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In other states (where illegal immigrants have been allowed to get driver's licenses) their insurance premiums for everybody have gone down.

September 28, 2016

immigration;economy;public safety;regulation

gina raimondo

Gina Raimondo served a four-year term as Rhode Island's general treasurer beginning in Jan. 4, 2011 before being elected governor in 2014. She cofounded and served as a general partner of Point Judith Capital. She is a graduate of Yale Law School and a Rhodes Scholar. She is married with two children.

national

a television interview

Raimondo said that in states where illegal immigrants have been allowed to get driver's licenses, the "insurance premiums for everybody have gone down." The few studies that have been done have estimated that there is a savings. In addition, the experts we spoke with also say there's good reason to believe that the savings, albeit small, will be real. But the research on this is scattered and far from definitive. As such, we rate the .

If you have the Flu… get these two items… Sambucol (and) Oscillococcinum… in 48 hours you will feel better. In 72 hours you will be almost symptom-free.

November 15, 2019

drugs;health care;public health;facebook fact-checks;health check;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A post claims, "If you have the Flu… get these two items… Sambucol [and] Oscillococcinum… in 48 hours you will feel better. In 72 hours you will be almost symptom-free." Overall, Sambucol has the most flu-fighting potential, but there is little that Oscillococcinum can considerably shorten the length of the flu. And there isn’t enough to prove that either of them can treat influenza better than antiviral medications.  The post’s has an element of but leaves out critical context. We rate it .

Hidden in the CARES Act was an obscure $135 billion tax break for 43,000 millionaires.

May 14, 2020

taxes;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

on social media

The Facebook post said, "Hidden in the CARES Act was an obscure $135 billion tax break for 43,000 millionaires." This refers to a real provision in the CARES Act that eases restrictions passed in 2017 that limited how extensively pass-through corporations can apply business losses to the owner’s individual tax burden. Congress’ official tax arbiter pegged the 10-year cost of the provision at $135 billion, and that committee also projected that 43,000 taxpayers earning more than $1 million a year would benefit.  However, it’s worth noting that 87,000 taxpayers earning less than that would also benefit. We rate the statement .

A screenshot shows Tucker Carlson announcing he'll "be starting at NewsMax next month.

November 15, 2020

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a screenshot

"Don't assume screenshots from Parler are real," said NBC News reporter Ben Collins in a Nov. 15 tweet . "You can change the name of your account to impersonate whoever you want over there." We reached out to Parler for a comment, but we haven’t heard back. The Facebook post is and . We rate it !

Thanks to President Trump and Republicans over the past year through July, U.S. manufacturing added 327,000 jobs, the most of any 12-month period since April 1995, when the figure added a healthy 345,000 positions.

September 7, 2018

economy;jobs

west virginia republican party

The West Virginia Republican Party is the official Republican state party organization in West Virginia.

west virginia

a tweet

The West Virginia Republican Party tweeted, "Thanks to President Trump and Republicans over the past year through July, U.S. manufacturing added 327,000 jobs, the most of any 12-month period since April 1995, when the figure added a healthy 345,000 positions." The numbers and the length of time are accurate. It’s worth noting, however, that the climb has been under way for years, and that many factors play a role in such economic achievements, not just the president or his party. The statement is accurate but needs additional information, so we rate it .

Kanye West's access to Wisconsin's ballot was "denied by liberals.

August 20, 2020

elections;wisconsin

republican party of wisconsin

The Wisconsin Republican Party works to elect Republicans to state and federal offices and advance the GOP agenda.

national

News release

In a statement, the Republican Party of Wisconsin said West’s access to the ballot was "denied by liberals." Democrats led the charge to remove him and arguably had the most to lose if he appeared on the November ballot. But the final decision was bipartisan, with both Democrats and Republicans on the Elections Commission agreeing with a staff recommendation that he filed the paperwork too late. Our definition of is "The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression." That fits here.

We've got more revenue than we ever have.

June 26, 2011

economy;taxes

jim demint

Jim DeMint is a former U.S. Senator from South Carolina. He is now president of The Heritage Foundation .

national

an interview on CNN's "State of the Union with Candy Crowley"

(We checked Denton’s 2003 comparison, and he’s correct.) Still, for the specific statement DeMint made on CNN -- which is the that we’re checking -- DeMint was using either standard. He was off by a few years using raw dollar figures. And when you use tax revenue as a share of gross domestic product -- which is a better yardstick for this sort of comparison -- he was off by six decades. So we rate DeMint’s statement .

Says U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner "voted five times against protecting pre-existing conditions.

September 16, 2020

health care

jill schupp

Jill Schupp, a Democratic state senator representing the St. Louis area, is running against U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., in the 2020 election.

missouri

a Facebook post

Schupp stated in a Facebook post that "Ann Wagner doesn’t want you to know that she’s voted five times against protecting people with pre-existing conditions." Wagner has repeatedly voted for legislation that repealed the Affordable Care Act, which establishes protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If the repeals had been successful, the protections for pre-existing conditions would be gone.  Wagner’s introduction of various bills as alternatives to the Affordable Care Act that would guarantee protections suggests that’s not the whole story. She has co-sponsored legislation to keep protections in place, but there are loopholes that could jeopardize coverage if the Affordable Care Act was dismantled. We rate this statement .

FYI: the last statewide recount in WI was in 2016. After that recount, the vote margin changed by only 131 out of the 2.7 million votes cast.

April 3, 2019

elections;states;supreme court

republican party of wisconsin

The Wisconsin Republican Party works to elect Republicans to state and federal offices and advance the GOP agenda.

wisconsin

a tweet

After that recount, the vote margin changed by only 131 out of the 2.7 million votes cast." The vote margin did change by only 131 votes. However, the state GOP slightly undershot the mark with the 2.7 million figure. It was closer to 3 million. We rate the .                           

Says U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin "wants to use a government jet that costs $25,000 per hour for his honeymoon.

September 13, 2017

ethics;federal budget;homeland security;transportation

mark pocan

Mark Pocan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2nd Congressional District on Nov. 6, 2012. He is from Madison and previously served as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin state Assembly. 

wisconsin

a tweet

Treasury officials defended that visit as official government travel and said Mnuchin would reimburse the government for bringing his wife along. Our rating Pocan says Mnuchin "wants to use a government jet that costs $25,000 per hour for his honeymoon." Pocan’s use of wants wrongly suggests it is a pending request, and the news report he cites said the jet could cost $25,000 an hour. But essentially Pocan is on target: Mnuchin put in a request for a government plane to take him and his wife to their honeymoon destinations, though he did not use one. We rate Pocan’s statement .

The economic "turnaround started at the end of my term.

March 9, 2014

economy;jobs

charlie crist

Charlie Crist lost the race for Florida governor as the Democratic candidate in 2022. He served as a U.S. congressman from St. Petersburg since 2017 and resigned Aug. 31, 2022 to focus on his campaign.  As a Republican, Crist served as governor from 2007 to 2011. Crist left the Republican Party in 2010 to mount a campaign for the U.S. Senate as an independent. Crist lost the race to Marco Rubio. In 2012, he endorsed President Barack Obama and announced that he had registered as a Democrat. He lost his race as a Democratic candidate for governor in 2014.

florida

an interview on CNN

Crist said that the economic "turnaround started at the end of my term." During Crist’s last year in office, Florida’s economy experienced notable gains in personal income and industrial production, and more marginal improvements in the unemployment rate and in payroll employment. But GDP didn’t grow again until Scott took office. Economists say Crist deserves some credit for the economic turnaround because he accepted federal stimulus dollars, but they add that any state is inevitably buffeted by national and international trends far beyond their control. On balance, the for an economic turnaround on Crist’s watch -- and for a significant role by him in a turnaround -- are mixed. So we rate his .

A compilation of images shows what Joe Biden has "done to our country.

June 20, 2022

pundits;facebook fact-checks;punditfact

instagram posts

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

an Instagram post

The photo of migrants at "your borders" was actually snapped in March 2019, before Biden became president, south of the border fence in El Paso, Texas. Johnson, the chief creative officer at Turning Point USA and a Newsmax host, did not respond to PolitiFact’s requests for comment, but he deleted his post shortly after we reached out. We rate this Instagram post . RELATED: Newsmax, Fox News air outdated, out-of-context photos of empty shelves in segments bashing Biden

We all know the Queen's been dead for a while now," and her death is part of a dark conspiracy involving pedophilia or child trafficking.

September 8, 2022

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a post

A Facebook post said, "We all know the Queen’s been dead for a while now," and her death is part of a dark conspiracy involving pedophilia or child-trafficking. shows that the queen died Sept. 8. There is no to indicate she was connected to a pedophilia ring. We rate this !  

Every Republican in Congress voted to defund the police when they voted against the American Rescue Plan.

