Trump is losing the GOP's popularity contestPresident Trump does not shy away from boasting about his accomplishments — even ones that aren't real. In London this week, he told...
| |  | | Democracy Dies in Darkness | | | | | | | | | | The truth behind the rhetoric | | | | | | Trump is losing the GOP's popularity contest President Trump does not shy away from boasting about his accomplishments — even ones that aren't real. In London this week, he told reporters, "I've had tremendous Republican support. I have a 90 percent — 94 percent approval rating as of this morning in the Republican Party. That's an all-time record. Can you believe that? Isn't that something? I love records. But we have a 94 percent approval rating in the Republican Party." That marked the 14th time he made (and botched) some version of this claim. (He then said it a 15th time the next day.) Among the seven Republican post-World War II presidents, Trump ranks sixth in terms of the highest approval rating achieved. Only Gerald Ford was lower, according the Gallup poll. The true record-holder is George W. Bush, who earned a 99 percent approval rating among Republicans following the 9/11 attacks. Second place goes to this father, George H.W. Bush, with a 97 percent approval rating. With his 90 percent approval rating among Republicans, Trump picks up Four Pinocchios. |  | | 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. What Iran and Ohio have in common 2020 hopeful Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) pointed to a surprising statistic to illustrate racial inequality: "An African American baby born in Youngstown, Ohio, has a higher infant mortality rate than a baby born in Iran." Needless to say, it got our attention. When measuring infant mortality for all races combined, Youngstown has a lower rate than Iran. But when isolating the data for African Americans, the infant mortality rate in Youngstown exceeds the rate in Iran. We decided to fact check Ryan's claim because the disproportionately high mortality rate for African American infants and mothers has raised public-health concerns for decades in the United States, not just in Youngstown or in Ohio, but the reasons are not fully understood. One recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the states that chose to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act managed to reduce the disparity between black and white infant mortality rates. For this unexpectedly accurate claim, Ryan earns a rare Geppetto Checkmark. | |  | | A doctor's Rx to stop fake health news If fake health news spreads on social media, why not combat it there? Austin Chiang, who serves as the first chief medical social media officer at a top hospital, argues that's exactly what needs to happen, and he's recruiting more health professionals to the cause. CNBC reported on Chiang's quest: "Most consumers do not pore over the latest scientific literature. So health professionals need to take the time to start connecting with them where they do spend their time — and that's on Facebook and Instagram." In other words, doctors and medical researchers need to tweet, gram and post publicly a whole lot more to combat the tide of fake health news. 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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