Datasets:

chengxuphd

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liar2

like 2

I have now put out all of my emails.

April 3, 2016

corrections and updates;transparency

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

comments on Meet the Press

Clinton said, "I have now put out all of my emails." In reality, only about half of the emails sent or received by Clinton on her private email server have been released. Clinton’s comments focus on emails that she and her staff deemed work-related. Clinton says the half that aren’t available are personal and private. The problem is, it was Clinton and her staff who made that determination. Those emails -- more than 30,000 -- haven’t been available for public review, and it’s not entirely clear they can be retrieved. Clinton’s statement is partially accurate but takes things out of context. We rate it . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/f53c15fc-28b4-4025-8158-433cdc006cc4

Take-home pay for workers is going up.

January 12, 2023

economy;jobs;workers

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, "Take-home pay for workers is going up." The data shows that wages have outpaced inflation for the past two quarters. However, that increase is only beginning to compensate for the wages that were eaten away by inflation earlier in Biden’s presidency. During Biden’s two years in office, cumulative wage gains have been exceeded by cumulative inflation. We rate the statement .

The American people spoke pretty loudly. They said stop all the looming tax hikes....

December 1, 2010

taxes

john boehner

John Boehner of Ohio is the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was formerly the Republican minority leader from 2007-2011, and was the majority leader briefly prior to that.

national

comments to reporters

The wording in the polls seems like a perfectly accurate reflection of those options. So we find that Boehner is to the public supports his position. The polls show that while many Americans oppose an across-the-board expiration of the Bush tax cuts, it is not accurate to say the public spoke "pretty loudly" that Congress should "stop all the looming tax hikes." A plurality of the "American people" actually support what amounts to a tax hike for the wealthiest Americans. So we rate Boehner's comment .

Because of violence spreading from Mexico, "you've got bullets hitting the city hall in El Paso. You've got bombs exploding in El Paso.

July 28, 2010

immigration;drugs;homeland security;crime

rick perry

Rick Perry is the U.S. Energy Secretary and was governor of Texas from late December 2000 through 2014. He was re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. He unsucessfully ran for president in 2012 and 2016.

texas

an interview

"American citizens are advised avoid the area around the Consulate General until it reopens." In March, a consulate employee and her husband were gunned down as they drove in their car about a block from the U.S.-Mexican border bridge on a major Juarez thoroughfare. All in all, Perry’s correct that bullets coming from across the border hit El Paso’s seat of city government. No bombs have exploded in El Paso, however, though one went off in Juarez. We rate Perry’s statement .

Any government-run 'public' plan ... forces more employers to drop employee coverage due to rising costs and pay an additional 8% payroll tax for each worker.

August 24, 2009

health care

ginny brown-waite

Ginny Brown-Waite is a former Republican congresswoman from Brooksville in Florida’s 5th Congressional District. She halted her re-election campaign in April 2010 citing health reasons.

national

a mailing

Members of Congress get to mail their constituents without paying postage, a perk known as "franking," and Brown-Waite's mailer clearly states it was "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense." We find Brown-Waite's mailer does not accurately describe the bill. She incorrectly describes the overall plan as a "government-run 'public' plan." She is right that there is an 8 percent tax, but she mischaracterizes it as a tax on all businesses, when it is a tax on employers who do not offer health insurance. We rate her statement .

White people are so 1960's. Sometimes the only thing that keeps me going is the fact that they will be blended out by the time I am 30. Imagine a world without white people. —Malia Obama's midterm speech exam

October 18, 2018

fake news;facebook fact-checks

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a post on Facebook

Then, the merited a rating of . Six months later, with the quote recirculating, the only place where we find any trace of this statement attributed to Obama continues to be on a website run by a noted purveyor of fabricated news stories : a website formerly known as AmericasLastLineofDefense.org that now appears to be housed at dailyworldupdate.us. The website states on its " About " page that, "Everything on this website is fiction." Also embedded in the original April story is the same picture and quote that is being circulated again on Facebook and fact-checked here. We rate this post !

Says Travis County's unemployment rate is below the national average while its poverty rate exceeds the national average--and local poverty is rising.

February 18, 2013

corrections and updates;economy;jobs;poverty

sarah eckhardt

Sarah Eckhardt, a lawyer, is a former assistant county attorney. She initially won election to the Travis County Commissioners Court in 2006 and in 2014 won election as the Travis County judge.

texas

an email blast

Eckhardt said the county’s unemployment rate is below the national average, yet its poverty rate exceeds the national average--and local poverty is rising. The local jobless rate has consistently trailed the national rate and the county’s poverty rate has exceeded the national rate since 2003. The county’s poverty rate dipped from 2010 to 2011, though that dip was not statistically significant. Also, the 2011 rate of 18.1 percent was nearly double the rate in 2000, so it looks like poverty has risen over the years. Then again, Eckhardt's statement does not acknowledge that the county rate has oscillated year to year, sometimes going down. It's not been a steady rise. We rate her as .

Ronald Reagan was a verified Democrat until his mid-50s.

August 6, 2017

candidate biography;history

kevin nicholson

Republican Kevin Nicholson, a former Marine, announced in July 2017 that he would run in 2018 for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. He is a business consultant who lives in Delafield, Wis.

wisconsin

a TV interview

Our rating Nicholson said "Reagan was a verified Democrat until his mid-50s." The 40th president’s past an entertainer, labor union leader and politician is known to historians as well as many Americans of the baby boomer generation. His transition from Democrat to Republican is also well documented, with the formal party switch coming at age 51. (Though experts note he was becoming conservative before that point.) We rate Nicholson’s .

Says Hillary Clinton "sent a memo" to all State Department staff that said "you should not do State Department business on personal email.

March 9, 2015

ethics;transparency;punditfact

joe scarborough

Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, is the host of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. He is a lawyer with Beggs and Lane, the oldest firm in Florida and a former publisher and editor of "The Florida Sun," a newspaper.

a broadcast of MSNBC's "Morning Joe"

Scarborough said that Clinton sent a memo to State Department staff that said they should not use personal email accounts for department business. Scarborough pushed a bit too far on two points. Clinton had no direct role in sending the memo, even though it went out under her name. And while the memo encouraged staffers to avoid using personal email accounts, it fell short of prohibiting their use. These points diminish the accuracy of Scarborough’s statement, but not critically. We rate the . Update: We’ve added some additional context provided by Clinton at her March 10, 2015, U.N. press conference.

Kyle Rittenhouse was an "armed person" crossing state lines when he came to Kenosha protests in 2020.

November 19, 2021

legal issues;states;guns;wisconsin

jerrold nadler

U.S. Rep. Jerrold "Jerry" Nadler represents New York's 10th Congressional District. The district includes The district includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Soho and Wall Street, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Borough Park and Kensington. Nadler is a Democrat.

national

Twitter

Like many others, Nadler said in a tweet following Rittenhouse’s acquittal that the teen had traveled across state lines with a firearm.  But Rittenhouse never had his gun in Illinois, according to testimony in the trial. It was purchased in Wisconsin by Black and stored in Black’s home in a gun safe.  We rate this .

Says "the governor took away a billion dollars of rebates, so in real dollars, our property taxes have gone up 20 percent.

March 4, 2012

state budget;taxes

john mckeon

 John McKeon is a Democratic state assemblyman representing parts of Essex and Morris counties. An assemblyman since 2002, McKeon previously served as councilman and mayor in West Orange, Essex County.

new jersey

an interview on My9 News' “New Jersey Now”

In a TV interview, McKeon claimed "the governor took away a billion dollars of rebates, so in real dollars, our property taxes have gone up 20 percent." But Christie cut about $660 million in Homestead rebates. Following the reduction in rebates, the average net property tax bill went up by about 20 percent between 2009 and 2011, according to data from the state Department of Community Affairs. A DCA spokeswoman claimed the tax hike is , because Homestead rebates were not used in previous years to directly lower property tax bills. Still, no matter how the rebates were distributed, their purpose always has been property tax relief. We rate the statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

Elena Kagan is "a New York City radical, Marxist lawyer through and through.