July 12, 2021

public safety;stimulus;coronavirus

bobby scott

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

virginia

a tweet

  Scott tweeted, "Every Republican in Congress voted to defund the police when they voted against the American Rescue Plan." The $1.9 trillion stimulus dedicates $350 billion to compensating state, local and tribal governments for lost revenues during the coronavirus crisis. The law gives the governments wide flexibility in using the money, and one option is to spend it on essential workers or their departments.  But the bill never guaranteed that the money would go to essential workers — including police and their departments — when Republicans voted against it. And there’s a huge difference between voting against a possible one-time cash injection into police departments and cutting their existing funding, as Scott implied. We rate Scott’s statement .  

Electric vehicles are unaffordable because "the average cost of replacing an electric vehicle battery is over $10,000, while the average cost of replacing the battery of a gas-powered car is $100 to $200.

August 30, 2022

climate change;energy;technology;transportation

debbie lesko

Debbie Lesko is the Republican U.S. Rep. for Arizona's 8th congressional district.

arizona

a tweet

Lesko said that "the average cost of replacing an electric vehicle battery is over $10,000, while the average cost of replacing the battery of a gas-powered car is $100 to $200." Her numbers are in the ballpark, but beyond that, her comparison breaks down. The two types of car batteries play fundamentally different roles in the operation of a car. A traditional battery only starts the engine. An electric vehicle battery stores all the power needed for moving the vehicle. In addition, early studies found that over a car’s lifetime, consumers save money with electric vehicles because of lower fuel and maintenance costs.  The tweet includes numbers that are fairly accurate, but it omits important context that would change a reader’s understanding of the price difference. We rate this .

Says video shows "Ukrainian forces shoot down Russian plane carrying hundreds (of) troops on Kyiv airport.

May 5, 2022

facebook fact-checks;ukraine

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a video

The Facebook video also includes old footage from Ukraine. At the 52-second mark, soldiers are sitting side-by-side at computers, looking at radar. That footage can also be seen at the 1:52 mark in a 2019 video about the final stage of tests of anti-aircraft missile systems that was posted by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.. And at the 59-second mark in the Facebook video, the footage of a tank is the same as the 3:21-mark in a 2014 video filmed in the Donbas region of Ukraine. We rate the that this video shows recent footage of Ukrainian forces shooting down a Russian plane . 

Payday lenders profit "from the poor by charging 1,000-plus" percent "interest.

December 30, 2013

financial regulation

wendy davis

Wendy Davis, a Fort Worth attorney, was initially elected to the Texas Senate in 2008. She was the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, giving up a shot at winning re-election to the Senate.

texas

a press release

Davis said payday lenders charge 1,000-plus percent interest. The effective annual rate of such loans in Texas, taking into account uncapped fees, can exceed 1,000 percent, but that’s not been common. For three months in 2012, the average effective annual rate for payday loans repaid in multiple installments exceeded 1,000 percent. Yet average effective rates for such loans were otherwise lower, while such rates for considerably more prevalent single-installment loans topped out at an average of 465 percent. We rate this partly accurate as . – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Says Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has said Black Lives Matter "is a terrorist movement, a hate group and calls it, Black LIES Matter.

April 5, 2017

candidate biography;civil rights;criminal justice;legal issues;terrorism

sheriff david clarke for u.s. senate

Sheriff David Clarke for U.S. Senate is an official draft campaign trying to persuade Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin in 2018.

wisconsin

a fund-raising email

And in a July 2016 column he wrote for The Hill, he said: "We have several forces internal and external attacking our rule of law: ISIS, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street – just the most recent iterations of the elements who brand themselves as unique but seek the same revolutionary aim: take down the West …"   Our rating The Sheriff David Clarke for U.S. Senate draft committee says that Clarke said Black Lives Matter "is a terrorist movement, a hate group and calls it, Black LIES Matter." Clarke has repeatedly used Lies instead of Lives in labeling the group, and has repeatedly called it a hate group. In his memoir, he calls the group a "terrorist organization." We rate the statement .

I never lobbied under any circumstance" for Freddie Mac.

December 15, 2011

campaign finance;ethics

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

Iowa

Gingrich is technically correct that he was not a registered lobbyist for Freddie Mac. But it appears he took pains to avoid being subject to the rules. Giving strategic advice is widely considered a way of using political influence without having to register. We rate his statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/a3809163-f465-4790-89e5-46d3c3a5af8a

Says Gov. John Kasich can remove the president of the State Board of Education.

January 23, 2013

education;guns

chris redfern

Chris Redfern is chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, a post he has held since December 2005.

ohio

a press statement

Redfern's statement that Kasich "has a duty to remove" her, however, means that Kasich has the power to do so. The Democratic Party spokesman, explaining Redfern’s remarks, said the call for Terhar’s resignation or removal extended only to her position as school board president, not as a board member. That’s an important distinction. He acknowledged that Kasich does not have statutory control over the Board of Education, but he accurately cited Kasich’s forcing out of a state school superintendent as a demonstration of the governor’s power over the board. We rate Redfern’s statement as .

Regarding the Iraq War, "I was the one that said, 'Don't go, don't do it, you're going to destabilize the Middle East.'

February 6, 2016

debates;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

Manchester, N.H

Regarding the Iraq War, "I was the one that said, ‘Don’t go, don’t do it, you’re going to destabilize the Middle East.’ " Maybe Trump felt this way privately, but he made no publicly reported comments in the lead up to the Iraq War that reflect this sentiment. We could only find one example of Trump commenting on the Iraq War before the invasion, and he seemed apprehensive but not vehemently opposed to the operation. He only started publicly denouncing the war after it started. Trump makes it sound like he stood on a railroad to try to stop the Iraq War train in its tracks. In reality, by the time he got around to forcefully criticizing the war, that train had already left the station. We rate his statement .

While in Congress, Nathan Deal was a leader when it came to protecting our borders.

April 30, 2010

immigration

nathan deal

Nathan Deal is running for Georgia governor in 2010.

georgia

a press releaase

He was willing to press issues such as birthright citizenship repeatedly. Deal is also recognized by a nationally known immigration watchdog group as taking a lead on the issue. "He certainly was one of the leaders," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. And while his success changing actual U.S. immigration law is limited and his campaign's portrayal of the CLEAR bill's influence over the 287(g) program is , Deal did play a notable behind-the-scenes role beefing up immigration enforcement. We rate this to be .

Under former President George W. Bush's administration "while the population in that period grew by 10 percent, the number of jobs in the nation grew by 1 percent.

February 19, 2011

bush administration;economy;jobs;labor

tim kaine

Tim Kaine is a U.S. senator representing Virginia, elected to the Senate in 2012. He was the 2016 Democratic nominee for vice president. Kaine was governor from 2006 to 2010, lieutenant governor from 2002 to 2006, mayor of Richmond from 1998 to 2001, and city councilman of Richmond beginning in 1994. He was also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. Kaine was born in St. Paul, Minn. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1979 from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a law degree from Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., in 1983. He took a year-long break during law school to work with the Jesuit order as a Catholic missionary in Honduras, becoming fluent in Spanish.  

virginia

a speech at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner

A July 1, 2009, estimate shows the state’s population had grown to 7.88 million -- a 9.6 percent increase. To summarize, Kaine said that during former President George W. Bush’s administration, the U.S. population increased by 10 percent while the number of jobs went up only 1 percent. Estimates from the U.S. Census and the BLS show that during the Bush years, the population increased by 7.8 percent while the number of jobs rose by .83 percent. Kaine’s numbers are a little off his and spokesman doesn’t know where they came from. Even so, his suggestion that population growth outpaced job growth by a ratio of 10 to 1 is pretty much on the mark, so we rate his .

Says a photo at CPAC shows evangelical leaders praying over a golden statue of former President Donald Trump.

March 1, 2021

facebook fact-checks

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

We conducted a reverse-image search , which showed that the original photo depicted Trump meeting with a group of evangelical leaders. In the doctored version, the gold-painted statue was edited in to replace Trump. The authentic photograph was taken by photographer Marco Bello at an "Evangelicals for Trump" launch event at the King Jesus International Ministry in Miami on Jan. 3, 2020.  News organizations such as the New York Times and NBC shared images and video of the moment. These posts are .

Says Texas has "lower taxes and less regulations than anywhere else in the U.S.

