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While I was working on those streets watching those folks see their jobs shift overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart.

January 21, 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

Myrtle Beach, S.C

She was appointed to the board in 1986 when her husband was the governor of Arkansas and she served until 1992. As a board member, Clinton pushed for more women in management and a better environmental program, according to a New York Times examination of her work on the board. At the time, she worked as an attorney for the Rose Law Firm, which had many corporate clients such as Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods. Clinton specialized in patent infringement and intellectual property cases. We find Obama has his facts straight and his is .

Says Marsha Blackburn "voted against military pay raise.

May 31, 2018

military

tennessee democratic party

The Tennessee Democratic Party headquarters are in Nashville.

national

an email from the Tennessee Democratic Party

The Tennessee Democratic Party said that Blackburn voted against a military pay increase. Blackburn did vote no on a $1.3 trillion appropriations bill that increased pay for members of the armed forces by 2.4 percent. However, over many years, Blackburn has a consistent track record of voting in favor of pay raises for the military. To tie her recent vote to a single part of a massive spending measure leaves out a great deal of context. In this case, the legislation was estimated to add billions to annual deficits. We rate this .

If you give guns to gangs, you can get out of jail free, if (California's Proposition 57) passes. If you do a drive-by shooting, you can get out of jail free, if Proposition 57 passes. If you discharge guns on a school yard, you can get out of jail free.

October 5, 2016

criminal justice;crime

loretta sanchez

Loretta Sanchez is a Democratic member of Congress who represents California's 47th district, an area that includes parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

california

a U.S. Senate campaign debate

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez claimed in a U.S. Senate campaign debtate that: "If you give guns to gangs, you can get out of jail free, if (California’s Prop 57) passes. If you do a driveby shooting, you can get out of jail free, if this proposition passes. If you discharge guns on a school yard, you can get out of jail free." Experts agree prisoners who committed crimes deemed ‘nonviolent’ under state law, including the three gun crimes Sanchez listed, could be eligible for early parole if Prop 57 passes. Becoming eligible for a parole board hearing is far from getting "out of jail free." Particularly when less than 20 percent of hearings lead to early release. Sanchez’s figure of speech -- which she employed three times -- greatly alters what otherwise might have been an accurate or accurate statement. The "get out of jail free" comment is deceptive and distorts what Prop 57 proposes. We rate Sanchez’s statement .   –  The statement is not accurate. Click here for   more   on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/a981d9e1-8d34-4b5c-b8c7-e8c3c6a4e456

Says 25 percent of U.S. Muslims "agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad.

December 7, 2015

islam;polls and public opinion;religion;terrorism

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 campaign statement

Trump said that 25 percent of U.S. Muslims "agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad." Trump is referring to a poll conducted by the Center for Security Policy. However, polling experts raise numerous questions about the validity of the poll’s results, including its "opt-in" methodology and the dubiously large percentages of respondents who said they were unaware of ISIS or al-Qaida. Moreover, an official with the Center for Security Policy cautioned against generalizing the poll results to the entire Muslim-American community. Another survey, which experts consider credible, found levels about half as high as what the Center for Security Policy poll found. We rate Trump’s .

California is home to the largest death row population in the Western Hemisphere.

August 1, 2016

death penalty;elections

yes on 62 campaign to abolish california's death penalty

Yes On 62 is the campaign to abolish California's death penalty

california

a twitter image

The Yes On 62 campaign to abolish the death penalty said "California is home to the largest death row population in the Western Hemisphere." Death penalty experts and public data show California has nearly 750 people condemned to die. That’s nearly twice as many as the next closest state or country, Florida at 388, in the Western Hemisphere. The could be confusing to some because California’s death row is smaller than the total number of people with death sentences across the United States. But experts say death rows in the U.S. are ranked individually, making California’s stand far out from the rest. We also found that few countries in this hemisphere still have the death penalty, which is helpful to note but does not take away from the accuracy of the statement. We rate the . – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/0599459e-7406-4f74-b9f5-acc2afb79cb6

Says our national debt is greater than our gross domestic product.

August 28, 2012

debt;economy

ted cruz

Ted Cruz is a U.S. Senator from Texas, first elected in 2012. Cruz also was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016. He is the former solicitor general for the state of Texas, previously serving as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a domestic policy advisor on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, according to his campaign biography.

texas

Tampa, Florida

The total federal debt exceeds the nation’s economic output or GDP. However, the public debt -- borrowing that relates to the economy’s strength -- hovers below three quarters of the GDP. We rate this as .

Obama's dog has his "own plane

July 17, 2010

transportation

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

national

conservative blogs

Bo does not even require his own seat, and during the Maine trip he traveled on a government-owned plane with White House staff. We figured that at least some of the bloggers were being satirical, but from our review of reader comments that followed many of the entries, it's pretty clear that there are those who actually took this stuff seriously, so we wanted to set the record straight. So, Bo did indeed arrive in a separate jet, but it's to that he has his own airplane. He traveled on a government-owned plane with government staffers who didn't fit in the small Gulfstream G3 that the First Family had to take because of the physical limitations of the Trenton airport runway. We rate this .

Puerto Rico's electric grid and their electric generating plant was dead before the storms ever hit. It was in very bad shape. It was in bankruptcy. It had no money. It was largely -- you know, it was largely closed.

September 11, 2018

climate change;corrections and updates;energy

donald trump

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

national

press conference

Trump said "Puerto Rico’s electric grid and their electric generating plant was dead before the storms ever hit. It was in very bad shape. It was in bankruptcy. It had no money. It was largely -- you know, it was largely closed." Some electric generating plants, not the majority, were inoperative before the storm hit due to maintenance work. The grid was servicing all customers but had important vulnerabilities. Trump's statement is partially accurate. We rate it .   Correction Sept. 13, 2018 : PREPA, the Puerto Rico government utilities program, has debts totaling $9 billion. An earlier version of this story included a different number.