May 10, 2010

kagan nomination;pundits;supreme court

michael savage

Michael Savage is a conservative radio commentator, and host of "The Michael Savage Show," which is syndicated in over 300 U.S. markets. He is also the author of 25 books, including four New York Times bestsellers.

national

his website

And there's certainly nothing in the public record to suggest she has since become one. Writing a history thesis about socialism doesn't amount to endorsing it. So once again, we have a political commentator attacking someone as a "Marxist" with absolutely no to back it up. That's not just , it's irresponsibly so. !

American oil production is at its highest level since 2003.

May 5, 2011

energy

jim moran

Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th, was first elected in 1990 to represent a district covering Falls Church, Alexandria, Arlington County and part of Fairfax County. He serves on the Appropriations Committee and is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, as well as serving on the Defense Subcommittee. Moran previously served as the mayor of Alexandria from 1985 to 1990. Moran was born in Buffalo, N.Y. He graduated from College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., in 1967, and received a master of public administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1970.

virginia

a press release

The government projects a decline could be imminent. But at this point, there is no solid that the decline has begun. When PolitiFact national evaluated this issue in March, the EIA was projecting a sizable production decline this year. They have since significantly lowered their projections on how much production will fall. We rate Moran’s statement .  

Says Al Jazeera tweeted, "#BreakingNews Taliban started abducting minor girls from their home. The parents who are refusing to give their daughters to Taliban are being killed by Taliban fighters.

August 18, 2021

afghanistan;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

Associated Press photographer Rahmat Gul took the photo in 2016. The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 12 that some Afghans say that "Taliban commanders have demanded that communities turn over unmarried women to become ‘wives’ for their fighters." Al Jazeera has also previously reported on Taliban fighters forcing girls to marry .  But this tweet is not authentic.  We rate it .

Bump stocks are already illegal in the state of New York. You can't buy one.

November 6, 2017

corrections and updates;guns

andrew cuomo

Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, was elected to his first term as governor of New York in 2010.

new york

a conference call

Cuomo said "bump stocks are already illegal in the state of New York. You can't buy one." That’s not . It’s illegal to use a bump stock in New York state but you can buy and own one. We rate his .

Most U.S. foreign assistance ... is given to U.S. companies and nonprofits in the form of contracts and grants.

February 24, 2017

global news service;federal budget;foreign policy

raj shah

Raj Shah is the president of the Rockefeller Foundation and former USAID administrator.

an op-ed

Former USAID administrator Shah said that most U.S. foreign assistance goes to private companies and nonprofits in the form of contracts and grants. According to the Congressional Budget Office, USAID, the government’s largest agency for non-military aid, spends about 4 percent of its funds on direct aid to foreign governments. A trade publication reported that 70 percent of the agency’s money ran through U.S.-based organizations. The use of contracts and grants has grown over the past three decades. An independent aid analyst said the general pattern at USAID applies across the other government offices that oversee foreign assistance. We rate this .

The Austin Independent School District board voted to mandate "a pornographic sex education policy that includes instruction on anal sex and how to place a condom on an erect penis.

October 29, 2019

education;sexuality

todd starnes

Todd Starnes is a conservative columnist and radio show host.

texas

a blog post

Starnes said that the Austin school board voted to mandate "a pornographic sex education policy that includes instruction on anal sex and how to place a condom on an erect penis." First of all, parents are allowed to decide whether their children can participate in any sex education instruction offered in the school district. In other words: it is not mandatory. Also, none of the materials included in the curriculum meet the definition of pornography. The lesson plans include information about how to use a condom correctly, but they do not include detailed information or instruction about anal sex. We rate this .

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "passed a rule giving the agency unprecedented power to shut down businesses, no matter what the reason, at any time it wishes.

June 18, 2014

financial regulation;punditfact

katie pavlich

Katie Pavlich is a conservative journalist for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.

an article on Townhall.com

Pavlich recently wrote for Townhall, "the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, through the power of Dodd-Frank, passed a rule giving the agency unprecedented power to shut down businesses, no matter what the reason, at any time it wishes through a cease-and-desist order." She is mistaken, an attorney who represents the financial services industry told us. Pavlich ignores several key facts about the agency’s temporary cease-and-desist authority. Namely, it’s not unprecedented, it’s not issued without reason, and it’s meant to stop violations of law, not the business altogether. We rate her .

The Keystone XL pipeline "doesn't even have any oil for America.

March 27, 2017

energy;oil spill

kirsten gillibrand

Kirsten Gillibrand is a senator from New York. Gillibrand was appointed as senator in 2009 to fill Hillary Clinton’s vacated seat, as Clinton became U.S. Secretary of State under Barack Obama. Gillibrand won a special election in 2010 to retain her senate seat and won re-elections in 2012 and 2018. From 2007 to 2009, she served as the representative of New York’s 20th Congressional District. Gillibrand received a bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law. In 2019, she ran for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out in August.

new york

Plattsburgh

Gillibrand said the Keystone XL pipeline "doesn’t even have any oil for America." Experts say the oil will not be exported straight to other countries, as Gillibrand said. It is that exports of petroleum products from Gulf Coast refineries have increased considerably in recent years. That’s part of why PolitiFact rated a similar statement by Obama in 2014. While the trend adds a grain of to her , it does not mean all of the oil that will come from the Keystone XL pipeline will be immediately exported. We rate Gillibrand’s .

FOX Network Picks Up 'Roseanne,' Saying It Has No Problem With Occasional Racism

May 31, 2018

fake news;punditfact

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a blog post

We advise that you double-check each information on the internet before you take it as a ," the About Us page said. Unless Potus Press readers click the link at the end of the story, there is no label or tag identifying the post as satire. One of the commenters on the story wrote, "I am so happy to hear this." Potus Press’ story about Roseanne  being picked up by Fox Networks Group is made up. We rate it !

Michigan and Massachusetts raised their bottle deposit and "could no longer afford the program because the redemptions were so high there was no profit in there.

May 25, 2011

environment

jeff kruse

Jeff Kruse represents Senate District 1, which includes Roseburg. He is co-owner of Kruse Farms.

oregon

on the Oregon Senate floor

Kruse tried to persuade his Senate colleagues that too-high deposits in Michigan and Massachusetts were crippling those programs. But Michigan says that’s not the case and Massachusetts doesn’t even have a higher deposit rate. Kruse doesn’t have any to back up his . The statement is not just -- it’s . We rate it .

Says a pro-choice activist in California 'proudly breaks world record by getting her 27th abortion'

October 15, 2018

corrections and updates;fake news;facebook fact-checks

worldnewsdailyreport.com

worldnewsdailyreport.com is a fake news satirical website.

a post on Facebook

Finally, no one knows more about world records than Guinness World Records. Rachel Gluck, a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records North America, said she searched the organization's database and found no that such a title exists: "After researching within our database," Gluck wrote in an email, "I cannot confirm that this is a title Guinness World Records would monitor." We rate this headline . Update: This report was updated after its initial publication to include a response from Guinness World Records.

Says Bernie Sanders "voted for what we call the 'Charleston Loophole.'

January 17, 2016

guns

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

the South Carolina Democratic debate

But Roof was able to purchase the gun after a three-day waiting period expired. Sanders voted in 1993 to shorten the time window for the government to conduct its check. Roof was able to purchase a gun after waiting out a three-day time limit on background checks. We rate this . Clarification: This fact-check was edited on Jan. 19 to clarify waiting periods and and time limits on background checks.  

There currently are 825,000 student stations sitting empty across Florida in every district and at every grade level.

October 18, 2010

children;education;florida amendments

yes on 8

"Yes on 8 Florida" is a group urging residents to vote in favor of Amendment 8, which would change a 2002 amendment about class sizes.

florida

a website

Second, the way the statement is written literally suggests that each school district has 825,000 empty seats. Common sense tells you that would be impossible so we think it was just poor word choice, not an intentional exaggeration. We must note that the 825,000 figure statewide still doesn't give a picture of class size because it implies that districts can shuffle students around as needed to meet the requirements, and common sense tells you that's difficult, too. Still, the number we're ruling on is close enough. We rate this . 

Trump said 'hundreds' of governors are calling him…& we only have 50.

April 21, 2020

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

On April 20, the White House tweeted about a "call with all 50 governors." During a press conference later that day , Trump said that Vice President Mike Pence "spoke with governors from all 50 states about our unified effort to defeat the virus." Searching Factbase for interviews, speeches and tweets in which Trump mentions governors and hundreds, we found several instances but none in which he says he’s received calls from hundreds of governors.  Several other fact-checkers have also looked into posts claiming Trump said hundreds of governors have called him, but no such remark has surfaced. We rate this Facebook post .