October 18, 2020

government regulation;regulation;small business;taxes

roger williams

Roger Williams won election to represent the newly created Congressional District 25 in 2012. He is a former Texas secretary of state, the state's chief elections officer. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 as chairman of the Republican National Finance Committee’s Eagles fundraising program and also has served as state finance chair for John Cornyn's 2002 Senate campaign, according to his campaign website.

texas

a tweet

Williams said that Texas has "lower taxes and less regulations than anywhere else in the U.S." Texas is a big state with a large population and a diverse array of industries that demand a variety of regulations. There are various ways to quantify and compare Texas’ regulatory volume to other states, yet none rank Texas as having the fewest regulations in the U.S. Williams’ office did not respond to multiple inquiries asking how he figured his statement. Studies also show that despite having no state income tax, its overall per capita tax burden does not rank as the lowest in the U.S. We rate this .

In this country, we have a 25 percent dropout rate.

August 29, 2010

education;this week - abc news

arne duncan

Arne Duncan is the U.S. Secretary of Education. Prior to his appointment as secretary of education, Duncan was chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools.

national

an interview on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour"

In fact, there is no comprehensive data on graduation and dropout rates from private schools, which account for about 8 to 9 percent of high school students. Since parents paying tuition are likely to be especially motivated to see their children finish school, the national dropout rate reported probably overstates the actual percentage of American children failing to graduate from high school. Several of our statistical experts said that it's common for politicians everywhere to skip the warnings when decrying American dropout rates. We understand the need for simplicity in a televised interview, but Duncan could have easily said the dropout rate "may be as high as 25 percent." Since he presented the figure as a hard and fast fact, we rate his statement .

Suggests virologist's death is linked to COVID-19 vaccines.

November 25, 2022

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

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

a post

Multiple Instagram posts suggested that Fuller’s death was linked to COVID-19 vaccines. Fuller died from an illness not related to COVID-19, and there is no linking the vaccine to her death. We rate this .

Under Scott Walker, "the Wisconsin middle class is shrinking at a faster rate than any other state in the country.

July 13, 2015

economy;families;income

rachel maddow

Rachel Maddow is the host of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show”. She formerly hosted a radio program of the same name on the defunct Air America network.

wisconsin

a television show

A study by a nationally respected research group found that -- comparing 2000 to 2013 -- the percentage of households in Wisconsin that were middle class dropped by a larger percentage than any other state. But 2000 was more than a decade before Walker took office. Using the same data, we compared 2010, the year before Walker took office, to 2013, the latest year for which data are available. In that comparison, Wisconsin ranked 24th in terms of shrinkage of its middle class. We rate Maddow's statement .

Video is evidence the moon landing was faked because someone would have had to stay behind to film

May 11, 2023

space;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

an Instagram post

(Read more about our partnership with Meta , which owns Facebook and Instagram.) The footage is authentic, but no one stayed behind to film it. It shows the last time humans were on the moon, Dec. 14, 1972. On that date, the lunar module Challenger was filmed using a small, portable television camera attached to a pan-and-tilt unit that could be controlled from Earth via a high-gain antenna on the lunar rover, the National AIr and Space Museum explains on its website . Claims that this video is that the moon landing was are .

Pinnacle Overlook in Southwest Virginia is "closer to eight other state capitals than to Richmond.

August 20, 2014

states

tim kaine

Tim Kaine is a U.S. senator representing Virginia, elected to the Senate in 2012. He was the 2016 Democratic nominee for vice president. Kaine was governor from 2006 to 2010, lieutenant governor from 2002 to 2006, mayor of Richmond from 1998 to 2001, and city councilman of Richmond beginning in 1994. He was also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. Kaine was born in St. Paul, Minn. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1979 from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a law degree from Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., in 1983. He took a year-long break during law school to work with the Jesuit order as a Catholic missionary in Honduras, becoming fluent in Spanish.  

virginia

a tweet

Kaine says Pinnacle Overlook in far Southwestern Virginia is closer to eight state capitals than Richmond. Actually, it’s nine. So Kaine gets a "B+" on his own quiz. On PolitiFact’s grading scale, that translates to .

Says Gov. Tony Evers would, "allow the government to use red flag laws to confiscate your firearms without due process.

September 22, 2022

legal issues;guns

national rifle association

An advocacy group that fights restrictions on the right to bear arms.

wisconsin

Radio ad

The NRA claimed that Evers would, "use red-flag laws to confiscate Wisconsinite firearms without due process." Like Vos on an earlier , the NRA vastly overstates the way red-flag laws work, suggesting there is no judicial process at all. In , the proposal backed by Evers had a judge involved from the start, unlike in some other states. The NRA also used over-the-top language in describing a temporary seizure through a clear judicial process as "confiscation." The NRA has a point that the gun owner is not necessarily involved in the initial hearing, but that alone — as other courts have held — does not mean it violates due process. Our definition for is "the statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression." That’s what we rate this item. 

Defendants charged with producing, directing or promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child will be arraigned & set free.

December 2, 2019

criminal justice;crime

new york city police benevolent association

The New York City Police Benevolent Association is a municipal union that represents sworn police officers in New York City. 

new york

a Tweet

The New York City Police Benevolent Association tweeted that under the state’s new bail reform law, "defendants charged with producing, directing or promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child will be arraigned & set free." Defendants facing this charge will be released as they await trial. We know from New York City arrest data that there are cases where this is the top charge at the time of arrest. In cases where the judge deems a defendant to be a flight risk, some pretrial supervision outside of a jail can be imposed. If a defendant is charged with this and certain other, more serious child pornography charges, bail may be imposed.   We rate this . 

He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail.

September 12, 2008

candidate biography

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

a TV ad

One can argue how relevant this is to McCain's ability to lead the country, but even according to McCain, he is not very computer savvy. We rule the in the ad . Update: On Sept. 15, 2008, we updated this story with information about how injuries sustained by McCain as a POW make it difficult for him to use a keyboard. However, given McCain's acknowledgment that he is learning to get online, this additional information did not change our ruling.

The Legionella bacteria is in most water systems in Illinois.

January 3, 2018

environment;public health

bruce rauner

Bruce Rauner was elected governor of Illinois in 2014. He became the first Republican governor in the state in 12 years upon his inauguration in January 2015. The gubernatorial campaign was Rauner's first foray into politics. He previously had been a principal at the private equity firm GTCR in Chicago.

illinois

an interview with the editorial board of the Herald-News of Joliet

Rauner says news reports about his administration’s response to recurring incidents of Legionnaires’ disease at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy leave out a key part of the story: "The Legionella bacteria is in most water systems in Illinois." The governor’s statement glosses over the reality that any such contamination is likely present at low and non-threatening levels. The use of the word "most" is also questionable since there’s no real quantifiable . The CDC avoids quantifying the presence of the bacteria, which thrives on slime in poorly maintained internal water systems. The governor has a point that the bacteria lurks in a number of water systems. But his statement makes an unprovable about the extent of the contamination. The governor’s is overbroad and lacking in context. We rate it .      

Says "in this next biennium, the cost of primary and secondary education is going to increase by more that $1000 per student. Half of that $1000 – $500 per student – is accounted for by the increased cost of PERS alone.

January 14, 2013

education

john kitzhaber

John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, was governor of Oregon for two terms, starting in 1995. He was inaugurated in 2011 for an unprecedented third term. He was elected to the Oregon Legislature in 1978, rising to the position of Senate President. He spearheaded the Oregon Health Plan as a legislator and as governor. Kitzhaber graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Oregon Medical School (now Oregon Health & Science University). He worked as an emergency room physician in Roseburg from 1974 to 1988.

oregon

his State of the State Address

Becca Uherbelau, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Education Association, which represent public employees, says the proposed reforms would wind up in court. However, much of that has little to do with what the governor said -- and the statement we’re vetting. Kitzhaber has said on several occasions, most recently in his State of the State address, that if nothing changes, the state will be spending about $500 more per K-12 student to cover the cost of PERS in the next biennium. We checked his math and verified it with the executive director of PERS and the governor is right. We rate this .

Says George Floyd appeared on Judge Judy.

July 15, 2020

facebook fact-checks

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

George Floyd Jr. was born in October 1973. The Judge Judy show debuted in September 1996, when Floyd was close to turning 23. Floyd attended high school in Houston, while the defendant was arrested in Chicago.  Photos of Floyd when he was a teenager also show that this is a different person than the 16-year-old who appeared on TV.  We rate this .

Again today (Ahmadinejad) made light of 9/11, and said that he's not even sure it happened and that people actually died.

April 16, 2008

foreign policy

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

Philadelphia

It is impossible to reach the summits of progress without changing the corrupt and unjust order of the world." Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and intended to expand energy supplies for a growing population. The statement may be startling, but it's . Clinton accurately summarized Ahmadeinejad's recent comments about 9/11. We judge her statement to be .  

The debt limit deal "allows President Obama to borrow unlimited amounts of money.

