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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
577 | 1 |
Barack Obama wants to "restore" the estate tax that George W. Bush "repealed.
|
July 23, 2008
|
taxes
|
chain email
|
Chain emails circulate on the Internet, usually anonymously, making a variety of political claims.
|
national
| 6 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 44 | 107 |
a chain e-mail
|
Both Obama and McCain support renewing the current estate tax with a few changes. McCain proposes to increase the exemption to $5-million ($10-million for couples) and reduce the tax rate to 15 percent. Obama proposes to increase the exemption to $3.5-million ($7-million for couples) and leave the top rate at 45 percent. So the e-mail is when it says McCain wants a "0 percent" estate tax and that Obama wants to "restore" it. We rule this statement .
|
15,332 | 0 |
As some of you may know I am the recent $3.4 million lotto winner. I'd like to spread some positivity so I'm sending $1,000 to the first 100k people that share this.
|
October 29, 2018
|
fake news;facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a post on Facebook
|
And if you searched the caption Rogers wrote, you would see the same post from a different Facebook user Oct. 8 and another version from a different Twitter user Oct. 6 . And, for good measure, again on from Sept. 16 . Sorry if you thought the free money was on its way. It’s not. This rates .
|
19,559 | 2 |
Says it doesn't make sense for young adults to get the vaccine since they "really are not under that much of a threat as a result of this virus.
|
March 29, 2021
|
children;public health;science;coronavirus
|
tom tiffany
|
In 2004 and 2008, Tom Tiffany ran for the 12th State Senate District, first against Senator Roger Breske, and then Jim Holperin losing both times in very close elections. In 2010, he ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly after the position was vacated by retiring incumbent, Representative Donald Friske. Tiffany won the primary, and later defeated Democrat Jay Schmelling 58.09% - 41.81%.
In 2012 Tiffany chose not to seek re-election to the State Assembly and to seek election to the State Senate after Holperin announced he would not run for reelection. He defeated Democrat Susan Sommer, 56% - 40%, in the general election on November 6, 2012. Tiffany succeeded fellow Republican Sean Duffy in Congress, winning a special election against Democrat Tricia Zunker in 2020.
|
wisconsin
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Speech
|
Tiffany said it doesn't make sense for young adults to get the vaccine since they "really are not under that much of a threat as a result of this virus." He’s correct that younger people generally are less likely than their older counterparts to become severely ill or die from the virus, but still, it has happened, meaning the vaccine would personally protect even young people from severe disease or death, even if the risk is small. Getting enough people vaccinated is also crucial to reach herd immunity, which will protect the entire community. Our definition of is a statement that "contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression." That fits here.
|
9,603 | 1 |
Says Rand Paul "has put out budgets to cut the military in half.
|
October 26, 2014
|
federal budget;military
|
adam kinzinger
|
Adam Kinzinger is a U.S. congressman from Illinois’ 16th district and a former member of the Air Force.
|
national
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
comments on ABC's "This Week"
|
Kinzinger claimed that Paul "has put out budgets to cut the military in half." In 2011, Paul released a budget proposal that reduced annual defense spending quite significantly, but not anywhere near 50 percent. There are different ways to measure the reductions, but they’re in the range of 25 to 30 percent. Paul later unveiled another budget that actually increased year-over-year defense spending, though it did not keep pace with estimated projections in growth. Both Paul budgets also eliminated funding in the defense budget for war spending and overseas operations based on the assumption that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were winding down. Lawmakers can argue whether that was prudent, however, it’s important context. Given all of that, we rate Kinzginger’s statement .
|
22,894 | 1 |
Video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin talking in English about U.S. democracy.
|
April 16, 2023
|
facebook fact-checks;russia
|
instagram posts
|
Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.
|
national
| 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 |
an Instagram post
|
"The point of the deepfake is to get this message through in such a noisy area." On April 18, RepresentUs CEO Joshua Graham told PolitiFact, "As we make clear in our video, it’s – and that’s exactly the point. By featuring two authoritarians who want to see our country fail, our goal was to wake Americans up to the fact that our democracy faces serious threats. Most importantly, as is the case with all of our videos, we want to inspire Americans of all political stripes to protect our democratic republic." We rate the that this video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin talking in English about U.S. democracy .
|
11,019 | 1 |
The Family Research Council, according to some government agencies, is a terrorist group.
|
November 29, 2015
|
terrorism
|
ben carson
|
Dr. Ben Carson is President Donald Trump's secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A retired pediatric neurosurgeon, Carson ran as a Republican for president in 2016. He owns homes in West Palm Beach and Maryland.
|
national
| 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
an interview on CNN
|
Carson said, "the Family Research Council, according to some government agencies, is a terrorist group." The Family Research Council has been labeled an "extremist" group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, but that’s not the same as a "terrorist" group and, more importantly, the center is a private, non-profit group, not a government agency. We could find no government agency that singled out the Family Research Council as a terrorist group, and experts told us they were unaware of any government lists that did. We rate Carson’s statement .
|
4,932 | 0 |
Newt Gingrich says electric co-ops and credit unions are "government-sponsored enterprises" like Freddie Mac.
|
January 23, 2012
|
financial regulation
|
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
| 7 | 11 | 21 | 17 | 15 | 12 |
a Republican presidential primary debate
|
Gingrich spoke of credit unions and electric cooperatives as if they were the same sort of entities as Freddie Mac. We find no support for that and do find major differences in how they are created and operate compared with GSEs. Congress created Freddie Mac, as it does every GSE, by passing a specific law to bring it into being. Freddie Mac has stockholders and a direct line of credit with the U.S. Treasury. The term, Government Sponsored Enterprise, applies only to a handful of financial entities listed in the federal budget. None of those characteristics apply to credit unions and electric cooperatives. Once again, we rate Gingrich’s statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/97867b65-b96a-435e-9e0d-1f2ac55a5f4f
|
4,358 | 4 |
We have a $2 trillion to $3 trillion infrastructure deficit. We've got work that needs to get done. We've got people that want to go to work.
|
September 15, 2011
|
economy;infrastructure;jobs
|
tim ryan
|
Tim Ryan is a representative of Ohio’s 13th Congressional District. Ryan served the state’s 17th Congressional District from 2003 until 2013, when he assumed office to represent the 13th District. In 2019, he ran for the Democratic nomination for president. In 2022, he is running for an Ohio U.S. Senate seat.
|
ohio
| 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
a television interview
|
Those who watched him on "The Ed Show" might have had a more complete picture of the problem had they known that nearly half of that $2.2 trillion need was expected to be met over five years. Those pieces of information provide clarification. But given the fluidity of those numbers, and given the fact that he correctly pegged ASCE’s key number between $2 trillion and $3 trillion, Ryan wasn’t cherry-picking. This precision gap is much narrower than the infrastructure gap. As a result, we rate Ryan’s statement .
|
20,880 | 0 |
Says 700 CIA agents were arrested.
|
February 1, 2022
|
facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
We’ve checked claims like the title of this video before. Sometimes posts overstate what’s actually said in the video, or they even fabricate a sensational, clickbait-worthy headline. Some examples of these kinds of claims that we’ve checked and found : The search for reports, news articles, or credible sources to corroborate the statement is fruitless. That’s the case here — we found nothing to remotely suggest that 700 CIA agents were recently arrested. We rate this post .
|
20,039 | 0 |
Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were found guilty in the disappearance of 10 native children from the Catholic-run Kamloops residential school
|
July 20, 2021
|
facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
" A Facebook post claimed that Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were found guilty in the disappearance of ten native children from the Kamloops Indian Residential School. There is no that Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip had ever visited the residential school. There is no trace of the alleged arrest warrant. And the court that allegedly issued this warrant is not a legally recognized court, but the creation of a conspiracy theorist. We rate this !
|
1,762 | 0 |
Georgia could get money for schools by scraping "the gold off the gold dome" of the state Capitol.
|
February 12, 2010
|
education
|
roy barnes
|
Roy Barnes is the former governor of Georgia.
|
georgia
| 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
a speech
|
By the time you pay Kramer his $100,000 for scraping the orb in the first place, you are actually in the hole by more than $40,000. “You’re not going to make any money,” Kramer said. In fact you would lose money, and end up with a naked Capitol dome. And nobody wants that. We give the former governor a for this one.
|
6,893 | 2 |
I had to lay off 48 people last year," which has exacerbated the lack of law enforcement officers in the county that respond quickly to crime calls.
|
January 25, 2013
|
county budget;county government;criminal justice;crime;guns
|
david a. clarke jr.
|
David A. Clarke Jr. served as Milwaukee County sheriff from 2002 to 2017.
|
wisconsin
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
a radio interview
|
So, again, the linkage Clarke makes between the layoffs and response times falls flat. Our rating Clarke said: "I had to lay off 48 people last year," which has exacerbated the lack of law enforcement officers in the county that respond quickly to crime calls. The Sheriff’s Office did lay off 48 people in 2012, but most have been rehired. Moreover, the office handles only a fraction of serious crimes in Milwaukee. We rate Clarke’s statement .
|
2,614 | 1 |
If all of the [Bush-era] tax cuts expire on schedule, the budget will be close to being balanced in four years.