Polls indicate that "white people think that black people are less intelligent. They think they're less trustworthy, less patriotic.

June 22, 2015

civil rights;punditfact

juan williams

Juan Williams is a Fox pundit.

a broadcast of "The Five" on Fox News

Williams said polls show that white people think that black people are less intelligent, less trustworthy and less patriotic. The veracity of Williams' hinges on how you interpret his comments. One way: That whites are more likely to hold negative opinions of blacks (than they do of fellow whites or blacks do of blacks), is largely accurate. But a second way: That a majority of whites hold negative opinions of blacks, is . On the question of patriotism, the data are thin. But what we have suggests that Williams is . Williams’ statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details. We rate it .

Florida man on drugs kills imaginary friend and turns himself in.

May 30, 2022

crime;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

florida

a Facebook post

John Medina, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said he could not find an incident that matched the scenario described in the Facebook post.  A TinEye search revealed that the mugshot used in the post appeared online in 2011, years before the purported arrest.  A Snopes reporter traced the picture in the Facebook post to a Florida resident whose  photo appeared on WTSP-TV’s now-defunct mugshot gallery. The crime included in the Facebook post is as imaginary as Gaylord’s make-believe companion. We rate this ! 

Video shows "HAARP gets destroyed" by protesters.

April 8, 2023

facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

an Instagram post

The video can also be found embedded in a 2018 article in Metrópoles, which said the protest and tearing down of the electrical substation stemmed from land and water disputes. Another article doesn’t show the video but shows the aftermath of the protest and power poles on the ground. They look nothing like the giant antennas at HAARP. There is no that any HAARP equipment was destroyed, and the video claiming it happened is from a 2017 protest at a farm in Brazil, during which electrical towers were knocked down. We rate the .

Obama Makes Huge Move to BAN Social Security Recipients From Owning Guns

July 20, 2015

disability;retirement;social security;guns

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

national

various conservative websites

Bloggers such as the Conservative Tribune wrote headlines like this one: "SPREAD THIS: Obama Makes Huge Move to BAN Social Security Recipients From Owning Guns." This is a vast exaggeration of the actual policy under consideration. It would not affect all Social Security recipients, but rather those who have already been declared mentally incompetent, and thus ineligible under current law from purchasing a gun. And it is targeted at blocking gun purchases, not taking away guns from people who already have them. Only in California could the policy lead to increased gun seizures, and only -- potentially -- for mentally incompetent residents of the state who would be newly added to the background check database.  Obama has not made a sweeping move to disarm gun-owning senior citizens, as these websites . We rate the .

Says there was a "NATO base in Turkey being under attack by terrorists.

August 14, 2016

foreign policy;terrorism

paul manafort

Paul Manafort is the chairman for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

national

an interview on "State of the Union"

Manafort said there was a "NATO base in Turkey being under attack by terrorists" the week Trump made his comments about "Second Amendment people." Russian media speculated that there was a second attempted coup at Incirlik air base in Turkey. That incident was exaggerated and occurred two weeks before Trump’s comments. Furthermore, though it houses NATO troops, Incirlik is not a NATO base. Neither Incirlik or NATO’s central headquarters in Izmir, Turkey, have been attacked by terrorists. The event Manafort described did not happen. We rate Manafort’s !

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris forced our troops to sleep on the floor of a garage, yet has authorized $89 million for hotel rooms for illegal immigrants.

March 21, 2021

military;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

Facebook posts

A Facebook post says, "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris forced our troops to sleep on the floor of a garage, yet has authorized $89 million for hotel rooms for illegal immigrants, who broke the law to get into this country." There is no that Biden and Harris ordered the National Guard to relocate from the Capitol to parking garages. The Guard told PolitiFact that the request to move the troops is believed to have come from a Capitol Police officer.  Axios and Fox have reported that the Biden administration awarded a contract to use hotel rooms to provide shelter and processing services for migrant families. The contract was for a little less, $86 million, and the Biden administration is not the first administration to use hotels near the border to house children and families who enter the country illegally.  This contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.  .

The Buffalo protester pushed to the ground "had been previously arrested 300 times. 82 times for incitement. Riots is what he does for a living.

June 9, 2020

criminal justice;crime;race and ethnicity;public safety

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A Facebook post said, "Gugino had been previously arrested 300 times. 82 times for incitement. Riots is what he does for a living." We found no that Gugino has been arrested more than the four times he mentions on his personal blog, let alone 300 times. Friends describe him as a peaceful protester. We rate this statement . PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Congress is a very special group of people. More than 80 percent of them never left the United States.

December 16, 2014

congress;foreign policy

sergey lavrov

Sergey Lavrov has been the minister of foreign affairs for Russia since 2004. Previously, he served as Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations.

national

an interview with the French television network France 24

Lavrov said, "Congress is a very special group of people. More than 80 percent of them never left the United States." Actually, the data shows that at least 81 percent of members in the recently concluded Congress have taken overseas trips on official business, and the actual percentage is almost certainly higher once all sorts of travel are included, including personal travel completed before being elected to Congress. We rate his !

We now have more job openings than we do people who are on unemployment. We have 60% more job openings today than we did the month before the pandemic hit the state of Texas.

May 18, 2021

economy;jobs;coronavirus

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

an interview

Our ruling  Abbott said that there are now more job openings in the state than the number of people receiving unemployment benefits, and that the number of job openings today is 60% higher than the number recorded in the month before the pandemic.   Based on Texas Workforce Commission methodology, there are 1,022,000 job postings on state-run and privately run job boards, some of which represent more than one job. That should total slightly more than the 1,029,890 Texans on unemployment as of the most recent data. Furthermore, that 1,022,000 number is indeed about 60% higher than the 645,000 job openings the Texas Workforce Commission counted in February 2020.   We rate this  . 

A judge has ordered a "HAND RECOUNT by an INDEPENDENT COMMISSION in the state of Michigan, following hard evidence of voting fraud by Detroit City Election Commission.

November 10, 2020

elections;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

michigan

a screenshot

"Judge Kenny hasn’t ruled on anything in the Costantino case — the hearing hasn’t even happened yet," Wimmer said. The Facebook post is . We rate it . This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click  here , for more.

Says Donald Trump "was asked if he would defend our allies. He said well, first he'd want to know if they made any payments to us to defend them.

October 25, 2016

homeland security;foreign policy;military

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

Florida

Clinton said when Trump was asked if he would defend our allies, "He said well, first he'd want to know if they made any payments to us to defend them." Trump has raised questions about other NATO nations not paying their fair share for defense. In a New York Times interview, Trump was asked if he would defend NATO members against an attack by Russia, and he said "if they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes." Trump also told the Wall Street Journal that if allies "don’t pay up, they’ve backed out of their obligations, then we no longer have an obligation to defend them." We rate Clinton’s statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/cc782919-03c6-40c7-b854-2f9c766e1198

In 2010, Clinton "said Iran could enrich uranium. In 2014 she said she's always argued against it.

July 19, 2016

foreign policy

mitch mcconnell

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

national

a speech at the Republican National Convention

McConnell said that Clinton changed her views on allowing Iran to enrich uranium. He claimed that she was open to allowing enrichment in 2010, and then in 2014, denied that she was ever open to the idea. A full reading shows that in 2014, Clinton was talking about whether Iran enjoyed a legal right to enrichment, and she said it did not. An arms control expert we reached agreed that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that Iran signed does not grant that right. In addition, in that 2014 interview, Clinton did not reject the idea that through negotiations, Iran might be allowed to enrich uranium. The conditions she described in 2014 are similar to the ones in a 2010 interview with the BBC and even more like her House testimony just a few months later in 2011. In 2011, she called for enrichment "under very strict conditions." In 2014, she said allowing enrichment would be a fallback position under "a clear set of restrictions." The words are not identical, but there’s not enough here to say she changed her position. We rate this .

On (Rob Portman's) watch as Bush's trade czar, our deficit with China exploded" and "as Bush's budget chief, Portman oversaw a spending spree that doubled the deficit.

