President Trump's factually flawed USA Today op-ed A string of factually inaccurate statements is nothing new to the president. Our ongoing database has chronicled all of the more...
| |  | | Democracy Dies in Darkness | | | | | | | | | | The truth behind the rhetoric | | | | | | President Trump's factually flawed USA Today op-ed A string of factually inaccurate statements is nothing new to the president. Our ongoing database has chronicled all of the more than 5,000 false and misleading statements he has made since taking office. But penning an op-ed for a major U.S. newspaper full of these same statements is something new. Nearly every sentence in the article, which argued against proposals to extend Medicare to all Americans, contained a misleading statement or falsehood. Many of these claims we've already debunked. Others were aimed at stoking fears or undercutting Democrats. Medicare-for-All is a complex subject and serious questions could be raised about how it would be implemented. But this was not a serious effort to debate those issues. | | Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this e-mail was forwarded to you, sign up here for the weekly newsletter. Hear something fact-checkable? Send it here, we'll check it out. | | The false tale of Planned Parenthood and Supreme Court nominees When CNN's Dana Bash mentioned Planned Parenthood's political arm had denounced Sen. Susan Collins's choice (R-Maine) vote to confirm Brett M. Kavanaugh as partisan, Collins, who is a prominent supporter of abortion rights, defended herself. She told Bash, "I would note that Planned Parenthood opposed three pro-choice justices just because they were nominated by Republican presidents, David Souter, Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Kennedy. They said the same thing: Women will die." Planned Parenthood's political arm didn't begin until 2005 — well after Justices Souter (1990), O'Conner (1989) and Kennedy (1987) were nominated and confirmed. A little digging led us to find Planned Parenthood praised O'Conner, took no position on Kennedy and while it did oppose Justice Souter, it was because they feared his position on Roe — not because of the president who nominated him. Collins's office told us she misspoke. At the Fact Checker we support admitting error, so we withheld Pinocchios from a gaffe that otherwise would have merited Three or Four. | | | Yes, it's more getting more dangerous to be a journalist The disappearance and suspected murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last week is just one example of the increasing dangers journalists face. At least 43 journalists have been killed for their work so far this year. In 2017, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported 262 journalists were imprisoned — the most since the organization started tracking in 2000. Of those, at least 21 journalists were held for "fake news." Press freedoms have been declining globally for the past decade. And with President Trump and other leaders calling journalists "enemies of the people," there are fewer political consequences to slow this trend. | | We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can also reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP, @mmkelly22, @rizzoTK or use #FactCheckThis), or Facebook (Fact Checker). Read about our rating scale here, and sign up here for our weekly Fact Checker newsletter. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. — Meg Kelly | | | Recommended for you | | |  | | | Get The Trailer newsletter | | News and insight on political campaigns around the country, from David Weigel. 435 districts. 50 states. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings. | | Sign Up » | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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