Whenever I discuss the 2016 election with a person and he or she states matter-of-factly, "Hillary Clinton is a liar," I'm, for lack of a better word, floored. Now, is it true that Hillary Clinton has uttered falsehoods during her political career, including this current campaign? Yes, of course. But, unless we want to be naive, what politician hasn't? Saying a politician lies is like saying a dog barks, a cat meows, or wind storms tend to be quite windy. So, if a person were to tell me, "Like all other politicians, Hillary Clinton lies," that would be an accurate statement. However, that's not what most people are implying when they utter such a line. What they're saying is, "Hillary Clinton lies more than Donald Trump," which is more ridiculous than if I were to say, "Casper is more orange than an Oompa Loompa."
The Pulitzer-Prize winning fact-checking site Politifact.com has graded 266 claims made by Hillary Clinton and 285 made by Donald Trump. Here's how those numbers currently break down:
Hillary Clinton
Total: 266
True: 62 (23%)
Mostly True: 73 (27%)
Half True/Half False: 58 (22%)
Mostly False: 40 (15%)
False: 27 (10%)
Pants on Fire: 6 (2%)
Donald Trump
Total: 285
True: 12 (4%)
Mostly True: 33 (12%)
Half True/Half False: 40 (14%)
Mostly False: 51 (18%)
False: 100 (35%)
Pants on Fire: 49 (17%)
So, if we exclude the Half True/Half False grades (because which way we'd see them leaning would likely indicate some kind of bias), here's how the candidates' numbers would read:
Clinton
True/Mostly True: 50%
False/Mostly False/Pants on Fire: 27%
Net: +23%
Trump
True/Mostly True: 16%
False/Mostly False/Pants on Fire: 70%
Net: -54%
Difference: Clinton +77%/Trump -77%
Even if we were to rule all of Clinton's Half True/Half False statements as false and all of Trump's such rulings as true, Trump would still be the bigger liar between the two (Clinton: 50/50 vs. Trump 30/70) - by an astounding 20%!
Here are some other "wow" numbers when comparing the two candidates' levels of honesty:
- Donald Trump has more Pants on Fire grades (49) than True and Mostly True grades (45)
- Donald Trump has 27 more False grades (100) than Hillary Clinton has False, Mostly False, and Pants on Fire grades (73)
- If he were to make 100 claims, on average, Donald Trump would be telling the full truth just 4 times
If that weren't enough, renowned Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler, when fact-checking last night's debate, provided 25 fact-checks, 22 for Donald Trump and just 3 for Hillary Clinton. Why? Because Donald Trump lies more than Jack Nicholson washes his hands in As Good As It Gets, and to call Hillary Clinton a liar when comparing her to Trump would be like me calling Jimmy Carter a man-whore when comparing him to Charlie Sheen.
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
The Pulitzer-Prize winning fact-checking site Politifact.com has graded 266 claims made by Hillary Clinton and 285 made by Donald Trump. Here's how those numbers currently break down:
Hillary Clinton
Total: 266
True: 62 (23%)
Mostly True: 73 (27%)
Half True/Half False: 58 (22%)
Mostly False: 40 (15%)
False: 27 (10%)
Pants on Fire: 6 (2%)
Donald Trump
Total: 285
True: 12 (4%)
Mostly True: 33 (12%)
Half True/Half False: 40 (14%)
Mostly False: 51 (18%)
False: 100 (35%)
Pants on Fire: 49 (17%)
So, if we exclude the Half True/Half False grades (because which way we'd see them leaning would likely indicate some kind of bias), here's how the candidates' numbers would read:
Clinton
True/Mostly True: 50%
False/Mostly False/Pants on Fire: 27%
Net: +23%
Trump
True/Mostly True: 16%
False/Mostly False/Pants on Fire: 70%
Net: -54%
Difference: Clinton +77%/Trump -77%
Even if we were to rule all of Clinton's Half True/Half False statements as false and all of Trump's such rulings as true, Trump would still be the bigger liar between the two (Clinton: 50/50 vs. Trump 30/70) - by an astounding 20%!
Here are some other "wow" numbers when comparing the two candidates' levels of honesty:
- Donald Trump has more Pants on Fire grades (49) than True and Mostly True grades (45)
- Donald Trump has 27 more False grades (100) than Hillary Clinton has False, Mostly False, and Pants on Fire grades (73)
- If he were to make 100 claims, on average, Donald Trump would be telling the full truth just 4 times
If that weren't enough, renowned Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler, when fact-checking last night's debate, provided 25 fact-checks, 22 for Donald Trump and just 3 for Hillary Clinton. Why? Because Donald Trump lies more than Jack Nicholson washes his hands in As Good As It Gets, and to call Hillary Clinton a liar when comparing her to Trump would be like me calling Jimmy Carter a man-whore when comparing him to Charlie Sheen.
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
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