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liar2

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Now (Biden) is saying that people who came here illegally can jump ahead of other Americans who have been waiting to get the vaccine.

February 2, 2021

health check;coronavirus

steve scalise

Steve Scalise is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Louisiana.

an interview on Fox News

Scalise said it is Biden’s policy that "people who came here illegally can jump ahead of other Americans who have been waiting to get the vaccine." The Biden administration has made it clear that unauthorized immigrants are eligible to receive the vaccine if they are part of a priority group, such as health care workers or seniors. That does mean some unauthorized immigrants who meet specific vaccination criteria for job duties or age could receive a shot before American citizens who do not meet those requirements. This is in keeping with long-standing public health practices. But Scalise was misrepresenting Biden’s policy when he suggested that unauthorized immigrants are being prioritized over American citizens or can jump the vaccination line. Eligibility for the vaccine is based on job and age categories — period. Under the Biden approach, immigration status is not a qualifying or disqualifying factor. His statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate this .

Says Barack Obama "sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China" at the cost of American jobs.

October 29, 2012

china;jobs;message machine 2012;workers

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

a television ad

The Romney campaign ad says Obama "sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China" at the cost of American jobs. The ad leaves the clear impression that Jeeps built in China come at the expense of American workers. The ad miscasts the government’s role in Fiat’s acquisition of Chrysler, and it misrepresents the outcome. Chrysler’s owners had been trying to sell to Italy-based Fiat before Obama took office. The ad ignores the return of American jobs to Chrysler Jeep plants in the United States, and it presents the manufacture of Jeeps in China as a threat, rather than an opportunity to sell cars made in China to Chinese consumers. It strings together facts in a way that presents an wholly picture. We rate the statement !

Black Americans still earn less than 73 percent of what white men make.

August 27, 2017

income;jobs;workers

andy gronik

Democrat Andy Gronik, a businessman who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Fox Point, announced in July 2017 that he would run for governor of Wisconsin in 2018 in his first run for public office. He dropped out of the race on June 21, 2018.

wisconsin

an email

He also used 2015 data, when 2016 data is available from various sources. But his central point — that there is an observable difference between what black workers and white workers make — is supported by the data. Experts vary in their methodologies and definition of a wage gap, and more nuanced calculations show it is notably smaller than the figure Gronik cited. But a gap does exist, both between all workers and between workers who are similarly situated. We rate Gronik’s .

Statistics bear out that any time a country, a state, makes more restrictive abortion laws ... fatalities go up and abortions actually increase.

January 24, 2012

abortion;government regulation;women

nickie antonio

Nickie J. Antonio is a state representative for the 13th Ohio House District. She was first elected to the statehouse in 2010. She represents residents from the city of Lakewood and parts of the West Side of Cleveland.

ohio

a news conference

But the study did not specifically say that more restrictive laws drive up abortion rates and fatalities, as Antonio claimed. One of the study’s authors, in fact, specifically said the study did not establish that cause-and-effect relationship and that other factors were in play. Nor did the study look at abortion rates and fatalities for individual states -- something Antonio mentioned in her statement. Those are critical facts that would give a different impression. On the -O-Meter, Antonio’s rates .

Says Donna Brazile is a "criminal.

March 18, 2019

elections;crime;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.

a Facebook post

The conservative-leaning Weekly Standard did its own fact-check of a that the DNC illegally stole the 2016 primary from Bernie Sanders. In it, the publication pointed to a class-action lawsuit against the DNC that alleged the organization violated its own charter "by working with a single campaign to effectively choose who would win the Democratic ballot." The DNC responded that it had no legal obligations "to remain impartial throughout the process." The lawsuit was dismissed. As for the post that calls Brazile a criminal, we rate it .

People have actually broken down the transcripts for oral arguments and (Antonin Scalia) told more jokes and got more laughs than any of the other justices.

February 15, 2016

supreme court;punditfact

stephen colbert

Stephen Colbert is the host of CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Previously, he worked for Comedy Central as host of The Colbert Report, and he also starred on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

comments on the "Late Show"

Colbert said, "People have actually broken down the transcripts for oral arguments and (Scalia) told more jokes and got more laughs than any of the other justices." This wasn't a joke.  Out of six Supreme Court terms spanning 2004 to 2016, Scalia produced about 40 percent of all the laughter transcribed in oral arguments. That’s more than any other justice overall and more than any other justice every term. We rate Colbert’s .

Chris Christie "cut equal pay for women, calling it 'senseless bureaucracy.'

October 8, 2013

income;jobs;labor;women;workers

debbie wasserman schultz

Debbie Wasserman Schultz became the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee in 2011 and resigned in July 2016. The Florida Democrat was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 after serving in the state senate. She represents Congressional District 23 in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

national

a press release

Wasserman Schultz said Christie "cut equal pay for women, calling it a ‘senseless bureaucracy.’ " Christie didn't cut anyone's pay, though. Instead, he said it was "senseless bureaucracy" to require government contractors to report more employee information, including information about gender and compensation, and he vetoed a measure that would have mandated such reporting. Experts said the measure would have improved equal pay for women. But Christie also signed two other bills that may help narrow the wage gap in New Jersey. So we rate Wasserman Schultz’s statement .

A majority of the American people opposed the health care law when it was signed and still oppose it today.

March 23, 2011

health care

george allen

George Allen was a U.S. senator from 2001-2007. He was governor of Virginia from 1994-1998.

virginia

a blog post

Such statements are far too sweeping; poll averages generally show a sizeable minority favor the law. You’ll find more opponents than supporters of the measure. But some of the opposition comes from liberals who wanted a more expansive law. Still Allen is correct to the extent that polls show the law generally stirs more opposition than support. We rate his .

Obama secretly flees US - leaves stunning evidence behind.

March 22, 2018

fake news;punditfact

viral truth wire

fake news site 

a fake news blog post

A hoax website claimed that Obama fled the country due to new that he was involved with spying on Trump and responsible for colluding with Russia. We found that Obama’s trip abroad to New Zealand was to speak about issues with the prime minister, and he was not involved with ordering any wiretaps to spy on Trump during the election. We rate this .

Turning Point USA is a white nationalist organization.

February 6, 2022

education;race and ethnicity

tweets

Twitter is a messaging service where people often discuss politics. Individual messages are called Tweets.

iowa

a tweet

Turning Point USA is a right-wing activism group, focused on promoting conservative politics on college and high school campuses and training activists around the country. Founder Charlie Kirk uses issues of race — such as critical race theory — as a rallying point, often drumming up controversy.  But scholars who research white nationalism and even Kirk’s critics say the ideas he advocates for aren’t the tenets of white nationalism. Turning Point USA also has a record of severing ties with white supremacists who are part of the organization. We rate this to be . 

Your Congressman, Charlie Bass, took over $166,000 from Big Oil.

August 21, 2012

campaign finance

friends of democracy

Friends of Democracy is a political action committee founded by Jonathan Soros, the son of noted liberal activist George Soros. It is running ads against Republican members of Congress.

new hampshire

and around New Hampshire

What’s off-base is the that all the money comes from "Big Oil." Some of the contributions come from people who work forExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and the other multinational gas and oil companies commonly considered "Big Oil." But, many come from smaller firms, including locally owned heating companies and gas stations, that do not fall under the category. And as PolitiFact has noted in previous rulings, just because people who work for an industry donate to a campaign, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s coming from the industry itself. We rate this .

Members of the public are being charged $50 to hear Gov. Scott Walker and a dozen members of his administration talk about jobs and the economy at Lambeau Field.

September 20, 2011

jobs

one wisconsin now

One Wisconsin Now is a liberal advocacy group that focuses on advancing "progressive leadership and values."

wisconsin

a news release

But you also get to visit Lambeau (at least the meeting rooms) have two meals and listen to a lot of speeches. Then again, you could get yourself invited to one of the smaller events. Or you could  send an email or make a call to the state’s jobs "hotline" (1-855-854-JOBS) -- for free. But the statement was limited to the Lambeau Field event. We rate it .