The 2015 Legislature "passed the fewest laws in 20 years.

May 12, 2016

states

greg abbott

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

texas

Dallas

Abbott said the 2015 Legislature "passed the fewest laws in 20 years." So it did, making this statement . – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/567f3a21-93ae-4f1d-a211-9fbf5d954f16

President Trump has lifted the prospect of voters across Vermont, overseeing a 11,742 decline of Vermont residents on food stamps.

November 4, 2019

welfare

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.

vermont

a campaign email to Vermont media

But while he may have overseen a decline of Vermonters using the program, the trend has been occurring for years, since the state rebounded from the Great Recession.  It’s that the economy has remained strong under Trump’s presidency. But the steady drop in demand for food stamps had started long before he took office, and may not be entirely attributable to economic uplift.   We rate this .  CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misspelled Elaine Waxman’s name.

A serial killer is targeting women in Hot Springs, Ark.

April 11, 2021

crime;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

"This case is an isolated incident involving only one victim," Picavet said.  In its own statement released on April 13, the FBI said "there is a strong possibility the person who did this continues to work and/or live in our community." Searching online for to support the that there are more homicide victims we found only vague, unsubstantiated claims. In June 2020, a man was found dead in the park after a shooting , but a suspect was arrested and charged. We rate these posts .  

Says Syrian refugees are not being vetted, and "the FBI is not even being told where they are.

October 11, 2016

immigration;debates;foreign policy;public safety;terrorism

pat mccrory

Pat McCrory, a Republican, was governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. Previously, he served as mayor of Charlotte.

north carolina

a North Carolina governor's race debate

McCrory said Syrian refugees aren’t being vetted and that the FBI doesn’t know where they are. The vetting process has faced criticism, but it does exist –  leading to the rejection of thousands of applicants and, in many cases, taking more than two years for those who are approved. There are also extensive records of where refugees are initially settled. The FBI does not automatically track all of them once they’re settled, but nothing is stopping agents from tracking refugees who make it through the vetting process but later exhibit signs of extremism – and there are recent examples of the FBI doing exactly that. McCrory distorts the reality of the Syrian refugee system, and we rate this . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/7de8d8b9-b87c-4e34-bb1e-d1f3d8813722

United States of America is twenty-sixth in school performance in the world.

January 9, 2012

education

jim whelan

State Sen. Jim Whelan is a Democrat from Atlantic County.

new jersey

a speech on the state Senate floor

During a debate on the Senate floor, Whelan claimed the "United States of America is twenty-sixth in school performance in the world." Based on the most recent international assessments, the senator’s statistic is on target. After averaging out the mean scores in reading, math and science, the United States ranks 26 out of 75 participating countries or economies. But since those mean scores are subject to margins of error -- which could alter the rankings -- we rate the statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

Social media posts suggest a CDC graph shows the COVID-19 vaccine is harmful to children and that California's school vaccine mandate is dangerous.

October 10, 2021

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

california

a Facebook post

Experts say COVID-19 vaccinations are tested rigorously and monitored as they are released to the public. Furthermore, scientific studies of thousands of children have determined that serious adverse events after vaccination are rare and that vaccinations are effective against COVID-19. While the graph is a real representation of reports submitted to VAERS, the social media posts have greatly distorted its meaning and falsely suggested that the COVID-19 vaccines are harmful for children. Therefore, we rate the posts . – The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the IRS would need to hire over 16,000 people ... to audit the American people and impose the new taxes and mandates" of the health care bill.

March 21, 2010

federal budget;health care;taxes

mark kirk

Mark Kirk is a U.S. senator from Illinois, having defeated Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for the seat formerly occupied by President Barack Obama in 2010. Kirk was formerly a U.S. congressman from Illinois’ 10th district.

national

the House

And for this item, we will assume that the Ways and Means' Republicans' methodology is credible, since we were not able to find any expert who argued otherwise. Finally, Kirk is hardly alone in ignoring the caveats to the 16,500 figure -- Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., to just cite one example, said in a March 25, 2010, floor speech that "16,500 new IRS agents are going to be required to be hired because of the health care reform bill," which to us expresses an unwarranted degree of certainty. But in this item, we're focusing on Kirk's statement, and we believe it rates only a .   Editor's note: This statement was rated when it was published. On July 27, 2011, we changed the name for the rating to .  

Says that under City Council Member Randi Shade, Austin had the "highest city debt per person in Texas.

June 18, 2011

city budget;city government

better austin today

Better Austin Today Political Action Committee, or BATPAC, founded in 2007, calls itself a progressive coalition for Austin.

texas

a campaign mailer

Our take? Taking into account all debts linked to the city, including revenue-backed debt, Austin didn’t rank first among Texas cities. And by a fairer comparison--focused on debts funded from property taxes--Austin landed way short of tops in Texas. Also, the statement’s laying of responsibility for the debt ranking on a single council member is unsupported. We rate the .

Says Donald Trump "will not be profiting" from the G-7 summit meeting to be held at Trump's Doral resort.

October 17, 2019

candidate biography;income

mick mulvaney

In December 2018, President Donald Trump named Mick Mulvaney as his acting chief of staff. In 2017, Trump nominated Mulvaney to direct the Office of Management and Budget, and he was confirmed shortly after. Before, he served as the new U.S. Congressman for South Carolina's 5th District from 2010-2017. Mulvaney grew up in the Carolinas and went to Georgetown University. He attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later did additional course work at Harvard Business School. His professional background includes law and real estate.

national

a news conference

Mulvaney said Trump "will not be profiting" from the G-7 summit meeting to be held at Trump’s Doral resort. The acting White House chief of staff says the Miami-area resort will host the gathering "at cost." But the White House did not explain how that would work. Moreover, the summit is a one-of-a-kind event, attracting seven world leaders, hundreds of diplomats, journalists and other guests, and worldwide publicity. Even at cost, it fills the hotel during Florida’s slow season and guests would be doing other spending on the property even if the rooms were rented at break-even prices. Mulvaney’s statement is . We rate this .

