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16,080 | 2 | Says Joe Biden "deserted you. … I guess he was born here, but he left you, folks. He left you for another state. | May 20, 2019 | candidate biography | donald trump | Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016. He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024. | national | 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 | Montoursville, Pa | Trump said that Biden "deserted you. … I guess he was born here, but he left you, folks. He left you for another state." Biden was only 10 when his family moved from Scranton to Delaware, but he maintained ties, to various degrees, for the rest of his youth and adulthood. Moreover, in the Senate he was sometimes called "Pennsylvania’s third senator" due to his close attention to legislation affecting neighboring Pennsylvania. The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate the statement . |
23,158 | 1 | A Boston church burned during "a homosexual marriage" and there were no survivors. | June 9, 2023 | fires;lgbtq;religion | tiktok posts | Posts on the video-sharing platform TikTok. | null | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 60 | 18 | a TikTok post | The church has shared positive messages about LGBTQ+ rights and Pride month on its Facebook page in the past, prompting criticism. But it wasn’t hosting a LGBTQ+ event — or any event at all — when the fire started. Authorities and local journalists said there was no one inside the building and no injuries were reported in the fire, which drew nearly 100 firefighters from several different departments. Spencer Fire Chief Robert Parsons confirmed that to PolitiFact, writing in an email that the church was "empty and locked." We rate the that a Boston church burned during "a homosexual marriage" and there were no survivors . |
1,912 | 1 | Phoenix is the kidnapping capital "of the Western Hemisphere. | July 9, 2010 | immigration;crime | helen glover | Helen Glover has been with WHJJ radio since 2005 and was a finalist in the 2002 season of the TV show Survivor. | rhode island | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | a comment on her talk show | (The ABC News article makes no mention of the Western Hemisphere.) So did Glover take a few seconds to set the record straight for her listeners later that morning? We listened to all three hours of her Monday show, available as a podcast on the WHJJ website. She touched on immigration, but never corrected the record. So we'll do it for her and give her a . |
15,502 | 4 | Under any objective measure, our static compensation has failed to keep pace with economic realities. | November 30, 2018 | null | carl heastie | Carl Heastie is the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. He is an Assemblyman from the Bronx. | new york | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | a public hearing | To support his case that state lawmakers deserve a pay raise, Heastie said that "under any objective measure," lawmakers’ compensation had not kept up with their expenses. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census show how inflation has far outpaced legislators’ static salaries and how other New Yorkers’ have enjoyed growth in their household incomes over the last 20 years. However, a complete look at legislators’ compensation package would include their per diem income, which increases over time, and their health care and retirement benefits. We rate Heastie’s . |
9,822 | 4 | The "average taxpayer will see the equivalent of a 2 percent pay raise as a result of low fuel prices. | January 2, 2015 | gas prices;income | glenn hegar | Glenn Hegar, a former Texas House member initially elected to the Senate in 2007, was elected Texas state comptroller in 2014. Hegar describes himself as a sixth-generation Texan who farms land that's been in his family since the 1800s. He is the former chair of the Sunset Advisory Commission. | texas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | speaking to reporters | Hegar said the "average taxpayer will see the equivalent of a 2 percent pay raise as a result of low fuel prices." Provided gas prices don’t go back up, that percentage seems in the ballpark for how much Texans could save on gas compared to what they spent, though it's also possible to get to higher and lower projections. We rate this statement . – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. |
15,219 | 3 | Says U.S. Rep. Mimi Walters "took $213,000 from insurance interests" and that she supported a plan that "strips protections for people with pre-existing conditions and slaps an age tax on older Californians. | October 9, 2018 | health care | house majority pac | House Majority PAC is the biggest-spending Democratic super PAC operating in the House landscape. | california | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | a TV ad | The House Majority PAC says that Mimi Walters received $213,000 from insurance interests in her campaign for Congress, and claims she supports a plan that strips health care for people with pre-existing conditions and imposes an age tax on senior Californians. It is accurate that Walters supported legislation that would have likely resulted in less coverage for those with previous medical conditions and hiked premiums for older enrollees. Though calling the vote an "age tax" is . Walters did take in over $213,000 from the insurance industry. But that was over five years and includes donations from property and car insurers. We rate this . |
19,025 | 0 | A 2018 executive order gives Trump the ability to impose martial law | December 15, 2020 | military;facebook fact-checks | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| national | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | Facebook posts | Social media posts say that a 2018 executive order gives Trump the power to impose martial law. Six scholars of constitutional law and presidential power told us that the executive order doesn’t give the president the power to impose martial law. Under the Constitution, the president does not have the power to unilaterally impose martial law. We rate this ! |
6,615 | 2 | Says Democrats first proposed prohibiting the government from negotiating prices for prescription drugs in Medicare Part D and he "had nothing to do with" that provision in the law. | October 18, 2012 | candidate biography;health care;medicare | tommy thompson | Tommy Thompson, a Republican, was a 2012 candidate for the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin. He served as governor of Wisconsin from 1987 until 2001, when he left office to become President George W. Bush's secretary of health and human services. He previously spent 20 years in the Wisconsin Assembly. Thompson briefly ran for president, withdrawing in 2007. | wisconsin | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | a debate | Indeed, in 2007, when Democrats pushed legislation to repeal non-interference, Bush threatened a veto, arguing that competition among insurers was resulting in lower drug prices. Our rating Thompson said Democrats first proposed prohibiting the government from negotiating prices for prescription drugs in Medicare Part D and he "had nothing to do with" that provision in the final law. Democrats did introduce a version of the so-called non-interference provision, but it didn’t go as far as the provision that became law under Bush. Moreover, Thompson was the point man on Medicare Part D for the Bush administration, which supported non-interference. We rate Thompson’s statement . |
21,971 | 1 | Trump lawyers all quit on him at the same time. | September 10, 2022 | criminal justice;facebook fact-checks | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| national | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a video | A video shared on Facebook says, "Trսmp Lawyers ALL QUIT on Him at the SAME TIME." The headline is . There is no to suggest that Trump’s lawyers have abandoned him as a client. His legal team submitted a filing to the court days after the video claimed they had quit. We rate this . |
6,473 | 4 | Says Chris Christie created "this new category where you could get laid off and just be totally denied unemployment benefits forever. | October 1, 2012 | jobs | barbara buono | Barbara Buono is a Democratic state senator representing part of Middlesex County. Buono previously served in the State Assembly from 1994 to 2001. | new jersey | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | an interview on NJToday | In a TV interview, Buono claimed Christie created "this new category where you could get laid off and just be totally denied unemployment benefits forever." The senator’s isn’t far off. Based on Christie’s recommendations, state officials created a "severe misconduct" category in which individuals could be denied unemployment benefits for as long as they remain unemployed. But the Legislature agreed to create that category as well. Also, there is a scenario in which a person fired for severe misconduct could later receive unemployment benefits based in part on wages from that job. We rate the statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com . |
13,687 | 3 | When Rick Baker heard (racist remarks from another mayoral candidate), he went after Congemi. Rick Kriseman he just looked away. Tolerating bigotry in silence is no virtue; taking it on is. | August 7, 2017 | negative campaigning | seamless florida | Seamless Florida is a PAC supporting mayoral candidate Rick Baker. | florida | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | a television ad | A television ad paid for by Rick Baker’s PAC said he condemned racist comments from another candidate while Kriseman "just looked away." Baker did speak up during the mayoral forum. In doing so, he acknowledged that he was going against the organizers’ rules by not sticking to the question at hand and revisiting earlier comments. Kriseman did not comment on what Congemi said that night. Neither did four other candidates at the forum. Kriseman waited until the next day, and was criticized for it. He said he did not want to bring more attention to the message in the moment but regretted not doing so. The admaker misleads viewers by neglecting to include Kriseman's later condemnation of what Congemi said. This ad is partially accurate but omits substantial information about what happened. We rate it . |
12,990 | 4 | Back when Ted Cruz called Mitch McConnell a liar on the floor of the Senate floor, nobody invoked Rule 19 to censor him. | February 8, 2017 | null | jeanne shaheen | Jeanne Shaheen is a Senator from New Hampshire. | national | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | a CNN interview | Shaheen said, "Back when Ted Cruz called Mitch McConnell a liar on the floor of the Senate floor, nobody invoked Rule 19 to censor him." Cruz didn't call him a "liar," exactly, but he did say in a 2015 floor speech that McConnell had told him a lie about whether the Senate majority leader had made a deal to renew the Export-Import Bank’s charter. Republicans chastised Cruz afterward, saying it was not the proper thing to do. But he was not silenced under Rule 19. We rate this statement . |
2,976 | 1 | Mitchell International Airport is the "the third busiest airport in the world and the number one busiest in the country. | January 21, 2011 | transportation | lee holloway | Lee Holloway is the chairman of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. He represents the county's 5th District, which encompasses parts of Milwaukee's north side. He was elected to the board in 1992 and has served as chairman since 2004. | wisconsin | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | a statement at a candidate forum | Those rankings relate to passenger growth, not busy-ness. What’s more, the world ranking he used (third) came from the second quarter data from 2010 -- and that’s old data. We’re now No. 17 according to the latest figures. Holloway’s message went out to a wider audience and was echoed by media outlets covering the event. Holloway’s is . |
4,296 | 2 | Says he never said he wanted to move Social Security "back to the states. | September 22, 2011 | social security | rick perry | Rick Perry is the U.S. Energy Secretary and was governor of Texas from late December 2000 through 2014. He was re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. He unsucessfully ran for president in 2012 and 2016. | national | 26 | 24 | 43 | 30 | 31 | 18 | Orlando | Romney says Perry wants to dismantle Social Security and leave it to the states. Perry says that's not . Perry’s not being entirely accurate when he contends that "we never said that we were going to move (Social Security) back to the states." He came close to that position when he said, "Let the states decide" on Parker/Spitzer and "Get it back to the states" on Morning Joe . But in other comments, he hedged, saying it was merely an idea worth discussing. And while Perry tried, during the Orlando debate, to draw a distinction between a state opt-out system and a mandate that every state have its own Social Security plan, we don’t see it as a major distinction in this context. He claimed to have "never said that we were going to move (Social Security) back to the states," yet allowing every state, or units within a state, to opt out of Social Security empowers states to make their own decisions and ultimately establish their own alternative plans. Perry brought up the opt-out idea by his own choice on two different television shows. Even if he stopped short of explicitly advocating the let-the-states-decide idea, it’s clear that he was warm to the idea of allowing states to opt out of Social Security. We rate Perry’s statement . |
18,535 | 0 | Says Joe Biden tweeted, "I have consulted with Instagram's CEO to take the page @electionleaks down. They have supposedly 'video proof' of me using a hidden earpiece in tonight's debate. This is slander, and not true. | September 29, 2020 | facebook fact-checks | instagram posts | Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters. | null | 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 | an Instagram post | We also didn’t find the tweet in a database of deleted tweets kept by ProPublica . We visited the Instagram account mentioned in the doctored Biden tweet and on Sept. 29, the account posted a video of alleged proof that Biden was wearing a wire during the debate. But we’ve already fact-checked that, and it’s . So is the that Biden tweeted this. We rate it . |
2,592 | 1 | Senator Robert Hurt voted for a bill that's raised your electric rates seven times. | October 12, 2010 | energy | tom perriello | Tom Perriello, a Democrat, was elected in 2008 to represent Virginia's 5th Congressional District. He lost his 2010 re-election bid to Robert Hurt.