September 7, 2010

federal budget;history;foreign policy;message machine 2010;trade

lee fisher

Lee Fisher is the former lieutenant governor of Ohio. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010.

national

a campaign commercial

(That makes it safer than a prior Fisher that PolitiFact Ohio ruled -- that Portman was "the one who actually sucked the jobs out of the (Mahoning) Valley and sent them to China.") So let's review what we found. The ad overstated how big the jump in both statistics was, but in both cases, the numbers did increase significantly on Portman's watch. And while we acknowledge that Portman isn't the only factor -- nor, perhaps, even the primary factor -- in the course of both economic trends, we do think that in the middle of a campaign, challenging an opponent on his record in office is fair game. On balance, we rate the item .

The media "pulled down an entire shelf of goods so that they can present the news of people buying stuff in a hysteria over the coronavirus.

March 4, 2020

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

an image

This is one of the many conspiracy theories and hoaxes that have gained traction online. Another popular conspiracy theory baselessly claims that the media and Democrats are overhyping the threat of the coronavirus to hurt President Donald Trump’s re-election chances. This Facebook post is part and parcel of that conspiracy. It is and makes a . We rate it !

Rhode Island spends less than 10 percent of what the average state spends promoting tourism.

December 2, 2010

economy;state budget;states;taxes

mark brodeur

Mark Brodeur is director of tourism at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, he has worked in the tourism and hospitality industry for 25 years.

rhode island

a Providence Journal story

At 68 cents, we were well above both those amounts. When Brodeur says that Rhode Island spends less than 10 percent of what the average state spends promoting tourism, that's only if you ignore each state's population. Once that is factored into the equation, no matter which "average" you look at, his statement is . But in the end, Brodeur's broader point that, compared with other states, Rhode Island spends very little promoting tourism is correct, especially when you take into consideration the fact that Rhode Island's tourism office had a budget of nearly $3 million in 1994 . So Brodeur gets an "I survived the -O-Meter" T-shirt and a ruling of .

The "U.S. has the highest unintended pregnancy rate of any Western industrialized country.

December 6, 2013

abortion;sexuality

cecile richards

According to the biographical sketch posted online by Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, previously worked as deputy chief of staff for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2004, she founded and served as president of America Votes, a coalition of 42 national grassroots organizations working to maximize registration, education, and voter participation. She began her career organizing low-wage workers in the hotel, health care, and janitorial industries throughout California, Louisiana and Texas.

texas

an interview with Texas Monthly

Richards said the U.S. "has the highest unintended pregnancy rate of any Western industrialized country." She did not offer nor did we find a breakdown of unintended pregnancy rates for individual Western industrialized nations, evidently because none exist. This gap leaves us with the Guttmacher institute’s conclusion that in 2008, Canada and the U.S., combined, had more unintended pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-44 than every region except Asia (not including Japan), Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. None of these regions with higher rates are commonly considered developed and industrialized. We rate Richards’ , which lacked this clarification, as . – 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 a photo depicts a teacher and student with guns guarding a Delaware high school in 1973 after a shooting threat.

May 22, 2019

history;facebook fact-checks;guns

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 image post online claims it depicts a student and teacher guarding a high school in 1973 after a shooting threat was made that day, and that because they and others were armed, "no shooter ever arrived." The image features two students (not a teacher) with guns outside of a Delaware high school in 1973, but there was no shooting threat. A series of bomb threats were reportedly made against the school that academic year, and alumni of the school say the picture of the young men was taken for a yearbook photo op. The post contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it .

Says Hillary Clinton won "health care for 8 million children.

February 15, 2016

health care;public health

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.

colorado

a TV ad

A Clinton campaign ad says one of her accomplishments was "winning health care for 8 million children." That statement is largely accurate. Clinton was key to creating the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage for 8 million children. But the ad leaves out the contributions of others. Because of that caveat, we rate her statement .  

Says "PTA meetings are now being conducted to help parents tell their kids" that if a guy with an AR-15 walks into their classroom, "you are supposed to create as much chaos as you possibly can. They want you to scream and yell and dance around and throw books and just keep moving.

February 24, 2018

children;education;guns

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 Waco campaign stop

O’Rourke said "PTA meetings are now being conducted to help parents tell their kids" that if a guy with an AR-15 walks into their classroom, "you are supposed to create as much chaos as you possibly can. They want you to scream and yell and dance around and throw books and just keep moving." O’Rourke accurately described one part of the ALICE training employed in school districts including at least one in Texas and another in Washington state. Presentations also have been made to parents, we confirmed. We rate this . – 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.

Ohio's lost more jobs in March than any other state in the nation.

April 23, 2013

economy;jobs

mike foley

Mike Foley is a Democratic state representative in the Ohio General Assembly. His 14th District  includes constituents from Brook Park, Parma Heights, and three wards in Cleveland. He was appointed to his seat in May 2006 and then elected to the post in the 2006 and 2008 general elections.

ohio

news release

The state lost jobs during four months of 2012, but nothing on the scale of March’s decline. Foley, in his news release, said that Ohio lost 20,400 jobs in March and that it led the nation in jobs lost. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms both the number of jobs lost, albeit an estimate, and that Ohio lost more than any other state. Foley’s statement is accurate, although he is focusing on a month in which the number of job losses is unusually high. With that point of clarification, on the -O-Meter, his rates .

Says Chuck Schumer said "it's racist to only allow citizens to vote.

April 3, 2018

immigration;elections;punditfact

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a headline

The point of Schumer’s op-ed was to argue that voting rights are "under assault" by Trump and many states and that such laws are racist and an effort to disenfranchise minority voters. Schumer described Trump’s Election Integrity Commission as an "effort to intimidate voters and purge them from the rolls." Schumer spokesman Matt House told PolitiFact that Schumer hasn’t called for allowing non-citizens to vote. Only citizens can generally vote in elections, although a few local governments have allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections . We rate this headline .

A $2 million grant for Georgia's DeKalb County amounts to a "private takeover of election offices.

February 21, 2023

national;elections;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

georgia

a Facebook post

A Facebook post claimed that a $2 million grant for DeKalb County amounts to a "private takeover of election offices."  DeKalb documents do not show exactly how the county plans to use the Center for Tech and Civic Life’s grant. But the county can use the money for equipment; voting and office sites; and personnel. A "takeover" suggests that the center will be in charge of elections in DeKalb; we found no to back that up. Local election officials will continue to administer elections based on state laws. We rate this statement .  RELATED : 'Zuckerbucks' for 2022 elections? Republicans say thumbs down

Says Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in his budget repair bill "is showing that no stone goes unturned as he asks everyone to tighten their belts.

February 18, 2011

labor;state budget;taxes

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.

wisconsin

a statement to reporters

Cuts in aid to schools and local government could push some extra costs onto local taxpayers, if the governing bodies choose to raise taxes and fees to recoup any loss in state aid. Let’s return to the original statement: Priebus argued Walker is asking "everyone to tighten their belts." But the proposal clearly exempts some public employee unions from any changes. Walker himself has said the differing treatment is necessary and justifiable. We rate Priebus’ statement .

In Iran, if a 12-year-old girl is raped and impregnated by her father, she must carry the baby to term, or be thrown in prison for life. Wait, sorry, no, That's Alabama.

May 18, 2022

abortion;families;iran;women;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

a post

An Instagram post says, "In Iran, if a 12-year-old girl is raped and impregnated by her father, she must carry the baby to term, or be thrown in prison for life. Wait, sorry, no, That's Alabama." Alabama passed a law — which never went into effect — that would have implemented a near-total ban on abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. But the law did not include any criminal or civil punishments for women receiving abortions, only for doctors providing abortions. We rate this .   

On Oct. 19, Donald Trump tweeted, "Thank you Elon Musk, I'm back!!!

October 19, 2022

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.

an Instagram post

(Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. ) Earlier this month, the account @realDonJTru appeared to have sent a virtually identical tweet thanking Musk. This account also remains suspended after sending the tweet Oct. 9.   We rated claims that the Oct. 9 tweet was from the former president . Claims that Trump sent this Oct. 19 tweet are also .

Phoenix is already one of the kidnapping capitals of the world.