Says Gov. Chris Christie's decision to close the Elizabeth MVC "saved no money.

May 17, 2011

state budget

joseph cryan

Joseph Cryan is a Democratic state Assemblyman representing parts of Union County. He previously served as the Assembly Majority Leader and the chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.

new jersey

a press release

Returning to Cryan’s comment about a lack of savings, let’s review. Cryan said "no money" has been saved. While there is some question about the actual amount, the correspondence indicates there's no question that there have been substantial savings from the reductions in rent and the elimination of 43 jobs. We rate the statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com

Just about everyone everywhere is spending more hours on the job, less time with their families, bringing home smaller and smaller paychecks, while they're paying more and more at the gas pump and the grocery stores.

April 24, 2013

economy;income;jobs;labor;workers

ed fitzgerald

Ed FitzGerald is Cuyahoga County's first county executive. He took office in January 2011 when a charter form of county government took affect. Prior to his election as county executive, he was mayor in the city of Lakewood. He also has been a congressional staff member, an FBI special agent, a practicing lawyer and assistant county prosecutor and an elected city councilman.

ohio

a campaign speech

We did not assign credit to Kasich for his statement in March that Ohioans' wages have risen by more than $10 billion since 2010. But we rated the statement as . We can't rate FitzGerald's linking of Kasich to his statement about people spending more hours on the job and bringing home smaller paychecks. But his statement is accurate, with the point of clarification that "smaller paychecks" are in inflation-adjusted current dollars. Because that additional information is needed, we rate the statement as .

The daughter of Sen. Coons (D-DE), along with 7 other underaged girls are featured on Hunter's laptop! - Breitbart News

October 24, 2020

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

national

a text post

The Facebook posts say, "The daughter of Sen. Coons (D-DE), along with 7 other underaged girls are featured on Hunter's laptop!" The posts are attributed to Breitbart, but the conservative news and opinion site did not publish such an allegation. A U.S. Senate candidate, running against Coons, repeated this in an interview with Breitbart. The candidate offered no to back up her about illicit material on a computer hard drive connected to Hunter Biden. We rate the unproven .

No Bridge to Nowhere could occur.

March 8, 2009

federal budget

charles schumer

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

national

a TV interview

It's a matter of opinion. And there are no rules in place today that would prevent a legislator from proposing an earmark that he or she deems worthwhile but that others deem wasteful. So we very well could have more Bridges to Nowhere, which makes Schumer's statement . Update: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that an arm of the Ketchikan to Gravina bridge was named after Rep. Don Young.

Vice President Biden threatened a foreign country and forced them to fire a prosecutor who was investigating a company," that paid his son Hunter.

January 29, 2020

ethics;impeachment;foreign policy

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

Iowa

Scott said, "Vice President Biden threatened a foreign country and forced them to fire a prosecutor who was investigating a company paying his son $83,000 a month." There is no that Biden’s call for Ukraine to fire the prosecutor general was because of his son’s position with Burisma and an investigation. Western leaders wanted the prosecutor, Shokin, ousted because they considered him ineffective and corrupt, not because he was pursuing sensitive investigations into a company associated with Biden’s son.  We rate this statement .

This video shows Chuck Grassley demanding Joe Biden's "resignation.

December 7, 2022

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

iowa

a Facebook post

Grassley in the video doesn’t call for Biden’s resignation, he alluded to Biden only when he said the "Biden Justice Department." Grassley discussed the president’s son, Hunter Biden, but not in connection to the 2020 presidential election, as this post suggested. Grassley was criticizing the FBI for not investigating "potential criminal activity. "  Grassley also never said "it is fraud," in the video.  We rate claims that this video shows the senator calling on the president to resign .

Brookhaven homeowners pay hundreds of dollars less in property taxes compared with owners of the same-value homes in unincorporated DeKalb County.

July 21, 2014

taxes

brookhaven

Brookhaven is a city of about 50,000 people in north-central DeKalb County. It is Georgia's newest city, having come into existance in December 2012.

georgia

a city mailer

Add in the fact that Brookhaven residents pay $12 more in stormwater fees than those in unincorporated DeKalb, and the final savings is less than $50 and $100, respectively, DeKalb Deputy Tax Commissioner Robert Goodman said. "On the face of it, to say your property tax bill will be lower in Brookhaven is correct, but not nearly by the amounts stated," Goodman said. Brookhaven claimed very specific savings, to the tune of hundreds of dollars, to residents on their tax bills in a recent flier. The premise of savings is accurate, but the numbers are off significantly. We rate the .

We're building a nearly $40-billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever.

October 2, 2008

energy

sarah palin

Sarah Palin was the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008. She is also the former governor of Alaska and the author of  Going Rogue: An American Life. Sarah Palin's previous experience includes leading the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and serving as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

national

St. Louis, Mo

The Alaska Pipeline was completed in 1977 at a cost of $8-billion. In 2007 dollars that would be just over $27-billion, edging out Palin's proposed natural gas pipeline. While there are plans on the drawing board to build a pipeline, and Palin moved them forward in certain respects as governor, her in the debate suggests construction is underway, when that's not . And she overstated the estimated cost of the project. We find her to be .

An image shows "what appears to be an official ballot box being taken away from a polling location by an unidentified civilian.