There's bipartisan consensus that (Matthew Whitaker's) appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

November 16, 2018

legal issues

nancy pelosi

Rep. Nancy Pelosi represents a district in California. She served as speaker of the U.S. House January 2019-2021. Formerly the speaker of the House from 2007-11, Pelosi served as the House minority leader from 2003 to 2007 and from 2011 to 2019.

national

a press conference

Pelosi said, "There’s bipartisan consensus that (Matthew Whitaker’s) appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution." The so-called "bipartisan consensus" Pelosi speaks of rests on a group of conservative thinkers who share the view, widely held by Democrats, that Whitaker’s appointment is unconstitutional. But Pelosi’s office acknowledged that, in the main, this is not a view with broad support among Republican lawmakers. In fact, some Republican lawmakers and legal leading lights, along with some constitutional scholars, believe Whitaker’s appointment was legal. The that there's "consensus" misleadingly suggests the debate over the constitutionality of Whitaker's appointment has been resolved, when in fact the battle rages on. We rate this statement .

New Castle County's unemployment rate has not almost doubled in the last two years.

October 13, 2010

economy

chris coons

Chris Coons is the junior U.S. senator from Delaware, having defeated Republican Christine O’Donnell for Vice President Biden’s old seat. He served formerly as the county executive of New Castle County, Delaware.

national

a televised debate, disputing a claim by Republican Christine O'Donnell

In fact, unemployment grew slightly more slowly in New Castle County over that period than it did nationally. So where does this leave us? While O'Donnell is correct that unemployment has risen in New Castle County, as it has everywhere, the increase wasn't almost double over two years -- the period she said during the debate. By saying that she meant to measure it from the beginning of Coons' term as county executive, her campaign team is essentially conceding that she got the fact . In our role as debate referee, we give Coons' stance that O'Donnell erred a rating of .

Video shows Hillary Clinton talking about a glass dome over the Earth.

October 17, 2022

science;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

an Instagram post

The paper quoted Loden saying that "it seemed to me there was invisible barrier to advancement that people didn't recognize" — the "glass ceiling. "   Clinton’s comments right before the moment in the Instagram clip enforce that this is what she was talking about, not a glass dome over the Earth.  "To all the women and especially the young women who put their faith in this campaign and in me," Clinton said. "I want you to know that nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion. "  We rate claims she was talking about a dome over the Earth as !

State Sen. Alberta Darling "voted to add more than $1 billion in additional spending" while cutting programs such as education and health care

June 14, 2011

education;health care;state budget

sandy pasch

Wisconsin state Rep. Sandy Pasch, D-Whitefish Bay, has served in the state Assembly since being elected in 2008. In 2011, she announced she was running in a recall election against state Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills.

wisconsin

a news release

And that she did it while cutting key programs such as education and health care. The $1 billion figure is a real number. And Darling backed many major cutbacks. But Pasch’s statement needed some clarification and additional information -- including that some of the $1 billion went to ease the cuts in programs Pasch simultaneously accused Darling of gutting. We rate her statement .

In the entire public school system in Camden last year, only three students graduated college ready.

January 14, 2014

education

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. 

new jersey

his “State of the State” address

In his "State of the State" address, Christie said: "In the entire public school system in Camden last year, only three students graduated college ready." But that statistic does not refer to high school graduates in 2013. It refers to the three 12th-graders enrolled during the 2011-12 school year who took the SATs and received a combined score of at least 1550, a benchmark developed by the College Board to measure college readiness. Since Christie’s statement is "accurate but needs clarification or additional information," we rate it . To comment on this story, go to NJ.com .

The fact is voter fraud is rampant.

March 14, 2016

elections;crime

greg abbott

Greg Abbott won election as governor of Texas in November 2014, carrying 59 percent of the vote. Abbott was re-elected in 2018. Abbott, a former member of the Texas Supreme Court, served three terms as the state's attorney general before being succeeded by Ken Paxton in early 2015.

texas

responding to reporters

Abbott, defending the Texas mandate to present a photo ID at the polls, said: "Voter fraud is rampant." If Abbott has the goods on this, he’s keeping secrets. Best we can tell, in-person voter fraud--the kind targeted by the ID law--remains extremely rare, which makes this and . !  – The statement is not accurate and makes a . Click here for  more  on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

About 8 out of 10 favor changing Obamacare significantly or replacing it altogether.

January 9, 2017

health care;polls and public opinion

mitch mcconnell

Mitch McConnell is a U.S. Senator from Kentucky and the Republican minority leader in the U.S. Senate.

national

an op-ed on FoxNews.com

McConnell wrote that "Americans continue to call for Obamacare’s repeal. … About 8 out of 10 favor changing ObamaCare significantly or replacing it altogether." McConnell has carefully worded a statistic from a credible source, the Gallup news release. However, it's worth remembering that a notable share of people whose favored "significant" changes to the law either want a single-payer plan or an even stronger Obamacare law -- two options that are off the table for McConnell. We rate his statement  .

Fox News airs Stuart Scott R.I.P. tribute with picture of Stephen A. Smith.

January 4, 2015

sports;punditfact

naha daily

NaHaDaily is a satirical website.

a website article

The website NaHaDaily said Fox News paid tribute to an African-American ESPN host and used the photo of an African-American ESPN commentator. This did not happen. If this crosses your radar screen, ignore it. We rate the . Help fund PolitiFact's Kickstarter to live fact-check the 2015 State of the Union and GOP response.

Since 1978, college "tuition nationwide has gone up something like four times the rate of inflation.

May 16, 2016

education

scott walker

Scott Walker, a Republican, is the former governor of Wisconsin. He was first elected in November 2010. He survived a recall election in 2012, defeating Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett after igniting controversy with a bill curtailing public-employee union collective-bargaining rights.  He won re-election to a four-year term in November 2014 and was a 2016 presidential candidate before dropping out in September of 2015. He was defeated by Tony Evers in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Walker is a former Milwaukee County executive and former member of the state Assembly.

wisconsin

a radio interview

For example, from 1990 until 2014, net tuition paid by in-state students at public four-year schools across the country doubled. In contrast, published tuition prices more than tripled during the same time period. Our rating Walker said since 1978, college "tuition nationwide has gone up something like four times the rate of inflation." Average tuition prices from the National Center for Education Statistics and inflation rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics back up his point. We rate the .

Study: hydroxychloroquine can boost COVID-19 survival chances by nearly 200%.

June 9, 2021

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

an Instagram post

A widely shared social media post stated: "Study: hydroxychloroquine can boost COVID-19 survival chances by nearly 200%." A study says a certain dosing of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin "improves survival by nearly 200%" among hospitalized COVID-19 patients who received invasive mechanical ventilation, but the post the finding’s significance. The study is posted on a website that publishes studies that "have not been finalized by authors, might contain errors and report information that has not yet been accepted or endorsed in any way by the scientific or medical community." Experts told PolitiFact the study is poorly designed and that no conclusion about cause and effect should be drawn from it. For a statement that contains only an element of , our rating is .

Says cuts to Medicare affect people who have already "paid in. We paid for it.

September 4, 2014

federal budget;health care;medicare

national republican senatorial committee

The National Republican Senatorial Committee helps elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate.

national

a campaign ad

The ad says that cuts to Medicare affect people who have already "paid in. We paid for it." While Americans have indeed "paid in" to Medicare, the amount that today’s beneficiaries have paid in only covers a fraction of their expected costs. The taxes paid by today’s typical beneficiaries will cover just 13 percent to 41 percent of what those beneficiaries can expect to get from Medicare during their lifetime. The rest of what has been "paid in" for their care has come from younger Americans. The statement contains some element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so we rate it .

(U.S. Reps.) Paul Ryan, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble are … shutting down town hall meetings, or making their constituents pay to attend them.

August 17, 2011

medicare

democratic party of wisconsin

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin focuses on advancing state Democratic candidates and related issues.

wisconsin

an email to party supporters

In fact, one review showed many members of Congress did not have any town hall meetings -- and Democrats were less likely than Republicans to hold them. What’s more, the party provided no Ryan or the others were not available to constituents during the break. Finally, the assertion that appearing at a Rotary lunch that is open to the public is "charging constituents" for access is far off the mark. The party’s is not only , but so. It’s .

Shakespeare said: 'I always feel happy. You know why? Because I don't expect anything from anyone. Expectations always hurt. Life is short. So love your life. Be Happy. & Keep smiling.

April 9, 2019

history;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.

a Facebook post

That’s because "it’s definitely not a Shakespeare quote!" said Abbie Weinberg, a research and reference librarian at the Folger Shakespeare Library. "Frankly," she added, "it doesn’t even sound like Shakespeare, so I have no idea how this misattribution happened." The library hasn’t identified the actual source of the quote, Weinberg said. "It may be one of those modern ‘sententiae,’ received wisdom quotes." We rate this Facebook post as .

One out of 4 diabetes patients in our country cannot afford their insulin.