|
October 12, 2010
|
deficit;federal budget;taxes
|
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
| 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
the Times-Dispatch voters' guide
|
So, let’s review. We must look at the projected annual cost of the tax cuts, if extended, to determine how much could be saved by allowing them to expire. Depending on the source, those estimates when coupled with the AMT adjustment, range between $200 to $500 billion annually over the next 10 years. But with budget deficits projected to hover around $1 trillion a year during that time period, the extra tax revenue from allowing the cuts to expire wouldn’t even cut the deficit in half in four years, much less balance the budget. So we rate the .
|
5,862 | 3 |
Says cuts by Gov. Rick Perry's administration left "12,000 teachers without a job.
|
June 8, 2012
|
education;state budget
|
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
| 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Houston
|
Castro’s reference to 12,000 unemployed teachers is based on an out-of-date, what-if projection -- not actual job losses. Still, school districts shed nearly 11,000 teaching positions in the first school year affected by the $4 billion cut signed into law by Perry. And while it’s uncertain how many of the eliminated positions resulted in unemployed teachers -- retirements also came into play -- it seems reasonable to speculate that many teachers were left jobless. Without more precise information, this statement rates .
|
4,023 | 2 |
(Rep. Bob Goodlatte's) balanced budget amendment does not require a balanced budget.
|
July 14, 2011
|
deficit;federal budget
|
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
| 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
a letter
|
Let’s review: Scott said that no provision in Goodlatte’s balanced budget amendment would require balancing the budget. He makes a narrow argument based on escape valves built into the resolution. But a number of policy experts say the resolution does, first and foremost, require a balanced budget and imposes high thresholds for its exceptions. We agree and find Scott’s semantic debate . We rate his .
|
3,719 | 1 |
Says Rick Perry said there's an administrator for every teacher in Texas public schools.
|
March 22, 2011
|
education;state budget
|
doug otto
|
Doug Otto, who began leading the Plano district in 1995, was previously superintendent of schools in the Anoka-Hennepin school district in Minnesota, according to a Plano district website. He announced his resignation in 2011.
|
texas
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
a radio interview
|
Administrators accounted for 4 percent of the remaining positions. By email, Otto told us he thinks he saw Perry’s 1-to-1 in a newspaper story. Jim Hirsch, another Plano administrator, provided links to news stories. A March 18 Fort Worth Star-Telegram article attributed that erroneous 1-to-1 to the Texas Young Republican Federation, but none quoted Perry saying there’s a teacher for every administrator. We rate Otto’s statement .
|
3,528 | 4 |
House Republican plan would increase costs for Oregon seniors by $6,000 with health care vouchers instead of Medicare
|
April 15, 2011
|
federal budget;medicare
|
david wu
|
David Wu, the first Chinese-American to serve in the House of Representatives, has represented Oregon’s First Congressional District since 1999. He earned a bachelor of science from Stanford University in 1977 and a law degree from Yale University in 1982. He is co-founder of the firm Cohen and Wu.
|
oregon
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
a press release
|
Is the difference $6,000 or more? Could it be less? The answer to each is perhaps. But given current knowledge and calculations $6,000 is a number that can be defended. For that reason, we rate Wu’s .
|
3,548 | 1 |
Says President Barack Obama's debt commission recommended converting Medicare "to a system where Medicare participants are given a voucher to purchase insurance in the private market.
|
April 29, 2011
|
deficit;federal budget;medicare
|
tom petri
|
U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, a Republican from Fond du Lac, represents Wisconsin's 6th congressional district. A former member of the state Senate, Petri was elected to the U.S. House in 1979.
|
wisconsin
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
a constituent newsletter
|
Wright told us that when Petri’s office distributes results of the survey, a note will be included "indicating that a problem with this question was brought to our attention," as would "additional information clarifying how the question should have been phrased." Wright also said the survey was reviewed by the Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards , also known as the Franking Commission, and that "neither the Republican nor the Democratic staffers at the commission noticed anything objectionable" or partisan. Turning to the -O-Meter, in surveying constituents, GOP Congressman Tom Petri said a commission created by the Democratic president had recommended making Medicare a voucher program. The commission did not make that recommendation and Petri admitted the wording in his survey was . We rate his statement .
|
12,067 | 4 |
In South Sudan, "more teenage girls die in childbirth than finish high school.
|
July 6, 2016
|
global news service;education;foreign policy;poverty;public health;women
|
un's unicef
|
The United Nations Interntional Children's Emergency Fund provides aid to families facing extreme condtions of war or deprivation in low income countries.
| null | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
an article on Medium
|
UNICEF wrote that in South Sudan, "more teenage girls die in childbirth than finish high school." The is almost certainly correct, experts say. But there is no single data source that can verify the comparison. We rate this .
|
21,566 | 1 |
There are more females on Facebook than alive in the world.
|
June 9, 2022
|
facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
According to data and projections from the Population Division of the United Nations, there are an estimated 3.94 billion females in the world and about 4 billion males. That’s more than the Facebook post says, but the in the post has also been circulating online for several years, since at least 2018 . But according to the 2022 first quarter report for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, Facebook had only 2.94 billion monthly active users as of March 31 — about half the number of users the post claims identify as female, and a billion fewer females than there are in the entire world, according to the United Nations. According to a March 24 post from Hootsuite, users who identify themselves as female make up 43.4% of Facebook users that could be reached via advertising on the social media platform. We rate this post .
|
17,408 | 1 |
Queen Elizabeth tests positive for COVID-19.
|
March 28, 2020
|
facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
|
bloggers
|
Blog posting on the Internet
| null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 |
a blog post
|
So far, the news out of Buckingham Palace is good. On March 27, a palace spokesman said the 93-year-old British monarch remains in good health. She was then at Windsor Castle with her husband, 98-year-old Prince Philip and "a small number of staff," Reuters reported . And as for Prince Charles, he announced on April 1 that he experienced mild symptoms and is "on the other side" of his illness. We rate this blog post .
|
16,181 | 2 |
Says the "only valid reason to oppose voter ID is that you plan to cheat," and "every Democrat in Congress opposes voter ID.
|
June 10, 2019
|
voter id laws;facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
The Facebook post said, "Two Facts: 1. The only valid reason to oppose voter ID is that you plan to cheat. 2. Every Democrat in Congress opposes voter ID. What more do you need to know about the party?" Critics of voter ID laws often defend their position by stating that not every voting-age citizen possesses a valid government-issued photo ID, and these laws disproportionately impact some more than others, including citizens of color and citizens 65 and older. Concern that more people are able to vote does not amount to an interest in cheating. While it is difficult to verify whether every congressional Democrat opposes voter ID laws of all kinds, we do know that every House Democrat who voted on HR 1, which could weaken voter ID laws, supported the bill. However, it’s important to remember that this was one aspect of a far-reaching bill. This contains an element of but distorts many critical details. We rate it .
|
21,293 | 4 |
While the initial increase in oil prices resulted in a near instantaneous increase in gas prices for consumers, the subsequent decrease in crude oil prices has failed to meaningfully provide relief for Georgia's families at the pump.
|
April 5, 2022
|
national;gas prices
|
raphael warnock
|
The Rev. Raphael Warnock is a U.S. Senator from Georgia elected in a special runoff election in January 2021 and running for re-election in 2022. Warnock, a Democrat, served as the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, located in Atlanta. The church's former pastors include the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
|
georgia
| 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
a letter to President Joe Biden
|
Warnock said that "while the initial increase in oil prices resulted in a near instantaneous increase in gas prices for consumers, the subsequent decrease in crude oil prices has failed to meaningfully provide relief for Georgia's families at the pump." Typically, when oil prices rise, gas stations raise their prices within a few days. But the drop in crude oil prices generally doesn’t lead to an instant drop at the gas pump. Experts say this "rockets and feathers" dynamic — a fast rise followed by a slow decline — is common over the short term, but over the longer term, crude oil prices and prices at the pump generally move in unison. We rate this statement . RELATED : All of our fact-checks about gas prices RELATED : The race for the Georgia U.S. Senate seat: A guide
|
10,235 | 1 |
The United States "is not building the aircraft, the long-range bombers, the additional aircraft carriers, the nuclear submarines.
|
April 25, 2015
|
military
|
marco rubio
|
Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016 and then dropped out and won re-election to the Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and took office Jan. 5, 2011. Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008 and is a former Speaker of the Florida House. He served on the West Miami City Commission from 1998 to 2000. He is from Miami and holds a law degree from the University of Miami.
|
florida
| 21 | 38 | 35 | 41 | 30 | 5 |
a speech at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Summit
|
Rubio said that the United States "is not building the aircraft, the long-range bombers, the additional aircraft carriers, the nuclear submarines." The military has programs in place to build the types of equipment Rubio mentioned, including the largest aircraft procurement ever: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It will take many years and billions of dollars to complete the procurement, but Rubio’s statement could mislead voters into thinking that the United States has closed up shop in the area of military equipment and isn’t building anything, which isn’t the case. We rate this .
|
13,668 | 1 |
Bill Clinton gave North Korea $5 billion and two nuclear reactors in 1994, essentially giving them nukes.
|
August 9, 2017
|
energy;history;foreign policy;nuclear;punditfact
|
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.
