When asking Donald Trump supporters what it is they love so much about the Republican candidate, the most common response I hear is, "The guy just tells it like it is." Well, I'm sorry to disappoint these individuals, but that's anything but the case. Let's take a look at fact-checker Politifact's file on Donald Trump, shall we?
Here are the following rulings Trump has received on the site:
True: 1 (1%)
Mostly True: 7 (7%)
Half True: 15 (14%)
Mostly False: 18 (17%)
False: 43 (41%)
Pants on Fire: 21 (20%)
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, of the 105 graded statements made by Donald Trump, just 8 were ruled as all or mostly true, or 8%. On the other hand, 82 were graded as pants on fire, false, or mostly false, or 78%.
Here are the 21 pants-on-fire claims Trump has made:
- "I don't know anything about David Duke."
- "Says Ted Cruz 'said I was in favor of Libya. I never discussed that subject.'"
- "Says that in the Philippines more than a century ago, Gen. John Pershing 'took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pigs' blood,' and shot 49 Muslim rebels. 'The 50th person, he said, 'You go back to your people, and you tell them what happened.' And for 25 years, there was a problem.'"
- "Don't believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment. The number's probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent."
- "A Trump television ad shows Mexicans swarming over 'our Southern border.'"
- "President Barack Obama 'wants to take in 250,000 (people) from Syria.'"
- "Says crime statistics show blacks kill 81 percent of white homicide victims."
- "'I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering' as the World Trade Center collapsed."
- "The federal government is sending refugees to states with governors who are 'Republicans, not to the Democrats.'"
- "The Trans-Pacific Partnership 'was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone.'"
- "'I never said that' Marco Rubio was Mark Zuckerberg's personal senator."
- "Says Bernie Sanders is going to 'tax you people at 90 percent.'"
- "The unemployment rate may be as high as '42 percent.'"
- "The Mexican government ... they send the bad ones over."
- "The number of illegal immigrants in the United States is '30 million, it could be 34 million.'"
- "The Mexican government forces many bad people into our country."
- "The last quarter, it was just announced, our gross domestic product ... was below zero. Who ever heard of this? It's never below zero."
- "Says President Barack Obama's recent New York fundraising trip 'cost between $25 million to $50 million.'"
- "After the U.S.-led military alliance ejected Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait in 1991, the Kuwaitis 'never paid us.'"
- "CNN did a poll recently where Obama and I are statistically tied."
- "The people that went to school with (Barack Obama), they never saw him, they don't know who he is."
Now let's compare Trump's Politifact file to the other five remaining candidates (excluding Ben Carson, who's on his way out of the race). I'll rank them from the most to the least honest:
1. Hillary Clinton
True/Mostly True: 83 out of 163 (51%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 46 out of 163 (28%)
Net +/-: +23%
2. John Kasich
True/Mostly True: 30 out of 57 (52%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 18 out of 57 (31%)
Net +/-: +21%
3. Bernie Sanders
True/Mostly True: 32 out of 67 (48%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 21 out of 67 (31%)
Net +/-: +17%
4. Marco Rubio
True/Mostly True: 49 out of 138 (35%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 58 out of 138 (42%)
Net +/-: -7%
5. Ted Cruz
True/Mostly True: 20 out of 94 (21%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 62 out of 94 (66%)
Net +/-: -45%
6. Donald Trump
True/Mostly True: 8 out of 105 (8%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 82 out of 105 (78%)
Net +/-: -70%
"Donald Trump just tells it like it is!"
No, he doesn't. As a matter of fact, he rarely tells it like it actually is; he simply tells it the way his supporters want to believe things are.
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/ted-cruz/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/marco-rubio/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/john-kasich/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/bernie-s/
Here are the following rulings Trump has received on the site:
True: 1 (1%)
Mostly True: 7 (7%)
Half True: 15 (14%)
Mostly False: 18 (17%)
False: 43 (41%)
Pants on Fire: 21 (20%)
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, of the 105 graded statements made by Donald Trump, just 8 were ruled as all or mostly true, or 8%. On the other hand, 82 were graded as pants on fire, false, or mostly false, or 78%.
Here are the 21 pants-on-fire claims Trump has made:
- "I don't know anything about David Duke."
- "Says Ted Cruz 'said I was in favor of Libya. I never discussed that subject.'"
- "Says that in the Philippines more than a century ago, Gen. John Pershing 'took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pigs' blood,' and shot 49 Muslim rebels. 'The 50th person, he said, 'You go back to your people, and you tell them what happened.' And for 25 years, there was a problem.'"
- "Don't believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment. The number's probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent."
- "A Trump television ad shows Mexicans swarming over 'our Southern border.'"
- "President Barack Obama 'wants to take in 250,000 (people) from Syria.'"
- "Says crime statistics show blacks kill 81 percent of white homicide victims."
- "'I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering' as the World Trade Center collapsed."
- "The federal government is sending refugees to states with governors who are 'Republicans, not to the Democrats.'"
- "The Trans-Pacific Partnership 'was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone.'"
- "'I never said that' Marco Rubio was Mark Zuckerberg's personal senator."
- "Says Bernie Sanders is going to 'tax you people at 90 percent.'"
- "The unemployment rate may be as high as '42 percent.'"
- "The Mexican government ... they send the bad ones over."
- "The number of illegal immigrants in the United States is '30 million, it could be 34 million.'"
- "The Mexican government forces many bad people into our country."
- "The last quarter, it was just announced, our gross domestic product ... was below zero. Who ever heard of this? It's never below zero."
- "Says President Barack Obama's recent New York fundraising trip 'cost between $25 million to $50 million.'"
- "After the U.S.-led military alliance ejected Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait in 1991, the Kuwaitis 'never paid us.'"
- "CNN did a poll recently where Obama and I are statistically tied."
- "The people that went to school with (Barack Obama), they never saw him, they don't know who he is."
Now let's compare Trump's Politifact file to the other five remaining candidates (excluding Ben Carson, who's on his way out of the race). I'll rank them from the most to the least honest:
1. Hillary Clinton
True/Mostly True: 83 out of 163 (51%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 46 out of 163 (28%)
Net +/-: +23%
2. John Kasich
True/Mostly True: 30 out of 57 (52%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 18 out of 57 (31%)
Net +/-: +21%
3. Bernie Sanders
True/Mostly True: 32 out of 67 (48%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 21 out of 67 (31%)
Net +/-: +17%
4. Marco Rubio
True/Mostly True: 49 out of 138 (35%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 58 out of 138 (42%)
Net +/-: -7%
5. Ted Cruz
True/Mostly True: 20 out of 94 (21%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 62 out of 94 (66%)
Net +/-: -45%
6. Donald Trump
True/Mostly True: 8 out of 105 (8%)
Pants on Fire/False/Mostly False: 82 out of 105 (78%)
Net +/-: -70%
"Donald Trump just tells it like it is!"
No, he doesn't. As a matter of fact, he rarely tells it like it actually is; he simply tells it the way his supporters want to believe things are.
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/ted-cruz/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/marco-rubio/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/john-kasich/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/bernie-s/
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