April 22, 2019

health care;public health;health check

kamala harris

Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States. Harris was elected as a senator from California in 2016. She previously was California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017. From 2004 until 2011, she was the district attorney of San Francisco. Harris received a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Howard University and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. In 2019, she ran for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out in December. On Aug. 11, 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden named Harris as his running mate.

a CNN town hall event

The lack of a national study is an issue, for sure, and to some extent limits the extent to which we can put stock in Harris’ 1-in-4 figure. It's also important to remember that it refers to a narrower group - only patients with Type 1 - rather than all people with diabetes. But experts broadly suggested that the findings in the three reports referenced — one peer-reviewed academic paper and two surveys — amply support her . And the broad meaning of the phrase "cannot afford" means the problem could be more significant than these datasets suggest, since they measure only people going without medication, not those for whom insulin prices maybe create other financial issues. This statement is accurate but needs some additional information. We rate this .

Germany imposes a 19% tax on feminine hygiene products but a 7% tax on books, so one company is packaging tampons as books.

April 29, 2022

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a post

As the Washington Post noted, some studies have shown that lack of access to menstrual pads or tampons is one reason girls around the world miss out on school. In early 2019, Germans submitted a petition to parliament with the required number of signatures to bring the topic up for debate in a public hearing, according to the Library of Congress. Later that year, parliament voted to reduce the tax on female hygiene products. The that Germany imposes a 19% tax on feminine hygiene products but a 7% tax on books, so one company is packaging tampons as books, contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.. We rate it . 

Says Barack Obama has "the worst record of any president when it comes to putting America deeper in debt.

December 2, 2014

debt;history

reince priebus

Reince Priebus was the first chief of staff to President Donald Trump, replaced by John Kelly in July 2017. Priebus was previously chairman of the Republican National Committee, a post he assumed in 2011. He is also the former chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. He was an unsuccessful Wisconsin state Senate candidate in 2004. He is a Kenosha, Wis., native and lawyer.

national

a speech

Priebus said Obama has "the worst record of any president when it comes to putting America deeper in debt." On Obama’s watch, debt as a share of GDP rose far faster than it did during any prior presidency. But if you look at the current amount of debt compared to where he started, the rise was not as fast as it was under Reagan and the elder Bush, two Republican predecessors. And while presidents bear some responsibility for debt accumulation, much of the equation -- economic and demographic changes and the consequences of prior president’s actions, in particular -- is out of their control. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details, so we rate it .

Says Melania Trump is the "first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.

August 27, 2020

history;military;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

The country has been a combat zone since the U.S. invaded in 2001. Pat Nixon accompanied President Richard Nixon to visit troops in South Vietnam in 1969, the Associated Press reported . Hillary Clinton visited Bosnia as first lady in 1996, the trip implicated in her that her plane landed under "sniper fire." But it was considered a "hostile area," and not a combat zone, the AP reported. The Facebook about the historical significance of Melania Trump’s trip is .

The KKK was founded as the military arm of the Democratic Party.

August 25, 2017

civil rights;history

dane county republican party

The Dane County Republican Party covers an area tha tincludes the state capital of Madison.

wisconsin

a news release

Our rating The Republican Party of Dane County claimed "the KKK was founded as the military arm of the Democratic Party." There is little doubt that the political interests of the Klan and the Democratic Party, at least in the early years, intersected. But there is no that it was founded as part of the Democratic Party, or that the party ever even had an official "military arm." If a Democrat today claimed the KKK is the military arm of the Republican Party, we’d have a similar point of view. We rate the .

Says Newt Gingrich "made an affirmative statement that he would not only support but he would campaign for Republicans who were in support of the barbaric procedure known as partial-birth abortion.

December 15, 2011

abortion

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

a Republican presidential primary debate

Bachmann said of Gingrich, "When he was in Washington, D.C., he made an affirmative statement that he would not only support but he would campaign for Republicans who were in support of the barbaric procedure known as partial-birth abortion." She correctly stated what Gingrich told the RNC in 1998. She even used his exact words to describe partial-birth abortion, calling it a "barbaric procedure." Gingrich said he was being a pragmatist in order to maintain a majority in Congress so that it could successfully ban the procedure. He said he’d campaign for all Republicans, even those to the left of him, because he didn’t think party leaders should be "purging" Republican candidates and dictating to voters whom they should choose. Bachmann left out that context and thus, gave an incomplete impression of Gingrich’s position. Given all that, we rate her statement .

My Treasury Department is planning to pay down the national debt this quarter, which never happened under my predecessor.

May 10, 2022

debt;deficit;economy

joe biden

Joe Biden is the president of the United States. A Democrat, Biden served as a Delaware senator from 1973 (elected at the age of 29) until 2009. During his time in the Senate, he served as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, chair of the International Narcotics Control Caucus and chair of the Judiciary Committee. He subsequently served as Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2016. Biden launched unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 1988 and 2008. He received a degree in history and political science from the University of Delaware and his J.D. from Syracuse School of Law. 

remarks at the White House

Biden said, "My Treasury Department is planning to pay down the national debt this quarter, which never happened under my predecessor." The Treasury has announced its intention to pay down $26 billion in debt during the second quarter of 2022.  However, the federal government’s planned paydown during the second quarter — when the government is flush with tax payments — will be swamped by new borrowing during the other three quarters of the year. The Trump administration was also "planning" to pay down the debt during the second quarter of 2020 but was stymied by the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.  We rate the statement .

Attorney General McCollum, Speaker-Designate Cannon, Senate President-Designate Haridopolos and I stood up to Governor Crist and worked to remove Jim Greer as Chairman because of his mismanagement of the party.

July 6, 2010

legal issues

john thrasher

John Thrasher is a Republican state Senator representing District 8 in Northeast Florida and the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

florida

a press release sent by the Republican Party of Florida

Attorney General McCollum, Speaker-Designate Cannon and Senate President-Designate Haridopolos were top elected party leaders. Thrasher became a key player by virtue of his quick selection to replace Greer. Regardless of the behind-the-scenes nature of their attempts, the four politicians have been the most visible in their attempts to get Greer out of office. And they acted in the face of initial support for Greer from Gov. Crist, who at the time was still the nominal head of the party. We rate Thrasher’s statement .

Energy experts and State House Dems, among others, were warning of this (the Texas power blackout) for years.

February 16, 2021

energy;weather

beto o'rourke

Beto O’Rourke is a former representative of Texas’s 16th Congressional District. He represented the district from 2013 until 2019, when he gave up his seat to run a senate campaign against incumbent Ted Cruz, which O’Rourke lost. He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Columbia University. In 2019, he ran for the Democratic nomination for president.

texas

a tweet

We rate this . RELATED: No, renewable energy didn't 'thrust' Texas into statewide blackouts RELATED: Tucker Carlson falsely blames Green New Deal, wind energy for Texas power outage RELATED: Yes, aversion to federal regulation drove Texas to isolate its power grid RELATED: Fact-checking Texas Republicans on blackout blame RELATED: Natural gas, not wind turbines, main driver of Texas power shortage RELATED: How Fox News, far-right TV blamed green energy for Texas’ power outages

Video shows people collapsing because of COVID-19 vaccines.

April 29, 2023

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

an Instagram reel

An Instagram reel suggested numerous clips of people collapsing were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine. PolitiFact verified the individuals in each clip, and none of the incidents were linked to the vaccine. Some of the clips predate the COVID-19 pandemic. We rate this . PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

That 5% (wealth tax) starts at $159,000 per family.

September 29, 2020

phil scott

Phil Scott is the 82nd governor of Vermont.

vermont

a debate

Scott said "that 5% starts at $159,000 per family" when referring to his opponent’s proposed tax on the wealthiest Vermonters.  The Department of Taxes reports that filers with $159,000 in adjusted gross income would indeed be included in Vermont’s wealthiest 5%. While the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s analysis shows that 5% would encompass people making $215,000 or more, closer to Zuckerman’s projection, the Department of Taxes’ data is a more accurate reflection of who the current proposal would impact. We rate Scott’s statement .  Editor’s note: The headline on this article was changed after publication to better reflect the statement being fact-checked.

Trump looking to open up E Coast & new areas for offshore oil drilling when Congress has passed no new safety standards since BP

April 20, 2017

environment;oil spill

edward markey

Edward Markey was elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts in 2013 and previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

florida

a tweet

Markey tweeted, "Trump looking to open up E Coast & new areas for offshore oil drilling when Congress has passed no new safety standards since BP." During the campaign, Trump frequently expressed support to open up more oil drilling. Since in office, his administration proposed leasing 73 million acres offshore starting in August 2017. After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, Congress couldn’t agree on safety standards. The Obama administration took some steps to improve safety standards, though some environmentalists say that the government didn’t go far enough. We rate this .