| null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 |
a Twitter post
|
An image circulating on the Internet claims "Bill Clinton gave North Korea $5 billion and two nuclear reactors in 1994, essentially giving them nukes." Clinton did negotiate a deal in 1994 to provide two nuclear reactors and provide heavy fuel oil to North Korea in exchange for the country giving up its nuclear weapons program. That's about where the of this image stops. The energy aid costs didn’t approach anywhere near $5 billion, and the reactors were never built. North Korea had continued to enrich uranium on its own, leading the Bush administration to end the deal. The agreement, while a failure, didn’t give North Korea nuclear weapons. Experts said the agreement actually slowed North Korea down. We rate this statement .
|
5,733 | 4 |
Giving the facts: 73,000 jobs created ... since '11. Do you know how many direct jobs in the auto industry? 1,800.
|
June 3, 2012
|
economy;jobs
|
john kasich
|
John Kasich is the governor of Ohio. A Republican and a former congressman, he defeated Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2010 and was reelected in 2014. He ran for president in 2016.
|
ohio
| 16 | 18 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 3 |
an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."
|
But there’s additional information needed for clarification. By limiting the job creation numbers to just the time he has been in office, Kasich’s undersells the overall job growth that has occurred since the federal government rescued the auto industry. And his limited his figures to "direct" jobs that were "created." That does not reflect benefits to other businesses as a result of resurgence of auto employment or consider jobs that may have been retained. On the -O-Meter, Kasich’s rates .
|
15,134 | 0 |
Says Christine Blasey Ford and her lawyer were photographed with George Soros, Hillary Clinton.
|
September 26, 2018
|
fake news;supreme court;facebook fact-checks
|
bloggers
|
Blog posting on the Internet
| null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 |
In a Facebook post
|
Below is a picture of Kinney via the Associated Press with former President Bill Clinton in 1995, when she was the White House photographer. The bottom image purports to show Ford with Soros. The woman pictured is not Ford, but Lyudmyla Kozlovska, a Ukrainian human rights activist. Below, via the Associated Press, is Kozlovska with her husband, Bartosz Kramek, during an anti-government protest in Warsaw in 2017. We rate this statement !
|
5,956 | 4 |
Gov. Romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top.
|
July 23, 2012
|
message machine 2012;taxes
|
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
| 124 | 165 | 163 | 71 | 71 | 9 |
an advertisement
|
Obama is correct that Romney’s plan does indeed cut taxes for high-income Americans -- quite heavily in fact -- but the rich aren’t the only ones who would see a cut. Taxes would be reduced in lower income ranges, too. Still, the plan gives a large share of the benefits to higher income taxpayers. On balance, we rate the .
|
3,713 | 1 |
Commerce Secretary nominee John Bryson "appears to endorse world government.
|
June 7, 2011
|
environment;cap and trade;climate change;energy
|
anonymous gop critics
|
Anonymous GOP officials on the Hill.
|
national
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
a web news story
|
We agree. Referring to the United Nations as "the closest thing we have to a world governance organization" isn't exactly a smoking gun. We didn't hear any in Bryson's full, hour-long address that suggests he wants to cede the U.S. government's authority over climate change policy to the United Nations, let alone something as radical and all-encompassing as a world government. No wonder the GOP officials who leaked the video and provided the speculation decided to remain anonymous. We rate the .
|
8,290 | 5 |
The General Assembly "has no explicit constitutional authority to impose income, sales, estate and the myriad of other taxes upon us.
|
December 30, 2013
|
history;taxes
|
nicholas gorham
|
Nicholas Gorham is a lawyer from Coventry who served in the General Assembly from 1999 to 2009.
|
rhode island
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
a newspaper commentary
|
Nicholas Gorham said the Rhode Island General Assembly ‘‘has no explicit constitutional authority’’ to levy taxes. History tells us he’s right. Had he suggested that the lack of explicit language meant no one had to pay taxes, we’d view his in a far different light. But he didn’t, so we rule it . (If you hear a you'd like us to check, email us at [email protected] And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)
|
12,570 | 3 |
In about three weeks over a half million Floridians are going to lose their coverage again" through Obamacare.
|
October 17, 2016
|
health care
|
marco rubio
|
Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016 and then dropped out and won re-election to the Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and took office Jan. 5, 2011. Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008 and is a former Speaker of the Florida House. He served on the West Miami City Commission from 1998 to 2000. He is from Miami and holds a law degree from the University of Miami.
|
florida
| 21 | 38 | 35 | 41 | 30 | 5 |
a U.S. Senate debate
|
Rubio said in the Senate debate "in about three weeks over a half million Floridians are going to lose their coverage again" through Obamacare. That’s a reference to more than 400,000 Floridians who are expected to lose their plans under the Obamacare exchange. However, Rubio omits that they will be offered another plan including by Florida Blue, which will remain in every county in Florida. Rubio also ignores the fact that due to the marketplace, 1.7 million Floridians have signed up for coverage -- larger than the more than 400,000 who will have to switch plans. The percentage of Floridians who are uninsured has been dropping under Obamacare in recent years. We rate this .
|
17,439 | 1 |
Says Goodwill used the pandemic "to fire all of their employees instead of laying them off.
|
April 2, 2020
|
facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
The Facebook post says that Goodwill fired all employees instead of laying them off. That’s not accurate. Across the country, employees at local Goodwill organizations have been laid off or furloughed, but some operations have not shuttered, according to a Goodwill spokesperson. In parts of Arizona, a majority of employees were laid off. But they weren’t fired as the Facebook post claims. We rate this post .
|
18,004 | 0 |
Photo shows "Wayfair president of operations Bill Hutcherson with Ghislaine Maxwell.
|
July 12, 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.
| null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 |
a Facebook post
|
Tatler identifies the man as George Bamford, founder of Bamford Watch Department . Wayfair doesn’t list a president of operations on its website though there is a "vice president of operations product innovation" named Doran Robinson, a different person than the man who appears in the photo with Maxwell. It also lists a chief operating officer named Thomas Netzer. No one named "Bill Hutcherson" is listed among Wayfair’s executive leadership team. We rate this post .
|
18,993 | 0 |
No candidate has ever won both Florida and Ohio and lost.
|
December 9, 2020
|
corrections and updates;elections;florida
|
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.
|
ohio
| 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 |
a tweet
|
Trump tweeted "no candidate has ever won both Florida and Ohio and lost." Trump is . Nixon won Florida and Ohio in 1960 yet lost to Kennedy. We rate this statement ! CORRECTION, Dec. 14 : An earlier version of this fact-check misidentified the Pope in 1960. Pope John XXIII was the pope in 1960.
|
18,450 | 3 |
Quotes Sen. Mitt Romney as saying: "The Merrick Garland decision wasn't unfair & the notion that someone has to pay the price to make up for it is wrong.
|
September 22, 2020
|
supreme court;facebook fact-checks
|
instagram posts
|
Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.
| null | 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 |
an image
|
And that's where I come out." Romney did say the decision to block Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court "wasn’t unfair" and that he doesn’t agree with the notion that Republicans should abstain from confirming a new justice before Nov. 3. But he did not say the quote attributed to him in the Instagram post. The post is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. We rate it .
|
1,821 | 0 |
Bill McCollum has accepted thousands from lobbyists for Planned Parenthood.
|
June 23, 2010
|
abortion;candidate biography;message machine 2010
|
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
| 15 | 36 | 42 | 42 | 38 | 8 |
a campaign mail piece
|
They succeeded by finding a Washington law firm that at one point lobbied for Planned Parenthood and at another point gave $2,000 to McCollum. But there's no -- scratch that. We don't think any logical person would conclude that Arnold & Porter's contributions to McCollum and its future business with Planned Parenthood have anything to do with the other. The -O-Meter is hot under the collar about this one. We say !
|
17,648 | 5 |
Says gloves shouldn't be worn in public because "if you are wearing the same set of gloves all over town you are only spreading germs everywhere you go.
|
May 5, 2020
|
public health;coronavirus
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
|
wisconsin
| 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
A viral Facebook post warned against wearing gloves in public because keeping the same set on means "you are only spreading germs everywhere you go." Infectious disease experts around the country agree gloves largely do more harm than good. They don’t really protect the wearer since the coronavirus doesn’t seep in through the skin. And they don’t limit the disease spread since they are often worn too long or removed incorrectly. And perhaps most notably, wearing gloves can stop users from washing hands as often, which is the step that actually kills the coronavirus. We rate this .
|
4,228 | 2 |
Says "Every time the Legislature 'suspended' the kicker, most recently the corporate kicker in 2007, Salem spent every penny and failed to stabilize the state's revenues.
|
August 28, 2011
|
state budget;taxes
|
matt wand
|
Matt Wand was elected to the Troutdale City Council in 2008. He is an attorney with the firm he founded, Wand Law Firm, Gresham.
|
oregon
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
guest column
|
It’s very hard to accomplish the savings when you're in a recession." It’s that the state has suspended the kicker three times, although it’s not that the state has spent "every penny" in those instances. Using the kicker did not stabilize the state’s budget, but that’s largely due to an unreliable revenue base as well as extenuating circumstances: loss of revenue from a ballot measure and a recession. The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate the .
|
4,361 | 2 |
Says that politicians who approved collective bargaining restrictions for public employees "exploited a loophole exempting themselves from Senate Bill 5.