February 13, 2013

crime

wayne lapierre

Wayne LaPierre is executive vice president of the National Rifle Association.

national

the Daily Caller

LaPierre bought himself a little running room by avoiding specific international rankings and claiming instead that "Phoenix is already one of the kidnapping capitals of the world." Still, we find no justification to support such a sweeping . Two and a half years later, there remains no reliable international comparison for city kidnapping rates, and an independent expert continues to express skepticism about the . In addition, federal investigators have given credibility to claims by ABC-15's investigative reporters and a whistleblower that the city’s of 300-plus kidnappings in 2008 were exaggerated. Finally, the most recent official numbers for Phoenix show a decline since 2008 even as kidnappings have soared in several Latin American countries. We rate LaPierre’s .

Says Scott Bruun "still believes in the same old direction that George Bush had before, which is to privatize Social Security.

September 11, 2010

social security

kurt schrader

Kurt Schrader is a congressman representing Oregon's 5th District. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008.   He was elected to the Oregon State House of Representatives in 1996 and the Oregon Senate in 2003. He is a veterinarian and an organic farmer.

oregon

a debate at the Salem City Club

He says only ``younger workers.’ It’s beyond dispute that, if he’s elected to Congress, Bruun would vote to partially privatize Social Security. But Schrader , suggesting that Bruun wants to fully privatize the system. That’s simply not the case and it’s the reason we rate his . Comment on this item.

Female buffalo lead the herd.

January 19, 2014

animals;candidate biography

hugh fitzsimons

Hugh Asa Fitzsimons III tended cattle and taught history before becoming a bison rancher on family land near Carrizo Springs, according to his campaign website, which says that the 2014 candidate for agriculture commissioner is also an advocate on public policy issues related to water use and climate change.

texas

a blog post on campaign website

Fitzsimons, making a point about putting women in charge, said that female buffalo lead the herd. Bison are a matriarchal society, though female bison don’t lead the entire population. Adult males split off on their own until each mating season, when they come back to carve up the main herd for a couple months. We’ll rate Fitzsimons’ statement as . – 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.

The climate hasn't warmed in quite a few years. That is proven scientifically.

August 1, 2016

environment;climate change;weather

ron johnson

Ron Johnson is a Republican U.S. senator from Wisconsin. A businessman and accountant, Johnson defeated Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in the 2010 election. He is seeking re-election in 2016.

wisconsin

an interview

Our rating Johnson said: "The climate hasn't warmed in quite a few years. That is proven scientifically." He argues that temperatures rose sharply from the 1950s to the 1990s, then leveled off, but it’s to say there hasn’t been warming in many years. In fact, 15 of the 16 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001, with the two highest years being 2014 and 2015. We rate Johnson’s statement .

Crime is rising.

June 7, 2016

criminal justice;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.

national

a speech after several primaries concluded

Speaking generally about the state of the country, Trump said, "Crime is rising." If you look at overall violent and property crimes -- the only categories that would seem inclusive enough to qualify as "crime," as Trump put it -- he is flat . In fact, crime rates have been falling almost without fail for roughly a quarter-century. We rate his . UPDATE, July 5, 2016 : After we published our article, the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, published a blog post critiquing our analysis. The post cited preliminary figures for 2015 that show crime rising . Our fact-check acknowledged the point made in the post, although this data is preliminary and subject to revision. Two criminologists we checked with before publication warned us that such data may not be indicative of a real trend. In addition, while the preliminary data shows spikes in crime rates in some cities, Trump’s statement was broad, without qualifiers, and it came amid comments that painted an overarching image of a nation in decline. Trump didn’t say that crime was rising "recently" or "in recent months" or "over the past year" or "in some places." Ultimately, we find that Trump’s sweeping rhetoric about a nation in decline and beset by crime ignores the overall trend of violent and property crime rates over the past 25 years, which is that they have fallen, consistently and significantly. We stand by our rating of . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/8e5c3910-a384-4b3e-8872-742cd9e7c9d5

Say that under state law, "systems development charges can only be spent on capital investment.

April 30, 2012

infrastructure;message machine 2012

charlie hales

Charlie Hales was a Portland city commissioner, serving from 1993 through 2002. After leaving the City Council, he joined HDR Engineering as senior vice president, working on new light rail and streetcar lines.

oregon

a debate

Smith is flatly in suggesting the law has changed. (He and his campaign later clarified that he did not mean to suggest the law had changed.) Oregon Revised Statutes, says systems development charges may be used only for "capital improvement." That improvement "does not include the costs of the operation or routine maintenance of capital improvements." We find Hales’ statement .

There are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for not just contraceptive care; they rely on it for mammograms.

October 17, 2012

abortion;health care

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

the second presidential debate at Hofstra University

Obama said that "there are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for not just contraceptive care; they rely on it for mammograms, for cervical cancer screenings." The critics have a point that Planned Parenthood does not actually provide mammograms; instead, the organization refers patients who need them offsite. Supporters of Planned Parenthood also have a point that the organization serves as an important link between some female patients and the mammograms a doctor determines they need. On several occasions, Obama has oversimplified and exaggerated what Planned Parenthood does, but he’s also not entirely that the group makes it possible for many women to get mammograms they need. On balance, we rate the statement .

Eleven years ago, the city of Detroit lifted the residency requirement for police officers and today, 53 percent of officers live outside of the city. If we want the tax base of Milwaukee to resemble the tax base of Detroit, this is the way to go.

March 11, 2011

labor;state budget;urban

tom barrett

Tom Barrett served as the 44th mayor of Milwaukee from 2004 until 2021. The mayoral position is non-partisan. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly (1984–1989), Wisconsin Senate (1989–1993) and U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2003). Barrett lost bids for governor in 2002, 2010 and in the 2012 recall race against Gov. Scott Walker. He was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg on Dec. 23, 2021.

wisconsin

a newspaper interview

Barrett notes that less than a decade after Detroit dropped residency, less than half its police force still lives in the city -- and in the same breath ties the change to the "decimated" state of Detroit’s tax base. The statistic Barrett cited was confirmed by Detroit officials and has gone unchallenged. Evaluating the implicit that ties the residency issue to tax base loss is more difficult. Experts agree there is at least some negative impact, but note there are many other factors at work. We rate the mayor’s .

Says the "South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers" and alleges a "large scale killing of farmers" in the country.

August 22, 2018

corrections and updates;crime;foreign policy

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 tweet

Trump tweeted that the "South African government is seizing land from white farmers" and that there has been a "large scale killing of farmers" in the country. The government of South Africa is pursuing reparations more aggressively. When black communities file a for stolen land, the government has been offering fair market value to encourage white owners to sell. Now, the government is considering taking land without compensating current owners. Only land which had been unfairly taken from black communities through discriminatory laws is considered for redistribution. What’s more in Trump’s observation is that South African farmers are not being killed systematically due to their race or profession. There is not enough data to say whether the rate of farmer deaths has increased significantly, and nothing tying that directly to government reparations initiatives. We rate this statement . Correction (Aug. 28, 2018): The  South African police  did not collect statistics  on attacks and murders on farms and smallholdings prior to 1997. A previous version of this story included information on this point. 

Right now we are spending at an all-time high, close to 25 percent of our GDP [is] being spent on the federal government. But our revenues are at an almost all-time low of about 15 percent [of GDP].

April 17, 2011

deficit;economy;federal budget;taxes

mark warner

Mark Warner, a Democrat, has represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate since 2009. He serves on the Banking, Budget, Commerce and Intelligence committees. He is the honorary co-chairman of the Forward Together PAC. Warner gave the keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Warner previously served as governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. He also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1996. Before public office, Warner was an early investor in the cell phone business, co-founded the company that became Nextel. Warner was born in Indianapolis, Ind., and grew up in Illinois and Connecticut. Warner graduated from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He received a law degree from Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.

virginia

a TV appearance

Revenue levels -- 93 percent of which come from taxes -- haven’t been this low in 60 years. So Warner is right. He also aces the spending side. The U.S. has only seen government outlays chew up this much of GDP once in history, at the height of World War II. We rate this statement .

Every bit of plastic that has ever been created still exists.