November 3, 2020

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

pennsylvania

a Facebook post

The Facebook post stated that an image shows "what appears to be an official ballot box being taken away from a polling location by an unidentified civilian." The post raises suspicion about the person handling the ballots. In reality, the person in the image was an authorized election official transporting the ballots to the Convention Center for processing. We rate this statement . 

Says he "was the only Republican" to vote against creating a House panel to investigate Planned Parenthood.

April 25, 2016

abortion;congress

david jolly

David Jolly won a special election in March 2014 to represent the 13th U.S. Congressional District in Pinellas County, Florida. He won re-election in 2014 and was defeated by Democrat Charlie Crist in 2016. He is a former Washington lobbyist and aide to C.W. Bill Young.

florida

an Orlando debate

Jolly said he "was the only Republican" to vote against creating a House panel to investigate Planned Parenthood. The reason he voted no, he said, is because the House already had three investigations into Planned Parenthood’s alleged sale of fetal tissue. Jolly made it clear at the time he was not in favor of spending more taxpayer dollars to investigate something already under the microscope. We rate his statement .

Says Texas retained the right to have a navy when it joined the United States.

February 19, 2012

history;military;states

chain email

Chain emails circulate on the Internet, usually anonymously, making a variety of political claims.

texas

an email

We found no that Texas retained the right to its own navy on joining the United States. The email’s central isn’t just , it’s . !

Says Donald Trump said he nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court because she "is much, much better looking than the women we have had.

October 13, 2020

supreme court;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

He talked about her education, her work experience, her family, and her relationship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia. He didn’t discuss her looks.  The next day, he fielded questions from reporters during a press briefing . The exchange that appears in the Facebook post did not happen there.  We rate this post !

Photo of person holding sign shows the shooter who killed six people at a Nashville, Tennessee, school.

March 28, 2023

lgbtq;facebook fact-checks;guns

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a screenshot shared on Facebook

The person shown in the viral photo from the Oklahoma protest has not been identified. claims about the photo circulated as news of Hale’s gender identity emerged and as anti-trans rhetoric intensified. Minutes after police said that the assailant was transgender, #TransTerrorism trended on Twitter, NBC News reported .  We rate claims that a photo of a person holding a sign shows the person who attacked a Nashville elementary school . PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Says Oregon's highest income tax bracket included anyone making more than $250,000 in 2012 before the state expanded its upper bracket to include "anyone making more than $125,000.

January 18, 2020

taxes

bill brady

Bill Brady is the Illinois state senator for the 44th District and Senate Republican leader. He was narrowly defeated as the Republican challenger to Governor Pat Quinn in the 2010 election.

illinois

a speech

Citing Oregon as an example of what Illinois’ future could hold if voters approve Pritzker’s graduated tax plan, Brady said Oregon’s highest income tax bracket included anyone making more than $250,000 in 2012 before the state expanded that top bracket to include "anyone making more than $125,000." In 2010, Oregon voters approved a measure that temporarily raised the rate for income exceeding $125,000 to 10.8% and earnings over $250,000 to 11%. The same law included a scheduled rate reduction for all income over $125,000 beginning in 2012. Since then, the state has taxed income in its top bracket at 9.9%. Brady suggested that Oregon taxpayers earning between $125,000 and $250,000 saw an increase after 2012 because of the bracket change in the state’s graduated income tax measure. While the law did lower the threshold for Oregon’s top tax bracket, all taxpayers in it paid less in taxes than they had for the previous three years because the tax rate was also lowered. Given that his remarks create an impression that taxes went up in Oregon after 2012, we rate his . – The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani "was never sentenced to stoning.

September 19, 2010

human rights;crime;this week - abc news

mahmoud ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the president of Iran.

national

ABC's "This Week"

We are not weighing the issue of Ahtiani's guilt or innocence but whether she was "never sentenced to stoning." We think there's enough -- from previously reported statements from Iranian judicial officials and from court documents provided by Ashtiani's one-time attorney -- to show that stoning was the sentence by the lower court. In this case, the sentence has been suspended, and the case is under review. Ahmadinejad may have a point that stoning sentences are rare, that the sentence is often overturned and that there is often a prolonged process of review before such sentences are carried out. But we rule his that Ashtiani was never sentenced to stoning in the first place is .

Says "tens of thousands of children" were rushed across the southwest border "because they fear the wall.

December 12, 2016

immigration;homeland security;punditfact

geraldo rivera

Geraldo Rivera is a Fox News correspondent.

an interview on Fox News' Hannity

Speaking about children crossing the southwest border, Rivera said tens of thousands are coming now "because they fear the wall." About 46,000 people were apprehended at the southwest border in October 2016, the latest data available. But speaking specifically about all unaccompanied children crossing the border, the number is much lower, 6,754. It’s not likely, given the ongoing high levels of violence and poverty in Central American countries, that fears of the election were the primary motivation behind these crossings. The number of Central American unaccompanied children crossing the border increased before the election, peaking in 2014. One month’s worth of data and anecdotal is insufficient to explain that increases stem from fears of a wall, though smugglers might try to exploit that fear to push people toward the United States. Rivera’s statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it .

Tenured professors are guaranteed a job.

February 2, 2021

civil rights;education

iowa gop state legislators

Iowa state representatives

iowa

comments to the press

Tenure is a contractual agreement that protects professors’ abilities to teach, research, and challenge assumptions without fear of termination based on a belief or expression. However, tenured faculty members are reviewed for performance, and undergo a rigorous, years-long process to apply for tenure. Faculty handbooks show that tenured faculty members can be dismissed for performance or financial reasons even if they have tenure and that they must undergo annual performance reviews. Further documents provided by the Board of Regents show that faculty have faced disciplinary action by their respective universities. Holt wrote in an email to  The Daily Iowan  that he was offering an opinion, based on reports he hears about the conduct some faculty have used to, in his words, silence students. He said he did not state his opinion about faculty feeling protected as fact and that his opinion cannot be proved either way. However, the statement is based on what many who want to curb what they see as faculty abuses as being fact. Moreover, the statement reads as being fact, or at least based on fact. That is why we rate the statement that faculty members are guaranteed a job as .

