News Reporter: Fact Checker: Did a bunch of Democrats boycott AIPAC?

Friday, 29 March 2019

Fact Checker: Did a bunch of Democrats boycott AIPAC?

Democracy Dies in Darkness

The truth behind the rhetoric

Did a bunch of Democrats boycott AIPAC?

Vice President Pence accused eight Democrats running for president of "boycotting" AIPAC's conference this year. That's a a big claim, and "boycott" sounds a lot like a reference to the BDS movement ("Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions") that aims to pressure Israel on its treatment of Palestinians.

Pence didn't name names, but he may have been referring to Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Jay Inslee, Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. This eightsome was listed by MoveOn or the Associated Press as not attending AIPAC's conference. (We found that four other Democrats in the race also skipped the conference or were not invited.)

But there are some problems with Pence's calculation.

Only Sanders explicitly said he was not attending because of policy differences. A spokesman said he was "concerned about the platform AIPAC is providing for leaders who have expressed bigotry and oppose a two-state solution." The rest cited scheduling conflicts, met with AIPAC representatives separately but did not attend the conference, or otherwise gave no indication they were "boycotting" the event.

Pence's choice of words carried big connotations not supported by the facts, so we awarded him Two Pinocchios.

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For Trump, a fleeting record on black unemployment lasts forever

President Trump has crowed and crowed — dozens of times — about reaching the lowest unemployment rate for African Americans in all of U.S. history. He once asked his Twitter followers to inform the rapper Jay-Z about this milestone. He also repeats this talking point in rallies, speeches and interviews.

It's a Three Pinocchio claim. The black unemployment rate reached 5.9 percent in May 2018, the lowest on record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began to keep track of this statistic in 1972.

But before 1972, the Labor Department kept track of black unemployment with a slightly different methodology. And if you trace those numbers back to 1969, Trump's record quickly evaporates. It's not the lowest in history.

Moreover, Trump keeps patting himself on the back for a pattern of declines in the black unemployment rate that began under President Barack Obama and that has continued apace during Trump's term. He neglects to mention that the black unemployment rate has been climbing for the last three months and has erased all gains notched over the last year.

We're always looking for fact-check suggestions.

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Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup.

— Salvador Rizzo