Yesterday, pundits were drooling over Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of congress calling his ability to read off a teleprompter without going off script and into a angry rant. They were focused on his tone which sounded “presidential.” The reality is that the substance of his speech was normal for him. It was his usual litany of lies from the campaign trail just read in a softer voice. Trump lied 51 times in 61 minutes and the most of pundits missed it. Two late show hosts did keep it real and they didn’t spare the Democrats:
Real Time Fact Check : Sheet1
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1
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Help us fact-check Trump | ||
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Lie | Fact Check | Link |
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“We’ve defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open..” | Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a 90% drop in illegal border crossings as a result of increased enforcement. http://bit.ly/2dZpFo5 | |
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“…for anyone to cross — and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate.” | Drug seizures are actually down. | |
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“Since my election, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart, and many others, have announced that they will invest billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.” | Trump claims that his policies have led these companies to create 70,000 jobs. But 69,000 of those jobs werein the works before election and 700 were the result of Obama’s policies. | |
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“We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a 5 year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials — and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government. | Trump’s lobbyist ban actually removes some of Obama’s ethics rules instead of strengthening them. |
http://time.com/donald-trump-drain-swamp/
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“We’ve saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the price of the fantastic new F-35 jet fighter, and will be saving billions more dollars on contracts all across our Government” | The savings with the F-35 were in the works before Trump complained about the price tag. | bit.ly/2mqPZjd |
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“We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines — thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs.” | The Dakota Access pipeline is nearly built. Keystone would create 3,900 direct construction jobs and 16,000 total jobs on an annual basis.
And those are just temporary jobs; the permanent job count at Keystone will be 35. |
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“By finally enforcing our immigration laws…” | The United States has long been enforcing its immigration laws. | |
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“…save billions of dollars, and…” | Claims about the cost of illegal immigration are based on broad assumptions and estimates that range very widely. |
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/sep/01/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-illegal-immigration-costs-113-bi/
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“make our communities safer for everyone.” | Trump’s mass deportation policy is actually tearing apart families and spreading fear throughout whole communities. | |
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Help unemployed by cracking down on immigration | A pathway to citizenship will create 145,000 jobs each year | |
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“We want all Americans to succeed — but that can’t happen in an environment of lawless chaos. We must restore integrity and the rule of law to our borders.” | Guess what happened when Arizona decided to aggressively ‘enforce the immigration laws’? Fewer jobs all around; lower state GDP | |
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“I’ve issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.” | Trump also wants to study how to build pipelines using only U.S. steel |
http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/1/24/14372706/trump-dakota-access-keystone
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“As we speak, we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our citizens.” | The United States has always prioritized removing gang members and violent criminals. But Trump is actually going after: DACA recipients; moms with American-born children, and domestic violence victims. | |
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“I would ask you this question: what would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income, or a loved one, because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders?” | ||
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“According to data provided by the Department of Justice, the vast majority of individuals convicted for terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from outside of our country.” | Right-wing extremists are a bigger threat to America than foreign-born terrorists. | |
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“It is not compassionate, but reckless, to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur.” | “Trump is wrong: There is an extensive, onerous screening process for refugees who come to America.” | |
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Vast majority of terrorist attacks came from people who came over our border | You are more than 7 times as likely to be killed by a right-wing extremist than by Muslim terrorists. | |
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In the last 8 years, the past Administration has put on more new debt than nearly all other Presidents combined. | This claim is misleading. Obama actually curt the deficit by almost three-quarters |
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jan/12/barack-obama/we-have-cut-our-deficits-three-fourths-obama-state/ …
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And overseas, we have inherited a series of tragic foreign policy disasters. | ||
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Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force. | That number includes a lot of people not looking for work, including: retirees, high school studnets, college students, people with disabilities, stay-at-home parents, people living off trust funds, etc… | |
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“American companies one of the highest rate in the world.” | Conservatives often decry the 35 percent statutory income tax rate on U.S. corporations as the highest in the world. But the truth is that few U.S. companies actually pay that rate. | |
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“At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class.” | Trump’s tax plan isn’t designed to help middle class: 6.6% of the plan goes to middle class, 47.3% goes to the top 1%, almost 25% goes to the top 0.1% |
http://bit.ly/2fq5Urn
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“Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration. The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers, and puts great pressure on taxpayers.” | Immigrants don’t lower our wages or take our jobs | |
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“According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs America’s taxpayers many billions of dollars a year.” | “We found little to no negative effects on overall wages and employment of native-born workers in the longer term,” said Francine D. Blau, an economics professor at Cornell University who led the group that produced the 550-page report. | |