Here's a man who brags about how he made the city safe. It was the Biden crime bill that became the Clinton crime bill that allowed him to do that.

October 30, 2007

crime

joe biden

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

national

Philadelphia

"Whether the size of the force produced crime declines at the margins above the secular trend that was underway starting in late '91 is a hard question, but the consensus among social scientists is that the marginal effect is small," Fagan said. Several studies also have failed to show a correlation between Giuliani's policies and the drop in crime during his mayorship. Rather, experts say, better policing techniques likely combined with other factors, including a break in the crack cocaine epidemic, changing demographics and an improving economy. So if Giuliani can't take all the credit, neither can Biden. We find his attack .

Says Crist campaign website "has eliminated all references to our Republican Party.

April 20, 2010

candidate biography

tom grady

Tom Grady is a Republican in the Florida State House from Naples.

florida

an e-mail to Crist

No, there's not a prominent picture of Crist hugging Ronald Reagan on the site, or a big splashy "R" next to Crist's name, but there is still considerable talk about Crist's conservative credentials. It's in his biography, detailed in press releases and on issue statements, and available for viewing on a computer near you. Plus, if you were going to remove reference to the GOP, you would likely also remove the press release promising not to run as anything other than a Republican. There's no the website has changed. We rate Grady's statement .

John McCain says he never supported the privatization of Social Security, even though video shows he did.

June 13, 2008

social security

democratic national committee

The Democratic National Committee is the national organization of Democrats.

national

a Web ad

On a certain level, the video speaks for itself. If by privatization you mean George Bush's plan, then McCain clearly did favor it. But Bush himself didn't like the term privatization and felt that it was . McCain clearly believes he can offer personal accounts while keeping the rest of Social Security intact and rejects the privatization label. For all of these reasons, we find the DNC's to be .

Six-month Pfizer data show COVID vaccine causes more illness than it prevents.

December 19, 2021

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

an article

That is, only 77 cases were detected in vaccine recipients after a second dose, compared with 850 cases in placebo recipients. Of 31 patients who got severe COVID-19, 30 were placebo recipients and one was in the group that received the vaccine. No deaths among people in the study were related to vaccination. The statement is and . We rate it !

The "error rates" for the Fulton County elections department are "well below the average.

November 7, 2012

elections

emma darnell

Emma Darnell was first elected to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in 1992. Her district includes the western half of the city of Atlanta and portions of south Fulton County.

georgia

a meeting

She declined to provide details to back up her . Research shows Fulton was in the middle among U.S. counties of comparable size when it came to provisional ballots rejected in 2008, the last presidential election. That year, twice as many provisional ballots were cast in Fulton than there were in some of Georgia’s largest counties. From the available, the county’s recent history and the high number of provisional ballots cast in this month’s election, there’s not much to back up Darnell’s that Fulton was "well below the average." We rate her .

The word progressive ... was created as a substitute for 'communist'.

October 20, 2015

history;punditfact

jon voight

Jon Voight is an actor.

an interview with "Cigar Aficianado"

Voight said that the word progressive was created as a substitute for communist. The historic record shows that the progressive movement emerged around the turn of the last century in response to the conditions created by runaway capitalism. Its policies aimed to regulate private industry, not eliminate it. That agenda enjoyed broad support from people who identified with both parties and led to many of the basic features of government today. Many of the movement’s mainstream supporters backed reforms as a way to head off more radical movements based on class identity rooted in Marxist thought. There was a brief period when the progressive label attracted support from avowed Communists, but that ended about 60 years ago and played no role in the creation of the term. We rate this .

The war spending bill "actually spends more money on the International Monetary Fund than on the war.

June 17, 2009

military

lynn westmoreland

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland is a Republican from Georgia.

national

a press release on the House GOP's blog

So as for Westmoreland's , he's that the appropriations bill spends more money on the IMF than for the war. Lawmakers aren't literally giving the organization a bundle of cash. But he's right that there's a potential for the U.S. Treasury, over time, to give the IMF quite a chunk of change as a result of the line of credit. However, Westmoreland's is based on the premise that countries borrowing from the IMF will never pay those loans back, which is a worst-case scenario that experts say is unlikely to occur. So we rate his .

Says "how much money the government is collecting from people...in terms of the gross domestic product" is "the lowest in 40, 50 years.

December 31, 2012

federal budget;taxes

bill pascrell

Bill Pascrell is Democratic member of the House of Representatives from New Jersey.

new jersey

an interview on WOR-AM

In a radio interview, Pascrell said "how much money the government is collecting from people...in terms of the gross domestic product" is "the lowest in 40, 50 years." The congressman’s point is solid, but his timing is slightly off. As a share of the economy, federal revenues in recent years have been at their lowest level in roughly 60 years. Starting in fiscal year 2009, revenues have remained below 16 percent of GDP, the lowest point since they hit 14.4 percent in fiscal year 1950. We rate the statement . To comment on this story, go to NJ.com .  

America has more governors who've worn blackface than black governors.

August 30, 2019

elections;history;states;punditfact

samuel sinyangwe

Samuel Sinyangwe is a co-founder of Campaign Zero, an activist group focused on police violence. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/Aamatos)

a tweet

Sinyangwe said, "America has more governors who’ve worn blackface than black governors." There are currently no black governors in the United States. But there’s at least one, Ivey, who has admitted to wearing blackface in the past, and Northam has been accused of the same. We rate this statement .