March 28, 2016

environment;energy;science

jeff bridges

Jeff Bridges is an Academy Award-winning actor, singer and activist.

national

a Facebook video

Bridges' statement was absolute: "Every bit of plastic that has ever been created still exists." The experts say that's rubbish. "It's too all-encompassing," said Beckman. Although far too much plastic persists in the environment in places and in forms that are unwanted, too much has been burned or degraded to make the assertion accurate. Because his provocative leaves no room for subtlety, we rate it .

The American Power Act "would cut our dependence on oil in half.

May 26, 2010

cap and trade;climate change;energy;oil spill

votevets.org

VoteVets is an advocacy group.

national

a TV ad

We also note that the EIA's analysis of the 2009 House version of the bill is less optimistic than the NRDC. But most significantly, we think the context of the ad suggests Wolf is talking about cutting overall oil consumption -- not just foreign oil imports -- in half. If they were only talking about oil imports, why would Wolf be standing on an oil-stained beach in Louisiana? Perhaps newer reports will ultimately back up the VoteVets , but they based their on a 2009 report that actually projects a much smaller reduction in overall oil consumption. And so we rate the .

Baby carrots are soaked in bleach and can cause cancer.

July 23, 2022

food safety;public health;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A Facebook video said baby carrots are soaked in bleach and can cause cancer. A nutritional expert said baby carrots are shaped from longer, thinner carrots that are unlikely to be sold as is on the market. They are washed in a diluted solution with bleach, but are rinsed off. The solution is safe under federal regulations, and is no more harmful than the chlorine solution in tap water. We rate this .

During her tenure as county attorney in Minnesota, "there was a 65 percent decrease in incarceration of African-Americans.

March 17, 2019

corrections and updates;criminal justice;legal issues;crime;race and ethnicity

amy klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar is a senator from Minnesota. Klobuchar was elected as senator in 2006 and re-elected in 2012 and 2018. Klobuchar received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. In 2019, she announced she was running for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out March 2, 2020.

national

an interview on CNN's "State of the Union"

Klobuchar said that during her tenure as county attorney in Minnesota, "there was a 65 percent decrease in incarceration of African-Americans." Klobuchar’s statement hinged largely on unreliable data for jails. The only credible data we can use, for prisons, shows the African-American incarceration rate fell by 12 percent, and the admission rate fell by 22 percent. That's a drop, but both are well below 65 percent. Experts said that Klobuchar’s policies could have contributed to the decline, though other factors beyond her control could have made a difference as well. We rate the statement .

Says he worked with the Democratic legislature to balance spending with revenues so that "at the end of my four-year term, the rainy day fund was established at more than $2 billion.

August 8, 2011

economy;new hampshire 2012;state budget

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 speech to a Manchester, N.H. Rotary club

The state's financial records back that up. But it's important to note that the spending reductions he touts occurred in just one year, 2003. Other years, thanks to economic growth, Romney and the legislature were able to increase spending. And besides the spending reductions in that one year, Massachusetts also earned a revenue windfall from a surge in capital gains receipts. We rate his .

The budget for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "is only about 1 percent of the amount banks generate just from late fees and overdraft fees.

May 24, 2011

federal budget;financial regulation;regulation

elijah cummings

Elijah E. Cummings is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.

national

a congressional subcommittee hearing

According to the Department of Commerce, profits in the finance and insurance sector for 2010 -- not revenues, just profits -- amounted to $366.8 billion . We’ll note here that we're not ruling on whether a budget that’s equal to 1 percent of penalty and overdraft fees is too little (or too much) to carry out the agency’s tasks. But on the specific comparison Cummings made, we found that he was accurate and even understated the disparity slightly. He’s correct that the new agency’s budget is "only about 1 percent of the amount banks generate just from late fees and overdraft fees." So we rate his statement .

Says Hunter Biden "was hanged at Gitmo.

October 17, 2021

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

national

a Facebook post

On the day Hunter Biden was supposedly hanged, Fox News host Sean Hannity spoke about  the ongoing DOJ investigation into a consulting firm tied to the younger Biden. Hannity didn’t mention anyone’s death. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden recently sold at least five prints of artwork for $75,000 each at his recent Los Angeles exhibition , appearing on Oct. 1 before a crowd of 200 people at Hollywood's Milk Studios. There is no that this video is legitimate. !

Re: (Marco) Rubio's support of earmark ban: In 2002 alone, he requested 37 earmarks worth $43 million.

November 15, 2010

federal budget;state budget

steven schale

Steven Schale is a Democratic strategist who ran President Barack Obama's Florida campaign in 2008. He is principal manager of Schale Strategies, LLC and maintains a blog, www.stevenschale.com.

florida

a posting on Twitter

But those aren't the years Schale referenced.  Schale said Rubio requested 37 earmarks in 2002 worth $43 million -- which he says is at odds with Rubio's current support for an earmark ban. Schale has his math right, according to figures kept by the state. Rubio that year ranked fifth in requests for money among Florida House members. We rate Schale's statement .

There's a tremendous tax that we pay when we (American businesses) go into China, whereas when China sells to us there's no tax.

March 26, 2016

china;trade

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

an interview with the New York Times

Trump said "there’s a tremendous tax that we pay when we go into China, whereas when China sells to us, there’s no tax." If Trump was thinking of China’s value-added tax, he has something of a point. China has a basic VAT of 17 percent, while the United States has none. However, the VAT applies to most goods sold in China, regardless of where they are made. And the VAT affects domestic producers the same as foreign ones. If Trump was thinking of import tariffs, he has a different problem. Yes, China’s tariffs are higher than those imposed by the United States, but the Chinese exporters do face a tax when they sell in this country. So in terms of tariffs, Trump is . No expert or report we found from impartial sources suggested that taxes of any sort presented a challenge to American firms that sell in China. There are problems, but they stem from other things China does. Whatever tax or tariff Trump had in mind, he either exaggerated the impact on trade or got the U.S. rate . We rate this .

We have lost more lives in the last two years" due to opioids "than all of the lives lost during the Vietnam War.

October 24, 2018

drugs;health care;military

richard ojeda

Richard Ojeda, a U.S. Army veteran and Democratic state senator, ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. House seat in West Virginia in 2018. He has announced his interest in pursuing the presidency in 2020.

west virginia

a video posted to Facebook

Ojeda said, "We have lost more lives in the last two years" due to opioids "than all of the lives lost during the Vietnam War." More than 90,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016 and 2017 combined, and more than 135,000 died from all drug overdoses in those two years. Both are higher than the 58,220 U.S. service member deaths in Vietnam. We rate the .

Says Biden supports a school choice ban that would impact 74,000 Wisconsin students.

August 11, 2020

education

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

wisconsin

a Facebook post

A viral post on Facebook from a pseudo-news site says a "Biden school choice ban would impact 74,000 Wisconsin students." Biden does oppose one stripe of school choice programs, ones that apply public tax dollars to parents’ private school tuition bills. But everything else in this headline is . The term "school choice" also covers an array of other programs that Biden supports. And the voucher program in Wisconsin is about 42,000 students, not 74,000. But most notably, the assertion that Biden has the power to "ban" such voucher programs simply doesn’t hold water. A president and Congress that opposed vouchers could put some hurdles in place, but the Wisconsin program is authorized and funded by the state. We rate this .

For decades, the state's gas tax has been among the highest in the nation.

June 27, 2016

transportation;taxes

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 letter to Department of Transportation officials

The state topped the ranking in 1988. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the state’s taxes ranked among the top five highest, ranking second in 2003 and 2004. Our rating In a letter to transportation officials, Walker wrote "For decades, the state’s gas tax has been among the highest in the nation." He backed up his claims with federal data showing Wisconsin has been among the top 10 states for the highest gas taxes in the nation for more than 30 years, even topping the chart in 1988. We rate the .

Amy Coney Barrett overturned a $6.7M verdict after a prison guard repeatedly raped a 19-year-old inmate who was 8 months pregnant.

March 24, 2022

supreme court;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A Facebook post claims that Barrett, while serving on an appeals court, reversed a decision to award $6.7 million in damages to a pregnant inmate raped by a jail guard in Wisconsin. The leaves out the context that Barrett didn’t make the decision alone; it was the unanimous decision of a three-judge panel. Also, the court was only ruling on whether Milwaukee County was liable to pay the damages, not the award amount itself. The court ruled the county was not responsible under Wisconsin’s indemnification law because the guard acted outside of his job duties and his training.  The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details. We rate it .