Before his election, Perriello was involved in international justice and sustainable peace.
Perriello was born and raised in Ivy. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1996 and a law degree in 2001, both from Yale University, New Haven, Conn. | virginia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | a TV ad | And yes, those seven rate increase requests were filed under 2007 legislation. But Perriello is distorting the significance of Hurt’s vote. The reality is that the cases were decided using a combination of the old regulatory system and a few new provisions. The SCC confirms that APCO’s rate increases were substantially the result of outside factors that would have been permissable under the previous legislation. For these reasons, we find the to be . |
20,871 | 1 | Proposed changes to the Electoral Count act show Pence had the power and "could have overturned the election! | January 30, 2022 | elections;jan. 6 | donald trump | Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016. He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024. | national | 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 | a statement given to the press | Trump said that discussions about changes to the Electoral Count Act show Pence had the power to overturn the 2020 election results. Legal scholars say that the law is poorly worded, and is vague on key points. But there’s broad legal agreement that the law never gave Pence the power to overturn the election. Lawmakers seeking to modify the law say they want to reduce the ambiguities and raise the bar for senators and representatives to challenge results from any given state. We rate this . RELATED: What you need to know about the Trump electors RELATED: How Democrats aim to define the lessons of Jan. 6 |
7,533 | 1 | Rhode Island's graduated driving license "has saved hundreds of lives. | June 28, 2013 | children;crime;public safety;regulation | joseph mcnamara | Rep. Joseph McNamara, who represents Warwick and Cranston, has served in the Rhode Island House since 1995. He chairs the Health, Education and Welfare Committee and is the health and wellness coordinator in the Pawtucket School Department. | rhode island | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | a speech on the floor of the Rhode Island House of Representatives | McNamara said the Rhode Island graduated driving license law he authored "has saved hundreds of lives." To meet that standard, you would have to see at least 200 fewer deaths on the state's highways since the law took effect in 1999. But the data from five years before and five years after implementation -- even if viewed in the most favorable light -- show an impact that isn't even close to McNamara's . We rate it . (If you have a you’d like PolitiFact Rhode Island to check, e-mail us at [email protected] And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.) |
2,690 | 3 | The (Ohio) economy is on the mend. … It is in better shape than it was when we took office. | November 4, 2010 | economy;state budget | pari sabety | Pari Sabety was Ohio's state budget director under Gov. Ted Strickland. | ohio | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | a presentation at a conference | "Well, yes, because they have three points now, but they are still way behind. That’s kind of the position the state’s economy is in." So add it all up, and what do we have: Allowing for the that Ohio’s economy is rebounding, we’ll give Sabety credit for the first part of her . But we take away points for the second part. We rate her statement that the economy is on the mend and that it is in better shape than when Strickland took office to be . |
17,338 | 1 | Sunlight actually can kill the (novel coronavirus.) | March 16, 2020 | public health;coronavirus | greg murphy | Rep. Greg Murphy is a Republican from Greenville and the only North Carolina legislator who is a medical doctor. Murphy is a practicing surgeon. | north carolina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | a tweet | Murphy said "sunlight actually can kill the virus." This has not been proven . His whiteboard mentioned UV light in sunlight. But experts the UV rays in sunlight aren’t intense enough to COVID-19. We found no conclusive that someone could prevent the virus by exposing themselves to the sun for long periods of time. And we found no that sunlight exposure could help an infected person defeat the virus. We rate this . |
14,015 | 3 | When Phoenix dropped its sanctuary city policy in 2008, its murder rate fell 27 percent the following year. | November 9, 2017 | immigration;homeland security;crime | marsha blackburn | Marsha Blackburn, a native of Laurel, Miss., was first elected to represent Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District in 2002. Blackburn was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, | national | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | a Fox News post | Blackburn wrote, "When Phoenix dropped its sanctuary city policy in 2008, its murder rate fell 27 percent the following year." While the murder rate did decline, experts say the change is likely attributable to many factors, not just a single policy change. Phoenix officials the city has never been a "sanctuary city," but some groups pegged the city as such based on a policy in place up to 2008. We rate Blackburn’s . |
16,419 | 3 | Some 200,000 people are in jail for the crime of being poor and not being able to afford bail. | August 22, 2019 | criminal justice | bernie sanders | Bernie Sanders is a senator from Vermont. Sanders was first elected to the Senate in 2007 and was re-elected in 2012 and 2018. The senator also ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016, losing the Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton. From 1991 until 2007, he was the representative of Vermont’s At-Large District of the House of Representatives. Sanders was the mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago. In 2019, he announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out in April 2020. | california | 21 | 62 | 48 | 26 | 18 | 0 | a campaign speech | Still, experts told us Sanders’ overall point is right: Many Americans languish in jail for the sole reason they can’t afford bail. In the end, we found his was partially accurate but underestimates the total. We rate it . – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. |
4,025 | 5 | Medicaid is the primary source of health insurance for 41.7 percent of Hispanic children in Georgia. | July 20, 2011 | health care | la raza | Hispanic advocacy. | georgia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | newscast | Currently, about one in six Georgia residents is enrolled in Medicaid, and most of those are children. La Raza is highlighting the high percentage of Latino children on the Medicaid rolls as an argument against cutting the program to lower the federal deficit. That’s a subject for political debate, not PolitiFact. For the purposes of this fact-check, the number in the WABE broadcast appears to be on target. We rate this . |
5,893 | 1 | 83% of doctors have considered leaving the profession because of #Obamacare. | July 10, 2012 | health care;polls and public opinion | jeff duncan | Jeff Duncan, a Republican from South Carolina, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. | national | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | a tweet | Duncan said "83% of doctors have considered leaving the profession because of #Obamacare." But that's an description of the foundation’s poll. The poll did not specifically ask about the federal health care law and was meant to measure concerns about a wide range of changes in health care. Also, it's worth noting that the poll had a small return rate and the group that conducted it is opposed to the law. We rate the . |
10,957 | 4 | 500,000 U.S. troops came home from Iraq and Afghanistan "with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. | November 14, 2015 | foreign policy;veterans | bernie sanders | Bernie Sanders is a senator from Vermont. Sanders was first elected to the Senate in 2007 and was re-elected in 2012 and 2018. The senator also ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016, losing the Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton. From 1991 until 2007, he was the representative of Vermont’s At-Large District of the House of Representatives. Sanders was the mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago. In 2019, he announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out in April 2020. | iowa | 21 | 62 | 48 | 26 | 18 | 0 | comments at the Iowa Democratic debate | Sanders said 500,000 U.S. troops came home from Iraq and Afghanistan "with PTSD and traumatic brain injury." No firm numbers exist for the number of veterans who have returned from America’s most recent conflicts with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries, but Sanders’ of 500,000 does fall within the range of estimates provided by the VA and other sources. Sanders’ statement needs that caveat. As such, we rate it . |
813 | 3 | The biggest job of the surgeon general is to translate health care and health care needs into plain English. | January 7, 2009 | health care | howard dean | Howard Dean is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, and was the longtime governor of Vermont before that. | national | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | an interview on MSNBC's Hardball | And if Gupta does get the position, he and Obama have a certain amount of latitude to make of it what they like. But being doctor to the nation has traditionally involved more than just advising it on health issues — you have to check up on it first. Surgeon general is a public health position, not a public affairs position. Communication may be the "biggest part of the job" in a sense, but many other medical and administrative skills are required. We find Dean's statement . |
2,098 | 2 | Some Republican leaders in Congress" are "pushing to make privatizing Social Security a key part of their legislative agenda if they win a majority in Congress this fall. | August 14, 2010 | social security | barack obama | Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha. | national | 124 | 165 | 163 | 71 | 71 | 9 | his weekly address | As we noted earlier, Obama has gone to this well before. Accusing Republicans of trying to privatize Social Security no doubt scores political points with many, particularly seniors who depend on it. But as it was during the campaign, Obama's warning is a big stretch. The only "Republican leader" who is really talking about allowing personal retirement accounts is Ryan, and even his plan is a far cry from a wholly privatized system. We rate Obama's statement . |
12,759 | 1 | Report: 3 million votes in presidential election cast by illegal aliens. | November 14, 2016 | immigration;elections;punditfact | bloggers | Blog posting on the Internet | null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 | an article on InfoWars | Reports 3 million "illegal aliens" cast votes in this year's election. The articles point back to tweets from Gregg Phillips, who has worked for the Republican Party and has a voter fraud reporting app. But Phillips will not provide any to support his , which happens to be undermined by publicly available information. If Phillips does release a more detailed report, we will consider that information. But for now, this is . We rate it . |
7,938 | 2 | The "president has given 1,100 special waivers to his friends" for Obamacare. | October 16, 2013 | health care | mick mulvaney | In December 2018, President Donald Trump named Mick Mulvaney as his acting chief of staff. In 2017, Trump nominated Mulvaney to direct the Office of Management and Budget, and he was confirmed shortly after. Before, he served as the new U.S. Congressman for South Carolina's 5th District from 2010-2017. Mulvaney grew up in the Carolinas and went to Georgetown University. He attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later did additional course work at Harvard Business School.