President Trump has passed more legislation in his first 100 days than any president since Harry Truman.

April 28, 2017

congress

tom mcclintock

a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California

california

a radio interview

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump has "worked with Congress to pass more legislation in his first 100 days than any president since Truman." California Republican Congressman Tom McClintock made a similar about Trump passing more legislation than any president since Truman. In the first 100 days of his first full term, Truman signed 55 bills. The president with the highest count since then is Trump with 28. The national PoltiFact rated Spicer’s , with the key clarification that none of the bills Trump has signed so far are major pieces of legislation. They added that his accomplishment doesn’t indicate that Trump has been particularly skilled at getting his agenda through Congress so far. For the same reasons, and with the same key clarification, we rate McClintock’s .  – 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.

Sherrod Brown "sent billions of our tax dollars to foreign countries.

May 23, 2012

congress;federal budget;foreign policy;message machine 2012;stimulus

josh mandel

Josh Mandel, a Republican from Lyndhurst, is a Marine veteran who served two tours in Iraq. He served as Ohio treasurer from 2011 to 2019.  Before that, he was a state representative from the 17th Ohio House District. He unsuccessfully challenged Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in the 2012 US Senate race. Mandel is running for the GOP nomination for an Ohio U.S. Senate seat in 2022.

ohio

a television ad

When confronted with those facts, the Mandel campaign offered as support for its that Brown votes for appropriations for U.S. foreign operations. That's the money for embassies, war-related spending to help establish new governments and the U.S. portions of international missions. That's a stretch from what the ad implies, which is that Brown tried to hide that he irresponsibly sent billions or our tax dollars to foreign countries. We have a rating for statements that are both and . It's .  

Second Roy Moore Accuser Works For Michelle Obama Right NOW

November 11, 2017

elections;fake news;punditfact

thelastlineofdefense.org

A web site associated with fake news. It is run by a man named Christopher Blair, a self-described "liberal troll" who wants to fool conservative readers with outlandish stories.

a headline

The website was created by Christopher Blair who previously told PolitiFact he designed his parody site to fool conservatives with stories most people would find . We messaged Blair on Facebook to ask about his post on Dourif "You're fact-checking fiction," he said. "There are satire disclaimers on every post." There is no that Dourif accused Moore of groping her or that she works as Michelle Obama’s housekeeper. We rate this headline !

U.S. military arrests Dr. Deborah Birx.

June 1, 2021

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.

a Facebook post

(Read more about our partnership with Facebook .) "The United States military has arrested Dr. Deborah Birx, also known as ‘the scarf lady,’ after authenticating reports that she and her partner in crime, the still at-large Dr. Anthony Fauci, had conspired with the CDC to intentionally deceive the American public into believing that face masks are an effective method to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," the post on Real Raw News says .  Experts say that masks can be effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19 . And there is nothing to corroborate the unfounded allegation that Birx was arrested.  Like many of the other stories we have rated from this site, this post, too, gets a !

A photograph shows Barack Obama kissing David Cameron.

March 25, 2019

candidate biography;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.

a Facebook post

Rather, it looks like a guerilla Photoshop job. The original photo shows Obama kissing Michelle. According to the caption on a Nov. 6, 2008, Belfast Telegraph story, it happened after he gave his victory speech in Chicago on election night on Nov. 4 that year. The image was also posted on other websites, like Pinterest .    We rate this Facebook post !

Ezekiel Emanuel, one of President Obama's key health care advisers, "says medical care should be reserved for the nondisabled. So watch out if you're disabled.

July 27, 2009

health care

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

a statement on the House floor

And we certainly think it's fair to question where such ideas might lead in a practical sense. Emanuel is a key health care adviser. But to make the sensational that Emanuel says health care should not be extended to the disabled is a gross distortion of his position, lifted out of context from an academic paper in which he poses philosophical ideas but doesn't necessary endorse them. Emanuel's hefty medical record also counts for something, as well his unequivocal public position against euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide. We rule Bachmann's statement .

Says George Soros said, "I'm going to bring down the United States by funding Black Hate groups. We'll put them into a mental trap and make them blame white people. The Black community is the easiest to manipulate.

May 30, 2020

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.

a Facebook post

If in 2014 he made the statement that appears in the Facebook post — even in a non-English language — it would make American news. But we found nothing to corroborate the post.  Finally, we reached out to Open Society Foundations, the philanthropic organization founded by Soros. The group told us that there’s no to the post.  We rate if .

Disney+ has had over 350,000 cancellations in the last five days.

April 8, 2022

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Facebook posts Disney lost over 350,000 Disney+ subscription days after conservatives called for boycotts. There is no to support this. Disney has not released any data on its subscription numbers since February and more figures will be reported after the company’s next quarterly earnings call in May. We rate these unsupported posts . RELATED: ‘Don’t say gay’ vs. ‘parental rights': Fact-checking claims about Florida’s HB 1557  

The new beverage tax will increase the cost of sodas, juice drinks, sports drinks, iced teas, and flavored water up to 50%.

May 11, 2011

health care;public health;taxes

american beverage association

The American Beverage Association is an trade group that represents hundreds of beverage producers, distributors, franchise companies and support industries for non-alcoholic drinks.

rhode island

a placard

That's not ; that's not how the bill is written. And if the companies decided to jack up the prices for the diet drinks and all-natural fruit drinks that would be exempted from the tax, the beverage association's estimate of the potential price increases would be even less . By trying to have it both ways, the American Beverage Association is making a that is accurate but leaves out important details. So we rate its statement as . (To comment or offer your ruling, visit us on Facebook .)

Perpetrators of school shootings "have been drugged in many cases … many of these young boys have been on Ritalin since they were in kindergarten.

May 20, 2018

drugs;guns

oliver north

Oliver North is the incoming president of the National Rifle Association. He is a retired United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel.

national

an interview on Fox News

North said, "They have been drugged in many cases … many of these young boys have been on Ritalin since they were in kindergarten." A minor percentage of school shooters studied had been medicated, not "many." The notion that many have specifically been on the drug Ritalin since kindergarten has no factual basis. More broadly, causation has never been established between the medication and violence. We found no specific ties between ADHD medication and school shootings, either. We rate this statement .

Pat Toomey advocated for eliminating all corporate taxes.

April 28, 2016

taxes

katie mcginty

Katie McGinty is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. She is a former secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection and served as Governor Tom Wolf's chief of staff.

pennsylvania

a press release

McGinty’s campaign says Toomey "advocated for eliminating all corporate taxes." While he told CNBC back in 2007 "Let’s not tax corporations" and his book mentions it as one of his two favored tax plans, the incumbent Senator seems to know that corporate taxes aren’t going away completely anytime soon. While it's he’s most recently advocated for a lower tax rate and a simplified system, he did tell CNBC viewers he’d prefer no tax at all. We rate the .

The VA negotiates prescription drug prices. Medicare doesn't do that.

June 2, 2019

health care

seth moulton

Seth Moulton is a representative of Massachusetts’s 6th Congressional District. He has represented the district since 2014. Moulton served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2001 to 2008 and attained the rank of captain. After being discharged from the Iraq War, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School. Moulton previously received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University. In 2019, he ran for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out in August.

national

a CNN town hall

Moulton said that the VA negotiates drug prices but Medicare does not. All of our experts said the is correct. Medicare isn’t allowed by law to negotiate prices on behalf of its beneficiaries. The VA — with 6 million patients — does negotiate and also has a legally enforced limit on the price of prescription drugs. We rate this statement .

We're worse than a Third World country in terms of water quality and the way we treat our sewage.

November 18, 2010

environment;infrastructure

mike polensek

Mike Polensek is a longtime member of Cleveland City Council, serving for more than three decades. He represents Ward 11 in the northeast part of Cleveland along the Lake Erie shore.

ohio

a public meeting

The bottom line, she said, is what happens during overflows:  "It's a completely open sewer going directly to the rivers and streams. It is like Third World." So where does that leave Polensek’s statement? So we find Polensek’s statement has some elements of , but that also you need to know some important details to completely evaluate its accuracy. On the -O-Meter that scores a rating of .

The Iraq Study Group reported that (Saddam Hussein) had designs on reviving his nuclear program.