October 28, 2015

debt;deficit;federal budget

rand paul

Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky elected in 2010. He ran for president in 2016 before dropping out to seek re-election to the Senate. Paul is a medical doctor and an ophthalmologist. His father is Ron Paul, a 2008 presidential candidate and a former member of Congress from Texas. 

national

Boulder, Colo

Paul said the debt limit deal "allows President Obama to borrow unlimited amounts of money." Under the just-passed legislation, there is no specific dollar amount of debt that the United States can incur between now and March 15, 2017. But discretionary spending is indeed limited by the same bill. Mandatory spending, meanwhile, can be considered unlimited, but that is not something that Obama has unilateral power over, as Paul’s suggests. This mandatory spending is set by longstanding formulas, which can only be changed by Obama in concert with both chambers of Congress. The contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so we rate it .  

Most of your serial killers, most of your people who commit domestic violence, they start off by abusing animals.

April 24, 2011

animals;children;crime;public safety

e.j. finocchio

Dr. E.J. Finocchio is president of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  

rhode island

a television interview

The experts we consulted -- including one Finocchio sent us to -- said the best shows that a majority of serial killers and domestic assailants do not have a history of animal abuse. The supporting the idea that their first victims are animals is even slimmer. So the judges unanimously ruled that his statement is . (Get updates from PolitiFactRI on Twitter . To comment or offer your ruling, visit us on our PolitiFact Rhode Island Facebook page.)

Says that the George W. Bush administration in 2005 revived a long-standing law when it "decided to charge those that crossed the border with criminal violations, rather than civil ones.

April 1, 2019

immigration;homeland security

julián castro

Julián Castro is a former U.S. secretary of Housing & Urban Development. He was the youngest member of Barack Obama’s cabinet, serving from 2014 to 2017. Just before he became secretary of HUD, he was the mayor of San Antonio, elected in 2009. Castro received a bachelor’s degree in political science and communications from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. In 2019, he announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out on Jan. 2, 2020.

texas

a Medium post

Castro said that the Bush administration in 2005 "decided to charge those that crossed the border with criminal violations, rather than civil ones." Immigrants who cross the border illegally were prosecuted for immigration offenses even before 2005. But the Bush administration introduced Operation Streamline in late 2005 to prosecute most immigrants who crossed the border illegally. Castro’s statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate it .

The decision for the United States to buy heavy water from Iran "will directly subsidize Iran's nuclear program.

April 22, 2016

energy;foreign policy;nuclear

paul ryan

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R.-Wis., became Speaker of the House in 2015 and served until his retirement in January 2019. Ryan was elected to represent southern Wisconsin in Congress in 1998 and for part of his tenure chaired the House Budget Committee. He was Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate in the 2012 presidential election. He did not seek re-election in 2018.

wisconsin

a news release

There is an element of in Ryan’s about the $8.6 million transaction. Heavy water, which can be used to make a nuclear weapon, clearly is part of Iran’s nuclear program. But the fair-market-value purchase, for a material that the U.S. will use in nuclear research, is not a subsidy. And by reducing Iran’s heavy water stockpile, the purchase helps Iran comply with a nuclear agreement that is aimed at making it harder for the country to develop a nuclear weapon. We rate Ryan’s statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/b09a048b-c6c6-4931-b845-3e16f84e9f90

In the United States, "we tax our exports and don't tax our imports.

January 25, 2017

foreign policy;trade;taxes

paul ryan

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R.-Wis., became Speaker of the House in 2015 and served until his retirement in January 2019. Ryan was elected to represent southern Wisconsin in Congress in 1998 and for part of his tenure chaired the House Budget Committee. He was Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate in the 2012 presidential election. He did not seek re-election in 2018.

wisconsin

an interview

Our rating Ryan said: In the United States, "we tax our exports and don't tax our imports." On the export side, the United States doesn’t have an excise tax or tariffs on goods sold to foreign customers. But U.S. businesses do pay income taxes on their exports -- though multinational companies have the means to mitigate those taxes. On the import side, foreign companies don’t pay income taxes on goods they sell to the United States, but tariffs -- another form of tax -- are imposed on many imported goods. For a statement that is partially accurate but leaves out important details, our rating is .

Immigrants illegally in the country are treated "better than military veterans.

October 15, 2022

immigration;veterans;arizona

blake masters

Blake Masters is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona. Until 2022, Blake Masters was Chief Operating Officer at Thiel Capital, the investment firm of billionaire Peter Thiel.

national

a tweet

Masters said that immigrants in the country illegally are treated "better than military veterans." The numbers tell a different story. This year, the Department of Veterans Affairs has $269 billion to help veterans get health care, pay their monthly bills, build their skills through education and training and buy homes. In the past year and a half, the department has released $980 million to help move homeless veterans into permanent housing.  By comparison, federal aid for immigrants illegally in the country is limited. Masters’ references to cash, cellphones and bus tickets were and overlooked the wide gap between what veterans and immigrants in the country illegally receive.  We rate this .

Says giving Motrin and Robitussin together can cause heart attacks in children.

September 4, 2015

public health;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

An old rumor claims combining Motrin and Robitussin can cause heart attacks in children. There is no that giving both of these medications to children causes heart attacks. Children who are too young or have underlying medical conditions can experience adverse side effects from taking any combination of over-the-counter medicine, health officials say. Parents are recommended to talk with their child’s health care provider, or a pharmacist, if they have any questions about mixing medications. This rumor is .

Sen. Tommy Tuberville is preventing military promotions "because he objects to women within the military getting access to reproductive care.

March 28, 2023

abortion;congress;military;women

charles schumer

Charles Schumer is a Democratic senator from New York and the Senate majority leader.

new york

a Senate floor speech

Schumer said Tuberville is preventing military promotions "because he objects to women within the military getting access to reproductive care." Tuberville’s procedural blockage targets a new Pentagon policy that allows service members up to 21 days of leave to obtain an abortion or fertility treatments, with reimbursement for travel costs. However, Schumer’s description of Tuberville’s intent is overly broad. Tuberville’s holdup of nominations is not intended to block service members from getting an abortion if they are stationed in states where abortion is legal, and it is not intended to block "reproductive care" beyond abortion, such as pregnancy care, fertility treatments or contraceptive services. We rate the statement .

Voter FRAUD exposed in Georgia. Over 2600 votes 'FOUND.'

November 16, 2020

elections;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

georgia

a Live video

"These ballots were part of the hand audit directed by the secretary of state. Once the audit discovered them, it was recognized that they should be part of the final certified total. The audit did its job to assure legally cast ballots are counted properly." The Facebook post contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it .

Says Ron Johnson voted to turn Medicare "into a voucher program.

May 4, 2016

federal budget;medicare;public health

democratic party of wisconsin

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

wisconsin

a radio ad

Our colleagues concluded that, although there are technical differences between voucher and premium supports that may matter to health policy professionals, the two definitions have become almost indistinguishable and voucher program is a fair description for what Ryan proposed. Our rating The state Democratic Party says Johnson voted to turn Medicare "into a voucher program." To some health policy experts, there are technical differences between voucher and premium supports -- the latter term being preferred by Johnson and other Republicans when it comes to Medicare changes. But under Ryan’s proposals, Medicare would no longer pay fees to health care providers -- instead, Medicare beneficiaries would get a fixed subsidy to use toward their health care. We rate the statement .

I have returned money every year since taking office.

October 16, 2013

lynn westmoreland

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland is a Republican from Georgia.

georgia

an article

We took a look at the other members of Congress from Georgia and each one of them had spent less money in 2012 than was budgeted. Westmoreland spent less than most of his Georgia colleagues in 2012. To sum up, Westmoreland said he has returned money from his allotted budget each year he’s been in office. The numbers he sent -- and that we independently reviewed -- show he makes a good point. Our rating: .  

We had the biggest drop of the rate of unemployment (in) all but 4 states.

May 10, 2015

economy;history;jobs;labor;states;workers

lincoln chafee

Lincoln Chafee is running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. He served one four-year term as Rhode Island's governor, beginning on Jan. 4, 2011. He was the first Independent to be elected to that office. He subsequently became a Democrat. As a Republican, he served as mayor of Warwick from 1992 to 1999, when he was appointed to the U.S. Senate following the death of his father, Sen. John H. Chafee. He was elected to a full Senate term in 2000. He is married with three children. In April 2015 he formed an exploratory committee to consider running for President.

rhode island

an interview on CNN

During his appearance on CNN, Chafee didn't specify how he was calculating his statistic, leaving his statement open for interpretation. Calculated in percentage points, Rhode Island’s ranking was better than he said. Calculated as a percentage, it was worse. Because his statement contains some element of , if looked at one way, but falls apart if viewed in a different way, we rate it . (If you have a you’d like PolitiFact Rhode Island to check, email us at [email protected] And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)

By the time Obama took office, "The Bush administration had given the car companies $13 billion and the money was now gone.