Bill McCollum holds the same position on (embryonic stem cell research) as Barack Obama.

June 8, 2010

abortion;science

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

a campaign mail piece

McCollum did vote for the Dickey Amendment, which sought to prevent federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. But in 2004, he talked about "appropriate funding" for embryonic stem cell research. Obama, meanwhile, has supported increased federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, saying embryonic stem cells "may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions." There's enough of a question when it comes to funding in our minds to add a slight asterisk to Scott's mailer. We rate his .

Says Newt Gingrich is responsible for the gridlocked politics of Washington.

December 5, 2011

bipartisanship;history

david axelrod

David Axelrod is a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama. He is now an analyst for NBC News.

national

an interview on NBC's "The Daily Rundown"

So while Gingrich was sharply partisan, there are solid examples where he short-circuited gridlock to push bills to enactment. On balance, we rate Axelrod’s statement .

Fox offers Chris Wallace's Sunday spot to Candace Owens.

July 2, 2022

pundits;facebook fact-checks;punditfact

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Fox News confirmed to PolitiFact that the about Owens is . The rumor appears to have originated with "America’s Last Line of Defense," a network of parody websites whose bogus stories have fooled people online for years. In 2017, PolitiFact reported that a man from Maine was operating the sites, writing under a series of pseudonyms.  A headline on one of the "America’s Last Line of Defense" websites matches the text of the widespread Facebook post verbatim — except that it misspelled Owens’ last name. We rate this Facebook post .

You have areas of Pennsylvania that are barely affected and [the governor wants] to keep them closed.

May 14, 2020

coronavirus;pennsylvania

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 speech

Trump said that Wolf wants to keep parts of Pennsylvania closed that have been " affected" by the coronavirus. Trump was likely speaking about counties in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania like Lebanon and Lancaster whose Republican lawmakers have been clamoring for more freedom even though their coronavirus case counts remain relatively high. Those places have not been " affected." They’re battling active outbreaks. Trump was right, though, that until May 15, Wolf wanted to keep closed nine counties with relatively few cases. For these reasons, we rate Trump’s statement . 

When the mayor of Providence's brother wrote over 100 grand in bad checks to the city, Joe Fernandez didn't have the guts to prosecute him. He let him off the hook.

September 1, 2010

ethics;crime;message machine 2010

peter kilmartin

Peter Kilmartin has been Rhode Island's attorney general since Jan. 4, 2011. He is a lawyer and retired captain in the Pawtucket Police Department who, until his election, had been a state Representative since 1991.

rhode island

a campaign commercial

* He attacks Fernandez for not bringing criminal charges, when Fernandez, by law, had no authority to do so. * He faults him for not bringing a civil case, when Fernandez, for ethics reasons, turned the case over to a private lawyer to pursue potential civil action. His allegations against Fernandez fall into the realm of , and we give him a !

We confer more PhDs each year than any other university in America except Berkeley.

September 27, 2012

education

bill powers

William Powers Jr., president of the University of Texas at Austin since February 2006,  previously served as dean of the university's School of Law, whose faculty he joined in 1977.

texas

his "State of the University" address

Powers said that each year, UT-Austin confer more PhDs than any other U.S. university except Berkeley. That was so in 2009-10 -- and in another recent year, UT awarded even more PhDs than Berkeley. In other years, however, UT ranked third, fourth, sixth, third and fourth nationally in PhDs bestowed as Berkeley ranked first or second. In the end, this speech misrepresents the results for each year by cherry-picking how the two public universities finished in one year, and those results were (narrowly) not even the latest available count. UT annually awards many PhDs. But each year of late, its total PhDs awarded has gone up and down compared to outcomes at Berkeley and a few other institutions. Put another way, UT fell short of this proclaimed finish in six out of eight recent years. We rate the statement, incorrectly making UT's tally out to be consistently second-best in the land, as .

Right now we have sufficient reserves to take care of Tennessee's lottery scholarship students for a few years more.

February 29, 2012

deficit;lottery

dolores gresham

First elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2002, Gresham won election to the Tennessee Senate in 2008 and represents Chester, Crockett, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, McNairy and Wayne counties. She is from Somerville, which is about 30 miles east of Memphis, and chairs the senate's education committee.

tennessee

an interview with reporters following presentation of improved lottery revenues

In pushing for more stringent standards for students to qualify for the state’s lottery scholarships, Gresham said recently recurring deficits in the program could only be sustained for "a few years more." For Tennessee’s huge lottery reserve fund to be depleted would mean exponentially unprecedented deficits that are not seen by even the most pessimistic of projections. Gresham’s is unsupported by the numbers and we rule it .   ---------------------------------------- * None of the figures in this article include $10 million to $12 million a year in Tennessee Lottery unclaimed prize proceeds that are placed into a separate account exclusively for after-school programs in the elementary grades.  

Says Jacky Rosen promised "to repeal middle-class tax cut.

April 17, 2018

taxes

dean heller

Dean Heller is a Republican U.S. senator from Nevada.

national

a campaign ad press release

Heller said that Rosen promised to repeal middle-class tax cuts. The Republican tax law provides immediate tax relief to middle-class families, though those savings expire without further action for all but the highest earners. Rosen spoke at an event that called for repeal of what they called the "Trump Tax" on the middle class. However, Rosen said the law should be fixed; she did not say it should be repealed. As a point of policy, both Rosen and the organizers of the event where she spoke support middle-class tax cuts, but not the package passed by Republicans. There’s some nuance here, but Rosen didn’t vow to repeal the current tax law. We rate this .

Forty aides who serve President Barack Obama "owe $333,485 in back taxes.

March 28, 2013

taxes

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

ohio

blog posts

Putting all this together, the -- that 40 staffers in the Obama White House are tax delinquents -- is accurate. Yet when presented as an Obama White House phenomenon, it omits pertinent facts. It fails to mention that this is neither new nor unique to this president or this branch of government.   Based on PolitiFact guidelines, when a is accurate but leaves out facts necessary to get the full picture, the -O-Meter is to read "." That is how we rate this :  .

The snow is government-generated or fake.

February 17, 2021

weather;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

Facebook posts

However, Plait explained, the reaction isn’t perfect, and some of the carbon molecules from the butane bond with one another to form soot.  "When (soot) is made in the videos it plates itself onto the snowball making it turn black," he said.  There’s nothing strange or artificial about the snow in the videos. It’s probably best to let these claims melt away.  !

In 99 percent of counties in America, someone making the minimum wage working full time can't afford a 1-bedroom apartment.

July 19, 2018

housing

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.

national

a tweet

Harris recently tweeted, "In 99 percent of counties in America, someone making the minimum wage working full time can’t afford a 1-bedroom apartment." She was referring to a recent study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which shows that "in only 22 counties out of more than 3,000 counties nationwide can a full-time minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent." Harris didn’t refer to the concept of "fair market rent," which is defined as the "40th percentile of gross rents for standard rental units." The underlying study she referenced doesn’t say that a minimum wage worker can’t afford any housing in almost all of the United States, but that a minimum wage worker can’t afford the average-priced housing unit. With that said, Harris’s is still a largely accurate characterization of the magnitude of the rent affordability problems that many people face. We rate this . 

Today, you have six financial institutions, the largest six, that have assets that are the equivalent of 60 percent of the GDP of the United States of America.

October 4, 2011

financial regulation;new hampshire 2012;occupy wall street

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

an interview with MSNBC

Sanders’ math is correct -- in fact, the percentage he offers is actually a little low. And he’s careful to say only that the banks’ assets are only "equivalent" to 60 percent of the United States’ GDP, not that the banks own 60 percent of the United States. Sanders doesn’t note that big banks in other countries are far bigger, compared to their nations’ GDP, than the U.S. banks are. Still, on balance, we rate his statement .

Texas medical professional: Migrants quarantined with UNKNOWN disease.

June 26, 2019

immigration;public health;facebook fact-checks

big league politics

Big League Politics is a website that describes itself as challenging both political parties. "We are not conservative. We are not liberal. We are road warriors fighting the good fight for journalism," its about page says. 

a web post

Big League Politics claimed migrants were being quarantined at a private hospital in El Paso with an unknown disease.  That article was based on quotes from one anonymous source. Both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told PolitiFact that they have no record of quarantines for an unknown disease affecting migrants on the U.S. southern border.  Without , we rate the .