His professional background includes law and real estate. | national | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | an interview with CBS News | Mulvaney said that under Obamacare, the president "has given 1,100 special waivers to his friends." He’s close on the number, but it’s to say that all (or even most) went to his "friends" or political allies. It’s also doubtful that any of these were "special," since the option was widely publicized and granted when applied for. We rate the . |
15,328 | 2 | Says she's "leading the fight" to "force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. | October 24, 2018 | health care | martha mcsally | Martha McSally, a Republican, is a former U.S. Senator and former U.S. Representative from Arizona. McSally served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 2010 as a full colonel. She was the first female fighter pilot to fly a combat mission and command a fighter squadron. She was elected to public office for the first time when she won election to Congress in 2014. | arizona | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | a campaign ad | McSally claimed she’s "leading the fight" to "force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions." It was the Obama-era Affordable Care Act that forced insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. McSally in 2015 voted in favor of a full repeal of the law. The bill directed House committees to offer new proposals, including one that provided people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable health coverage. In 2017, McSally voted for the American Health Care Act, a Republican proposal that kept the Affordable Care Act’s pre-existing conditions coverage. Despite language in the bill to protect people with pre-existing conditions, it included provisions that undermined that coverage and increased premiums for certain people, making insurance unaffordable in some cases, experts said. McSally did support an amendment to help reduce over 5 years increased premiums and out-of-pocket expenses that people with pre-existing conditions might face due to a state waiver allowed in the bill. McSally’s statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it . |
21,262 | 1 | Just passed into law today: You cannot go 5 miles over speed limit" in North Carolina. | April 11, 2022 | north carolina;facebook fact-checks | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| national | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a Facebook post | A Facebook post claimed that a new law was passed in North Carolina on April 11 that drivers could not go 5 mph over the speed limit, and could be stopped for going one mile over it. No new law was passed stating this. North Carolina, like other states, follows absolute law, which means that a person driving at any speed over the posted limit in an area is in violation of the law. However, it allows for basic law, which rules that a person can drive at a speed that is reasonable and safe under favorable conditions. We rate this Facebook post . |
19,319 | 0 | Says Joe Biden tweeted, "the way white people talk leaving minorities confused. | February 24, 2021 | race and ethnicity;facebook fact-checks | viral image | Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine. | null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 | a Facebook post | (Read more about our partnership with Facebook .) The tweet in the Facebook post, which exceeds Twitter’s 280-character limit, does not appear in Biden’s Twitter accounts, @JoeBiden, @POTUS, and @WhiteHouse. It also doesn’t appear in a ProPublica database of deleted tweets from the president’s accounts. Such a tweet would have drawn wide news coverage but there is nothing to support that Biden actually said this. We rate this post . |
19,549 | 1 | 6000% Increase in Reported Vaccine Deaths 1st Quarter 2021 Compared to 1st Quarter 2020 | April 1, 2021 | public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus | instagram posts | Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters. | null | 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 | an Instagram post | An Instagram post shared an article claiming "6000% Increase in Reported Vaccine Deaths 1st Quarter 2021 Compared to 1st Quarter 2020." The article is based on a misrepresentation of information from a federally maintained database of suspected adverse reactions to vaccinations, including the COVID-19 vaccines. The database cautions users the numbers reported should not be taken as fact since they have not been verified through independent scientific study. Millions of people across the United States have been given a COVID-19 vaccination and not enough research has been done to show a definitive link between the vaccines and any of the reported adverse reactions. We rate this . |
20,693 | 1 | McDonald's puts aborted baby fetuses in their food. | December 11, 2021 | food safety;facebook fact-checks | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a Facebook post | That’s it!" In 2012, after an Oklahoma state senator introduced a bill banning the sale of "food or products which use aborted human fetuses," Gawker reached out to McDonalds and other companies about the question of whether aborted fetuses are used in their food. Ashlee Yingling, then a company spokesperson, answered directly: "The answer is no," Yingling said. "McDonald’s does not use aborted human fetuses in its food. " We rate this post . |
21,463 | 1 | Video shows a "Russian pilot" escaping from jets and a Russian aircraft getting hit by a missile. | May 22, 2022 | facebook fact-checks;ukraine;russia | viral image | Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine. | null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 | a Facebook post | (Read more about our partnership with Facebook .) We found the clip on YouTube by searching for the words in the title. On that platform, it was clearly identified as coming from the video game Arma 3. On Facebook, however, it’s causing confusion. We rate claims that this shows real combat in Ukraine with Russian jets . |
12,684 | 2 | Says Russ Feingold "got paid $8,000 a lecture at Stanford University. | October 6, 2016 | candidate biography | ron johnson | Ron Johnson is a Republican U.S. senator from Wisconsin. A businessman and accountant, Johnson defeated Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in the 2010 election. He is seeking re-election in 2016. | wisconsin | 8 | 18 | 15 | 28 | 11 | 4 | a campaign ad | "The responsibilities of teaching at Stanford do involve significant work outside of in-class time," Hayward wrote in an email. "In addition to those teaching responsibilities, Mr. Feingold guest-lectured in other classes, delivered a public lecture, and was available to students and colleagues as a member of our academic community." Johnson claims Feingold "got paid $8,000 a lecture at Stanford University." While the math may be right, or close to it, the implies that the number of lectures is somehow tied to pay grade and ignores the other work required outside of class. We rate this . |
6,830 | 1 | In Minnesota, well over 6,200 election-day registrations from 2008 proved fraudulent. | December 12, 2012 | elections;legal issues;states | club for growth | The Club for Growth is an anti-tax group. | wisconsin | 4 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 0 | a newsletter | Our rating Arguing for an end to election-day voter registration in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Club for Growth claimed that in the November 2008 election, more than 6,200 election-day voter registrations in Minnesota were "fraudulent." According to the Minnesota secretary of state’s office, the number of verification postcards that were returned is far overstated. What’s more, that alone is not proof of fraud. While it’s possible that some of those voters provided fraudulent information about their names or addresses, there is no of more than 6,200 fraudulent same-day registrations. We rate the statement . |
17,031 | 1 | Says it shows a "DNC Group" teaching "ILLEGAL VOTING in Arizona. | January 22, 2020 | elections | youtube videos | Videos uploaded to YouTube. | null | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 10 | a YouTube video | A YouTube video claims to show a "DNC group" teaching "ILLEGAL VOTING in Arizona." The group that the video purports to show is a grassroots local political organization in Arizona, and is not affiliated with the DNC. The activist in the video said multiple times that it’s illegal to register as a U.S. citizen if you’re not. He told the two men in the video that there is a loophole in Arizona and federal law by which prospective voters can register to vote without showing proof of citizenship. He did not encourage undocumented immigrants to try to illegally vote. The YouTube video is . We rate it . |
13,923 | 3 | Says "46 percent of people believe major national news organizations fabricate stories about me. | October 22, 2017 | polls and public opinion | donald trump | Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016. He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024. | national | 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 | a tweet | Trump said that 46 percent of people think news organizations fabricate stories about him. Trump accurately cited a recent poll result. The experts we reached said while the survey method is flawed, the problems aren’t big enough to invalidate its approximate findings. They cautioned against putting much weight on the exact number, which is generally in line with the country’s partisan divide. However, the survey tends to skew Republican and its results run counter to other recent polls showing that about half the public trusts the media to be fairly reliable, and as one poll found, more reliable than Trump. Given the softness of the number and that polls on related issues gave a different impression, we rate the . |
15,614 | 4 | The top 0.1 percent ... own about the same wealth as 90 percent of America. | January 29, 2019 | wealth | elizabeth warren | Elizabeth Warren is a senator from Massachusetts. Warren was elected to the Senate in 2012 and was re-elected in 2018 and is running for re-election in 2024. Warren received a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Houston and a J.D. from Rutgers Law School. In 2019, she announced her race for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out March 5, 2020. | national | 8 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | a tweet | Warren said that the top 0.1 percent of the people own about the same as the bottom 90 percent. She relied on a letter from two economists who spoke broadly of the top 0.1 percent holding 20 percent of the wealth, while the bottom 90 percent own about 25 percent. On that basis, the two numbers are about the same. But another study found that the top 0.1 percent owned about 15 percent of all household wealth, while the bottom 90 percent owned 29 percent. That still represents a a lot of wealth in the hands of a tiny fraction of families, but it’s harder to say the amounts held by the two groups are about the same. We rate this statement . |
16,478 | 3 | The United States is "very energy independent. | September 12, 2019 | energy | donald trump | Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016. He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024. | national | 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 | a speech | Trump said the United States is "very energy independent." It’s somewhat premature to label the United States energy independent given that Americans consumed more energy than the country produced for most of the last year that we have data. But the gap between U.S. energy production and consumption has been narrowing for some time, particularly during Trump’s presidency, and data shows several recent months where production outpaced American energy use. We rate this . |