October 9, 2007

iraq

fred thompson

Fred Thompson was a U.S. senator from Tennessee from 1994 to 2003. He graduated from Memphis State University and earned a law degree at Vanderbilt University. Thompson practiced law and served a variety of government counsel positions, including as minority counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities ("Watergate Committee"). In his acting career Thompson has appeared in 18 films, and recently worked as a TV actor, playing a prosecutor on the series Law and Order. Thompson was born in Alabama in 1942. He has been married to Jeri Kehn since 2002, and has four children, two from his first marriage. He withdrew from the presidential race on Jan. 22, 2008.

national

Dearborn, Mich

In December 2006, the group released its report, The Way Forward: A New Approach, which recommended a new U.S. strategy. The 142-page report focused on the future of Iraq and did not address whether Saddam wanted to restart a nuclear program. So we find Thompson's to be . It's possible that Thompson was referring to the Iraq Survey Group, a CIA panel that was formed to investigate whether there were weapons of mass destruction or the intent to produce WMDs in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The report found that Saddam did not produce or possess any weapons of mass destruction for more than a decade before the U.S.-led invasion, but that he "aspired to develop a nuclear capability — in an incremental fashion, irrespective of international pressure and the resulting economic risks."

Says the "last non-partisan commission to improve the voting experience in America concluded that #VoterID was necessary.

February 12, 2013

elections

greg abbott

Greg Abbott won election as governor of Texas in November 2014, carrying 59 percent of the vote. Abbott was re-elected in 2018. Abbott, a former member of the Texas Supreme Court, served three terms as the state's attorney general before being succeeded by Ken Paxton in early 2015.

texas

a Twitter post

Abbott said the "last non-partisan commission to improve the voting experience in America concluded that #VoterID was necessary." The Carter-Baker commission, the latest tri-partisan national body to review election reforms, recommended that states require citizens to present REAL ID cards to vote. Three of its 21 members dissented on the recommendation. The rates as .

Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome and "stroke season" didn't exist before the COVID-19 pandemic.

January 23, 2023

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

a post

The SADS Foundation has encouraged patients to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The so-called stroke season has also been around for decades. In 1986, the Los Angeles Times published a headline that said, "Study identifies February-April as stroke season." The story reported that researchers had found that strokes caused by arteries blocked by blood clots or fat occurred most often in those months..  More recently, the American Heart Association warned in October 2020 — before the first COVID-19 vaccines were available — that influenza and COVID-19 can increase the risk of stroke, noting it "has long recommended the flu vaccine to protect against cardiovascular disease complications. "  We rate claims that sudden unexplained death syndrome and stroke season are new as of the COVID-19 pandemic .  

Most of our taxes are spent on the so-called 'War on Terror.'

April 19, 2018

corrections and updates;federal budget;military;terrorism;taxes

ro khanna

Ro Khanna is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from a district that includes portions of such cities as Cupertino, Santa Clara and San Jose.

national

a Facebook post

Khanna’s original post said, "Most of our taxes are spent on the so-called ‘War on Terror.’" That’s close to accurate if you specify that you’re referring to discretionary spending only, but the original post did not do that. To his credit, Khanna pointed out the distinction when he rewrote the post. We applaud the change, but our policy is to rate the original wording, and that earns the initial statement a .

Says Nancy Pelosi "wants to remove votes from soldiers overseas" and said, "They don't even live here.

August 14, 2020

elections;military;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.

a Facebook post

The headline comes from a post on the website "America’s Last Line of Defense," which describes itself as "satire for your confirmation bias." The story about Pelosi trying to block members of the military from voting is not real.  The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 protects the voting rights of service members, as well as any U.S. citizens who live outside the United States. Under the law, states and territories must allow such voters to register and vote in elections for federal office using absentee voting procedures.  We rate this Facebook post . 

We have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world" from COVID-19.

July 19, 2020

public health;coronavirus

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.

an interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace

Trump said, "We have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world" from coronavirus. The United States doesn’t have one of the world’s lowest mortality rates from the coronavirus: No fewer than 15 advanced, industrialized nations currently have a lower mortality rate, as do a host of other countries, including Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Russia, Turkey, Argentina, and India. Another measurement called the case-fatality rate, which Trump incorrectly referred to as the "mortality rate," doesn’t place the United States at or near the bottom internationally. We rate the statement .

Records suggest more than 100 batches of absentee ballots in Fulton County could be missing.

June 17, 2021

elections;facebook fact-checks

just the news

Just the News is a website.

georgia

an article

The absentee ballots were reviewed twice and "all paperwork has been reconciled in coordination with the Secretary of State," she said.  The Secretary of State’s monitor notes referenced by Just the News "are in response to activity in ‘real time’ during the election process. All documentation was filed in compliance with state law and Secretary of State guidelines," Corbitt-Dominguez said. The Secretary of State’s office declined to comment.  We rate the post .

In West Virginia, a gallon of gas is nearly one dollar more than it was a year ago, and we're paying about 30 cents more for a gallon of milk than we did at this time last year.

August 12, 2021

agriculture;gas prices

shelley moore capito

Shelley Moore Capito is a U.S. Representative from West Virginia and a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

west virginia

an op-ed

Capito wrote, "In West Virginia, a gallon of gas is nearly one dollar more than it was a year ago, and we’re paying about 30 cents more for a gallon of milk than we did at this time last year."  Gas prices in West Virginia did rise nearly a dollar during the year prior to her op-ed. Milk prices also rose, but by less than she said, about 18 cents a gallon, rather than 30 cents. We rate the statement .

Biden says he doesn't need voters to get elected.

November 2, 2020

elections

tiktok posts

Posts on the video-sharing platform TikTok.

michigan

a video posted on TikTok

Not just getting elected, if I get elected." A video posted on TikTok claimed, "Biden says he doesn’t need voters to get elected." That’s a misrepresentation of Biden’s remarks in Michigan. Biden asked Americans to vote and elect him president. We rate the post .

Taxes on groceries and medicine will rise under a plan to improve roads and rail for metro Atlanta.

July 21, 2012

transportation

vincent fort

State senator representing District 39, which runs from East Point to Buckhead.

georgia

media appearances

So are motor fuel and energy used during manufacturing. Fort’s holds up well. "Food and medicine" would be taxed under the new plan, just not prescription drugs. Fort got the important stuff right, but he could have been a little more precise and said "non-prescription medicine." Still, he earns a .

Climate change is "directly related" to the growth of terrorism.

November 14, 2015

climate change;terrorism

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.

national

Des Moines, Iowa

Sanders said, "Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism." We couldn’t find any of a "direct" relationship between climate change and terrorism, though many reports have noted an indirect link. There are, of course, many other factors that contribute to terrorism, including religious and ethnic tensions and political repression. We rate Sanders' .  

One in three people who's receiving treatment for (opioid) drug problems gets some help from Medicaid to pay for that.

July 13, 2017

health care;medicaid

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

a video

The Medicaid expansion was particularly helpful in securing coverage, as it reached high-need segments of the low-income population in states that have been hard hit by the opioid crisis. Warren said that one in three people receiving treatment for opioid addiction were covered by Medicaid, basing her estimate on 34 percent of people with opioid use disorder. The number was higher when we looked at only those receiving treatment: 39 percent. So while the numbers differ slightly, one in three is still a fair estimate. We rate this statement .

Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a bill that gives Florida's public officials an easy way to avoid disclosing their personal finances.

June 13, 2014

elections;transparency

bill nelson

Bill Nelson was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida in 2000. He lost re-election to Gov. Rick Scott in 2018. Nelson previously served in the Florida Legislature, Congress and as state Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner.  

florida

his campaign website

Nelson said "Scott signed into law a bill that gives Florida's public officials an easy way to avoid disclosing their personal finances." In terms of historical context and content of the Senate Bill 2, that part is . Blind trusts do let officials shield financial holdings from disclosure requirements, and Florida law now allows officials to use those trusts. The broader implication of Nelson’s statement is that Scott is being dishonest about what he owns, and that it affects his ability to govern without creating conflicts of interest. After Nelson made the statement, Scott ended the trust and disclosed all his holdings, but he was following a law both recommended by the state ethics commission and approved unanimously by the Legislature. That law requires any official to disclose the assets being put into the trust before being turned over to a manager. There is debate over the law’s rules regarding choosing that manager and whether assets in that portfolio may present a conflict of interest. What goes into the trust would be publicly disclosed, however, while how it is managed afterward would not. That’s not the same as hiding assets from voters. In this case, Scott ended the trust to disclose the portfolio’s contents, anyway. Nelson implied the blind trust law makes it easier to hide personal assets. They may be hidden, but only after they are listed and turned over to a trustee. We rate the statement .