March 15, 2012

economy;message machine 2012

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

a campaign video

The Obama campaign movie says, "the Bush administration had given the car companies $13 billion and the money was now gone." It's important to note that the $13 billion was provided as loans, not as grants, as the wording might suggest. Referring to the time Obama took office, January 2009, GM and Chrysler by then had received almost $14 billion in bailout money. News reports also reflect that the money was basically used up. So, that much is correct. But the movie ignores the fact that this was not unexpected. The Bush administration’s loans were always just a temporary lifeline, meant to keep the companies operating so the new president would have time to decide what to do long term. This is important information left out of the movie’s extensive discussion of the auto bailouts. That the $13 billion was gone when Obama arrived was no surprise. We rate the statement .

Under the DREAM Act, after two years of higher education or military service "you are eligible for citizenship. Once a citizen, this paves the way to bring the rest of (your) extended family to the United States.

December 2, 2010

immigration

ted poe

Ted Poe, of Humble, was initially elected to the U.S. House in 2004. He'a a former judge.

texas

an opinion piece

But that doesn't mean they could bring in all the rest of their extended family, contrary to the statement. Left out: Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws. We rate Poe's statement as . Editor's note: This statement was rated when it was published. On July 27, 2011, we changed the name for the rating to .

Sixty-one percent of our active military are currently listed as overweight.

August 30, 2007

military

mike huckabee

Mike Huckabee ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. He is a former governor of Arkansas; he also sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He left hosting a self-titled television show on Fox News in January 2015.

national

a television interview

Active-duty service members whose BMI exceed standards for their branch of service are subsequently measured to calculate percent body fat. Adverse career actions and enrollment into service weight management programs are based on body fat percent rather than on BMI." The report does not say how much of the military is overweight according to body fat criteria. The Military Health System does not keep individual body fat statistics, though each service monitors individual weight and fitness levels, according to Lynn Pahland, the Defense Department's director of health promotion and preventive services policy. So we can't fault Huckabee too much for using the military's publicized weight statistics, but we have to point out that those numbers don't tell the whole story.

Say that former Clinton Foundation CEO Eric Braverman "has been missing for 70+ days.

January 14, 2019

fake news;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A meme says that Braverman has been "missing for 70+ days" after being rumored to be the source of the quote "follow the money and find the real HRC scandal." We could find no that Braverman ever was or is missing, and he is currently listed as the chief executive of a California-based charity. This is !

The president flagrantly defies the 2006 federal law ordering the construction of a secure border fence along the entire Mexican border.

February 13, 2013

immigration

wayne lapierre

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

national

an op-ed for the Daily Caller

LaPierre wrote that "the president flagrantly defies the 2006 federal law ordering the construction of a secure border fence along the entire Mexican border." First, he misrepresented what the law required, which was segments of fencing in specific places, not a continuous fence along the 2,000 mile border. Second, he ignored the 2007 amendment which gave the government some discretion over how to build the fence. The fence that has been built -- just one mile short of what’s required -- is a combination of pedestrian fencing and vehicle barriers. To some critics that does not satisfy what Congress intended in 2006, and very little of it is double-layered. On that point, we think LaPierre’s statement contains a grain of . Otherwise, though, it’s clear that Obama is not flagrantly defying the law, especially as resources toward other aspects of border enforcement are increasing. We rate LaPierre’s statement .

Says the Club for Growth tries to defeat Republicans, and that its president called Nancy Pelosi "the person I respect the most in Washington.

April 17, 2014

campaign finance;congress;elections;negative campaigning

defending main street

Defending Main Street is a Super PAC created by Steve LaTourette, a former Republican Congressman. The group is focused on defending incumbent, establishment-backed Republicans against Tea Party primary challenges.

national

Idaho

There’s some to the that the Club for Growth tries to defeat Republicans. One of the club’s key strategies has been to put its money in Republican primaries in order to support the most aggressively conservative candidates. This means taking on some Republicans — but also supporting others. Meanwhile, Chocola clearly said what the ad said he did, but the ad takes that remark wildly out of context. Chocola was expressing admiration for Pelosi’s Machiavellianism, not supporting her political agenda. The statement contains some element of but ignores facts that would give a different impression, so we rate it .

Every time we put a ballot issue on, it costs a million dollars.

January 26, 2012

elections

jon husted

Jon Husted is running as Mike DeWine's running mate for the 2018 Republican primary for governor. Husted was elected Ohio secretary of state in 2010. He previously was a state senator from Ohio's 6th district and served two terms as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.

ohio

a public forum

The cost of the advertisements will vary, depending on how many pages it takes to print the language needed to educate the voters about the issues. In the case of the SB 5 referendum, that required 57 pages because the law to be repealed had to be reprinted. That length is In contrast, though, to the $105,000 price tag for the two other statewide ballot issues last November. That is important information needed to fully evaluate Husted’s . On the -O-Meter, his rates .

Says Koalas are "functionally extinct" as bushfires in Australia continue to destroy their habitat.

November 24, 2019

animals;facebook fact-checks

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a story

As catastrophic bushfires burn in Australia, claims that koalas are now "functionally extinct" have gone viral. Many wildlife experts reject this designation, and several estimates suggest there are around 300,000 koalas left in the wild. However, the population is currently listed as vulnerable, and its numbers are steadily declining as fires, and other issues, threaten the animal. This has some to it but omits crucial context that would give a different impression. We rate it .

Our national debt ... is on track to exceed the size of our entire economy ... in just two more years.

March 24, 2010

federal budget

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

the Des Moines Register

It's also worth noting that these numbers are only estimates. They could change over the course of the next two years, depending on economic conditions and policy choices. Still, we consider Boehner's statistics valid. While he underestimates the size of the projected debt in 2010 and 2012, his assertion that "our national debt ... is on track to exceed the size of our entire economy ... in just two more years" is on target, according to the president's own Office of Management and Budget. So we rate his statement .

Says Joni Ernst "claims she 'pushed for' new funding for hospitals and COVID-19 testing after opposing It for weeks.

April 21, 2020

federal budget;health care;public health;coronavirus

iowa democratic party

The Iowa Democratic Party is the state Democratic Party organization for the state of Iowa. 

iowa

an online statement

The Iowa Democratic Party claimed that Ernst reversed her support for a coronavirus relief in a recent bill that offered nearly half a trillion dollars for small businesses, hospitals and testing. Due to a lack of concrete voting record, we reviewed Ernst's statements before and after the passage of the interim coronavirus-relief bill.  Ernst hasn't said she directly opposed hospital funding, but in public statements she was critical of putting a proposal on the floor with funding that was more broad than the Paycheck Protection Program. When Democrats brought their version of the interim relief proposal, which included extra dollars for hospitals and local government, to the senate floor April 9, McConnell objected. Ernst is the Vice Chair of the Senate GOP Conference, meaning she is part of Republican leadership. However, she didn’t vote down additional funds for hospitals or COVID-19 testing in the final half-a-trillion-dollar package. She said later she pushed for hospital funding included in the interim relief package. But, she never said she directly opposed that funding. Rather, she said it should be discussed at a later date.  The is partially accurate but needs additional context. We rate it .   

The default rate for college students has grown from 40 percent 10 years ago to about 50 percent today, and "perhaps as many as 800,000 young Ohioans are facing default on their student loans.

January 29, 2018

debt;education

dennis kucinich

Dennis Kucinich is running in the Democratic primary for governor of Ohio in 2018. Kucinich was elected to Congress in 1996. He previously served as a member of the city council and as mayor in Cleveland, the city where he was born in 1946. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Case Western University. He has been married since 2005 to Elizabeth Harper. He was married twice before and has one child. He withdrew from the presidential race on Jan. 25, 2008.

ohio

on a campaign website

Kucinich’s campaign website said the default rate for college students has grown from 40 percent 10 years ago to about 50 percent today, and that "perhaps as many as 800,000 young Ohioans are facing default on their student loans." That’s based on a report that predicted that 40 percent of students who entered college in 2004 will default by 2023. So that’s a prediction about the future -- not a default rate for 10 years ago. We found no data to support Kucinich’s that about 50 percent of students default today. U.S. Education Department data showed that the default rate nationally for the 2014 cohort was 11.5 percent. Using the 50 percent figure and extrapolating from population numbers, the Kucinich campaign concluded that 800,000 face default on their loans. That figure is not supported by actual data. We rate this .

In the first full month of my administration following the issuance of my executive orders, illegal immigration on our southern border fell by an unprecedented 40 percent.