19,930 | 1 | CDC officials admit more hospitalizations of young people from vaccine than from the actual COVID virus. | June 28, 2021 | public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus | instagram posts | Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters. | null | 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 | an Instagram post | An Instagram post claimed, "CDC officials admit more hospitalizations of young people from vaccine than from the actual COVID virus." A CDC spokesperson said the agency has not stated or implied what the Instagram post claims. The post relies on blog posts that misstate CDC statistics. We rate the post . RELATED: There’s no proof that COVID-19 vaccine has injured or killed more than 900 children RELATED: Federal VAERS database is a critical tool for researchers, but a breeding ground for misinformation |
14,481 | 3 | Nancy Pelosi vows Democrats will raise taxes if they take back the House. | April 5, 2018 | taxes;punditfact | bloggers | Blog posting on the Internet | null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 | posts on the Internet | A widely circulated headline in social media said, "Nancy Pelosi vows Democrats will raise taxes if they take back the House." While any change to the tax law passed last December risks raising taxes on someone, the headline does not reflect that it could also lower taxes on others. In reality, Pelosi has not specified what changes she would like to see in a replacement bill, so saying that she has vowed to raise taxes is an exaggeration. Meanwhile, if Schumer’s proposal ends up being the model that Pelosi pursues, that approach could easily keep or expand tax cuts for lower- and middle-income taxpayers while raising them on wealthier Americans. We rate the statement . |
20,016 | 1 | Five JetBlue pilots died from the COVID-19 vaccine. | July 17, 2021 | facebook fact-checks;coronavirus | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a Facebook post | British Airways said the deaths weren’t connected to the vaccine. We rated that . This one merits the same. The suggestion that the deaths of these JetBlue employees was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine is unfounded and in some cases contradicted by the available . We rate it . |
13,533 | 0 | Leonardo DiCaprio explains why he's moving to Casselberry, Florida. | June 27, 2017 | fake news;punditfact | bloggers | Blog posting on the Internet | null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 | a blog post | Although there is no banner on this or any of the other posts announcing they are , a disclaimer on the website announces that kbr31.com is a satirical and fantasy website. "None of the articles on kbr31.com should be considered and are simply works of satire or fantasy meant for entertainment purposes," the disclaimer said. "The satirical and fantasy articles on kbr31.com poke fun at our celebrity obsessed cultures and the politically correct world we’re forced to live in." The listed email address provided no response to our request for comment on the story. We rate this statement ! |
12,661 | 5 | Several elected state officials have opened their homes to children in need of loving families. | October 17, 2016 | children | dan patrick | As a Houston state senator, Dan Patrick won election as lieutenant governor of Texas in November 2014 after earlier defeating incumbent David Dewhurst for his party's nomination. Patrick also has hosted a daily talk show on AM700 in Houston. | texas | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | a press release titled “Lt. Governor Unveils Faith-Based Initiative on Foster Care Children,” | Patrick, calling for help finding families able to provide foster care, said: "Several elected state officials have opened their homes to children in need of loving families." Five Republican elected officials singled out by Patrick’s office have all adopted at least one child. Two also provided foster care, leaving plenty of opportunities for other elected leaders to consider such a commitment. We rate this statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/23c3081f-e1d1-4985-befd-974c63da2b12 |
9,703 | 1 | In the 2014 elections, "the American people overwhelmingly said we don't want Obamacare … and we don't want amnesty. | November 19, 2014 | immigration;health care;polls and public opinion | ted cruz | Ted Cruz is a U.S. Senator from Texas, first elected in 2012. Cruz also was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016. He is the former solicitor general for the state of Texas, previously serving as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a domestic policy advisor on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, according to his campaign biography. | national | 8 | 22 | 21 | 48 | 47 | 11 | an interview on Fox News | Cruz said that in the 2014 elections, "the American people overwhelmingly said we don't want Obamacare … and we don't want amnesty." Exit poll data shows that, at most, Americans were slightly -- not "overwhelmingly" -- against Obamacare, and even that edge is in doubt because the lead for the anti-Obamacare side is within the margin of error. Meanwhile, exit poll data also shows that voters, by a 3-to-2 margin, actually favored offering the possibility of legal status to illegal immigrants. We rate Cruz’s . |
16,337 | 3 | After (the assault weapon ban) passed in 1994, there was a big drop in mass shooting deaths. When the ban expired, they rose again. | August 5, 2019 | guns | bill clinton | Bill Clinton was president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He is married to Hillary Clinton, the 2016 presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. | national | 9 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 3 | a tweet | Clinton urged lawmakers to reinstate a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. "After they passed in 1994, there was a big drop in mass shooting deaths. When the ban expired, they rose again," he said. Clinton spoke too strongly about the drop. In simple numbers, mass shooting deaths fell during the ban years —15 deaths over the course of the decade. But statistically, that number is too small to allow strong conclusions. Even the author of the report Clinton relied on said the death rate might have declined —or levelled off. The rise after the ban expired is supported by the , although definitions of mass shootings will vary. The role of the ban remains unclear, but Clinton’s statement did not specifically say that the ban was the key factor. Clinton exaggerated the decline but was right about the rise. We rate this . |
22,469 | 1 | The FDA finally came out and said that Pfizer's COVID shot causes blood clots. | December 17, 2022 | public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus | instagram posts | Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters. | null | 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 | an Instagram post | An Instagram post claimed that the FDA said that the Pfizer vaccine causes blood clots. The FDA did not say that. A study by FDA researchers of Medicare and Medicaid data showed that in four categories, including pulmonary embolism, there was a "modestly elevated risk" after the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in people ages 65 and over. But the researchers said the early warning system does not prove causation from a vaccine to an outcome, and that more robust studies are underway to evaluate the findings. We rate the . |
4,902 | 3 | In campaigns in the past with Sen. McCain and President George W. Bush and others, they have tended to release tax records in April. | January 16, 2012 | candidate biography;transparency;taxes | mitt romney | Mitt Romney is a U.S. senator from Utah. He ran for president in 2012 as the Republican nominee, losing to incumbent President Barack Obama. Prior to that, Romney served one term as governor of Massachusetts, elected to the post in 2002. He was born in 1947 in Michigan, where his father was governor from 1963 to 1969. Romney graduated from Brigham Young University and received both a law degree and an MBA from Harvard University. Romney helped found the investment firm Bain Capital in 1984, which launched or rebuilt such companies as Staples and Dominos Pizza. Romney managed the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from 1999-2002. He ran for president in 2008 but lost the Republican nomination. He and his wife, Ann, have five sons, Tagg, Craig, Matt, Ben and Josh. | national | 31 | 33 | 58 | 35 | 32 | 19 | Myrtle Beach, S.C | Romney's right that there's a strong April trend for releasing tax records, especially among politicians who practice annual disclosure. But that's not Romney's history — he's steadfastly refused to open his personal tax records for public consumption. That weakens his appeal to tradition. He could just as easily follow in the footsteps of Obama, Bill Clinton, Dukakis, Dole and his own father and release a batch of earlier federal tax returns now. Meanwhile, he implies that only party nominees release their tax records — when recent history shows primary candidates opening their files to inspection. His statement that candidates "have tended to release tax records in April" is partially accurate, but leaves out important details. We rate his . |
19,686 | 1 | Joe Suffers Brain Fart! Biden Visits Elementary School, Asks The Children If They're High Schoolers (VIDEO). | May 3, 2021 | facebook fact-checks | bloggers | Blog posting on the Internet | null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 | a headline on Facebook | President Biden: "You guys are impressive." @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit an elementary school in Virginia pic.twitter.com/Ohs38tcBW6 The headline is . Biden was joking, and even the young children in the audience appeared to understand that. We rate this . |
22,001 | 1 | Martha's Vineyard "deported 50 illegals after only 24 hours. | September 16, 2022 | immigration;facebook fact-checks | instagram posts | Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters. | null | 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 | a post | An Instagram post claimed that Martha’s Vineyard "deported 50 illegals after only 24 hours." Deportations occur when people are removed from the United States and sent back to their country of origin or, in some cases, to a third country. The approximately 50 migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard were not removed from the United States. We rate this . RELATED: What we know about DeSantis flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard RELATED: In Context: What a Martha’s Vineyard homeless shelter coordinator said about migrant housing |
17,310 | 0 | In South Florida "all children and adults must remain in their homes" due to coronavirus. | March 13, 2020 | facebook fact-checks;coronavirus | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| florida | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a Facebook post | We looked at announcements from the city of West Palm Beach , Fort Lauderdale , Broward County and Miami Dade County and found that they have closed many recreational facilities and taken other steps to reduce large gatherings, but none banned people from leaving their homes. Miami-Dade County’s order March 17 made it clear that grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations remain open. Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an order March 17 closing all bars and nightclubs statewide for 30 days and restaurants are now required to limit customer entry to 50% of capacity. (Some local governments had already announced rules related to restaurants designed to steer business toward take-out .) As for this Facebook warning, we rate it . |