Four (maybe five) Latinos have served on the Austin City Council.

May 28, 2014

city government;history

mike martinez

Mike Martinez,a former firefighter and 2014 candidate for mayor of Austin, served multiple terms on the Austin City Council; her last term ended in early 2015.

texas

remarks at a gathering

Martinez said there have been four or maybe five Hispanic council members. We'd say five. We rate this statement as . – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Million pounds of rat meat being sold as boneless chicken wings in the U.S.

January 11, 2022

food safety;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

a post

When the appeared again in 2017 and 2018, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokesperson told fact checkers it was . Both the 2016 and 2022 versions of the included the same image, made to look like a screenshot of a breaking TV news story. But a search of online news archives show there have been no such breaking TV stories. The image is posted on Wikimedia Commons, where photos are available for download; the caption indicates it’s a poto of rat meat for sale in Thailand that was first shared on an individual’s public Flickr account in 2007. We rate the that a million pounds of rat meat is being sold as boneless chicken wings in the U.S. !   

Says a photograph shows U.S. soldiers sleeping on the ground after Washington D.C.'s mayor kicked them out of local hotels.

June 6, 2020

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.

a Facebook post

A photo of National Guard soldiers sleeping outside is being shared online. The caption says it was taken in Washington, D.C., after the mayor "kicked them out of local hotels." The photo is from Minneapolis, not D.C. The Minnesota National Guard said the soldiers were on a longer shift and grabbed a quick nap but did have formal sleeping arrangements elsewhere. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser did request that the Army cover the costs of accommodations for out-of-state troops who were in the District in response to recent protests. She said certain rooms that the District paid for were reserved for COVID-19 responders. There is some to the hotel dispute in D.C. concerning out of state National Guard members, but the photo is miscaptioned and there is no that the mayor forced soldiers to sleep on the street. We rate this .

A video shows Kim Jong Un calling Joe Biden a "thug," a "coward," and "mentally unstable" in a speech.

March 7, 2021

foreign policy;facebook fact-checks

tiktok posts

Posts on the video-sharing platform TikTok.

a TikTok post

During the final presidential debate before the 2020 election, Biden called Kim, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin "thugs." But the video circulating on TikTok does not show Kim insulting Biden in kind, despite what its subtitles suggest. We rate this TikTok video ! Join PolitiFact LIVE on May 10-13 for a festival of fact-checking with Dr. Anthony Fauci!  Register today >>

The port provides more than 297,000 jobs directly to the state of Georgia.

April 5, 2013

federal budget

johnny isakson

Johnny Isakson, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Georgia

georgia

an interview

The senator would have been more accurate if he said "port industry" or simply said "ports." Isakson underestimated the jobs impact in his argument. His estimate was based on a 2010 report, although the most recent report estimated the total at 352,000 jobs. Isakson’s remarks were not precise, but they are largely on target. We rate this .

That's legal: If you find out about somebody else's salary even if you're doing exactly the same job, you can be retaliated against, including being fired, in most places.

September 6, 2016

income;jobs;government regulation;regulation;small business;unions;women;workers

hillary clinton

Hillary Clinton was the 2016 Democratic nominee for president. She served as U.S. Secretary of State during the first four years of the Obama administration. She is formerly a U.S. senator from New York, first elected in 2000. She was a candidate for president in 2008. She previously served as first lady when her husband, Bill Clinton, served two terms as president. She was born in Chicago in 1947, graduated from Wellesley College and earned a law degree at Yale Law School. She and her husband have one daughter.

national

Tampa

Clinton said, "That's legal: If you find out about somebody else's salary even if you're doing exactly the same job, you can be retaliated against, including being fired, in most places." Under various federal and state laws and regulations, most workers in the United States have the legal right to discuss compensation and raise pay discrimination concerns with their employers. Consequently, employers generally can’t retaliate against an employee for engaging in those discussions. However, the laws are a patchwork, meaning that some small percentage of people could fall through the cracks. And the fact that many people and companies don’t realize what the law says weakens their effect. We rate Clinton’s statement .

The poverty rate amongst women is the worst it's been in 17 years and the extreme poverty rate is the worst it's ever been.

October 8, 2012

poverty;women

george allen

George Allen was a U.S. senator from 2001-2007. He was governor of Virginia from 1994-1998.

virginia

a debate

Allen said, "The poverty rate amongst women is the worst it’s been in 17 years and the extreme poverty rate is the worst it’s ever been." The numbers back him up. We rate his statement .

Says a photo of a park covered in trash was left behind by "environmentalists" after an Earth Day celebration in California.

May 20, 2019

environment;fake news;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.

a Facebook post

A viral photo that shows trash strewn across a lawn comes with the that the littering was caused by environmentalists after an Earth Day celebration in California. The photo has nothing to do with environmentalists, California or Earth Day. It was captured in 2009 following a tailgate party at the University of Georgia. We rate this .

Says a 1915 referendum on women's right to vote "went down in New Jersey. And it took the Legislature to pass it.

February 7, 2012

women

loretta weinberg

Loretta Weinberg is a Democratic state senator representing Bergen County.

new jersey

an interview on NJTV

Weinberg claimed that when women’s suffrage was put to a referendum in 1915 "it went down in New Jersey. And it took the Legislature to pass it." Nearly a century ago, New Jersey defeated a measure giving women the right to vote by 184,390 to 133,282. Five years later, the state Legislature ratified the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We rate this . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .  

Cocaine kills corona virus, scientists is shocked to discover that this drug can fight the virus.

January 30, 2020

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a post

Cocaine is a highly addictive drug that can lead to long-term respiratory problems and movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease, according to the National Institutes of Health .  In 2017 there were a total of 13,942 drug overdose deaths in the United States that involved cocaine. There have been 1,016 deaths reported worldwide from the coronavirus as of Feb. 10, none in the United States .  We wouldn’t recommend trying a highly addictive drug in hopes of fighting off a viral disease. We rate this !

Says of the Milwaukee mass shooter: "Supposedly he is black. A noose was hung on his locker and he addressed the issue and he was fired! So he returned the next work day and killed who he all thought were involved.

February 26, 2020

civil rights;crime;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

wisconsin

a Facebook post

A Facebook post said about the gunman in a Milwaukee mass shooting at the Molson Coors brewing complex: "Supposedly he is black. A noose was hung on his locker and he addressed the issue and he was fired! So he returned the next work day and killed who he all thought were involved." The shooter was black. He was a current employee; he had not been fired. His employer said someone put a noose on his locker, but that incident occurred five years before the shooting on a day the shooter was not working. The company said it was not aware of any complaint of racial harassment being filed by the shooter. Police said based on their preliminary investigation, racism was not a factor in the shooting. For a statement that contains an element of , our rating is .

Says Beto O'Rourke "has a criminal record that includes DWI and burglary arrests.

May 22, 2012

candidate biography;corrections and updates;criminal justice;crime

silvestre reyes

Rep. Reyes, D-El Paso, was first elected to the U.S. House in 1996. He was the first Hispanic American in U.S. history to chair the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which drafts the laws that govern, fund and oversee the 16 agencies that comprise the U.S. intelligence community. He lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for the seat in 2012 to Beto O'Rourke, a member of the El Paso City Council.

texas

a TV ad

A 2012 Reyes TV ad still viewable online six years later said O’Rourke "has a criminal record that includes DWI and burglary arrests." O'Rourke's comments and records indicate that UTEP police arrested O'Rourke in 1995 for  burglary, a misdemeanor charge disposed of the next year. In 1998, El Paso police arrested O'Rourke for DWI, a misdemeanor charge that was dismissed after he completed "DWI school" the next year. We rate the . – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Less than 5 percent of registered users in states allowing medical marijuana have cancer or AIDS.

May 20, 2014

health care;marijuana

don't let florida go to pot

Don't Let Florida Go To Pot is an organization opposed to Florida's Amendment 2 to legalize medical marijuana. Their website is operated by Save Our Society From Drugs and the Florida Sheriff's Association.

florida

the group's website

Don’t Let Florida Go To Pot said "less than 5 percent of registered users in states allowing medical marijuana have cancer or AIDS." The medical marijuana opponents that run the website said they estimated their total using figures from states with current laws allowing the drug. Not all states report figures the same way, however, or may not report them at all. Patients who don’t have cancer or AIDS still may have legitimate reasons to use medical marijuana, including for pain relief. So the statistic Don't Let Florida Go to Pot cites isn't perfect. But the available does suggest fairly strongly that the people who use medical marijuana for cancer or AIDS is a small percentage of all users. We rate the statement .