March 13, 2017

immigration;homeland security

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

his first Cabinet meeting

Trump said, "In the first full month of my administration, following the issuance of my executive orders, illegal immigration on our southern border fell by an unprecedented 40 percent." The numbers check out. February apprehensions declined 40 percent. Calling the decline unprecedented is a bit of a stretch, however. And experts warn that one month’s data is not enough to indicate a trend toward lower illegal immigration and that other factors, aside from Trump’s rhetoric and executive orders, should be considered in analyzing apprehension declines. Trump’s statement is accurate but needs additional information. We rate it . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/832af59f-8bea-4eb9-9811-9b7e5dcc6adf

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contains an "undisclosed ingredient. … How is informed consent possible?

September 20, 2021

corrections and updates;public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

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

an Instagram post

An Instagram post claimed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contains an undisclosed ingredient. The post cited an FDA report in which one of the ingredients listed was redacted. The agency has since updated the file and revealed that the ingredient was water. Long before the FDA report, the ingredients of the Pfizer vaccine, as well as ones for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, were made public online, without any redactions. We rate this vaccine . CORRECTION (Oct. 11, 2021) : An earlier version of this fact-check included an date for when this Instagram post was made. It was correct in the body of the fact-check but in the header and has been corrected.

Lorain "is the poorest urban school district in the state of Ohio.

June 13, 2012

education;poverty;state budget

dan ramos

Dan Ramos is member of the Ohio House of Representatives, elected in 2010 to represent the 56th District. This is his first public office. A Lorain native, Ramos is a graduate of Lorain Admiral King High School and The Ohio State University.

ohio

the Ohio House

Ramos may have a point. And he is correct to say students in Lorain are needy. But his explanation does not make his on the House floor accurate. The poorest urban school district in Ohio, in the eyes of the Ohio Department of Education, is Cleveland. On the -O-Meter, his rates .

The tax on job creating businesses is 35 percent in the United States, second worst in the entire world.

June 14, 2011

corporations;economy;jobs;taxes

george allen

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

virginia

a speech

Let’s sum up: Allen said the U.S. corporate income tax of 35 percent is the second highest in the world. The national rate of 35 percent is actually the highest among democratic industrial nations. The U.S. combined corporate tax rate -- the average total of state and national levies on business profits -- is 39.2 and ranks second among industrialized democracies. So Allen is a smidgen off on tax rates, rankings and definitions. We rate his .

A printer error in Nassau County, New York, turned every registered voter Democratic.

May 20, 2023

elections;states

tweets

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

new york

on social media

The tweets said a printer error in Nassau County turned every registered voter in the county into a Democrat. A printing error did occur, but the occurred in an unofficial mailing. Voters did not have their party registrations changed. We rate the statement

When John Kasich became governor of Ohio, "there was an $8 billion budget deficit and now there's a $2 billion surplus.

March 6, 2016

economy

arnold schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Republican and was governor of California from November 2003 to January 2011.   

california

Columbus, Ohio

In his endorsement speech, Schwarzenegger said that when Kasich became governor, "there was an $8 billion budget deficit and now there’s a $2 billion surplus." Kasich said, "I took the state of Ohio from an $8 billion hole … to a $2 billion surplus." It’s possible to argue over whether the starting point should be $6 billion rather than $8 billion. But Kasich and Schwarzenegger didn’t pull that figure out of thin air, though it certainly was high by historical standards. Kasich also used the term "hole," which is more appropriate than "deficit." Meanwhile, the $2 billion figure seems solid. Still, it’s worth noting that Kasich spoke a little grandly when he said that "I" did it, since the state’s fiscal improvement got a big assist from the national economic recovery. The statements are accurate but need additional information, so we rate them .

Last year alone, 10 million fell ill from TB and 1.5 million died. ... Why don't we wear masks for TB?

September 17, 2020

health care;facebook fact-checks

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

The numbers in the are based on global data from the WHO. However, the post leaves out important context when it fails to mention that COVID-19 is far more prevalent in the U.S. than TB. As a result, experts recommend wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID-19. Mask wearing is also recommended to prevent the spread of TB in places where it is common. We rate this .

Quotes Winston Churchill as saying "Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.

August 11, 2018

fake news;history;facebook fact-checks

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a website post

Likewise, Richard Langworth, senior fellow at the Churchill Project at Hillsdale College, includes the quotation in his running list of "All the ‘Quotes’ Winston Churchill Never Said." Langworth says there is no attribution for the quote.  Quote Investigator, a website that tracks down quotations, also found "no substantive that Winston Churchill employed this joke," even though Churchill suddenly began receiving credit for it in the 2000s. The earliest instance of the statement, the website said, came in 1937 and was anonymous.  We rate this . 

Mueller will be forced to resign over Pelosi affair.

January 18, 2018

congress;fake news;punditfact

the patriot report

The Patriot Report is a website that posts fake news.

a headline

We rated both of those claims . We sent a message to The Patriot Report on Facebook and did not get a reply. A headline said that "Mueller will be forced to resign over Pelosi affair." There is no that such an affair occurred. We rate this headline .

New energy standards will take away "our freedom of choice and selection in the light bulbs we have in our homes.

December 16, 2011

energy;government regulation

marsha blackburn

Marsha Blackburn, a native of Laurel, Miss., was first elected to represent Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District in 2002. Blackburn was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018,

tennessee

appearance on Fox Business Channel’s “Varney & Co.”

Blackburn has been more careful in qualifying the language she uses to advance her cause. Because the standards will ultimately bring about the end of traditional incandescent bulbs, there is an element of in Blackburn’s claims. But consumers will still have plenty of choice of different types of bulbs, even if traditional incandescents are not for sale. We rate the statement .

Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour "will destroy between half a million and one million jobs.

October 13, 2014

income;jobs;message machine 2014

mitch mcconnell

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

national

a debate

McConnell claimed that a Congressional Budget Office report said raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour "will destroy between half a million and one million jobs." The report said "roughly" 500,000 workers could lose their jobs if the minimum wage went up. But the CBO added that most likely the range was between very few to 1 million. McConnell focuses on the high-end of the spectrum on a range of potential outcomes. We rate the .

The homicide rate in Baltimore is significantly higher than El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala. ...  I believe it's higher than Afghanistan.

August 1, 2019

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 rally

Trump said Baltimore has a higher homicide rate than El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Afghanistan. The comparison is flawed, because it uses the homicide rates of entire countries — which are a blend of relatively higher-crime urban areas and lower-crime rural areas — as a measuring stick to gauge the level of violence in a city.   We rate this .

In California, there were "10 million mail ballots unaccounted for" in the November midterm election.

January 18, 2023

elections;facebook fact-checks

public interest legal foundation

The Public Interest Legal Foundation uses research and legal measures to prevent voter fraud.

california

a report

The Public Interest Legal Foundation said in California, "10 million mail ballots (were) unaccounted for" in the November midterm election.  California sends mail ballots to all active registered voters. The California secretary of state’s office and election experts said the 10 million are simply ballots that were not used or returned by voters. They do not consider the ballots to be unaccounted for or missing.  We rate this .

Says Jeanne Shaheen "got behind the idea of using the IRS to target American citizens for their political views.

October 23, 2013

taxes

jennifer horn

Jennifer Horn, the chairman of the Republican Party of New Hampshire, is a two-time challenger for the New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district. She won the Republican nomination in 2008, but eventually lost to Paul Hodes in the general election. In 2010, she lost to Charles Bass in the Republican primary. Horn lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, with her husband William Horn.

new hampshire

remarks at a party fundraiser

Shaheen, however, voiced her opinion about two years after the controversial IRS efforts were already under way, and there is no that she was aware of alleged IRS targeting of conservative groups before it became public in the Inspector General’s report. What Shaheen actually "got behind" was the DISCLOSE Act, which requires non-profit groups to share information about their campaign contributions. It’s a stretch to suggest that Shaheen favored going after citizens "for their political views." At most, her scrutiny was aimed at ensuring transparency about the funding sources for groups across the ideological spectrum. On balance, we rate Horn’s statement .

Quotes Beto O'Rourke as saying, "If I could throw two kinds of people in the garbage it would be the elderly and wounded veterans. When a tool breaks you don't fix it, you throw it in the damn trash.

February 13, 2019

veterans;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

"O’Rourke was the primary sponsor of the Honor our Commitment Act, which expanded mental health care through the VA to veterans with ‘other-than-honorable’ discharges from the military. The measure was included in an omnibus spending bill in March." The Tribune notes a blog post O’Rourke wrote earlier on March 2017 describing veteran suicides. "This figure shows an unacceptable gap in health care coverage for our nation’s most vulnerable veterans," O’Rourke said in the blog post on Medium. We rate the made-up Facebook post !

There's one (study) that came out of Pew in 2008 that showed 14 percent of people who voted were noncitizens.