Says Georgia will send more state money per child to state charter schools and that budget cuts are not applied to those charter schools.

August 3, 2012

education

herb garrett

Herb Garrett is the executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association.

georgia

a letter

However, traditional schools will get local money that state-approved charter schools do not. In 2011, the state Supreme Court ruled state lawmakers do not have the power to grant the state authority to approve and fund charter schools over the objection of local school boards. In conclusion, Garrett was correct on his larger point that state-approved charter schools will get more money per pupil under the proposed amendment than traditional public schools. Garrett admitted he was about the secondary part of his that state-approved charter schools are exempt from austerity cuts. We give Garrett a grade of .

We're destroying more businesses in the United States now than are being created for the first time in our history.

July 12, 2015

economy;small business

carly fiorina

Carly Fiorina is running for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. She is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). She was defeated in her attempt as the Republican nominee to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2010.

national

comments on ABC's "This Week"

Fiorina said, "In fact, we're destroying more businesses in the United States now than are being created for the first time in our history." The data she’s relying on, however, only looks back to 1978, and economists say it’s going a bit too far to say this is the first time such a trend has occurred in all of U.S. history. The fact is we simply don’t have definitive data to prove it either way. Fiorina’s statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. We rate it .

Says Marco Rubio "went on Univision, and in Spanish he promised that he would not on the first day in office rescind President Obama's illegal executive action.

February 15, 2016

immigration

ted cruz

Ted Cruz is a U.S. Senator from Texas, first elected in 2012. Cruz also was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016. He is the former solicitor general for the state of Texas, previously serving as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a domestic policy advisor on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, according to his campaign biography.

florida

an interview on Fox News

Cruz says that Rubio "went on Univision, and in Spanish he promised that he would not on the first day in office rescind President Obama's illegal executive action." That’s a reference to Rubio’s statement in an April 2015 interview about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Cruz is cherry-picking a portion of Rubio’s interview. Rubio said that he wouldn’t undo the program immediately because it would be disruptive, but he said that it would have to end eventually and could not be permanent policy. Initially, Rubio said that he hoped it would end after an immigration bill passed but then in November said it would end even if Congress fails to act. Cruz has created a impression about Rubio’s statement by omitting his full comments. We rate this .

Obama is in Texas serving meals!

August 26, 2017

environment;fake news;homeless;punditfact

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a tweet

A popular tweet said President Barack Obama was serving meals in Texas as part of his response to Hurricane Harvey. But the photo accompanying the tweet was from 2015. Obama is not in Texas, a spokesman for the former president confirmed. We rate this statement !

Bill McCollum "cost the rest of us billions" as a member of Congress, including a national debt that "skyrocketed" to $4.7 trillion.

February 24, 2010

candidate biography

florida democratic party

the Florida affiliate of the Democratic Party.

florida

an advertisement by the Florida Democratic Party

Ultimately, then, the ad is worded carefully enough to be accurate in its details, but it paints a more sinister picture of McCollum's actions than he probably deserves -- both given his votes against raising the debt limit and relative to the voting patterns by Democratic lawmakers during the same period. So we rate this . UPDATE: This item uses updated numbers on the debt limit votes that were provided to us by the McCollumn campaign after this item was published. It does not affect our -O-Meter ruling.

I said no to higher taxes and fees.

July 13, 2010

candidate biography;taxes

ellyn bogdanoff

State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale is running for the Florida Senate.

florida

a TV ad

Bogdanoff defends her ad because she says it doesn't refer to her votes -- it refers to what she "said" in her role as chair of the Finance and Tax Council. We agree that she spoke against tax increases -- but ultimately politicians are judged by their votes. Many observers of her ad could interpret "I said no to higher taxes and fees" to mean that she she voted against them. That critical detail, that she voted for some of them, is left out and leaves a different impression. We rate this .

The Bundy Ranch deal is all about Nevada Sen. Harry Reid "using federal violence to take people's land in his state so he can package it to re-sell it to the Chinese.

April 17, 2014

environment;china;government regulation;punditfact

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

multiple blog and video posts

The Republic Broadcasting Network said Sen. Reid was behind the use of force to take away Bundy’s land and sell it to the Chinese. There is nothing accurate about this . The dispute involved Bundy’s long use of federal land without a permit. The land gained protected status long before solar energy projects were on the table. The Chinese solar energy proposal no longer exists. The land where such projects might be developed are far from Bundy’s property. We rate this .

For the state of Florida, "there is not an additional cost with implementation of the Common Core standards.

October 15, 2013

education;state budget

pam stewart

Pam Stewart is a former public school teacher and principal. In 2004, she was named Deputy Chancellor for Educator Quality at the Florida Department of Education. She served in that position until 2009 when she moved to the St. Johns County School District to become Deputy Superintendent for Academic Services. She returned to the department in 2011 as Chancellor of Public Schools. In August 2013, the state Board of Education named her as the interim commissioner after the resignation of Tony Bennett.

florida

Tampa

Stewart said implementation of the Common Core would not incur additional expenses. Some of the money spent on Common Core is money the state would have spent anyway on curriculum and testing. But experts said it’s unlikely that implementing the new standards cost the state no additional money. Another wrinkle: The state received a federal grant to help pay for Common Core implementation. We rate her statement .

We heard from the Department of Homeland Security ... that this was probably the most secure election that's ever been run in the United States.

November 15, 2020

criminal justice;elections;states

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 TV interview

The deadline to seek a recount — which election officials say could cost Trump’s campaign nearly $8 million — is Wednesday, Nov. 18. Our ruling  Baldwin claimed federal security officials called the Nov. 3, 2020 election the most secure in the country’s history.  She’s correct. The groups did so in direct conflict with what the president has been falsely claiming for weeks.  We rate Baldwin’s .