|
September 13, 2011
|
elections;jobs;labor;unions
|
we are ohio
|
We Are Ohio is a citizen-driven, community-based, bipartisan coalition that has come together to repeal Senate Bill 5 in Ohio. The legislation would overhaul rules for collective bargaining by public employees.
|
ohio
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
a campaign commercial
|
Therefore, they typically pay at least 15 percent of their medical insurance premiums and, if enrolled, must contribute 10 percent of their salary to the retirement system. The in the ad does contain an element of -- legislators are exempted from several provisions of SB 5. But the portion of the that they’ve exploited a loophole leaves out important details that would give a different impression. Those details include that lawmakers have long been exempt from Ohio’s collective bargaining law, that they already pay the same percentages for medical and pension benefits as SB 5 would require and that their wage is set by statute. On the -O-Meter, a statement that has an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression rates one way: .
|
13,118 | 3 |
If the CBO was right about Obamacare to begin with, there'd be 8 million more people on Obamacare today than there actually are. … Sometimes we ask them to do stuff that they're not capable of doing.
|
March 12, 2017
|
health care
|
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
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
a segment on ABC's "This Week"
|
Mulvaney said, "If the CBO was right about Obamacare to begin with, there'd be 8 million more people on Obamacare today than there actually are." Mulvaney went on to say that the CBO may not be capable of assessing the GOP’s replacement plan. The initial CBO analysis of the Affordable Care Act did forecast that more people would participate in health care exchanges than actually did, but the CBO has revised those estimates. Moreover, independent analyses, as well as experts agree that the CBO offers some of the best estimates given the information available at the time. Mulvaney’s statement is partially accurate, but misses context that would give readers a different picture of the CBO. We rate this .
|
15,490 | 4 |
Principal bans candy canes.
|
December 9, 2018
|
education;fake news;religion;facebook fact-checks
|
bloggers
|
Blog posting on the Internet
| null | 8 | 18 | 24 | 53 | 233 | 396 |
a headline
|
Several news articles and websites said that a school principal banned candy canes. A principal wrote a memo to staff banning candy canes and said it was a symbol of Jesus. Comments by the school district show that this was no holiday tale. Ultimately, it's important to know the school quickly reversed the ban. So we rate this .
|
8,578 | 2 |
In Virginia's Medicaid program, "approximately 30 percent, or $2.7 billion a year, is lost to waste, fraud and inefficiencies.
|
March 12, 2014
|
health care;medicaid
|
jimmie massie
|
Jimmie Massie, R-Henrico, was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2008.
In 1990, Massie started a merchant banking firm that provides equity capital to start-ups, businessesn and for commercial real estate transactions. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia, is married and has four children. .
|
virginia
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
a Facebook post
|
Massie said that 30 percent of the Virginia’s Medicaid program is lost to waste, fraud and inefficiencies. He gets the figure by extrapolating an estimated amount of waste in all U.S. health care spending and applying it to the Medicaid program in Virginia. The problem is that no study has ever quantified the amount of Medicaid waste in Virginia, so nobody knows. We don’t completely dismiss Massie’s number, because a variety of studies say 30 percent is a reasonable national gauge of the waste in the health system and in overall government health programs. But Massie takes liberty in applying that rule to Virginia’s Medicaid system, one of the most restrictive programs in the nation. The burden falls on Massie to prove his statement and he offers nothing more than a hypothesis that he’s right. So we rate his .
|
11,464 | 4 |
Texas has a higher incarceration rate than Russia or Iran.
|
February 26, 2016
|
criminal justice;crime
|
gina hinojosa
|
Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2016 to represent Texas House District 49.
|
texas
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
a campaign mailer
|
Gina Hinojosa said: "Texas has a higher incarceration rate than Russia or Iran." Based on numbers reported by Russia and Iran, that checks out. The statement also holds up whether we use the more expansive U.S. Census measure of Texas correctional populations, or the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ rate based only on sentenced prisoners. Still, this assumes the figures for Iran and Russia are on the up and up and perfectly comparable to the Texas counts—and we’re not sure about that. We rate this . – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.
|
10,246 | 1 |
Hate speech is excluded from protection" under the First Amendment.
|
May 6, 2015
|
legal issues;supreme court;punditfact
|
chris cuomo
|
Chris Cuomo is an anchor on CNN and brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
| null | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
a Tweet
|
Cuomo said, "Hate speech is excluded from protection" under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled that certain categories of speech are excluded from constitutional protection, such as a threat or "fighting words." Sometimes, speech can be both a threat and hate speech, in which case it would not necessarily have First Amendment protection. But hate speech on its own -- such as on a picket sign or a blog -- is not excluded from protection. It may only be incidentally excluded. Cuomo tried to clarify his point after the fact, giving an explanation similar to the examples we hashed out here. But on his specific , the jurisprudence works against him. We rate his statement .
|
12,639 | 5 |
Department of Veterans Affairs doctors "are prohibited from recommending medical marijuana.
|
October 14, 2016
|
marijuana
|
campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol
|
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is the pro-marijuana group behind Proposition 205, which would legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona.
|
arizona
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
a political advertisement
|
The ad claimed, "VA doctors are prohibited from recommending medical marijuana." That’s on the mark. Veterans can still seek medical marijuana on their own -- where it’s legal -- and VA health care. We rate the ad’s . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/265a5a2c-d11f-4e67-b132-57d62130cff1
|
11,363 | 5 |
There's no correlation between primary turnout and wins in the fall in the last 11 elections.
|
March 6, 2016
|
elections;punditfact
|
david brooks
|
David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.
| null | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
comments on "Meet the Press"
|
Brooks said, "There’s no correlation between primary turnout and wins in the fall in the last 11 elections." There were competitive primaries on both sides in six out of the past 11 elections. In three of those six elections, the party that saw more votes in nomination contest also got more votes in the general. We rate Brooks’ .
|
9,599 | 2 |
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter "votes with Nancy Pelosi's Democrats 95 percent of the time," but Frank Guinta "will take on both parties" and has "independent New Hampshire values.
|
October 24, 2014
|
voting record
|
national republican congressional committee
|
National Republican Congressional Committee
|
new hampshire
| 4 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 14 | 9 |
an ad
|
The NRCC ad says that Shea-Porter "votes with Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats 95 percent of the time," but Guinta "will take on both parties" and has "independent New Hampshire values." That’s a pretty stark comparison -- yet by the most apples-to-apples measurement of how both candidates have voted in Congress, Guinta scored a 96 percent partisan unity with Republicans during his term in Congress, which is hardly of a big contrast. We rate the .
|
9,378 | 3 |
Says "Nick Rahall voted with Obama 94 percent of the time.
|
September 8, 2014
|
voting record
|
national republican congressional committee
|
National Republican Congressional Committee
|
national
| 4 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 14 | 9 |
a campaign ad
|
The NRCC ad said, "Nick Rahall voted with Obama 94 percent of the time." Rahall did indeed vote with Obama 94 percent of the time -- but that was in 2009, a fact that is footnoted in the ad, albeit in small type. Between 2010 and 2013, Rahall’s voting record was less closely aligned with Obama, bottoming out at 58 percent in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context, so we rate it .
|
23,128 | 1 |
Video shows Elon Musk and Jack Ma presenting "a new software called 'Quantum AI.'
|
June 5, 2023
|
technology;facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
Rather, they debate the potential risks and rewards of artificial intelligence, with Musk warning that the technology was evolving faster than humans’ ability to understand it, the BBC reported . Third, the video has been doctored to make it appear as though the Quantum AI graphic, among others, appeared onstage with the men. Original footage of the event shows that didn’t happen. Lastly, anyone who clicked on the "learn more" button in the Facebook post would be disappointed to discover a page that mentions not Ma, Musk or Quantum AI, but rather a site called "lollipoop.top." We rate this post .
|
16,513 | 1 |
Says a photo shows a dog who has slept by his master's grave every night for seven years.
|
June 19, 2019
|
animals;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.
| null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 |
a Facebook post
|
A dog named Capitán — Spanish for captain — reportedly slept by his deceased owner’s grave every night. But he was a black German Shepherd mix — not at all similar to the yellow lab depicted in the photo — and he apparently spent most of his time at the cemetery, not, not arriving at its cemetery gates every night. And this all happened in Argentina, not the United States. So while the U.S. Marine Corps motto of Semper Fi, or "always faithful," might apply, the American flag emoji does not. We rate this Facebook post .
|
136 | 5 |
Dodd brought both parties together to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act.
|
November 5, 2007
| null |
chris dodd
|
Chris Dodd is a former U.S. senator from Connecticut, having served in that post from 1981-2011. Dodd also ran unsuccessfully for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and was a member of the U.S. House prior to his service in the Senate. He was born in Connecticut in 1944, graduated from Providence College and earned a law degree from the University of Louisville. Dodd is married to Jackie Marie Clegg. They have two children.
|
national
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Iowa and New Hampshire
|
The bill cleared in 1992, only to be vetoed again by Bush. Again, the veto was not overridden. Finally, in 1993 the legislation cleared for the third time and President Clinton signed it into law. It took compromise to allay the fears of the business community and get enough Republicans to support it. When it passed, the States News Service quoted Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill. saying "Dodd has been a bulldog on this."