January 24, 2017

immigration;elections

sean spicer

Sean Spicer is former press secretary to President Donald Trump. Previously, he was the communications director for the Republican National Committee.

national

the daily press briefing

Spicer said, "There's one (study) that came out of Pew in 2008 that showed 14 percent of people who voted were noncitizens." Spicer is both conflating and misquoting two studies: A 2012 Pew report about outdated voter rolls and a 2014 Old Dominion University study that found 6 percent of noncitizens surveyed voted in 2008. The Old Dominion University study has been widely criticized for its methodology. No study has found the statistic Spicer cites. If 14 percent of all voters in 2008 were noncitizens, that would have to mean that more than 80 percent of America’s noncitizen population voted. Spicer’s is .

Even in California now, they don't want to be sanctuary cities anymore. They want out.

September 29, 2018

immigration;polls and public opinion

donald trump

Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016.  He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024.

west virginia

Wheeling, W.Va

Trump said, "Even in California now, they don’t want to be sanctuary cities anymore. They want out." A number of California localities have moved to challenge a statewide sanctuary law. However, public opinion more broadly shows a majority of residents expressing support for the law. We rate the statement .

COVID literally stands for Chinese Originated Viral Infectious Disease.

March 25, 2020

china;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

Until that point, the virus and the infection had been referred to as the "2019 novel coronavirus" or "2019-nCoV." "Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be or stigmatizing," tweeted Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO. COVID-19 is an abbreviation of "coronavirus disease 2019," the CDC says . "CO" stands for "corona," "VI" stands for "virus" and "D" stands for "disease." The number 19 reflects the year it was identified — 2019. We rate this Facebook post .

Florida ranks "45th out of 50 states'' for its regulatory climate for business.

May 25, 2010

corporations;economy;regulation;states

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

Tampa

So if the three separate rankings are more or less equivalent, then Scott's statement is not -- but it's also not complete. He has cited the least favorable ranking, while two other studies rated Florida substantially higher. If Scott had said, "According to one study, Florida ranks 45th out of 50 states'' for regulatory climate for business, he would have been 100 percent accurate. As it is, his statement is technically correct, but gives an incomplete impression about the extent of Florida's regulatory climate. So we rate it .

Under Gov. (Rick) Scott's leadership, Florida has had much success in lowering the rate of uninsured children.

October 25, 2017

health care

florida agency for health care administration

The Agency for Health Care Administration the main health policy and planning entity for the state. 

florida

a news release

The state health care agency said, "Under Gov. Scott’s leadership, Florida has had much success in lowering the rate of uninsured children." The rate of uninsured children has declined dramatically since 2011. But the decline really was in the works since before Scott’s term, in 2009. Also, this  leaves out important context in the report as to why there’s been a decline. The report credits the decline to decades of improvements for children in Medicaid and CHIP that have been in the works long before Scott took office. The report also said that the ACA solidified the state’s gain, which Scott opposed. This statement is partially accurate, but gives too much credit to Scott. We rate this .

People in Germany saw this electoral map that shows Trump beating Biden with 410 electoral votes before Dominion's servers were seized.

December 8, 2020

elections;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A Facebook post shares an electoral map that shows Trump beating Biden with 410 electoral votes, and says that people in Germany saw these real results before "Dominion’s servers were seized." The map is not legitimate and was aired by a U.S. pro-Trump cable network. There’s also no of a U.S.-election related raid or server seizure in Germany. We rate this ! This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here for more.

Obama keeps talking about getting rid of all nuclear weapons. He's already significantly reduced our capabilities there.

July 14, 2015

nuclear;punditfact

dick cheney

Dick Cheney served as Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the administration of George W. Bush.

an appearance on "Hannity"

Cheney said, "Obama keeps talking about getting rid of all nuclear weapons. He’s already significantly reduced our capabilities there." Since campaigning for office, Obama has frequently mentioned that, in an ideal world, there would be no nuclear weapons. However, Cheney ignores that Obama has consistently acknowledged that this dream may not be achievable in his lifetime, and that the United States won’t give up its nuclear weapon arsenal as long as its enemies possess them. Experts also said Cheney overstates the arms reductions occurring during Obama’s presidency. Reductions are happening under a 2010 treaty with Russia, but the United States is also spending billions on modernizing its arsenal, and it is taking fewer weapons out of service than under any previous president in the post-Cold War age. Cheney’s statement contains some element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so we rate the .

The interest on the debt now is going to approach in the next couple of years ... what we spend in the national defense budget.

November 7, 2010

federal budget;military;this week - abc news

rand paul

Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky elected in 2010. He ran for president in 2016 before dropping out to seek re-election to the Senate. Paul is a medical doctor and an ophthalmologist. His father is Ron Paul, a 2008 presidential candidate and a former member of Congress from Texas. 

national

an interview on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour"

He's a bit too aggressive when he says the interest burden will "approach ... what we spend in the national defense budget" in "the next couple of years." It will probably do so by 2015 or 2016, which would be the final two years of Barack Obama's second term, if he wins one. For a president who just survived his first midterm election, that seems pretty far away. Still, even if Paul's time span is slightly exaggerated, we don't think it's a fatal error, since his point about the trend is accurate. So we rate his statement .

In the "do-nothing Senate," there are 352 House bills "sitting on Harry Reid's desk awaiting action," including 55 introduced by Democrats.

July 29, 2014

congress

lynn jenkins

Lynn Jenkins is a Republican who represents a Kansas district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She serves as vice chair of the House Republican Conference.

national

a press conference

Jenkins said that in the "do-nothing Senate," there are 352 House bills "sitting on Harry Reid’s desk awaiting action," including 55 introduced by Democrats.   In some cases, committee chairs -- not Reid -- may be blocking or moving slowly on these bills. In other cases, senators are working on their own alternative bills on the same topic. Meanwhile, the oversells the degree of bipartisanship in the House; a majority of the Democratic-sponsored bills she cites are relatively minor pieces of legislation. Ultimately, Jenkins places all the blame on the Democrats and the Senate, but experts agree that it takes two to tango. Both parties and chambers have played a role in creating the current legislative dysfunction. On balance, we rate the .

Says Henry Kissinger said that "once the herd accepts mandatory forcible vaccination, it's game over," and that vaccine makers "stand to make billions … We thin out the herd and the herd pays us for providing extermination services.

June 20, 2019

fake news;public health;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

"We have no records of any such speech," Lindmeier wrote PolitiFact in an email. "Please also note that there is no such ‘Council’ as claimed in the statement, respectively a related meme." We also search Kissinger’s website, which lists many of his speeches and interviews , and could not find any portion of the quote.  Kissinger did give a speech to the 45th Munich Security Conference on Feb. 6, 2009, but the discussion did not cover vaccinations. This quote is !

The United States has not completed a "top-to-bottom review of our criminal justice system at the national level since 1965.

June 11, 2020

criminal justice

john cornyn

John Cornyn is a U.S. senator from Texas, former Texas attorney general and former justice on the Texas Supreme Court. He earlier served as a Bexar County state district judge.

texas

an interview

Cornyn said it had been 65 years since a national commission studied the American criminal justice system and produced recommendations. Experts and academic research show that a commission of that scale, with that broad an area of review, has not been convened since Johnson’s 1965 group. We rate this .

The average homeowner spends more than $2,000 each year on energy costs – more than on either real estate taxes or homeowners insurance.

October 19, 2011

energy;housing

johnny isakson

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

georgia

a press release

We looked at census data, which is based on calculations from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. For 2008, it was $791, just as IMT said.   Isakson was right. On average, the amount of money a homeowner pays for energy bills is higher than property taxes or homeowners insurance. He earns a . 

I have watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13.

June 30, 2018

immigration;homeland security;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 tweet

Trump tweeted, "I have watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13." Neither ICE nor the White House identified towns that had been under MS-13 rule and were then liberated by ICE. Experts said the gang targets niches or immigrant communities within larger jurisdictions, and did not have entire towns within its violent grasp. Raids by law enforcement temporarily improve the safety of communities, but usually do not act as permanent solutions because the underlying circumstances of gang violence remain. With no to support it, Trump’s statement rates .

A little-known unit of the Department of Justice, the Community Relations Service, was deployed to Sanford, FL, following the Trayvon Martin shooting to help organize and manage rallies and protests against George Zimmerman.

July 10, 2013

criminal justice

judicial watch

Judicial Watch is a conservative group that litigates on public corruption and other issues.

florida

a press release

Armed with public documents, Judicial Watch said the Department of Justice sent the Community Relations Service to Sanford in the wake of Martin’s death "to help organize and manage rallies and protests against George Zimmerman." Judicial Watch’s statement contends an element of : Justice Department employees were sent to Sanford, in part to deal with community uprising, including protests. But they were sent with the idea of keeping the situation peaceful and calm, not to instigate or condone protests or violence. That’s a critical distinction being ignored in this particular . We rate it .\ CORRECTION: An earlier version of this fact-check wrongly attributed the misspelling of "foment" to Judicial Watch. That was our , not theirs.