4,925 | 4 | Eleven states have enacted these pay-to-play reforms. | January 4, 2012 | campaign finance;ethics | william perry | William Perry is the executive director of Common Cause Georgia. | georgia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | an interview | "In at least 11 states, there is some recognition that it is not a good idea to allow campaign contributions to decision makers." There are variations of pay-to-play laws in at least 11 states, as Perry said. However, some are more detailed and comprehensive than others, as Wood said. The laws in some states seem to be less rigorous than what Perry has proposed in the city of Atlanta. We believe Perry’s needs some clarification and rate it as . |
3,154 | 5 | The cost for renovating the headquarters of the U.N. has doubled from the original estimate. | February 18, 2011 | federal budget | cliff stearns | Cliff Stearns is a Republican from Ocala serving in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Congressional District 6. | florida | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | a press release | The project is now being overseen by New York architect Michael Adlerstein, who joined other U.N. officials for a ceremonial ground-breaking on May 5, 2008. Since then, more than 4,700 employees have been shuffled around to temporary offices being leased throughout New York City. The restoration is expected to be completed by 2013, according to the U.N's website. From an original price estimate of $953 million to a project now reaching close to $2 billion, Stearns is correct in noting the costs of the U.N. renovations have doubled. We rate this . |
20,956 | 0 | Image shows "This is happening right now...in Australia!! 1.5 Million showed up for a Freedom March/Rally. | February 12, 2022 | facebook fact-checks | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a post | The post was shared in a Facebook group called Freedom Convoy Lithuania 2022, which includes posts about the "Freedom Convoy" movement in Canada, a demonstration against COVID-19 measures, and other, similar protests around the world. Using photos misleadingly to misrepresent the size and scope of protests against COVID-19 measures is not uncommon. Supporters of the Canadian movement have used images of other convoys to misrepresent the size and scope of the movement. When anti-lockdown protesters in Australia had a "Freedom Day" event in 2020, its advocates also misleadingly used outdated photos and music festival images to support claims about crowd sizes, fact-checkers there found. We rate the that a photo shows a "Freedom March" in Australia with 1.5 million people ! |
16,839 | 3 | From 2000 to 2016, every major drug that was introduced came out of" National Institutes of Health funding. | December 11, 2019 | health care | sean casten | Sean Casten is a Democrat serving as U.S. Representative for Illinois' 6th congressional district. This is his first term in office. | illinois | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | a Facebook livestream appearance | Casten said that "from 2000 to 2016, every major drug that was introduced came out of NIH funding." A 2018 study found NIH funding contributed to the science that underlies every one of the 210 new drugs approved by the FDA between 2010 and 2016 — not 2000 to 2016, as Casten claimed. Following our inquiry, his office posted a correction on Facebook. Casten misstated the time period covered by the report, but his overall point tracks with its findings. So we rate his . – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. |
9,223 | 0 | Says George Soros and Bill Gates are funding a bioweapons lab in Sierra Leone that caused the Ebola outbreak. | July 28, 2014 | ebola;public health;punditfact | bloggers | Blog posting on the Internet | null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 | a blog post | Bloggers worried about the New World Order connected the bank accounts of Soros and Gates to a facility responding to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone -- a facility they strongly suggest is responsible for the outbreak. A direct link to the billionaires is unproven. One researcher who received education and research grants from their foundations does not warrant the much-hyped connection. Moreover, the virus did not start from a research lab in Kenema, giving the bloggers’ incendiary claims even less credibility. We rate this ! |
2,489 | 0 | Says Texas voters are being asked to act this November on a proposed constitutional amendment affecting property taxes. | October 7, 2010 | elections;taxes | chain email | Chain emails circulate on the Internet, usually anonymously, making a variety of political claims. | texas | 6 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 44 | 107 | a chain e-mail | "It was in 2009," Dillard said, "and it's for the November 2010 election as well." Four days after the Longview article was published, Andrade posted a press release online stating there are no statewide propositions on the 2010 ballot. If voters want to check into anything on the ballot, the state recommends an online visit to www.votexas.org or a telephone call to the secretary of state at 1-800-252-8683. Finally, we went back to the chain e-mail and noticed a clear clue that it's out of date; it provides a web link to an inactive web page about the 2009 elections. ! |
9,683 | 1 | The State Department says the 42,000 jobs created by the Keystone XL pipeline are "ongoing, enduring jobs. | November 16, 2014 | energy;jobs;punditfact | russ girling | Russ Girling is the president and CEO of TransCanada, the company hoping to construct the Keystone XL pipeline. | null | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | comments on ABC's "This Week" | Girling shrugged off Raddatz’s point that an estimated 42,000 jobs supported by the Keystone XL pipeline would only last for two years, saying "no, the 42,000 jobs is in ongoing, enduring jobs." That description does not apply to 99 percent of the direct, indirect and induced jobs supported by the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project, which are temporary and would not last for more than two years. A spokesman for Girling acknowledged this fact. We rate his statement . |
8,647 | 1 | The numbers of people that support Obamacare and like it have been steadily dropping. | April 6, 2014 | health care;polls and public opinion;punditfact | liz cheney | Liz Cheney was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 in Wyoming and lost a primary re-election in 2022. Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. She briefly ran for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming before abandoning her candidacy. | null | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | comments on "Fox News Sunday" | Cheney said, "The numbers of people that support Obamacare and like it have been steadily dropping." Americans remain divided on the health care law, and most polls show that more people oppose it than support it. But we found no that people who once supported the law are "steadily" changing their minds -- not even in the poll Cheney specifically cited. We rate Cheney’s . |
12,391 | 2 | Says "Patrick Murphy's 'Pay More' energy agenda means you could pay another $500 a year for your utility bills! | September 12, 2016 | environment;energy | americans for prosperity: florida | Americans for Prosperity Florida is the Florida affiliate of a free-market group that fights "big government." | florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | a campaign mailer | Americans For Prosperity Florida said, "Patrick Murphy’s ‘Pay More’ energy agenda means you could pay another $500 a year for your utility bills!" The group is attempting to link Murphy’s support for the Clean Power Plan to the possibility of higher gas and electric rates for consumers. But Murphy has no control over the rule, and the study AFP cited is disputed and outdated. Economic impacts of the Clean Power Plan, which is currently on hold by order of the U.S. Supreme Court, are a hotly debated subject with no clear result. We rate the statement . |
4,205 | 4 | A bipartisan payroll tax cut championed by the White House has meant that "the average family has an extra $1,000 in their pocket" this year. | September 5, 2011 | economy;taxes | barack obama | Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha. | national | 124 | 165 | 163 | 71 | 71 | 9 | Detroit | Obama’s statement is close to correct, but it lacks some clarifications that would have made it fully accurate. First, nearly a quarter of families don’t benefit from the payroll tax cut, although this may be obvious to listeners, since he specifically referred to a "payroll" tax cut. Second, the amount that households saved is at most $934, according to the Tax Policy Center’s calculations -- an amount that would decrease if the center had used a median rather than an average. Obama would have been better off saying that "the average working family has nearly $1,000 extra in their pocket" this year as a result of the payroll tax cut. On balance, we rate Obama’s comment . |
850 | 5 | The omnibus spending bill has "9,427 pork barrel items. | February 25, 2009 | federal budget | john mccain | John McCain was a U.S. senator from Arizona, a post he held from 1987 to his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the U.S. House. He was the Republican nominee for president in 2008. McCain was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and spent his career in the military, as his father did. He was a combat pilot in Vietnam who was shot down and spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He was born in 1936 in Panama. | national | 37 | 37 | 31 | 32 | 39 | 8 | an interview on CNN's American Morning | That number includes anything defined by Congress as an earmark that doesn't mention the president as the person making the request. If you also include items requested by the president's budget that have been jointly requested by a member of Congress, the number comes to 9,287, according to TCS. A McClatchy News Service story put the total earmarks at 9,000, attributing it to "congressional officials." So McCain's number is in the same range as other counts and given slightly different definitions, it's possible to get different tallies. We find his to be . |
14,812 | 3 | Facebook removes, censors Declaration of Independence as 'hate speech' | July 5, 2018 | fake news;history;technology;punditfact | bloggers | Blog posting on the Internet | null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 | a blog post | The Geller Report story had a point that a newspaper’s post of the Declaration of Independence was temporarily removed from Facebook for appearing to violate "hate speech" standards. But the website did not mention that Facebook said it was a and restored the post. It did not censor the entire speech. We rate this statement . |
18,249 | 1 | QAnon violence! There is none. | August 20, 2020 | fake news;crime;pundits;punditfact | greg gutfeld | Greg Gufeld is a co-host on the Fox News program The Five. | null | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | a TV segment | Gutfeld said, "QAnon violence! There is none." In fact, there have been a handful of examples. The FBI identified QAnon as a potential terrorist threat in a May 2019 memo that listed some incidents of violence or threatened violence associated with the hoax and others like it. News reports, activist groups and an academic institute have also highlighted examples of violence. And two experts on American conspiracy theories said Gutfeld’s is . We rate this statement . |
15,836 | 2 | During his governorship, Virginia made "the largest investment ever in K-12 education. | January 24, 2019 | education | terry mcauliffe | Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, was elected governor of Virginia on Nov. 5, 2013. He received 47.8 percent of the vote in defeating Republican Ken Cuccinelli, who came in at 45.2 percent. Robert Sarvis, a Libertarian, finished a distant third with 6.5 percent.
McAuliffe's inaguration as Virginia's 72nd governor is scheduled on Jan. 11, 2014.
McAuliffe, a wealthy businessman and noted political fundraiser, was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and chairman of Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008. In 2009, McAuliffe unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor.