|
2,372 | 1 |
A majority of Wisconsinites opposed the government takeover of health care. But Russ Feingold voted for it anyway.
|
September 28, 2010
|
health care;message machine 2010;voting record
|
ron johnson
|
Ron Johnson is a Republican U.S. senator from Wisconsin. A businessman and accountant, Johnson defeated Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in the 2010 election. He is seeking re-election in 2016.
|
wisconsin
| 8 | 18 | 15 | 28 | 11 | 4 |
a campaign TV ad
|
The pollster himself said the description in the ad does not match the question that was asked. What’s more, Johnson’s ad says a "majority of Wisconsinites" were opposed. But the more timely state polls measured only likely voters, not the entire adult population. The broadest poll we found -- measuring the view of Wisconsin adults -- was older, but it did not find a majority in opposition. We rate the statement .
|
15,199 | 3 |
Says Minnesota congressional candidate Jim Hagedorn supports a plan that would take away health care for 340,000 veterans, with 17,000 in Minnesota possibly losing coverage.
|
September 27, 2018
|
health care
|
votevets.org
|
VoteVets is an advocacy group.
|
national
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
a campaign ad
|
VoteVets said Hagedorn supports a plan that would take away "health care for 340,000 veterans. In Minnesota alone, 17,000 veterans could lose their health coverage." Hagedorn says that’s not , in part because of his proposal for broader VA enrollment. It’s an interesting idea, but not on the verge of congressional consideration. Yet the Medicaid cuts have been on the verge of consideration -- and even got House approval -- for some time. PolitiFact examined a number of claims around last year’s discussions. When White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said the House plan "doesn’t get rid of Medicaid expansion," PolitiFact called it , explaining that with reduced federal funding, states would likely find continuing it unsustainable. When Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said "nobody on Medicaid" would have benefits taken away, we ruled it for similar reasons. And when the Senate considered the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, PolitiFact said a by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida -- that "there is no reason for anybody to be losing any of their current benefits under Medicaid" -- was . There were other claims, and you can read them here . VoteVets used two specific numbers in its . The first number, 340,000, is a nationwide figure for veterans in the Medicaid expansion pool. There is no way to know if every one of them would lose coverage. As for the 17,000 figure in the ad, it includes all veterans on Medicaid in Minnesota, not just those in the expansion pool. The is based on analyses, and things might turn out differently, especially if states stepped up, as Hagedorn expects. As such, we rate this .
|
16,810 | 1 |
Says a photo shows Pamela Karlan reacting to Hillary Clinton's presidential defeat.
|
December 5, 2019
|
elections;impeachment;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.
| null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 |
a Facebook post
|
But the person in the image is actually Janna DeVylder , who was photographed at an election party in Australia that year. The Des Moines Register reported in January 2017 that DeVylder grew up in Iowa and was living and working in Sydney when Clinton lost to Trump. She had voted absentee for Clinton. The picture of her watching election results quickly became a meme, and she was derided online as the "poster child for the mentally insane Hillary snowflakes. " We rate this Facebook post .
|
618 | 4 |
Joe Biden wrote the Violence Against Women Act ... the rate of domestic violence went down dramatically.
|
August 23, 2008
|
crime
|
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
| 124 | 165 | 163 | 71 | 71 | 9 |
Springfield, Ill
|
A case can be made that domestic violence rates might have dropped without passage of the VAWA. There are, however, some solid reasons to think Biden's law made a difference. A study by the University of Arkansas, for instance, concluded in 2000 that the law's increased funding for civil legal assistance for victims contributed to the decline. Though that study also said economic and demographic factors mattered. Obama never said the law caused all of the decrease, but he implied it, so we will rate this statement .
|
13,124 | 2 |
Says President Donald Trump's travel ban could ban Somalis "from getting relief (from famine) through coming to the United States.
|
March 7, 2017
|
global news service;immigration;foreign policy
|
keith ellison
|
Keith Ellison is a Democratic congressman from Minnesota, representing a district that includes all of Minneapolis and portions of two neighboring counties. In 2017, Ellison became the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee.
| null | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe"
|
Ellison said that people threatened by famine in Somalia could be banned from getting relief through coming to the United States due to Trump administration visa and refugee restrictions. The problem with this is that the famine has little to no bearing on Somali refugee status. Somalis can't apply for refugee status because of famine or drought, experts say. Ellison's statement has an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate this .
|
11,455 | 4 |
70 percent of Americans believe that we are on the wrong path.
|
February 22, 2016
|
elections;polls and public opinion
|
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
| 11 | 16 | 24 | 23 | 7 | 5 |
a television interview
|
His team backed up this statement with reliable poll results from the Associated Press. But many other polls reported a lower number, closer to 60 percent. What’s more, the percent of Americans who think the country is on the track has hovered above 60 percent for the last three years. This statement is accurate but needs additional information or context. That’s our definition of .
|
20,650 | 0 |
Says Vice President Kamala Harris called the unvaccinated "dirty Trump people.
|
December 7, 2021
|
facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
|
instagram posts
|
Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.
|
national
| 3 | 3 | 15 | 51 | 405 | 140 |
an Instagram post
|
Real Raw News includes a disclaimer on its "About Us" page that tells readers its website contains "humor, parody and satire." "Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes," the disclaimer reads. "This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice of legal counsel." We rate this !
|
11,937 | 5 |
Says Donald Trump's proposed tax treatment of hedge fund managers "makes the current loophole even worse.
|
June 21, 2016
|
taxes
|
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
| 72 | 76 | 70 | 43 | 31 | 9 |
a speech
|
Clinton said Trump’s proposed tax rate for hedge fund managers "makes the current loophole even worse." She has a point. By setting a lower tax rate for income from business partnerships, Trump’s tax plan would benefit many hedge fund managers. Though the plan would cut tax rates for middle-class families as well, the cuts that would apply to most hedge fund managers are steeper and their resulting tax rate is lower. Trump promised that his tax plan would roll back advantages for hedge fund managers. Instead, in most cases, it would improve their position. We rate the statement .
|
20,629 | 1 |
Because of omicron, "the Biden administration has decided to leave the U.S. southern border completely open.
|
November 26, 2021
|
immigration;facebook fact-checks
|
the gateway pundit
|
The Gateway Pundit is a conservative website.
| null | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 3 |
an article
|
Homeland Security announced July 26 that it would quickly turn back migrant families that immigration officials determine do not qualify for asylum during a fast-tracked screening process. On Dec. 2, after the Gateway Pundit article was posted, the Biden administration announced it would reimplement the Migrant Protection Protocols. Also known as Remain in Mexico, the Trump-era policy required people seeking asylum without proper documentation to wait in Mexico for their immigration court date. The U.S. would also send migrants back to Mexico while their asylum claims are considered. The that the U.S.-Mexico border is completely open is .
|
11,943 | 2 |
President Barack Obama attended "an Islamic madrassa.
|
June 27, 2016
|
education;islam
|
pat robertson
|
Marion Gordon (Pat) Robertson is a conservative Christian businessman, broadcaster, educator and former Southern Baptist minister. He is chairman of the Christian Broadcast Network and CEO of Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va.
He was born in 1930 in Lexington, Va., the son of Willis Robertson, a long-serving U.S. senator. He received a B.A. in history from Washington & Lee University and a law degree from Yale University. Robertson founded CBN in 1960 and became host of The 700 Club, a Christian news broadcast. He founded CBN University in 1977 and it was reneamed Regent University in 1989. In 1988, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president.
|
virginia
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
a TV broadcast
|
Robertson said Obama attended an "Islamic madrassa." The Congressional Research Service notes that madrassas are Islamic religious schools and in recent years sometimes have been defined as breeding grounds that promote Islamic extremism and terrorism. Robertson plays bait-and-switch with definitions. He says the president attended an "Islamic madrassa" while accusing him of being weak on terrorism, protective of Islamic nations, and viewing the U.S. as "an oppressor." He dials it back when pressed for details, noting that madrassa, in Arabic, simply means "school." Robertson has a slight leg to stand on in that Obama, as a child in Indonesia, went to a public school where a majority of the students were Muslim. In a 2004 memoir, Obama described it as a "Muslim school." And the future president, as part of the curriculum, spent two hours a week in classes about Islam. But Robertson doesn’t tell his viewers the larger part of the story: The school was non-sectarian; it celebrated Christian and Islamic holidays; and that the school offered separate religion classes where Muslim and Christian students could learn about their faiths. So we rate Robertson’s statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/604c3bd5-ce40-4a99-ab56-76cc73b7713f
|
1,828 | 5 |
Says he "fought against $3 billion in cuts to public education since 2003.
|
June 10, 2010
|
education
|
dubose porter
|
DuBose Porter, a Democrat, was a longtime state legislator in Georgia and newspaper executive.
|
georgia
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
for DuBose Porter's gubernatorial campaign
|
If you think it is a cut, you might believe the $3 billion number is correct because if the state fails to follow the QBE formula, they're shortchanging schools. Or you might think the formula is bunk and that it's important to give the state credit for increasing the overall amount by about $1 billion. Porter has consistently objected to what he saw as cuts to k-12 education that were the result of QBE funding shortfalls. He did so aggressively, calling out the governor by name. We rate Porter's statement .
|
18,327 | 1 |
It cost taxpayers $120,000 to fly Nancy (Pelosi) to get her hair done.
