans nobody thought was possible. We got veterans’ choice,” referring to a program that allows veterans in some cases to use a private health care provider, instead of the Veterans Health Administration. The program, however, was launched in 2014 during the Obama administration.
- “He wants open borders,” Trump said of Gavin Newsome, the Democratic candidate for governor in California. He doesn’t. This is a standard line that the president uses against many Democrats. It’s true that Newsome has called for “fundamental reforms” for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, but he has not called for “open borders.”
- “And these towns are being liberated. And the people are clapping … it’s like watching World War II movies,” referring to public support for his administration’s crackdown on MS-13 gangs. But there is no evidence of such cheering crowds, and we have found that Trump has exaggerated the number of MS-13 gang members removed on his watch.
- “We’ve created half a million new manufacturing jobs. … In fact, now the number is almost 600,000, and that’s since our election.” Actually, manufacturing jobs have increased by 378,000 under Trump, and 408,000 since the November 2016 election.
For more false and misleading claims the president has made while campaigning during the midterms, please see our series of stories on his speeches covering three central issues of the campaign: immigration, health care and the economy.
Please see our website for previous videos in our collaboration with Tapper and CNN’s “State of the Union.
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