The stories from women saying he groped or forced himself on them "largely have been debunked.

October 19, 2016

candidate biography;history;human rights;crime;women

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

the third 2016 presidential debate

Trump said that the stories of him groping or forcing himself on women "have been largely debunked." His campaign offered no of that. We found that five of the nine stories have not been independently disputed. Of the remaining four stories, the women told friends, family or colleagues at the time, which provides some support. On the flip side, there is the account of Trump’s former butler and a man who acknowledges that he has no proof of his version of events. While some of the women’s stories have been questioned, not one has been conclusively debunked, and the majority of the stories haven’t been challenged by any facts other than Trump’s denials. We rate this . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/fa622a1b-1c53-4b62-b3ec-629c8a468bc5

Agriculture contributes $71 billion to Georgia's economy annually, making it the state's largest industry.

January 8, 2015

agriculture;economy;state budget

georgia farm bureau

The Georgia Farm Bureau is an independent agricultural organization.

georgia

a statement on the Georgia Farm Bureau website

In this study, making ag’s slice smaller or larger doesn’t make the pie any bigger. Agriculture is the largest single component in the state economy. But it requires another type of study to know its actual economic impact. The Georgia Farm Bureau statement is accurate, but needs some additional context to fully understood. We rate the .

As many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school.

January 25, 2011

education

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 State of the Union address

Since parents paying tuition are likely to be especially motivated to see their children finish school, the national dropout rate reported probably overstates the actual percentage of American children failing to graduate from high school. We ended up rating Duncan’s comment , noting that while we understood the need for simplicity in a televised interview, Duncan could have easily said the dropout rate "may be as high as 25 percent." In fact, Obama in his State of the Union address did essentially that, prefacing the statistic by saying that "as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school." We still think the 25 percent statistic is undermined by a variety of problems, but we give Obama credit for offering a range. So we find his .

When Carly Fiorina says Hewlett-Packard "revenues went up, that's because she bought Compaq. It was a terrible deal.

September 16, 2015

candidate biography;technology

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

the second GOP primary debate

Trump said, "When Carly says the revenues went up, that's because she bought Compaq. It was a terrible deal, and it really led to the destruction of the company." Though the HP-Compaq merger was almost universally condemned at the time the deal took place, time has made the merger look better in the minds of some. But there’s no question that the growth in HP’s revenue did indeed come from its 2002 merger with Compaq. That means it’s not organic growth, but rather merely due to increase in the volume of the combined company. We rate this .

Pat McCrory appointed the 'Republican' judge who sided with Democrats in the partisan Democrat lawsuit/power-grab over redistricting.

March 21, 2022

redistricting

ted budd

Ted Budd is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represents parts of central North Carolina between Greensboro and Charlotte. He joined Congress in 2017.

north carolina

a tweet

Budd said McCrory appointed "the Republican judge who sided with Democrats in the partisan Democrat lawsuit/power-grab over redistricting." Budd accurately points out that McCrory appointed one of the Superior Court judges involved in a recent redistricting case, and that the judge signed off on congressional districts that are expected to elect more Democrats than previous maps would have. However, Budd’s tweet excludes so many key details that it could give readers an impression about the case and McCrory’s appointee. When the redistricting case came before the Superior Court panel that included Shirley, he ruled with his colleagues that the process that led to the GOP-drawn maps didn’t violate the state constitution. In other words, he ruled in favor of Republican legislators. After the state’s highest court ordered legislators to redraw election maps—and for the Superior Court panel to rule on those maps—Shirley rejected one of the Republicans’ redrawn maps. But he wasn’t the only Republican judge to do so—and he didn’t cast a deciding vote. Finally, Budd’s tweet omits the fact that Shirley is currently serving at the will of North Carolina voters. He won an election in 2016, after McCrory appointed him. Budd’s tweet has an element of . But it leaves out a lot of context and could give people the impression about how the case played out. We rate it .

Russia and China "absolutely said pretty clearly" they would not keep economic sanctions on Iran if the United States "walked away from the deal.

July 27, 2015

nuclear;punditfact

bill o'reilly

Bill O'Reilly hosted The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News until 2017. He formerly worked as a television news reporter and has authored numerous books.

an interview on "The O'Reilly Factor"

O’Reilly said that Russia and China "absolutely said pretty clearly" they would not keep economic sanctions on Iran if the United States "walked away from the deal." Russia and China certainly have given signals that they both wanted sanctions against Iran removed. Both Russia and China have a history of ignoring sanctions that have been placed on Iran. Experts say that if the United States, one of the strongest supporters of these sanctions, had abandoned the deal, then it is likely that China, Russia and possibly other countries would have disregarded these sanctions. O'Reilly is pushing the envelope when he said "absolutely" clear, as they haven't issued formal statements. But all of their actions indicate that what O'Reilly said is substantially accurate. We rate his .

Schuyler VanValkenburg co-sponsored a bill that would have "allowed abortion until the moment of birth.

October 22, 2019

abortion;voting record

gaydonna vandergriff

GayDonna Vandergriff is the 2019 Repubican candidate for the 72nd District House of Delgates seat in Henrico County. She's challenging incumbent Democrat Schuyler VanValkenburg. Vandergriff has a B.A. in business administration from West Virginia State University, and an MBA from Viirginia Commonwealth University. She's held various jobs in marketing and was a professor at Strayer University. She's been a volunteer with PTAs, Henrico County libraries, and the Richmond metorpoltan Boys & Girls Club.

virginia

a campaign mailer

  Vandergriff says VanValkenburg co-sponsored a bill that would have "allowed abortion until the moment of birth."  She’s referring to a bill, introduced in January 2019. Vandergriff’s is because third-trimester abortions were already protected by federal law and allowed in Virginia in extremely rare conditions when three doctors certify that pregnancy will "likely" kill the mother, or "substantially and irremediably" impair her mental or physical health. The bill - which VanValkenburg did co-sponsor, would not have created an unconditioned right to a third-trimester abortion, as Vandergriff suggests. It would have loosened the requirements for getting one by allowing one doctor to certify the abortion is necessary to protect the mother’s life or health. We rate Vandergriff’s statement .  

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has just signed into law a bill legalizing abortions through all nine months, up until the moment of birth.

April 5, 2022

abortion

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

colorado

a photo on Facebook

A screenshot of a tweet shared on Facebook claimed: "Colorado Governor Jared Polis has just signed into law a bill legalizing abortions through all nine months, up until the moment of birth." Colorado’s new law codifies existing protections around an individual’s right to use or refuse contraceptives, continue with a pregnancy and give birth, or to have an abortion. Abortions that occur later in a pregnancy — at 21 weeks gestation or later — are rare. We rate this .

Twitter reaches only 15 percent of the population.

June 30, 2017

pop culture;technology

mark cuban

Businessman Mark Cuban, also an investor and philanthropist, owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team.

texas

a tweet

Cuban said: "Twitter reaches only 15 percent of the population." A 2016 survey and more recent Twitter metrics suggest that around 21 percent of U.S. residents at least peek at tweets. Cuban’s larger point--that most of us are not Twitter-locked--holds up. We rate the . – 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.

In Wisconsin, "6.2 percent of the population is black yet 24 percent of all state abortions are on African-Americans.

November 29, 2010

abortion

pro-life wisconsin

Pro-Life Wisconsin is a group that advocates for a ban on abortion. It was founded in 1992.

wisconsin

a news release

The group accurately stated cited census and abortion numbers. But it used an approach that takes in the entire African-American population, not just women between age 15 and 44 -- the approach used by federal and Wisconsin authorities. By that measure, the actual disparity is smaller than what Pro-Life Wisconsin claimed. The group’s also leaves out important details -- namely, that socioeconomic factors, rather than race, have been identified as key contributors to the higher abortion rate among black women. We rate the statement .

President Trump continues to disrespect patriotic transgender Americans who want to serve their country.

June 26, 2018

race and ethnicity;military

tammy baldwin

Tammy Baldwin was elected to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 6, 2012. She represented Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District from January 1999 to January 2013. She served as a member of the Wisconsin Assembly from January 1993 to January 1999. She was a Dane County supervisor from 1986 to 1994 and briefly served on the Madison Common Council, filling a vacancy, in 1986.

wisconsin

a public forum

Lambda Legal is a nonprofit legal organization: "Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work," according to its mission statement .   Our rating Tammy Baldwin told a Human Rights group that "President Trump continues to disrespect patriotic transgender Americans who want to serve their country." There are ample reports that the administration is continuing its attempts to bar transgender individuals from the military, including updating and adjusting its policy as court rulings roll in. Having said that, it’s important to note that the issue is still winding its way through the courts, so a ban is not in place at this time. We rate the .