|
September 3, 2020
|
facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
|
national
| 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a text post
|
In 2010, we also debunked claims of Pelosi raking up a $100,000 bar tab on her plane rides. Each member of Congress receives a budget called the Members’ Representational Allowance, which covers "official office expenses" including "travel between a member’s district or state and Washington, D.C." Members who live in districts far from Washington, such as Pelosi, get a little more than members who live closer to the capital. We could find no that Pelosi’s day at the salon cost taxpayers more than $100,000. The Facebook post makes an . We rate it .
|
4,554 | 3 |
In Georgia, "hard-earned lottery dollars are doled out to the scion[s] of wealthy families.
|
October 28, 2011
|
education
|
rainbow/push coalition
|
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a civil rights organization founded by Jesse Jackson. It is based in Chicago.
|
georgia
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
a press release
|
Still, it’s not fair to suggest that the program takes from the poor and gives to the rich, or the "scion[s] of wealthy families," as Rainbow/PUSH said. Middle-income families are among the program’s greatest beneficiaries. Lower-income and poor families do receive a notable share of the scholarships. Rainbow/PUSH is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. That’s our definition for .
|
12,456 | 2 |
Says Hillary Clinton "gave up 20 percent of America's uranium supply to Russia.
|
September 28, 2016
|
energy;foreign policy;military;nuclear
|
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.
|
wisconsin
| 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 |
a speech
|
The reference is to Russia’s nuclear power agency buying a controlling interest in a Toronto-based company. That company has mines, mills and tracts of land in Wyoming, Utah and other U.S. states equal to about 20 percent of U.S. uranium production capacity (not produced uranium). Clinton was secretary of state at the time, but she didn’t have the power to approve or reject the deal. The State Department was only one of nine federal agencies that signed off on the deal, and only Obama had the power to veto it. For a statement that contains only an element of , our rating is . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/cbdc6c17-60c1-4ca0-b4e9-84c404095d12
|
13,293 | 2 |
The conservative proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act "lowers premiums by giving New York the freedom to end Obamacare's costly and ridiculous rules.
|
April 15, 2017
|
health care
|
club for growth
|
The Club for Growth is an anti-tax group.
|
new york
| 4 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
an ad aired on radio and television
|
An ad from conservative group Club for Growth says a new plan to replace the Affordable Care Act "lowers premiums by giving New York the freedom to end Obamacare’s costly and rules." That is literally , but ignores that New York state already enforces most of the same insurance regulations at the state level. There’s an element of in its , but it would take major actions at the state level to become a reality. That is unlikely. So we rate the .
|
13,644 | 0 |
Says Debbie Wasserman Schultz "going to mental hospital after what she did overnight desperate to escape arrest.
|
July 28, 2017
|
congress;fake news;crime
|
us daily news 24
|
USDAILYNEWS24 is a right-wing website that compiles reports from other websites and news outlets.
|
florida
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
a headline
|
A US Daily News 24 article headline states ,"Wasserman Schultz going to mental hospital after what she did overnight desperate to escape arrest." While there are some statements in the article itself which are accurate -- including that a man who did IT work for her was arrested -- there is no to support the headline. The article contains no information to prove that she is going to a mental hospital, only allegations that she is an "absolute wreck." There is also no in the article that she has tried to escape arrest. The U.S. Capitol Police said in February that no members were under investigation. We rate this headline .
|
17,300 | 1 |
Says COVID-19 came to the United States in 2019.
|
March 12, 2020
|
china;corrections and updates;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
But current indicates that COVID-19 originated in China in November and has since spread around the world. We rate these posts . Correction, March 19, 2020: An earlier version of this post had an date for when the first COVID-19 case was reported to the World Health Organization from Wuhan, China. The story has been updated.
|
14,199 | 2 |
Mexico is "now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world.
|
January 18, 2018
|
immigration;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
| 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 |
a tweet
|
Trump tweeted that Mexico is "now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world." That is the case for journalists, according to two groups that track retaliatory murders. But it is not for the risk to the broader public, which is not mentioned or clarified in Trump’s Twitter feed. Experts offered homicide measures as the best measure of a country’s security. By that token, Mexico ranked 10th in the United Nations’ homicides measures in 2015. Mexico’s homicide count reached a record peak last year, according to government statistics. While certainly a cause for concern, that’s doesn’t make Mexico the "number one most dangerous country." We rate this statement .
|
16,866 | 1 |
Says a photo from JFK airport shows "our troops leaving to protect each one of us and our country.
|
January 5, 2020
|
iran;military;facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
One Facebook account, apparently frustrated with the misinformation, posted the image on Jan. 5 with this note: "Stop sharing this photo saying soldiers leaving for Iran this is a photo of basic training soldiers returning from holiday leave. There is a drill sergeant directly in the middle. " The Facebook post we’re checking here gives a different impression, and leads users to believe these soldiers are being deployed overseas. It also names the airport. We rate it .
|
13,604 | 3 |
Says President Donald Trump "has signed more laws cutting through federal red tape than any president in American history and has already saved businesses and families up to $18 billion in red tape costs every year.
|
July 18, 2017
|
financial regulation;government regulation;regulation
|
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
| 5 | 7 | 21 | 12 | 25 | 2 |
a speech
|
Pence said Trump "has signed more laws cutting through federal red tape than any President in American history and has already saved businesses and families up to $18 billion in red tape costs every year." Whether Trump has signed more laws cutting red tape depends upon how you count legislation. Trump did sign a record number of laws rolling back regulations under the Congressional Review Act, but that’s not the only way to count deregulatory action. Also, Pence is counting eggs before they hatch in using an $18 billion estimate of total savings. The deadlines for compliance for most of the measures he annulled had yet to go into effect, and the fate of many of the executive actions that would back past regulation remains unclear. We rate this statement .
|
1,834 | 1 |
When he worked for AT&T, he "was responsible for large parts in a $5 billion organization.
|
April 27, 2010
| null |
john albers
|
John Albers is running as a Republican for state Senate in District 56, which covers the Roswell area.
|
georgia
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | null |
Only this final description squared with Lucent employment records. In response, Albers said PolitiFact Georgia focused too closely on one word—“large”—and re-asserted that he played a significant role at AT&T. He added that we were giving too much credence to attacks made by his opponents and their backers. Albers' claims that he was part of the billionaire-dollar business executive set were wishful, at best. We rate his statement .
|
111 | 4 |
Mitt Romney boasts that he is "proud to be the only major candidate for president to sign the tax pledge. The others have not.
|
October 16, 2007
|
taxes
|
mitt romney
|
Mitt Romney is a U.S. senator from Utah. He ran for president in 2012 as the Republican nominee, losing to incumbent President Barack Obama. Prior to that, Romney served one term as governor of Massachusetts, elected to the post in 2002. He was born in 1947 in Michigan, where his father was governor from 1963 to 1969. Romney graduated from Brigham Young University and received both a law degree and an MBA from Harvard University. Romney helped found the investment firm Bain Capital in 1984, which launched or rebuilt such companies as Staples and Dominos Pizza. Romney managed the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from 1999-2002. He ran for president in 2008 but lost the Republican nomination. He and his wife, Ann, have five sons, Tagg, Craig, Matt, Ben and Josh.
|
national
| 31 | 33 | 58 | 35 | 32 | 19 |
a radio ad
|
Every Republican candidate since 1988 has signed the pledge, according to the group. But so far in the 2008 contest, other top GOP presidential contenders have not, including Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and John McCain. Romney has opposed a pledge in the past. In 2002, while running for governor of Massachusetts, he said he opposed all tax increases in principle but was not willing to put that in writing. His spokesman at the time called such pledges "government by gimmickry."
|
18,043 | 2 |
Says John James "wants to allow insurance companies to discriminate against people with preexisting conditions.
|
June 18, 2020
| null |
afscme
|
AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is the largest public employee and health care workers union in the United States.
|
michigan
| 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
an attack ad
|
The attack ad against James claims he "wants to allow insurance companies to discriminate against people with preexisting conditions." This misstates James’ stated positions on health care. James has called for repealing and replacing the ACA. He has not indicated his support for a specific health care reform package. James has not held elective office and so has never had to take a vote on Republican proposals to replace the ACA that would weaken protections for people with preexisting conditions achieved through the ACA. James has said many times that he supports a health insurance system that covers and protects people with preexisting conditions. His critics have a legitimate point that he could provide more detail on how he’d achieve that position, but this ad goes too far in stating that James supports allowing insurance companies to deny coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions. We rate this .
|
12,770 | 2 |
Says that when San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags, "you saw the number of instances of people going to the ER with things like salmonella and other related illnesses" spike.
|
October 10, 2016
|
environment;health care;public health
|
james quintero
|
James Quintero of the conservative-leaning Texas Public Policy Foundation says he's focused his research efforts on: state & local government spending, debt, taxes, financial transparency, annexation, and pension reform.
|
texas
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
a panel discussion at SXSW Eco
|
Quintero said that when San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags, "you saw the number of instances of people going to the ER with things like salmonella and other related illnesses" spike. This declaration relied on a study that took a correlation between ER cases and San Francisco’s phased-in bag ban to declare ties between the reported illnesses and the ban. However, the county raised serious questions about the study methodology and conclusions, which were overly simplistic. We rate this statement . – 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.
