Seven Whoppers From Trump’s First 100 Days
A lumberyard could not supply enough wood for this many Pinocchios.
1) “Terrorism and terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe have “gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported,” Feb. 6
We found no support for the idea that the media is hushing up terrorist attacks on U.S. or European soil. The media may sometimes be cautious about assigning religious motivation to a terrorist attack when the facts are unclear or still being investigated. But that’s not the same as covering them up through lack of coverage. We rated this statement Pants on Fire.
2) “I didn’t know Steve (Bannon),” April 11
Trump said that before the presidential campaign, “I didn’t know Steve,” referring to Steve Bannon. That’s contradicted by Trump’s own words and independent reporting. For example, The Washington Post counted nine times that Trump appeared on Bannon’s radio show, and The New Yorker reported that Bannon and Trump met in 2011 to discuss a possible campaign. We rated this claim Pants on Fire.
3) “109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers” were affected by the immigration executive order, Feb. 5
109 refers to the number of people who were in transit when the ban was announced. It doesn’t account for people who tried to board flights to the United States (over 1,200) and were denied, for visas that were revoked (about 60,000 according to the State Department) or for refugees admitted (64,000 in the last two fiscal years). We rated this claim False.
4) Says “the New York Times wrote about” Barack Obama wiretapping Donald Trump during the election, March 15
The New York Times article Trump references says the FBI has used intercepted communications in its investigation of several Trump associates and their ties to Russia. It does not say Obama ordered this surveillance, nor does it say Trump’s own phones were tapped or that he was under surveillance in any way.
Trump took an article about legitimate intelligence investigations and completely distorted it. We rated his claim False.