Says Beto O'Rourke is "open to abolishing ICE.

August 3, 2018

immigration

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.

texas

a video ad made public by the Texas Tribune

Cruz said in his ad that O’Rourke is "open to abolishing ICE." In June 2018, O’Rourke said he’s open to abolishing ICE. However, he also said he wasn’t in favor of eliminating the agency without ensuring its enforcement duties were assigned elsewhere. We rate 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.

Says detained immigrant parents separated from their children at the border are being charged "as much as $8 a minute to call their children.

July 23, 2018

immigration;homeland security

bill nelson

Bill Nelson was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida in 2000. He lost re-election to Gov. Rick Scott in 2018. Nelson previously served in the Florida Legislature, Congress and as state Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner.  

florida

a Senate floor speech

Nelson said detained immigrant parents separated from their children at the border are being charged "as much as $8 a minute to call their children." ICE told us that parents should not be charged to talk to their children. But lawyers working with parents have heard that they were charged. One legal services group told PolitiFact that there may be a free number to call, but its clients did not know about it and had been charged. Having said that, we were only able to find one instance of anyone claiming that parents had to pay as much as $8 per minute. Most of the accounts we found mentioned amounts ranging from $3 a minute to 20 cents a minute.  There is some anecdotal to back Nelson's , but not enough to establish that $8 a minute as standard practice. Nelson’s statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it .

Says "Hillary Clinton's rejection of efforts to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat not only defies logic, but the will of the majority of Americans.

June 4, 2015

elections

scott walker

Scott Walker, a Republican, is the former governor of Wisconsin. He was first elected in November 2010. He survived a recall election in 2012, defeating Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett after igniting controversy with a bill curtailing public-employee union collective-bargaining rights.  He won re-election to a four-year term in November 2014 and was a 2016 presidential candidate before dropping out in September of 2015. He was defeated by Tony Evers in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Walker is a former Milwaukee County executive and former member of the state Assembly.

wisconsin

a statement

Polls show strong support for voter ID laws, including from Democrats. The other elements of the -- easier to vote and harder to cheat -- amount to a split. It’s clearly not easier to vote if the extra step of obtaining a photo ID is added. Likewise, it is harder to cheat if there is an extra verification step at the polling place. On balance, we rate Walker’s .

Election results in Clark County, Nevada, and Arizona are not yet known because those places "want more time to cheat.

November 10, 2022

nevada;elections;arizona

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

a Truth Social post

His is and . We rate it ! Read this fact-check in Spanish . RELATED: Why days of ballot counting isn’t suspicious RELATED: Ask PolitiFact: What would speed up election results?

Says Betty Sutton and House Democrats "gutted" Medicare by $741 billion to pay for Obamacare.

August 15, 2012

health care;medicare

jim renacci

Jim Renacci, a Republican, is running against U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, in 2018. Renacci is the representative from Ohio's 16th Congressional District. He is a businessman and also the former mayor of Wadsworth. He was first elected to Congress in 2010.

ohio

a campaign email

The that Democrats support "gutting" Medicare is -- program spending will still increase under Obamacare, but at a slower pace. There is an element of in Renacci’s . The health care law seeks to reduce future Medicare spending, and the tally of those cost reductions over the next 10 years is $716 billion. But describing those savings as cuts that gut Medicare suggests a slashing of programs that is not in the law. On the -O-Meter, the rates .

Says Ted Cruz "never denied" his father was photographed with Lee Harvey Oswald.

June 22, 2016

candidate biography;history;crime

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.

texas

Cleveland

Trump said the day after the Republican convention that Cruz "never denied" his father was pictured with Oswald before Kennedy’s assassination. This spring, Cruz called the National Enquirer story "lies."  Earlier, a Cruz camp spokeswoman said outright the elder Cruz wasn’t in the published photo. That's far enough from "never denied," it makes Trump's and . ! – The statement is not accurate and makes a . Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Alabamians "haven't changed their opinion" on same-sex marriage since voting to ban it in 2006.

February 12, 2015

legal issues;lgbtq

roy moore

Roy Moore is a lawyer, judge, activist and Republican politician from Alabama. Moore ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2017. He served as judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Court of Alabama from 1992 until he was elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2000. He was removed from his position in 2003 for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument he installed in the Alabama Judicial Building. He then served as president of the Foundation for Moral Law, a Christian activist group, until 2012 when he was once again elected Chief Justice.

national

an interview with CNN

Moore said since voters passed a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage in 2006, Alabamians "haven’t changed their opinion." An overwhelming number of people still oppose same-sex marriage in Alabama, and it remains one of the least-supportive states of gay marriage, according to the information available. But polling data suggests measurable movement on this issue. In 2006, 81 percent of voters supported the referendum to prohibit gay marriage in Alabama. Recent polls show about 71 percent of likely voters oppose same-sex marriage today. That’s in line with other data that show growing support for same-sex marriage in the last decade there, and is similar to the rate of decline in opposition nationally. The statement contains partially accurate but leaves out important details, so we rate it .

There's 150 I believe now – it's over 100 professional athletes dead, professional athletes, the prime of their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court.

January 23, 2022

public health;sports;coronavirus

john stockton

former professional basketball player

national

an interview

Stockton claimed over 100 professional athletes who are vaccinated are "dropping dead, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court." This is not backed up by any science or actual data. There have been no official reports linking the vaccines to heart issues in athletes and sports cardiologists said they haven’t seen athletes collapse after getting vaccinated against the virus. Lists of athletes this has supposedly happened to have included people who didn’t die, didn’t get the vaccine, or had a family history of heart issues. We rate this .

In Texas, because of the laws they passed, a 95-year-old World War II veteran is being denied the right to vote by mail because he can't produce a registration number he got back in the 1950s.

January 31, 2022

national;elections;texas

stacey abrams

Stacey Abrams, a Democrat and national voting rights activist, is running for Georgia governor in 2022. She lost the Georgia governor's race in 2018. She is a former House Minority Leader for the Georgia General Assembly and State Representative for the 84th House District.

georgia

an interview on CNN

Abrams said, "In Texas because of the laws they passed, a 95-year-old World War II veteran is being denied the right to vote by mail because he can't produce a registration number, he got back in the 1950s."  Thompson, the veteran, registered to vote in Houston decades ago when citizens didn’t have to provide ID. He applied for a mail ballot twice in January and received two denial letters. A new state law that requires the ID on a mail ballot application to match that on their registration record. Thompson ended up submitting updated ID information for his voter registration and it appears his application was accepted Jan. 28 and processed Jan. 29. Abrams made her statements after it had been reported that Thompson had re-registered. And there is still time for him to get a mail ballot for the March 1 primary, so Abrams’ comments were premature. But the situation was a new challenge for a man who says he has been successfully voting for decades. We rate this statement .  RELATED : The battleground states where Republicans want to overhaul voting laws

Today's minimum wage worker making $7.25 an hour has less buying power than a minimum wage worker in the 1960s.

February 7, 2019

economy

bobby scott

Bobby Scott, D-3rd, has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993. The district is comprised of all of Charles City and Surry counties and Petersburg and Portsmouth and portions of Henrico and Prince George counties and Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Richmond. Scott has seats on the Judiciary and Education and Labor committees. Scott previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1979-83 and in the state Senate in 1983-93. He was a member of the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve. He was a lawyer in a private practice from 1973-91. Scott was born in Washington, D.C. He earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., in 1969 and a law degree from Boston College in 1973.

virginia

a speech

Scott said, "Today’s minimum wage worker making $7.25 an hour has less buying power than a minimum wage worker in the 1960s." When adjusted for inflation into today’s dollars, the minimum wage of that decade varied from $8.57 an hour to $11.58. The average over the decade was $10.09 and hour - significantly higher than today’s rate. We rate Scott’s statement . Correction: Bobby Scott is a Democrat. An earlier version of this fact-check misidentified his party.  

You can buy lobster with food stamps.

March 13, 2014

government regulation;state budget

greg morris

Greg Morris, a Republican, is a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Born and raised in Vidalia, he communities in parts of Appling, Jeff Davis, Montgomery, and Toombs counties.

georgia

an article

As the Fox News video showed, there is at least one person receiving those federal benefits who bought lobster. The man did say he does so if it’s on sale. From what we’ve seen, there are few people buying such high-end items. But it is possible, just as Morris said. We rate his statement as .