|
2,928 | 2 |
The financial regulatory bill "will kill jobs.
|
July 15, 2010
|
economy;financial regulation;regulation
|
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
| 5 | 7 | 21 | 12 | 25 | 2 |
a press release
|
Unfortunately, there is no way to know. Still, Pence's comment ignores the principle that preventing financial shocks is job-saving. On balance, we rate the statement . Editor's note: This statement was rated when it was published. On July 27, 2011, we changed the name for the rating to . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/eb3196ca-e4dd-4009-863e-dbaa192dc592
|
6,051 | 5 |
In June 2012 "we actually had more people go on Social Security Disability [85,000] ... than the 80,000 jobs that were created.
|
August 1, 2012
|
economy;jobs;social security
|
allen west
|
Allen West announced in July 2021 that he is running for the Republican primary for Texas governor. He served for about a year as chairman of the Texas Republican Party, stepping down in June 2021. West represented Florida's 22nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. Lieutenant Colonel West retired from the Army in 2004 after 22 years of service.
|
rhode island
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
a radio interview
|
Rep. Allen West said that the number of people who became recipients of Social Security Disability in June (85,000) was higher than the number of jobs created that month (80,000). West quoted the numbers accurately. We rate his statement .
|
19,894 | 3 |
It was "the left" that "finally" made Juneteenth a national holiday.
|
June 17, 2021
|
race and ethnicity;facebook fact-checks
|
diamond and silk
|
Diamond and Silk (real names Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson) are Pro-Donald Trump activists.
| null | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
a Facebook post
|
On June 15, the Senate — now split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris able to break tie votes — unanimously approved June 19 as a new federal holiday. The next day, the House passed the bill, 415-14 , with all Democrats and 195 Republicans voting yes. Biden, a Democrat, signed it June 17. The post is partially accurate, but takes things out of context. We rate it .
|
1,829 | 4 |
Says U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul is "the sixth-richest person in Congress.
|
June 25, 2010
|
candidate biography
|
ted ankrum
|
Ted Ankrum is a retired Navy captain who ran for the U.S. House in 2010.
|
texas
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
a speech
|
Other Texans in the money: U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Irving, ranked 25th with an estimated net worth of $11.89 million, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, came in 35th at $7.14 million and Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, landed 46th at $5.91 million. Summing up (ahem): Ankrum misspoke because McCaul, by the latest ranking, is the the sixth-richest member of the House, not Congress. Still, the punch line is about the same; McCaul was better off than most colleagues. We rate Ankrum’s statement .
|
6,804 | 3 |
Says in fiscal year 2011, the state had "a projected $11 billion deficit.
|
January 8, 2013
|
deficit;state budget
|
chris christie
|
Chris Christie announced June 6, 2023 that he is running for the Republican nomination for president. Christie was the governor of New Jersey and a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. As governor, Christie won office in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Prior to that, he was U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2008.
|
new jersey
| 21 | 20 | 27 | 11 | 17 | 8 |
a State of the State address
|
Christie said in his State of the State address that New Jersey in fiscal budget year 2011 faced a projected $11 billion budget. The governor also said that he, with the Legislature’s help, was able to balance the budget. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget every year and Christie met that obligation. But the deficit figure Christie cites refers to a $10.7 billion projected structural deficit, a calculation Christie used to his advantage in his first budget year but has since dismissed as the old way of budgeting. Now, "the baseline is zero" for budgeting, the governor has said. That’s important context Christie’s statement lacks. As it did in previous fact-checks, this statement rates . To comment on this story, go to NJ.com .
|
5,871 | 1 |
75 percent of the Obamacare tax falls on the middle class.
|
July 3, 2012
|
health care;message machine 2012;taxes
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
|
national
| 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
on the Internet
|
The Facebook post said that "75 percent of the Obamacare tax falls on the middle class." While it’s that 75 to 80 percent of the households paying the individual mandate penalty might be described as "middle class," those households will only foot 45 percent of the bill -- a big difference. In addition, the Facebook post is worded vaguely enough to suggest that 75 percent of all the taxes in the health care bill will fall on the middle class. And that would be . We rate the statement .
|
18,198 | 1 |
Kamala Harris refused to be sworn in using the Bible.
|
August 12, 2020
|
candidate biography;religion;facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
|
california
| 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
Another photo shows Biden, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and Harris’ running mate, shaking hands with the new senator while her husband "holds the Bible," the caption says . In this clip of the ceremonial swearing-in, Biden can be heard telling Harris to put her "left hand on the Bible. " Growing up, Harris attended services at a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple, according to the Associated Press . As an adult, she identifies as a Baptist "and brought another faith into her life in 2014," the story says, "when she married Douglas Emhoff, a Jewish attorney." We rate this Facebook post .
|
8,191 | 2 |
Says Marco Rubio endorsed Obamacare for his own family.
|
December 13, 2013
|
health care
|
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.
|
national
| 15 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 11 | 2 |
an op-ed
|
Crist said Rubio endorsed Obamacare for his family. He did sign up for insurance on the Washington marketplace, but we think calling that an endorsement is too strong. Rubio certainly doesn’t support Obamacare, and has pushed for its repeal. He’s signed up through the marketplace simply to abide by the law. We rate this .
|
14,305 | 1 |
Forty percent of the guns in this country are sold without any background checks.
|
February 18, 2018
|
guns
|
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.
|
florida
| 21 | 62 | 48 | 26 | 18 | 0 |
a statement on NBC's "Meet the Press"
|
Sanders said, "Forty percent of the guns in this country are sold without any background checks." That statistic is outdated. It stems from a 20-year-old survey that has been overtaken by another study that shows that 22 percent of gun buyers obtained their weapons without background checks. That’s just over half the percentage in the zombie Sanders cited. We rate this .
|
14,258 | 1 |
Heitkamp High-Fives Schumer After Voting Against 20-Week Abortion Ban.
|
January 29, 2018
|
abortion;candidate biography
|
say anything blog
|
Conservative North Dakota blog
|
national
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
a blog post
|
A SayAnythingBlog.com headline said, "Heitkamp High-Fives Schumer After Voting Against 20-Week Abortion Ban." The headline suggests the celebration of a pro-abortion victory, but that’s not what the footage shows. The video shows an awkward hand waving-turned-holding between Schumer and Heitkamp on a Monday night. Both senators said they did not mention the vote on the floor, and that they were simply greeting each other. Port provided no that the two were celebrating the vote. We rate this statement .
|
1,097 | 1 |
The Obama administration's cap-and-trade plan would create "a $1,761 yearly energy tax.
|
September 16, 2009
|
environment;cap and trade;climate change;energy
|
lamar alexander
|
Lamar Alexander is the senior senator from Tennessee.
|
national
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
a press release
|
His statement that households will pay $1,761 in new taxes every year is based on a blogger's assumptions and overly simple math. The estimate does not account for revenue that will be returned to consumers in the form of rebates and other efficiency measures. Furthermore, the number is based on old numbers; the Treasury estimate was written on the premise that all permits would be sold, which, ultimately, is not the form that the Waxman-Markey legislation has taken. Finally, both Alexander and McCullagh portray money raised by selling these permits as a tax. We rate Alexander's .
|
21,695 | 1 |
Antarctica is not a continent.
|
July 17, 2022
|
facebook fact-checks
|
viral image
|
Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.
| null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 |
a Facebook post
|
It’s covered with ice with little exposed rock. The National Science Foundation says the highest mountains rise to elevations over 14,000 feet, about the height of the Rocky Mountains but it’s Antarctica’s thick ice sheets that make the continent the highest continent in the world. It’s also the southernmost continent and home to the South Pole. The British Antarctic Survey calls it "a cold desert. " We rate this post .
|
631 | 2 |
Barack Obama and Joe Biden oppose new drilling at home and oppose nuclear power.
|
August 26, 2008
|
energy
|
republican national committee
|
The Republican National Committee is the national arm of the Republican Party.
|
national
| 4 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 2 |
a statement on the RNC Web site
|
He's also said that he hopes developing technology will provide better answers to the problem of nuclear waste storage. Biden's position is similar; he has said nuclear energy "must be part of our future" but that "serious safety, security and waste issues must be solved." Having concerns about safety, though, doesn't mean you're against nuclear energy, and Obama and Biden have specifically said that they support nuclear energy. Obama's position on drilling has some flexibility as well. Given that much of the RNC's statement is not correct, we rate their statement .
|
1,943 | 1 |
Should Democrats get their way, every income tax bracket will increase on Jan. 1, 2011. Every single one.
|
July 20, 2010
|
taxes
|
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
| 5 | 7 | 21 | 12 | 25 | 2 |
a press conference
|
So it's highly for him to say that Democrats actually want to see all the bill's cuts expire. Indeed, Pence's comment verges on a scare tactic. While Pence would have been entirely accurate to say, "If the Democrats fail to extend the expiring tax cuts, all tax brackets will increase," he didn't. What he did say merits a ruling of . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/c0d67665-83ed-4917-9c62-18f8b2669155
|
7,476 | 2 |
On immigration reform, Marco Rubio "all along has been saying, 'We have to have border security first' " and then "he gets on Spanish TV, he ends up saying, 'No, no. That will never get in the way.'