The Russians "tried to hack the Republican National Committee, and they were unable to break through.

January 11, 2017

foreign policy;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

a press conference at Trump Tower

Trump said the Russians "tried to hack the Republican National Committee, and they were unable to break through." While Russians were able to get into the email accounts of some Republican individuals and state-level Republican organizations, they did not break into the Republican National Committee’s current system, according to the director of the FBI. Russians did access email domains associated with the RNC that were no longer in use, but the information was outdated and wasn’t released. Additionally, it’s not completely clear why hackers were unable to get into the current RNC. The gist of Trump’s is correct, but it’s important to keep in mind that Russian hackers did access some Republican data, including the outdated RNC account. So we rate his .

Obama's Ten Point Plan to 'Change' the Second Amendment…Ban use of firearms for home defense.

August 1, 2008

guns

national rifle association

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

national

direct mail piece

We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage…We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measures that I think respect the Second Amendment and people’s traditions.” That doesn't sound to us like someone planning to "ban use of firearms for home defense." Quite the opposite, actually. Ignoring that sort of , and instead extrapolating from one vote on a jurisdictional debate in Illinois a broad-ranging plan to ban guns for home defense, is not just , it's intentionally dishonest. That is, .

Connecticut has the fifth toughest gun control laws in the country, including an assault weapons ban that bans 35 different weapons.

December 18, 2012

guns

jack kingston

Jack Kingston, a Republican, is a former U.S. Representative from Georgia and a political commentator.

georgia

Georgia had enacted two. Our conclusion: Kingston is right on this one. Connecticut consistently ranks high in lists of states with stringent gun laws, and literally ranked fifth in recent rankings by the Brady Campaign and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Furthermore, he’s pretty close on the number of assault weapons banned in Connecticut law. Kingston earns a .

Says salaries and benefits for Wisconsin state employee comprised 8.5 percent of the 2009-2011 state budget.

February 19, 2011

labor;state budget

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 blog post

We didn't get a reply, so we emailed him again April 12, and then emailed and called him on April 14. In the phone conversation, Pocan said he relied on a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo in making his , but said that he would not send us the memo. We sent another email the same day, asking Pocan to reconsider. That is all reflected in the email Rep. Pocan said he sent to us, which is linked in his follow up post on his blog. Pocan also linked to the memo .)

Not one Republican has the guts to recognize that climate change is real.

February 4, 2016

environment;cap and trade;climate change;debates;economy;energy;jobs;government regulation;negative campaigning;polls and public opinion;public safety

bernie sanders

Bernie Sanders is a senator from Vermont. Sanders was first elected to the Senate in 2007 and was re-elected in 2012 and 2018. The senator also ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016, losing the Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton. From 1991 until 2007, he was the representative of Vermont’s At-Large District of the House of Representatives. Sanders was the mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago. In 2019, he announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out in April 2020.

national

New Hampshire

Sanders said, "Not one Republican has the guts to recognize that climate change is real." In fact, we found four GOP presidential candidates who have said it is real, it's man-made, and they have offered support for actions to deal with it. Whether their proposed actions — or the actions proposed by Sanders — are the best way of tackling the problem is a matter for debate. We rate Sanders' assertion as .

Chick-fil-A "just hired a VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

May 29, 2023

food

tweets

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

a tweet

Chick-fil-A did not comment on this . We rate the that Chick-fil-A "just hired a VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" . RELATED LINK: No, Target is not selling ‘tuck-friendly’ swimwear for kids RELATED LINK: Anheuser-Busch CEO didn’t resign after Bud Light partnered with Dylan Mulvaney

Clinton campaign official arrested by FBI on child rape/trafficking charges

June 27, 2018

fake news;human rights;crime;punditfact

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a blog post

We also checked Davis’s Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and found no mention of the campaign. Seemingly, the only to support the that Davis worked for the Clinton campaign is a photo showing him and three others with Clinton campaign pins and posters. (Puppet String News did not respond to a request for comment sent via Facebook Messenger.) That does not make him a top Clinton aide, staffer or official. We rate this .

As a percentage of our gross domestic product, the defense budget remains just 3.6 percent. This figure is low by all historical standards.

July 25, 2011

deficit;federal budget;military

randy forbes

Randy Forbes is from Chesapeake and represents Virginia's Fourth District in Congress. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2001. He serves on the Judiciary Committee and the Armed Services Committee, where he is chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. Forbes previously served in Virginia's House of Delegates from 1989 to 1997 and in the State Senate from 1997 to 2001. He also was chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from 1996 to 2001. Forbes received a bachelor's degree from Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, in 1974, and a law degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in 1977.

virginia

an opinion column.

When those costs are factored in, defense spending comes to about 5 percent of GDP. Even at that higher level, spending is low compared to the post World War II era. So Forbes is right that the U.S. defense budget is at a relatively low mark when it’s measured by the country’s economic outlook. But by other measures -- such as using inflation-adjusted dollars and comparing U.S. expenditures to the rest of the world -- America’s defense spending is high. We rate the ."

We have a system now where in 40 states, the highest-paid public employee is the state university's head football or basketball coach.

November 22, 2014

education;sports;state budget

jim moran

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

virginia

a Facebook post

Moran said that "in 40 states, the highest-paid public employee is the state university’s head football or basketball coach." The congressman is correct if we focus on the guaranteed total pay of coaches. But there’s a caveat: State taxpayers usually pay a small share of coaches’ salaries at large universities. Most of the money comes from school-affiliated foundations, endorsements, broadcast contracts and the like. If we only consider the direct taxpayer subsidy to salaries, coaches are the highest-paid public employees in at most 34 states -- and likely less. So we rate Moran’s statement .

Interior deportations under Obama were down 40 percent and at a nine-year low.