Says Sen. Bill Nelson "voted for higher taxes" 349 times.

June 13, 2018

taxes

rick scott

Rick Scott, a wealthy Florida businessman, was first elected Florida's 45th governor on Nov. 2, 2010 and re-elected Nov. 4, 2014. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 and is running for re-election in 2024.

florida

an ad

Scott said Nelson "voted for higher taxes" 349 times. Just like Republicans in the past, Scott’s list overstates the number of times Nelson voted for higher taxes by including nonbinding budget resolutions, which accounted for almost half of the 349 votes on the list. Scott also counts multiple votes on the same piece of legislation, which further inflates the number. And as we’ve concluded in previous checks, the list neglects that Nelson has, on occasion, voted for lower taxes. We rate this .

McCain "hasn't held executive responsibility.

June 29, 2008

candidate biography

wesley clark

Wesley Clark, a retired Army general, ran for president in 2004.

national

an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation"

An executive job Clark's larger point is correct: McCain has accomplished a lot in his storied military and political career, but he has relatively little executive experience. But still, Clark, who ran for president in 2004, was to say that McCain "hasn't held executive responsibility." His tenure at the RAG shows that McCain not only held an executive post in which he managed a staff of 1,000 and oversaw a fleet of 75 planes, but he earned positive reviews for his performance. When McCain departed, the unit was given its first-ever Meritorious Unit Citation. So we find Clark's to be .

Photo shows "plastic bags filled with gas" in someone's car trunk in South Carolina.

May 12, 2021

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.

a Facebook post

In March 2019, Televisa.news reported that police had detained the drivers of two vehicles that were transporting more than 1,000 liters of gasoline in plastic bags in Huauchinango, Mexico. A caption of the photo — translated by Google from Spanish to English — says it shows "a thousand liters of fuel in plastic bags." The next day, Aristegui Noticias published the photo with a story about two people who had been arrested after they tried to carry "more than a thousand liters of illegal gasoline in the trunk of their cars. "  The photo wasn’t taken in South Carolina, so we rate this post .

COVID-19 vaccines are gene therapy and a recent Forbes article proves that.

December 2, 2021

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

an Instagram post

Social media posts claimed that COVID-19 vaccines are gene therapy and a recent Forbes article proves that. The vaccines do not amount to gene therapy. Gene therapy involves modifying a person’s genes to cure or treat a disease. The COVID-19 vaccines do not alter your DNA. The original headline on the Forbes article said "the vaccine changes your DNA a tiny bit," but was quickly changed by the author, a Johns Hopkins University gene expert, who said it was misinterpreted. He said in the article that the vaccines do not alter DNA and told PolitiFact they are not gene therapy. We rate the post .

Says "many states" are floundering under crushing deficit spending.

April 26, 2011

state budget

mike haridopolos

Mike Haridopolos, a Republican, is the president of the Florida Senate.  Haridopolos represents District 26 which spans portions of Osceola, Brevard and Indian River counties. He was elected to the state senate in 2003, and previously served in the State House of Representatives.

florida

comments announcing a budget deal with the Florida House of Representatives

All other states are required to pass balanced budgets. We rate Haridopolos' . (Updated April 27, 2011: This story has been corrected to describe the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities as "Democratic-leaning." It also was updated to include information from the National Conference of State Legislatures.)

Says the CDC's new tracking policy is covering up cases of "breakthrough" COVID-19 infections among vaccinated people.

May 16, 2021

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

Facebook post

A Facebook post says a new CDC tracking policy is meant to cover up cases of breakthrough COVID-19 infections among vaccinated people. Under the new policy, the CDC is monitoring only the breakthrough COVID-19 cases that involve hospitalization or death. The agency says the change is meant to provide more researchers more meaningful data about the cases it’s most concerned about. There is no the agency is attempting to hide or misrepresent its own data about the effectiveness of the vaccines. We rate this . RELATED: No, the death rate for vaccinated people is not higher than that of unvaccinated people

We are number one in the country as far as our spending (COVID-19 relief) money on businesses as it relates to the percentage of federal funds that we receive.

July 24, 2022

public health;small business;states;coronavirus

tony evers

Tony Evers, a Democrat, was elected Wisconsin governor in November 2018. His term begins in January 2019. Evers has served as the Wisconsin superintendent of public instruction, a non-partisan position, since 2009. He previously worked as a teacher and school district administrator.

wisconsin

TV interview

Evers said "We are number one in the country as far as our spending (COVID relief) money on businesses as it relates to the percentage of federal funds that we receive."  Based on the available information, the appears to be on target, with a few caveats. Among them: The data focuses on money distributed through ARPA and the figures are only for money distributed through March, so the final picture could change. Our definition for is a statement that is "partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context." That fits here.  

Nevada Democratic Party leaders "hijacked the process on the floor" of the state convention "ignoring the regular procedure and ramming through what they wanted to do.

May 17, 2016

elections

jeff weaver

Jeff Weaver is a Democratic campaign operative who is the current campaign manager for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

nevada

a television interview on CNN

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Nevada Democratic Party leaders "hijacked the process on the floor" of the state convention "ignoring the regular procedure and ramming through what they wanted to do." Caucuses and delegate math can be incredibly confusing, and the arcane party structures don’t reflect how most people assume presidential selection works. But the howls of unfairness and corruption by the Sanders campaign during Nevada’s state Democratic Convention can’t change the simple fact that Clinton’s supporters simply turned out in larger numbers and helped her solidify her delegate lead in Nevada. There’s no clear the state party "hijacked" the process or ignored "regular procedure." We rate this .

Says the COVID-19 vaccine doesn't "prevent catching or spreading" the virus "and only lasts months.

September 19, 2021

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

In August, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer and Moderna to give a third dose of their vaccines to certain immunocompromised people because it could increase protection for people such as organ transplant recipients, Yale Medicine recently noted . In September, an FDA advisory committee recommended booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine for people who receive their second shot at least six months prior and who are 65 and older or have a high risk of a severe case of COVID-19.  But, again, plenty of other vaccines have boosters . The flu vaccine, of course, is annual, and vaccines against Hepatitis B, whooping cough, chicken pox and measles, among other diseases, require multiple shots.  We rate this post .

We could save all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling, if everybody was just inflating their tires and getting regular tune-ups.

July 30, 2008

energy

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

Springfield, Mo

Point taken, but Obama's statement was made within the context of the current drilling debate, which has been about increasing the supply of domestic oil to ease the strain on the U.S. transportation sector. In the end, estimates are all we have to work with here. Estimates of oil production, estimates of gasoline savings. For our purposes in evaluating Obama's , all the available shows that he's on solid ground in saying that better car and tire maintenance would save as much gasoline as drilling would generate. We appreciate McCain's campaign pointing out a GAO source we'd missed in our original research, but it's not at odds with our original ruling, .  

The costs of cancer and all affiliated issues are over $20 billion a year to this state.

April 3, 2011

health care

jim keffer

Jim Keffer was initially elected to the Texas House in 1996.

texas

House floor remarks

Finally, we looked for national expertise on the costs of cancer at the state level, finding none. Summing up: Keffer claimed that cancer and its related issues cost Texas upwards of $20 billion a year. Most of that figure is pegged to indirect costs. That said, the most recent research we found consistently pegged the total annual cost at considerably more than $20 billion. We rate Keffer’s statement .

Cory Booker's son charged with assault after attack on Santa.

December 25, 2019

fake news;facebook fact-checks

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a post on a fake news website

The article quotes local police officer Satya Martin. There is no such person in Hope, N.J., a quiet township with under 2,000 residents. Martin gets around, or at least her name does. AJUA had her as the spokeswoman for a non-existent group of Democrats who filed to switch parties to protest the impeachment of President Donald Trump –– another piece of news. We rate this !

Police dispatch audio from Paul Pelosi's attack was recorded in a Moscow studio.

November 29, 2022

crime;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

california

an Instagram post

Two minutes later, two police officers arrived at the residence and tackled the man identified as DePape "moments after he allegedly struck Paul Pelosi with a hammer. "  In an Oct. 28 Facebook post , the San Francisco Police Department wrote that the police chief wanted to thank the officers and emergency dispatcher "for their swift action. "   The federal criminal complaint against DePape details the 911 call San Francisco dispatch received from Pelosi, who was "located at the Pelosi residence in San Francisco, California. "  There is no to support the that the call or police dispatch audio were recorded in a studio in Moscow.  We rate that !