|
June 16, 2013
|
immigration;candidate biography
|
dana rohrabacher
|
U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, was first elected to Congress in 1988.
|
national
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
an interview on WND Radio
|
Rohrabacher claimed on WND Radio that Rubio "all along has been saying, 'We have to have border security first. And then, he, you know, when he gets on Spanish TV, he ends up saying, 'No, no. That will never get in the way' or, 'Legalization status isn't contingent on border control.’" We found, instead, that Rubio has explained the Senate bill’s multistep process, starting with a border security plan, in his English-language interviews with conservative hosts. He clarified that immigrants would be eligible to apply for provisional status at the same time. In Spanish, he also emphasized border security, but explained that immigrants would be eligible for provisional status — "legalization" — before the Obama administration left office. Rubio emphasized different parts of the bill’s process depending on his audience — particularly what he described as happening "first." But his explanations described the bill’s provisions the same way, in both English and in Spanish. We rate Rohrabacher’s .
|
8,417 | 3 |
A government report shows that alternatives to the Keystone XL pipeline "are worse" for the environment.
|
February 3, 2014
|
environment;climate change;energy;punditfact
|
ralph reed
|
Ralph Reed is a conservative political strategist and is founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition.
| null | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
a CNN "Crossfire" segment
|
Reed said the State Department report shows "the science is clear" that "alternatives to the pipeline are worse," pointing to higher emissions from alternate transportation options of tanker trucks and rail. Reed didn’t pull the numbers out of anywhere, although he did mess them up a bit, for instance by saying "tanker trucks" instead of sea "tankers" described in one of the report’s alternative scenarios. As to his general point that the pipeline option is better in terms of CO2 emissions than projections for other options, yes, those alternatives are worse. But besides getting his numbers crossed, he was also a bit clumsy in describing "alternatives" and saying that if "you're protecting the environment, you should build the pipeline." Reed assumes that the pipeline should be built, but environmentalists say the best alternative for the environment would be to do nothing and slow tar sands production. Reed’s is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. We rate it .
|
16,290 | 1 |
A Donald Trump supporter held a sign at his rally "mocking a dead migrant child.
|
July 4, 2019
|
immigration;facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
This Facebook post claims that the woman in the picture is a Trump supporter "mocking a dead child." We don’t know the woman’s political affiliation. But it’s clear from reporting and her own words that she is not mocking a dead migrant child. Rather, she talks about how she’s saddened by what’s happening at the border, and how we should celebrate the United States as a country of immigrants. We rate this Facebook post as .
|
5,244 | 3 |
Says Gov. Scott Walker "didn't balance the budget" so "we now have a larger state deficit 14 months into (his) term than we did when he was elected.
|
February 29, 2012
|
state budget
|
kathleen falk
|
Kathleen Falk, a Wisconsin Democrat, lost a bid in 2012 for the Democratic nomination to run against Gov. Scott Walker in a recall election. Falk served as the Dane County executive from 1997 to 2011. She ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002 and for state attorney general in 2006.
|
wisconsin
| 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
an appearance at Marquette University
|
That’s more stringent than the cash-flow approach the state has long used. Our conclusion Falk criticized Walker for a deficit that has opened up in his first budget. She is correct in saying it’s larger than the deficit Walker had to close in his predecessor’s last budget. But her statement that Walker "didn’t balance the budget as we know" is . We rate her statement .
|
21,086 | 1 |
Video shows Volodymr Zelenskyy singing "Endless Love" with his wife.
|
March 8, 2022
|
corrections and updates;facebook fact-checks;ukraine
|
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.
| null | 4 | 13 | 35 | 53 | 711 | 331 |
a Facebook post
|
These music video posts, however, were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook .) We searched online for "Endless Love duet covers" and found the video was posted on YouTube two weeks ago by Boyce Avenue , a band from Florida known for their cover songs. The singer identified as Zelenskyy is actually lead vocalist Alejandro Manzano, and the woman identified as his wife is actually Connie Talbot . We rate claims that this video shows Zelenskyy and his wife .
|
16,940 | 0 |
Says the pens Nancy Pelosi used to sign the articles of impeachment cost "$2,025 per pen.
|
January 16, 2020
|
corrections and updates;impeachment;facebook fact-checks
|
facebook posts
|
Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
| null | 24 | 50 | 108 | 245 | 1,410 | 570 |
a Facebook post
|
We would expect that Republicans outraged over the tone of the signing ceremony would also balk at the $60,750 price tag. But reviewing stories from the Washington Post , the Associated Press , Fox News , The Hill , BBC , and the Washington Times , among others, we saw no note of the pen’s price. It’s not unusual for lawmakers and presidents to gift signing pens though in this case Pelosi’s critics argue it wasn’t appropriate. As the BBC notes , then-President Barack Obama used 22 pens to sign the Affordable Care Act, and Republican senators kept pens as souvenirs after signing oaths for then-President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1998. We rate this Facebook post .
|
11,700 | 2 |
Under a new federal regulation, it will cost Pinellas County "$31 million to fix a single ditch.
|
April 25, 2016
|
environment;government regulation
|
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
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
an Orlando debate
|
Jolly said that under a new federal regulation, it will cost Pinellas County "$31 million to fix a single ditch." His figure comes from a 2014 report that claimed it would cost the county that much to make a stormwater ditch in Pinellas Park compliant with Clean Water Act pollution guidelines under a new rule. But the report didn’t specify why it would cost so much, and didn’t reflect changes the EPA made to the rule in 2015. Jolly didn’t make up the $31 million estimate, but his wording makes it sound as if the EPA is definitely forcing crippling regulatory costs on the county. The agency denies the rule change affects how ditches are classified, but the scope of the new rule is still far from settled. Debate abounds about how specific waterways would be affected by the final rule, which currently is under a court stay pending litigation. There’s no irrefutable of an imminent (and expensive) federal takeover of the ditch in question. We rate his statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/fa52d834-16ed-4684-b426-bc07f5e3e85a
|
1,323 | 3 |
Under (Rick Perry's) watch as governor, over six million Texans have no health care coverage, including one million children, homeowners suffer from the highest insurance rates in the country, and college tuition has skyrocketed 136 percent.
|
January 20, 2010
|
children;economy;education;health care
|
democratic national committee
|
The Democratic National Committee is the national organization of Democrats.
|
texas
| 7 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
a press release
|
But the same analysis states that total tuition, meaning board-set tuition levels added to baseline amounts set by lawmakers, increased 69 percent on average. Separately, the Austin American-Statesman’s Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, who covers higher education, has tapped state figures to conclude that average tuition and mandatory fees — every student faces such fees — at the state’s public universities climbed 86 percent, to $6,300 a year, by fall 2008. All in all, the Democratic spokesman landed his health-insurance blows. But he slipped when he claimed Texas currently has the nation's highest home insurance rates and overshot on changes in tuition. We rate Ramirez’s statement .
|
530 | 1 |
E-mail quotes Maureen Dowd column that Obama has received suspicious contributions from Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.
|
July 8, 2008
|
ethics
|
chain email
|
Chain emails circulate on the Internet, usually anonymously, making a variety of political claims.
|
national
| 6 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 44 | 107 |
a chain e-mail sent to many people
|
The Obama campaign says it follows federal law and does not accept donations from foreign citizens. Donors must certify that "I am a United States citizen or a lawfully-admitted permanent resident." Because the column is and provides no factual to back up its assertion about foreign contributions, we don't consider there is enough to address the allegation here. The issue for the -O-Meter is whether Dowd wrote the column. She didn't, which makes the .
|
15,473 | 1 |
Says the United States loses "250 Billion Dollars a year on illegal immigration, not including the terrible drug flow. Top Border Security, including a Wall, is $25 Billion. Pays for itself in two months.
|
December 4, 2018
|
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
| 36 | 85 | 120 | 194 | 360 | 179 |
a tweet
|
Trump tweeted, "Our Country losses 250 Billion Dollars a year on illegal immigration, not including the terrible drug flow. Top Border Security, including a Wall, is $25 Billion. Pays for itself in two months." The White House did not provide data or any other information backing Trump’s assessment. Several economics and immigration experts said they were unaware of any report stating that $250 billion figure. It’s difficult to peg an exact cost of illegal immigration, but even high estimates are significantly lower. Trump’s that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months isn’t supported by the facts, either. Trump’s is . We rate it .
|
9,673 | 3 |
Every single day in this country, 1,000 people are deported and the vast majority of those people that are deported aren't criminals.
|
November 9, 2014
|
immigration;elections;punditfact
|
jose diaz-balart
|
Jose Diaz-Balart is the anchor for Telemundo's Noticiero news program and is a show host with MSNBC.
| null | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
a broadcast of NBC's "Meet the Press"
|
Diaz-Balart said that 1,000 people are deported each day and the vast majority are not criminals. Diaz-Balart is right that 1,000 people a day on average are formally removed from the country. In fact, in 2013, it was 1,200 per day. But he reached too far by saying the "vast majority" are not criminals. Strictly speaking, non-criminal removals only slightly outnumber the people removed under the cloud of a criminal charge. Those crimes in many cases include entering the country illegally or overstaying a visa. But they are still crimes. The statement is partially accurate. We rate it .
|
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