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“Currently, when we ship products out of America, many other countries make us pay very high tariffs and taxes — but when foreign companies ship their products into America, we charge them almost nothing.” | ||
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“I will be asking the Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of the United States — financed through both public and private capital — creating millions of new jobs.” | Trump’s infrastructure plan actually fails America and could raise taxes on middle-class Americans in the form of high-cost tolls and other user fees. | |
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“Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits.” | The increase for the most common plan from HealthCare.gov has been $3,612 and over the same period of time, federal subsidies decreased what the average marketplace purchaser had to pay. | |
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“Obamacare is collapsing…” | The insurance market is actually improving, but repealing #ACA would kill it. |
http://bit.ly/2jVUqNG; http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/27/news/economy/obamacare-premiums/; http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/01/paul-ryan-favorite-obamacare-talking-point-debunked-000281
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“….and we must act decisively to protect all Americans.” | Repealing Obamacare could increase the # of people without insurance by nearly 30 million by 2019 | |
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“So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in the Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster.” | Obamacare costs less than expected | |
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“America has spent approximately six trillion dollars in the Middle East, all this while our infrastructure at home is crumbling.” | Trump confused what’s been spent, and what is projected to be spent | |
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34
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“…stopping a regulation that threatens the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners.” | The coal industry is a victim of market forces and the invent of other energy sources, not regualtions. | |
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“we should give our great State Governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.” | Governors have been given resources to expand Medicaid. This is what Trump wants to repeal as part of Obamacare. | |
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“creating a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring cost way down and provide far better care.”
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Selling policies across state lines would allow insurers to sell subprime policies to healthy people who won’t have coverage when they fall ill. Sicker people won’t be able to find affordable health care coverage. | |
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37
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“help ensure new parents have paid family leave” | ||
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“to invest in women’s health” | Global gag rule slashes funds to NGO’s that save women’s lives and Trump wants to defund Planned Parenthood | |
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“promote clean air and clear water” | Clean water EO today, he signed stream protection overturn, methane rule | |
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“My administration wants to work with members in both parties to make childcare accessible and affordable”
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“Affordable child care”? Trump campaign tax proposal does little to help those who need it most | |
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“I am calling upon Members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children.” | Private school vouchers can discriminate against LGBT & non-religious families and take money out of public schools. | |
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“I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American Victims. The office is called VOICE — Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.” | ||
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“These brave men were viciously gunned down by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record and two prior deportations.” | Immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born |
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/criminalization-immigration-united-states?utm_content=buffercf974&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer #JointSession
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“We want all children to be able to break the cycle of poverty just like Denisha.” | Trump’s proposed budget guts the social safety net | |
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“The murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest single-year increase in nearly half a century.” | The nation’s crime rate ticked up slightly in 2015 compared to the year before, but it still remains at historic lows. | |
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46
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“If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA but across our Government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles like Megan.” | ||
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“Over 43 million people are now living in poverty.” | That number is lower than it was during the Great Recession. | |
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48
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“We’ve lost more than one-fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved, and we’ve lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.” | We’ve lost manufacturing jobs, but not just becuase of NAFTA. | |
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“We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two World Wars that dethroned fascism, and a Cold War that defeated communism.” | Trump spent his entire campaign claiming that NAFTA was absolete. | |
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The money is pouring in- allies now giving more to NATO | ||
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51
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“I just met with officials and workers from a great American company, Harley-Davidson. In fact, they proudly displayed five of their magnificent motorcycles, made in the USA, on the front lawn of the White House.” | Harley-Davidson motorcycles are assembled in the United States but assembled using parts from Germany, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, and Mexico. | |
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52
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“We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job‑crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every Government agency; imposing a new rule which mandates that for every 1 new regulation, 2 old regulations must be eliminated; and stopping a regulation that threatens the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners.” |
http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2015/oct/20/donald-trump/trump-says-us-has-highest-tax-rate-anywhere-world/
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53
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“We have withdrawn the United States from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership.” | You can’t withdraw from something you were never actually a part of. |