Biden's CDC Director ADMITS Her Own Employees Aren't Getting Vaccinated.

December 29, 2021

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

And as of Dec. 8 , 97.1% of HHS employees had received at least one dose, with a compliance rate of 99.6%. Overall, 92.5% of over 3.5 million employees in federal agencies included under the executive order had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose by Dec. 8, with a compliance rate of 97.2%. Those figures were announced by the White House on Dec. 9, weeks before the Facebook post. While Walensky might not have had the exact percentage available at the time of the hearing, updated data shows that the vast majority of government employees are getting their shots, and Walensky didn’t say otherwise. We rate this .

Says Sen. Sherrod Brown admitted "that his $787 billion stimulus law failed" and "after specifically attacking Republicans for wanting to lower Americans' taxes, (he) now claims that his stimulus bill 'didn't do enough' to lower taxes.

February 1, 2011

stimulus;taxes

national republican senatorial committee

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

ohio

a news release

But what about the that Brown specifically attacked Republicans for wanting to lower Americans' taxes? Brown was a vocal opponent of extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of taxpayers, which he said have failed to stimulate the economy. He did vote in favor of their extension last December, but said it was only because the bill extended tax reductions for the middle class and included billions of dollars in unemployment benefits. So where does the NRSC land on the -O-Meter?   That’s why we rate the statement as .  

Gangs have increased by 40 percent since this president was elected.

July 21, 2013

crime;pundits

newt gingrich

Newt Gingrich is a political adviser and author. A former Georgia congressman, Gingrich served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. Gingrich sought the GOP nomination for president in 2012.

national

a roundtable discussion on CNN's "State of the Union"

Gingrich said that "gangs have increased by 40 percent since this president was elected." Gingrich deserves credit for using statistics from a credible federal agency, but it’s important to note that methodological difficulties make it hard for anyone, even the FBI, to determine how many gang members there are in the United States. Criminologists express skepticism about whether gang membership could have jumped 40 percent in just two years, saying that broader crime statistics don’t show any sign of it. In addition, despite the Gingrich camp’s insistence that he did not mean to cast blame on Obama for the rise in gang membership, we think that a reasonable viewer of the discussion could have made such an inference. On balance, we rate the . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/682949c8-0c99-4bd5-959a-cf2953e8cfce

Zero Amish children diagnosed with cancer, diabetes or autism.

July 9, 2023

public health;religion;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A 2020 study he co-authored found diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol lower among Amish adults than non-Amish adults. Mitchell said autism has been diagnosed in the Lancaster population. There are no studies to show autism is less common among Amish children than in non-Amish children, he said. Experts, studies and news coverage show that there are not "zero" Amish children diagnosed with cancer, diabetes and autism. We rate the !

Tulsa school closes after brutal fire.

October 23, 2017

fake news;punditfact

react365.com

A website associated with fake news.

a headline

The Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences charter high school was ravaged by an accidental fire shortly after opening in 2012 , forcing students into the former Sequoyah Elementary School building. The fire had started in the ceiling where a ventilation pipe was being installed above a chemistry laboratory. This blaze, however, was entirely fictional. The only flames here are from our rating: ! <div class='artembed'>

The RESTRICT Act would allow the U.S. government to "charge you with a felony and $1 million for having a VPN.

April 11, 2023

congress;technology;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

an Instagram reel

An Instagram post claimed the RESTRICT Act would allow the U.S. government to "charge you with a felony and $1 million for having a VPN." The bill, which has not yet been voted on, aims to mitigate national security threats posed by technology controlled by certain foreign countries. The bill does not mention "virtual private networks" or "VPNs." Some experts worry the bill could ban TikTok and criminalize attempts to circumvent such a ban, such as by using a VPN to access TikTok. But the bill’s sponsors said the measure’s criminal provisions are aimed not at individual people, but at corporations and executives. The bill does not criminalize simply having a VPN. The contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate this .

Says states not directly involved in the gay marriage lawsuits that reached the Supreme Court "are not bound" by the court's ruling.

June 28, 2015

legal issues;lgbtq;marriage;supreme court

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

an interview with NPR News

Cruz said states not directly involved in the gay marriage lawsuits that reached the Supreme Court "are not bound" by the court’s ruling. He has a thread of a point in that only four states were directly involved in the case. But that’s an incomplete answer to the question of whether states could ignore the court’s ruling. Other courts would be bound by the Supreme Court’s precedent, making the ruling applicable throughout the nation. That’s a fact that Cruz alluded to only after being pressed by the interviewer for clarification of his earlier statement. We rate the . – The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

In this country … we have more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil.

December 15, 2011

environment;energy

jon huntsman

Jon Huntsman was the governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. He served as ambassador to China from 2009 to 2011. He is a Republican candidate for president in 2012. 

national

a Republican presidential primary debate

In the debate, Huntsman said, "we have more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil." By two of the three measures to consider that , Huntsman is off base. Looking at proved resources, Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves are far larger than U.S. natural gas reserves. Considering technically recoverable resources, Saudi Arabia is still the front runner. Only when comparing current production levels does Huntsman’s statistic hold up. But Huntsman didn’t refer to production. Additionally, in talking about moving America toward energy independence, we think reserves are more relevant than current production and rule his .

I was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war (in Iraq), and yes, even before the war ever started.

June 22, 2016

iraq

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 speech

On the Iraq War, Trump said, "I was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war, and yes, even before the war ever started." The record just doesn’t support this. We could only find one example of Trump commenting on the Iraq War before the invasion where he seemed apprehensive but not vehemently opposed to the operation. In another interview, Trump said he supported the invasion. This rates .  

Says Donald Trump's reelection campaign emailed supporters to "donate to help him recover from" COVID-19.

October 2, 2020

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus;ask politifact

tweets

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

a screenshot

That’s the value of loans and debts that Trump must pay back, according to a New York Times investigation of the president’s tax returns. The email pitch was . We rate it ! This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click  here , for more.

I haven't raised taxes in the time I've been the governor of New Jersey.

August 20, 2012

taxes

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

a news conference

Christie said, "I haven't raised taxes in the time I've been the governor of New Jersey." The rates for the state’s three major taxes have not increased during the governor’s tenure. But Christie reduced funding for several tax credit programs. The governor’s administration argues those tax credits are spending programs, but several experts said reductions in tax credits amount to tax increases. We rate this . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

Says he passed a bill to stop a military requirement that wounded soldiers pay for meals and phone calls.

January 15, 2008

military

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

Las Vegas

The meal portion was included in a final conference report that passed both chambers that month. Obama is correct that his bill passed and that it had Republican support. But at the Las Vegas debate, he gave the impression that its scope was broader than it was. Indeed, the main problem had been fixed two years earlier. So we find his statement .

Says "TriMet's own analysis shows that YouthPass does not actually add to the transit agency's costs.

June 26, 2012

city budget;transportation

sam adams

Sam Adams is the mayor of Portland. Before that he was a city commissioner and , for 11 years, was chief of staff to then-Mayor Vera Katz.

oregon

a press statement

The mayor’s statement is accurate. But we think it needs additional information. Providing free student passes will not add to TriMet’s operating costs in the form of more drivers or bus routes, but it will deprive the transit agency of revenue once provided by other public agencies. The statement is accurate but needs extra information. We rate his statement .

Tens of millions of Americans live in communities where they cannot find a doctor while others have to wait months to be seen.

July 19, 2023

health care;public health;health check

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.

a press release

Sanders’ that there are "tens of millions" of people who live in communities where they can’t find a doctor aligns with published data we reviewed. The federal government estimates that 100 million people live in areas where there is a shortage of primary care providers. Another study found that some 70 million adults reported they don’t have a usual source of care or use the emergency department when they need medical care. At the same time, several factors can affect people’s primary care experience. Some people may neither want nor need a primary care physician; others may be seen by nonphysician primary care providers. Finally, on the question of wait times, the available data does not support Sanders’ that people must wait for months to be seen by a primary care provider. There was wide variation depending on where people lived, however. Overall, Sanders accurately described the difficulty that tens of millions of people likely face in finding a primary care doctor. We rate it .