McAuliffe was born in Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 9, 1957. He has a bachelor's degree from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. McAuliffe has lived in Fairfax County for more than 20 years, is married and has five children.
| virginia | 7 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 7 | 4 | a speech | McAuliffe says that during his governorship from 2014 t0 2018, Virginia made "the largest investment ever in K-12 education." In raw dollars, the McAuliffe did sign budgets during his last two years that set state records for overall education spending and per-student outlays. But this is , A meaningful comparison of historic spending levels requires that the figures be adjusted for inflation. When that’s done, McAuliffe’s education budgets never rose to the levels of the three years before the Great Recession. So we rate the McAuliffe’s . |
5,458 | 0 | I have always said that I would be for drilling. | April 5, 2012 | candidate biography;climate change;energy | connie mack | Connie Mack was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2004. Mack, of Fort Myers, lost a U.S. Senate race to Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. He served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2003. | florida | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | an event to promote the Keystone XL pipeline | Mack said, "I have always said that I would be for drilling. But I think that’s an issue the state should have a say in – in determining how far it’s going to be off the coast of Florida. We ought to allow the state to have a say in that decision." But Mack didn’t always say he was in favor of drilling. In 2005, he repeatedly said he was against allowing drilling closer to Florida’s shores. He has since changed his stance, as did many other Republicans in 2008 amid high gas prices and a presidential campaign. "Always" means at all times -- not sometimes, or the past few years, or in Alaska. At one time, Mack very much opposed drilling off Florida's coast. His comment that he's "always" been for drilling misrepresents his actual record on a very high-profile issue in the state of Florida. We rate his statement ! |
6,129 | 1 | The Obama administration "leaked information, deliberately or otherwise, that led to the identification of the Pakistani doctor that helped us in achieving our goals and killing bin Laden. | August 15, 2012 | foreign policy;message machine 2012;military;terrorism | special operations opsec education fund | A group of former special forces and CIA officers who oppose release of classified information. | national | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | a web video | The Special Operations - OPSEC Education Fund said, "This administration leaked information, deliberately or otherwise, that led to the identification of the Pakistani doctor that helped us in achieving our goals and killing bin Laden." The OPSEC group provides no to support its , and journalists close to the scene in Abbottabad say it was the Pakistanis, not the Americans, who identified the doctor. The bin Laden raid triggered the ISI investigation, not anything said by U.S. officials. In fact, the CIA had urged the doctor to leave the country and when Pakistan provided the name of the doctor, US officials tried to prevent it being published. We see no that it was the Obama administration that leaked the name. We rate it . |
19,611 | 0 | Derek Chauvin's trial and conviction for the murder of George Floyd was faked as part of a "false flag. | April 20, 2021 | criminal justice;race and ethnicity;facebook fact-checks | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a Facebook post | Various Facebook posts claimed that Chauvin’s trial and conviction for the murder of Floyd was faked as part of a " flag." These Facebook posts are and make a . Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter April 20 after a weeks-long trial. Several of the trial’s witnesses testified that the defendant in court was the same man they knew to be Chauvin. Freeman, the Hennepin County attorney, rejected the Facebook posts and said Chauvin "is the same person the world has seen on video, in the courtroom and being led away in handcuffs." We rate these Facebook posts ! |
9,155 | 2 | Says Mark Pryor "continues to insist" that Obamacare is "an amazing success. | July 25, 2014 | health care | tom cotton | Tom Cotton, a Republican, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 from a district in Arkansas. | national | 1 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | campaign email | The Cotton campaign said Pryor "continues to insist" that Obamacare is "an amazing success." We found that Pryor said the Affordable Care Act was an "amazing success," but he was likely saying it was a success for a particular hospital he was visiting at the time. That comment came a year ago, and Pryor has not repeated it since. The comment also doesn’t fit with Pryor’s usual talking point -- that the law is not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction. There’s some in Cotton’s , but it leaves out crucial context and distorts Pryor’s comments, so we rate this . |
10,726 | 0 | Pediatricians have cut down on the number and proximity of vaccines because they recognize there have been "too many in too short a period of time. | September 16, 2015 | public health | ben carson | Dr. Ben Carson is President Donald Trump's secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A retired pediatric neurosurgeon, Carson ran as a Republican for president in 2016. He owns homes in West Palm Beach and Maryland. | florida | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 4 | the CNN GOP presidential debate | Carson said pediatricians have cut down on the number and proximity of vaccines because they recognize there have been "too many in too short a period of time." Leading medical organizations have concluded that the scheduling of vaccines -- including multiple ones at once -- is safe. While there is that some parents ask pediatricians to delay vaccines, that’s a decision based on parents’ wishes and isn’t based on scientific . There is no that pediatricians are cutting down the number and proximity of vaccines based on any conclusion by them that there have been too many in too short a period of time. Carson has provided no to support his . We rate this . |
18,188 | 1 | The Trump administration "added over 209,000 jobs, including 16,000 new manufacturing jobs, to Pennsylvania over the last three years. | July 29, 2020 | jobs;pennsylvania | mike pence | Mike Pence is the former vice president of the United States. A Republican, Pence was elected governor of Indiana in 2012. Pence previously served for 12 years as a congressman from Indiana representing the Sixth Congressional District; he was first elected in 2000. During his time in the U.S. House of Represenatives, he served as House Republican Conference chairman and chairman of the House Republican Study Committee. Pence was born in Columbus, Ind. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1981 from Hanover College and a law degree in 1986 from Indiana University. After accepting Donald Trump's offer to be running mate, Pence ended his 2016 campaign to be re-elected as Indiana governor. | national | 5 | 7 | 21 | 12 | 25 | 2 | an email | He doesn’t just get to stop the clock in February because it provides a more favorable picture. Using the most recent data, Pennsylvania has 600,000 fewer jobs than when Trump took office; manufacturing jobs are down as well. Pence could have clarified his timeframe to provide a more realistic assessment. But he didn’t. We rate his . |
9,600 | 2 | Says Jeanne Shaheen "voted to pave the way for a new national energy tax. | October 21, 2014 | energy;voting record | scott brown | Scott Brown was elected a Republican U.S. senator from Massachusetts in 2010. He lost re-election in 2012 and subsequently became a political commentator for Fox News. In March 2014, Brown announced that he was considering entering the U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire. | new hampshire | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | a debate | Brown said Shaheen "voted to pave the way for a new national energy tax." That’s . The two votes she took did mirror those of some lawmakers who favor a carbon tax, but that’s not the same thing as saying she voted to "pave the way for a new national energy tax." These weren’t procedural votes to commence a debate on, or tee up a final vote on, an actual carbon-tax bill. We don't see how either vote would have brought a carbon tax any closer to fruition. We rate the . |
2,266 | 0 | Ron Klein "repeatedly voted in favor of amnesty for illegal immigrants. | September 16, 2010 | immigration | allen west | Allen West announced in July 2021 that he is running for the Republican primary for Texas governor. He served for about a year as chairman of the Texas Republican Party, stepping down in June 2021. West represented Florida's 22nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. Lieutenant Colonel West retired from the Army in 2004 after 22 years of service. | florida | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 4 | a campaign website | For Allen West to accuse Congressman Klein of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants is nothing more than an outright lie." Our conclusion here is crystal clear: West's campaign admits that it wrongly characterized Klein's views on amnesty, and it had done so in the 2008 campaign as well. Illegal immigration is a hot-button emotional topic. We give the West campaign credit for changing the website on the same day we asked questions, but the about amnesty was flat-out . We rate this . |
15,191 | 3 | Says Gavin Newsom "didn't solve the homeless problem at all" as mayor of San Francisco, "and it's gotten worse. | October 8, 2018 | city government;homeless;housing | john cox | John Cox is a Republican businessman who lives in San Diego County. He is a candidate in the 2021 election to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom. He ran and lost in the 2018 race for California governor. | california | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | a campaign debate | Republican John Cox claimed Gavin Newsom "didn’t solve the homeless problem" in San Francisco "at all," adding "it’s gotten worse." Under Newsom’s administration, San Francisco’s homeless street population fell by 31 percent, from 2002 to 2011. Newsom has been credited with taking an aggressive stance on the topic and for helping move thousands off the street into housing or onto buses. The overall sheltered and unsheltered homeless population, however, rose slightly during Newsom’s tenure, and has increased since he left office by more than 1,000, supporting the second part of Cox’s statement. But the first part of his , that Newsom didn’t solve the problem "at all," ignores his accomplishments. While homelessness didn’t end on Newsom’s watch, he made steps considered unprecedented for the city. We rate Cox’s statement . – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. See all of PolitiFact California's governor's race fact checks here . Related coverage from Capital Public Radio: The Key Moments From John Cox and Gavin Newsom's Only California Governor's Debate Insight Special: California Governor's Debate Recap |
41 | 5 | At least Obama didn't marry his cousin," as Giuliani did. | July 19, 2007 | candidate biography | obama girl | Obama girl was a character in music videos that promoted the candidacy of then-Sen. Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign. | national | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | a YouTube video | In a 1993 memo for his mayoral campaign, a Giuliani strategist noted the "weirdness" factor of the marriage, according to a copy posted on the Smoking Gun Web site. But such a marriage is completely legal. In New York, even first cousins can wed.
