Fact-Checker Report:
Trump’s 5 Favorite False Claims Debunked
The Washington
Post first
started their “Fact Checker” column on Sept. 19, 2007,
“as a feature during the 2008 presidential campaign,” and revived it
as a permanent feature on Jan. 11, 2011.
In August 2017 The Washington
Post added a Facebook page, “Fact Checker, from The Washington Post,” which has
posted 22 videos so far, beginning with their first episode, “Donald Trump Jr.’s contradictory statements about the
Russia meeting.”
Their latest episode titled: “President
Trump passes 2000 false and misleading claims before the end of his first
year,” was posted this Sunday, 14 January 2018.
As The Washington Post noted in their
description: “As of Jan. 10, President Trump has made 2,001 false or misleading
claims since taking office. He now averages 5.6 per day. Here are the five he
says most regularly.”
Those “false or misleading claims”
include the following:
As
Wapo reported, Trump has made 33 claims so far that the USA is the highest
taxed nation in the world. However, “The Pew Research Center, using 2014 data,
found that the tax bill for Americans, under various scenarios, is below
average for developed countries.”
2.
“The Russia story is fake news.”
Trump
has made “38 claims on the Russia probe,” so far. However, “on January 6, the
leadership of the intelligence community released a declassified report
expressing ‘high confidence’ in the CIA’s judgment that Russia had meddled in
the U.S. election.”
3.
“The Republican tax cut is the highest reduction in taxes in the history of the
country.”
Wapo
reported that Trump has made “55 claims on the biggest tax cut,” however, “Trump’s
tax cut will be the eighth largest tax cut – and even smaller than two tax cuts
passed under Barack Obama.”
4.
“Businesses are returning to the USA.”
Trump
has made “claims on business deals.” However, as Wapo noted: “Trump keeps
taking credit for business decisions made before he took office and that were
unchanged by his presidency.”
5.
“Obamacare is a disaster.”
Trump
has made “61 claims on Obamacare,” however, “The Affordable Care Act is not a
‘total disaster’ and is expected to remain stable for the foreseeable future
according to the Congressional Budget Office.”
The Washington Post concluded the
segment, reporting that “Trump has averaged 5.6 flip-flops, false or misleading
claims per day since taking office.”
Samuel Warde is a writer, social and political activist, and all-around troublemaker.