July 28, 2016

immigration

national border patrol council

The National Border Patrol Council identifies as the official group representing 16,500 border patrol agents. It endorsed Donald Trump for president in March, saying it was the first time ever it endorsed a presidential candidate in the primaries.

national

a statement

The National Border Patrol Council said in a statement that "interior deportations under Obama were down 40 percent and at a nine-year low." The group did not return requests for comment, but we found ICE data that references "interior" and "border" removals. Using that data, there isn’t a 40 percent drop -- actually it's about 71 percent. Reports say interior or border removal data wasn’t broken down that way before fiscal 2008, so there isn’t a way to measure the 9-year low, though fiscal 2015 interior removals do represent an 8-year low. We rate the statement .

Says Hillary Clinton "took 13 hours to send help to Americans under fire" during the terrorist attack in Benghazi.

July 12, 2016

foreign policy;military;terrorism

mike pence

Mike Pence is the former vice president of the United States. A Republican, Pence was elected governor of Indiana in 2012. Pence previously served for 12 years as a congressman from Indiana representing the Sixth Congressional District; he was first elected in 2000. During his time in the U.S. House of Represenatives, he served as House Republican Conference chairman and chairman of the House Republican Study Committee. Pence was born in Columbus, Ind. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1981 from Hanover College and a law degree in 1986 from Indiana University. After accepting Donald Trump's offer to be running mate, Pence ended his 2016 campaign to be re-elected as Indiana governor. 

national

a speech at a Trump rally

Pence claimed that Clinton "took 13 hours to send help to Americans under fire." In fact, it wasn’t Clinton’s responsibility to send troops to the scene — the military chain of command took that responsibility. The Defense Department attempted to send help to the scene, but was unable to reach Benghazi before the deaths occurred. Pence implied that Clinton dawdled before sending help to Americans in danger. That is not accurate. We rate this .   https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/16053b1b-0a59-4f24-ac3f-dcb041744f65

We're the only system of federalism in the world.

November 9, 2010

health care;history;states

pam bondi

Pam Bondi, a former Hillsborough County prosecutor, was elected Floriday Attorney General on Nov. 2, 2010 and re-elected Nov. 4, 2014. After leaving office, she joined Ballard Partners lobbying firm in Washington D.C.

florida

an interview with Fox News

"For her, the relevance of this point is that federalism -- the U.S. Constitution's clear delineation of powers between the federal and state governments -- has always been a fundamental aspect of our Constitution and of our national heritage. Completely apart from any policy-based disagreements with the federal healthcare law, Pam is committed to Florida's lawsuit precisely because she sees it as necessary to preserve our federalist system of government." Appearing on Fox News, Bondi got off track in discussing a legal challenge to the federal health care law by saying the United States has the "only system of federalism in the world." The United States may have been the first, but it's far from the only. We rate this statement .

18 million illegal immigrants got their government checks this month" while federal workers remain unpaid.

January 21, 2019

immigration;fake news;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

Facebook posts

Viral Facebook posts are claiming that 18 million illegal immigrants received a government check this month, while federal workers remain unpaid amid the government shutdown. We could not find any that supports this figure, and multiple reports put the total number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. far lower than 18 million. Moreover, illegal immigrants are barred from receiving most federal benefits, and primarily will benefit from food programs and Medicaid through their U.S.-born children. We rate this !

Says restoring Georgia pre-k to a 180-day program was a "real result" of his leadership.

April 9, 2014

education

nathan deal

Nathan Deal is running for Georgia governor in 2010.

georgia

campaign web site

It was up 7 percent in 2012 and 3 percent in 2013, according to the Georgia Lottery Corp. And the reserve fund had $734 million as of June 30, 2013, records show. Our conclusion: Gov. Nathan Deal was the driving force behind the push to reinstate the days to Georgia pre-k. But he also initiated the cuts, and they had consequences, including the loss of experienced teachers. Those are important details that Deal doesn’t mention when he states that restoring pre-k to 180 days was one of the "real results" of his term as governor. Therefore, we rate his statement as .  

There is clear legal authority to handcuff and put in leg irons legislators that are trying to stop the legislature from being able to do business.

July 13, 2021

ted cruz

Ted Cruz is a U.S. Senator from Texas, first elected in 2012. Cruz also was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016. He is the former solicitor general for the state of Texas, previously serving as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a domestic policy advisor on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, according to his campaign biography.

texas

an interview

But, because absent lawmakers aren’t charged with a crime, it’s unclear how the use of the word "arrest" should be interpreted in this context.  This is because no Texas court has reviewed how this provision is to be enforced. Thus, there is no legal clarity.  We rate this  . Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from Cruz's office.

Says George Washington said a free people should be armed to guard against government tyranny.

December 16, 2012

government regulation;guns

louie gohmert

Louie Gohmert, a U.S. House member since 2005, is a former chief justice of the Texas 12th Court of Appeals and Smith County state district judge. He lives in Tyler.

texas

an interview on ‘Fox News Sunday’

Gohmert’s rendering, "George Washington said a free people should be an armed people," seemingly tracks Washington’s words to the nation: "A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined." Contrary to Gohmert’s characterization, though, Washington was not speaking about citizens arming themselves in case of government tyranny. Quite the opposite: The president and former general was calling for disciplined troops to fight on behalf of the government. Gohmert’s statement is .

Says a photo shows Brett Kavanaugh passed out.

September 27, 2018

fake news;facebook fact-checks

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a blog post headline

It is captioned "portrait of a young man asleep on the couch after drinking too much beer." Getty was only founded in 1995, and there is no indication that the photo was taken prior to that date. A search for photos of Kavanaugh in Getty Images yields no results prior to 1996, when Kavanaugh was an aide to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. The photo has appeared in multiple health articles warning of the dangers of binge drinking. We rate this statement !