Robin Bennett, senior genetic counselor at the University of Washington, said little scientific research exists about the risk of developmental difficulties for the offspring of second cousins. But she said, "for second cousins, the risks are likely similar to the risks of couples from the same ethnic population who also may have common ancestors." Giuliani and Peruggi did not have any children, and the marriage ended after 14 years. |
21,081 | 1 | And just like that, your $15/hr doesn't buy you as much as $7.50/hr did a year ago. | March 4, 2022 | economy;income;facebook fact-checks | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | a Facebook post | A Facebook post claimed: "And just like that, your $15/hr doesn’t buy you as much as $7.50/hr did a year ago." Inflation rose 7.5% over the last year, a 40-year high but still far below what the suggests. A person would need to earn just over $8 an hour — not more than $15 an hour — to have the same buying power as a $7.50 hourly wage in 2021. We rate this . RELATED: Mitt Romney jab over 7% inflation ignores rising wages RELATED: Biden’s boast about rising wages ignores effect of inflation |
20,812 | 1 | Four players have dropped out of the Australian Open with "chest pains. | January 19, 2022 | sports;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus | viral image | Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine. | null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 | a Facebook post | Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia and Nick Kyrgios of Australia. On Jan. 5 — before the Australian Open — Basilashvili retired from a match in the ATP Cup in Sydney due to breathing difficulties. He and a doctor "had a conversation before another doctor joined as hand gestures suggested he was feeling tightness in his chest," the Sun reported . "He was overheard saying: ‘Every shot I’m out of breath.’ " Basilashvili competed in the Australian Open, losing to Andy Murray on Jan. 18 in a "five-set thriller," ESPN reported . |
12,953 | 0 | Says "Meryl Streep just got fired from a major project for lying about Trump. | January 9, 2017 | fake news;punditfact | bloggers | Blog posting on the Internet | null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 | a headline | For fans of the Fonz, we must also note that the suggestion of a Happy Days reboot (with or without Streep) also appears . There has been no verified report of any kind of reboot of Happy Days . RadioTimes.com wrote last year that series creator Garry Marshall said the show may one day be revived by Paramount , but there’s little to suggest that’s been greenlit. The only other mention of a new Happy Days series was a story that said Netflix was creating one , but that post, too, came from a news website trying to be funny. We rate this ! |
18,623 | 1 | BREAKING NEWS: All Charges Dropped for Kyle Rittenhouse. | October 13, 2020 | legal issues;guns;wisconsin | facebook posts | Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| national | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 | Facebook post | A Facebook post said: "All charges dropped for Kyle Rittenhouse." That is flatly and plainly . The shootings happened in Wisconsin, not Illinois. The Wisconsin charges remain. Rittenhouse was never charged in Illinois, so when authorities said they found no basis to issue gun-possession charges, it didn’t change anything. We rate the |
2,541 | 0 | Ed Perlmutter voted for "Viagra for rapists" paid for with tax dollars. | October 21, 2010 | health care;crime;message machine 2010 | american action network | The American Action Network is a conservative, nonprofit advocacy organization. Its leadership includes Republican former officials. | national | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | a campaign ad | We've looked at similar claims made against U.S. senators and rated the claims . But this is different. The House never voted on the sex offenders amendment. Perlmutter never voted on it either. So we rate the statement the statement . |
8,026 | 0 | Says Barack Obama "knew half of the population of the United States would lose their health insurance. | November 4, 2013 | health care;punditfact | glenn beck | Glenn Beck is the host of The Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show. He also hosts an Internet-based TV show. Beck formerly hosted a television talk show on CNN Headline News and then Fox News. | null | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | a broadcast of the Glenn Beck Show | Beck said that when Obama promised that people could keep the plans they like, he knew that half of all Americans would lose their health insurance. Beck is in every respect. The primary study he relied on contradicts his number, saying that at most 50 million people would lose coverage, not 125 million. Beck’s staff said they believe that any change in a plan means you have lost your health insurance. Not even the author of the study Beck cites agrees with that, nor do the other health policy experts we consulted. On top of that, the government estimate of the number of plans that would be fully exposed to the new insurance requirements actually says little about the law’s impact. The law’s requirements would only matter for plans that did not measure up; many of them already did. Lastly, there is no that Obama knew or believed that a calamity of this magnitude was in store. The needs a checkup. We rate it . |
484 | 5 | Obama voted to support President Bush between 40 and 50 percent of the time over the past two years. | June 3, 2008 | bush administration | john mccain | John McCain was a U.S. senator from Arizona, a post he held from 1987 to his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the U.S. House. He was the Republican nominee for president in 2008. McCain was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and spent his career in the military, as his father did. He was a combat pilot in Vietnam who was shot down and spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He was born in 1936 in Panama. | national | 37 | 37 | 31 | 32 | 39 | 8 | a campaign e-mail | Obama and Bush also were allied on legislation that raised the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over two years and provided $8.3-billion in small-business tax incentives. In 2006, as Obama was laying the foundation for his presidential bid, he supported the president's position on key votes dealing with immigration policy and on making permanent 14 provisions in the "Patriot Act" antiterrorism law. All of which hardly makes Obama a full-blown Bush supporter. But his record also doesn't put him near the Senate's top 10 Bush foes — a list headed in 2007 by Democrats Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Barbara Boxer of California, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who each were opposed to Bush more than 65 percent of the time. Because Obama has shown a willingness to vote the administration's position on a number of occasions over the past two years, we rule the McCain campaign's . |
12,515 | 1 | Says he has "a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required. | October 1, 2016 | candidate biography;financial regulation;taxes | donald trump | Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016. He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024. | national | 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 | a statement from the campaign | The statement from Trump’s campaign said he has "a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required." That might have been a credible argument if he were referring to his companies’ tax returns. But the statement was in response to controversy surrounding Trump’s personal tax returns. Experts we contacted said there is no generally accepted fiduciary obligation keep one’s own taxes low. The statement is not accurate. We rate it . |
2,469 | 0 | Rick Scott "doesn't have any ties to a lobbyist. | September 27, 2010 | candidate biography | jennifer carroll | Jennifer Carroll, a former Florida state representative from House District 13 in North Florida, was elected Florida lieutenant governor on Nov. 2, 2010, as Gov. Rick Scott's running mate. Carroll resigned from office on March 13, 2013. | florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | a speech | Carroll told the Broward GOP in September that Scott "doesn't have any ties to a lobbyist." Scott wasn't the go-to preferred pick among the lobbyist crowd during the primary. But he has taken multiple donations from lobbyists and, since the primary, lobbyists organized at least two fundraisers for him. And in 2009, Scott's Solantic employed Florida lobbyists. It would be extremely unusual for any statewide candidate who won the primary to be completely devoid of lobbyist ties. We rate this . |
9,260 | 2 | In six years, (U.S. Rep. Gary) Peters introduced zero bills that became law. | August 13, 2014 | congress;corrections and updates;voting record | ending spending action fund | The Ending Spending Action Fund describes itself as “an independent organization that proudly supports candidates regardless of party affiliation who favor enhancing free enterprise, reducing the size of government, and balancing our nation's budget.” It was founded in 2010 under another name by Joe Ricketts, a businessman who founded TD Ameritrade and whose family owns the Chicago Cubs baseball club, according to Open Secrets, a website that tracks money in politics. Ricketts has said he is a registered independent. | national | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | a campaign ad | The Ending Spending ad claims that Peters hasn't accomplished anything, making this statement: "In six years, Peters introduced zero bills that became law." If you search congressional databases, you won't find a bill introduced solely by Peters that became law. But we found several instances in which Peters was credited with writing the legislation that did become law, sponsoring a bill that became part of a larger package signed by Obama, offering a bill similar to one that became law, or was an original co-sponsor. There’s a shred of in the by Ending Spending, but it ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate the . Update: After we published this piece, we heard from Brian Baker, president of Ending Spending Action Fund. Baker pointed to the (which is included in our fact-check) that Peters was not sole sponsor on any bill that became law and stood by the group’s . "First, it is great that PolitiFact acknowledges, as it must, that ‘if you search congressional databases, you won’t find a bill introduced solely by Peters that became law.’ This sentence confirms the of the central assertion in our advertisement," Baker said. We stand by our original analysis and keep the rating the same at . |
6,168 | 4 | There has been "$5 trillion in debt added over the last four years. | August 28, 2012 | debt | chris christie | Chris Christie announced June 6, 2023 that he is running for the Republican nomination for president. Christie was the governor of New Jersey and a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. As governor, Christie won office in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Prior to that, he was U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2008. | national | 21 | 20 | 27 | 11 | 17 | 8 | Tampa | Christie’s -- that there has been "$5 trillion in debt added over the last four years" -- is just about on target. His number is either slightly high or a little low, depending on the type of measurement used, and that’s actually for a period short of a full four years. His implication that Obama and the Democrats are to blame has some merit, but it ignores the role Republicans have had. On balance, we rate the . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/1946db8e-eefc-46db-95e4-0c5031d907e1 |
15,159 | 2 | Says Tammy Baldwin was the only member of the Wisconsin congressional delegation "to have a report outlining that a doctor was overprescribing opioids" at the Tomah VA, "later a veteran died" and Baldwin "covered it up. | September 23, 2018 | public health;transparency;veterans | leah vukmir | Republican Leah Vukmir was elected to the Wisconsin state Senate in 2010, representing a suburban Milwaukee district. She served in the state Assembly from 2002 to 2008. She lost a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2018. | wisconsin | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | an interview | Baldwin was the only one, and she didn’t make the report public or go public with her concerns until the scandal made news. But she received the report only a day before the veteran died. On the cover up part of the , there was on inaction on Baldwin’s part -- not releasing the report, declining for weeks to answer questions and to confirm that she had fired a top aide. But there is no Baldwin took active steps to cover up the matter, and a Senate committee determined that Baldwin had not engaged in a cover up. For a statement that contains elements of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, our rating is . |
10,434 | 3 | The United States doesn't have the highest murder rate among developed countries. You look at Russia, you look at Brazil, those are countries that have 3 to 5 times higher murder rates than what we have here in the United States. | June 24, 2015 | punditfact;guns | john lott | John Lott is president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, a pro-gun research group. | null | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | comments on Fox News | Lott said that the "United States doesn’t have the highest murder rate among developed countries. You look at Russia, you look at Brazil, those are countries that have 3 to 5 times higher murder rates than what we have here in the United States." Although the specific murder rates vary across different sources, Lott’s statement about Russia’s and Brazil’s murder rates did match up with the information the OECD had. What didn’t quite match up was the consensus on how to classify Brazil and Russia. They are advanced on some fronts, especially Russia, but not as developed as others. Ultimately, they may not be the best choice when comparing murder rates in the United States and other "developed" nations. Lott’s statement is partially accurate. We rate it . |
3,781 | 4 | Says 11 percent of the nation's fatal car crashes in 2009 were attributed to distracted driving. | May 25, 2011 | public safety | judith zaffirini | Judith Zaffirini, initially elected to the Texas Senate in 1986, represents a district stretching from Laredo toward Austin.
| texas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | remarks on the Senate floor | Each method for analyzing the risks involved with distracted driving "has strengths and limitations and because of this no study is definitive," according to the report. "There is no single research approach or design that will answer all the questions about the magnitude and characteristics of the problem and the risks it poses." Where does that leave us? In warning against the dangers of texting while driving, Zaffirini misstated the percentage of fatal crashes attributed to distracted driving: It’s 16 percent, not 11 percent. We rate her . |
20,632 | 1 | The House-passed Build Back Better bill is a "government takeover of child care. | November 18, 2021 | children;congress;religion;california | kevin mccarthy | Kevin McCarthy, who was first elected in 2006, is a Republican member of Congress representing a district in California. McCarthy was elected as House Speaker in January 2023. | national | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 4 | a speech | McCarthy said the Build Back Better Act would represent a "government takeover of child care." The bill does expand the federal government’s role in child care, including potential new restrictions on religious institutions that take the new federal funds for child care programs. But calling it a "government takeover" is a mischaracterization. The bill puts states — not the federal government — primarily in charge of overseeing the effort, and nothing in the law suggests that government officials will micromanage curricula, staffing, or other key features. In addition, the federal government has long been involved in funding child care and pre-kindergarten, through block grants and Head Start. Perhaps most importantly, neither states, child care centers nor parents are forced to accept the new federal funding, which means that it lacks the mandatory nature of a "takeover." We rate the statement . RELATED: Biden includes universal preschool proposal in American Families Plan RELATED: Comparing the price of child care with college tuition |
4,504 | 0 | Under Barack Obama's watch, we have expended $805 billion to liberate the people of Iraq and, more importantly, 4,400 American lives. | October 28, 2011 | federal budget;iraq;military | michele bachmann | Michele Bachmann, first elected to the U.S. Congress in 2006, represents the 6th Congressional District of Minnesota. She was reelected in 2008. Previously, she served in the Minnesota State Senate. Prior to that, she spent five years as a federal tax litigation attorney. Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, who have five children and have opened their home to 23 foster children, live in Stillwater, Minn., and own a mental health care practice. | national | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 23 | 16 | an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer | Bachmann’s numbers are essentially on target, but she errs badly in blaming Obama for all $805 billion spent and 4,400 American lives lost in Iraq "on his watch." Most of the money spent and lives lost in Iraq came during George W. Bush’s presidency. The idea that Obama -- who wasn’t even in the Senate until two years into the war -- is responsible for all the costs and casualties in Iraq is . We rate her statement . |
114 | 5 | What happens is people like Warren Buffett — and he says this himself...pay 15 percent on the millions of dollars that they earn from wealth income... while their secretary is paying a higher rate on her work income. It's not right. | September 20, 2007 | taxes | john edwards | John Edwards is a former U.S. senator from North Carolina who was John Kerry's running mate in 2004. A personal injury attorney, Edwards was born in South Carolina in 1953 and now lives in Chapel Hill, N.C. He graduated from North Carolina State University and earned a law degree from the University of North Carolina Law School. He is married to Elizabeth Edwards, who has been diagnosed with cancer. They have three children; a fourth was killed in an auto accident. He withdrew from the presidential race on Jan. 30, 2008. | national | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Davenport, Iowa | Taxes on capital gains and dividends are lower because corporate profits already are taxed at 35 percent by federal law. Some critics say any tax on individuals for capital gains and dividends amounts to double taxations that hurts the economy. Buffett's employees may end up paying at a higher tax rate because standard, earned income, which is the bulk of their income, is taxed at progressively higher brackets up to 35 percent. Edwards borrowed the Buffett moment at the Clinton event to bolster his argument that the capital gains tax rate is too low. Edwards wants the capital gains rate raised back to 28 percent for people earning more than $200,000, its level before President Bush won lower tax rates. |
5,899 | 0 | President Obama's health care law says "when you sell your house now you have to pay a 3.8 percent tax. | July 11, 2012 | health care;housing;income;taxes | vincent "buddy" cianci | Vincent "Buddy" Cianci is a talk-radio host and ex-convict who spent more time serving as mayor of Providence (21 years from 1975 to 2002) than anyone in the city's history. He is the author of "Politics and Pasta: How I Prosecuted Mobsters, Rebuilt a Dying City, Advised a President, Dined with Sinatra, Spent Five Years in a Federally Funded Gated Community, and Lived to Tell the Tale." He was defeated in the 2014 mayoral election when he ran as an independent. | rhode island | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | a question to a candidate | We gave this a when it was a chain e-mail making the rounds earlier this year . It got a when it first surfaced , in 2010. It has been debunked by other fact-checking organizations as well. Yet Cianci repeated this wild misrepresentation of one aspect of the new health-care law no fewer than four times in 45 seconds. Perhaps he and Gemma, a successful businessman, make enough money to qualify for the tax if they sold their homes at a hefty profit. But for the vast majority of Rhode Islanders, suggesting that this tax applies to them is nonsense. There may be no stains on Cianci's jacket, but there's a blaze in his britches. We rate his ! (Get updates from PolitiFactRI on Twitter . To comment or offer your ruling, visit us on our PolitiFact Rhode Island Facebook page.) |
22,778 | 0 | Joe Biden was the first president in 100 years to unsuccessfully sing the alphabet song. | March 16, 2023 | facebook fact-checks | instagram posts | Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters. | null | 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 | an Instagram post | "I had just hit a blinker and my ass was fried man, I mean, I didn’t know p comes before q like when the f--- did that happen? This is some bulls---." Presidents aren’t required to undergo annual health exams, or publicize the results of those exams, but it’s become customary since then-President Richard Nixon did, In February, the White House physician said Biden received his first physical exam in a year and a half and declared him a "healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency. " As you might expect, we found no to support the that a White House staffer is tapped to choose any day in a president’s term to get the commander in chief to sing the alphabet song, nor that Biden was the first president in 100 years to fail. We rate that ! |
10,393 | 4 | Texas now has the second-highest high school graduation rate in the country. And it has the highest graduation rate for African Americans and Hispanics. | June 4, 2015 | education | rick perry | Rick Perry is the U.S. Energy Secretary and was governor of Texas from late December 2000 through 2014. He was re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. He unsucessfully ran for president in 2012 and 2016. | texas | 26 | 24 | 43 | 30 | 31 | 18 | his declaration for president | Perry said: "Texas now has the second-highest high school graduation rate in the country. And it has the highest graduation rate for African Americans and Hispanics." Almost: In 2012-13, per federal statistics, Texas ranked No. 3 in overall graduation rates and No. 1 for its African American and Hispanic rates. Then again, comparing graduates to the number of ninth graders enrolled three years earlier, Texas in 2011-12 had an 82 percent "averaged freshman graduation rate," tying with four states and trailing 21 states. We grade this . – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. |
20,919 | 2 | President Trump sanctioned Russia. President Biden gave them a pipeline. | February 8, 2022 | energy;infrastructure;foreign policy;military | kayleigh mcenany | Kayleigh McEnany is an on-air commentator for Fox News and former White House press secretary under President Donald Trump. She was previously a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee and a pro-Trump pundit on CNN. | null | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | a Facebook post | McEnany said, "President Trump sanctioned Russia. President Biden gave them a pipeline." This sets up a dubious dichotomy between what Trump and Biden have done to oppose the pipeline. Both presidents maneuvered with difficulty to oppose a project in which they had no official role and could only use indirect leverage. Trump did sanction Russia, although his friendliness to Putin sent contrary signals. Biden continued and extended sanctions, but he has also sought flexibility with sanctions as part of diplomatic negotiations. Only a tiny percentage of the pipeline remained to be finished by the time Biden took office; most of it was built on Trump’s watch. We rate the statement . |
13,458 | 0 | Trump Removing Marines From the Navy. | May 23, 2017 | fake news;military;punditfact | vet tv | Vet TV was founded by Donny O’Malley, a humorist and YouTube celebrity. According to his bio, O’Malley was a Marine infantry officer for almost six years, serving in Asia and Afghanistan and reaching the rank of captain. The project dubs itself “the Comedy Central of the military.” | null | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | a web page | They fought as sharp-shooters or with bayonets in ship-to-ship encounters, made up landing parties, guarded the captain, and enforced discipline when needed. In mutinous situations they almost always stayed loyal to the captain, and for that reason, and because they enforced ship discipline such as executions and floggings, they were usually hated by sailors. Some of that mutual enmity, driven by rivalry and respect, endures today." O’Malley did not reply to an inquiry sent through his website. We rate the Vet TV statement that Trump is removing the Marines from the Navy as . |
22,076 | 3 | Says Mandela Barnes "supported a 20% increase in the gas tax. | September 26, 2022 | elections;gas prices;taxes | ron johnson | Ron Johnson is a Republican U.S. senator from Wisconsin. A businessman and accountant, Johnson defeated Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in the 2010 election. He is seeking re-election in 2016. | wisconsin | 8 | 18 | 15 | 28 | 11 | 4 | TV ad | Johnson claims that Barnes "supported a 20% increase in the gas tax." Although the Evers administration — and, by association, Barnes — supported an 8-cents-per-gallon increase in 2019, the plan also called for the elimination of the minimum markup on fuel, which had the potential to decrease the price at the pump by 14 cents. Our definition of is a statement that is "partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context." That’s our rating for this one. |