Any notion that Democrats and women and just about every other marginalized demographic would not enthusiastically rally behind Hillary Clinton as their nominee for President was drowned out by thunderous cheers and chants at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday, as Hillary Clinton, the first woman to be nominated by a major party and very possibly the first woman to attain the presidency, accepted her party’s nomination.
She told the audience that, despite the challenges of a changing world, we must not resort to Donald Trump’s dangerous proposals. Clinton also paid tribute to the Americans who have inspired her lifetime in public service and who continue to sustain her belief that we are stronger together: her mother Dorothy; the survivors and first responders on 9/11 and our men and women in uniform.
“We have the most dynamic and diverse people in the world. We have the most tolerant and generous young people we’ve ever had. We have the most powerful military. The most innovative entrepreneurs. The most enduring values. Freedom and equality, justice and opportunity,” Clinton said.
“We should be so proud that these words are associated with us. That when people hear them – they hear… America. So don’t let anyone tell you that our country is weak. We’re not. Don’t let anyone tell you we don’t have what it takes. We do. And most of all, don’t believe anyone who says: ‘I alone can fix it.’ […] Americans don’t say: ‘I alone can fix it.’ We say: ‘We’ll fix it together. […] It is with humility, determination and boundless confidence in America’s promise that I accept your nomination for President of the United States!”
In her speech, she brought together the themes of the convention – outlining why she is in fact the most qualified, experienced person to have ever sought the presidency; a lifetime of achieving results; a steadiness and consistency of purpose; the temperament and judgment to lead.
But she also outlined in detail an agenda, with specific details and the way to pay for it (close loopholes on Wall Street, corporations and the wealthiest), because as she said, “it’s not just a detail if it’s your kid, if it’s your family. It’s a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president, too.”
Her biography – recapped during the week by countless speakers who have worked with her, whose lives have been impacted by her – many who have met her and others who never met her, as well her husband, Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea, and a superb video which – also demonstrates a person who can forge coalitions, partnerships, alliances, who can find common ground.
Her speech itemized proposals that the Progressives have been demanding and are now incorporated into the Democratic Party’s platform, the most progressive ever: raising the minimum wage; affordable child care; universal pre-K; parental leave; debt-free college; the largest investment in infrastructure and jobs creation since World War II; climate action that includes moving to clean, renewable energy; criminal justice reform; tax reform that addresses income inequality; gun violence prevention; overturn Citizens United, protect women’s reproductive freedom; universal health care; comprehensive immigration reform; a detailed plan of action to defeat ISIS – it should have been Bernie Sanders’ wet dream.
And despite the extraordinary consideration and respect paid to Sanders, still there were protests from probably 100 out of the tens of thousands that crammed every inch of space in the hall. They were drowned out by chants of “Hillary, Hillary”. Hillary Clinton, showing that fearless persistence in face of a lifetime of dealing with bullies, forged on to deliver her message.
“It’s not gender, but a-genda,” a speaker at the Women’s Caucus earlier in the day proclaimed, giving a further nod to the milestone of a Woman president who “gets it” – gets that “women’s issues” are family issues and family issues are all the complex policies that impact the economy, national security, justice and fairness, and political power. Clearly Hillary “gets it” because of her perspective as a woman having spent a career fighting for women’s rights from a time when women had none, and fighting to preserve rights against those who would go back. But she also “gets it” because of her unique combination of skills, sensibility and experience.
In her address, Clinton outlined a positive vision to move forward and make an America which was founded on democratic values revolutionary for the time, more fully realize the aspirations and ideals and promise, in effect, to make a “more perfect union.”
“The choice is clear, my friends. Every generation of Americans has come together to make our country freer, fairer, and stronger. None of us ever have or can do it alone. I know that at a time when so much seems to be pulling us apart, it can be hard to imagine how we’ll ever pull together. But I’m here to tell you tonight – progress is possible….
“Yes, the world is watching what we do. Yes, America’s destiny is ours to choose. So let’s be stronger together, my fellow Americans. Let’s look to the future with courage and confidence. Let’s build a better tomorrow for our beloved children and our beloved country. And when we do, America will be greater than ever.
History will be made for the second time in two days in Philadelphia when Hillary Rodham Clinton accepts the nomination of the Democratic Party, the first woman to be nominated for President from a major party.
The program will build to the climax when after being introduced by her daughter, Chelsea, Hillary Clinton will give what may be the speech of her life, to demonstrate to America that she should be their choice to be the next president.
The program will pull together the various themes of last three days: Monday’s theme told how Hillary is fighting to build an economy that works for everyone, while the Republican nominee, Donald Trump has been fighting for himself and the ultra-wealthy like him; Tuesday’s theme explored the fights of Hillary’s life, the motivations that have driven her, her many accomplishments in more than 40 years of public service – a story told by ordinary people, some who have met and known her personally and others who never met her at all, recounting how their lives have been changed for the better because of what she has done.
Last night, America heard how Hillary has the leadership skills and steadiness Americans can count on. Vice President Joe Biden talked about how Hillary will fight for the middle class, while Trump would be a a disaster for the middle class and gave some hint of the pressures and complexity of dealing with multiple crises. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, said burst Trump’s bubble of being a successful businessman calling him nothing more than a con man. Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reinforced the theme that Hillary has the steadiness and experience to keep our nation secure, and what a threat Trump’s temperament would be for our security..
Finally President Obama talked about the values that founded our nation are themselves at stake in this election – Hillary will protect them and Trump would endanger them. This election is too important to sit out, he declared. And then in the moment that set the hall thundering, Hillary Clinton came onto the stage with Obama.
“Tonight, Hillary will stitch together all these themes and how this moment is really a moment of reckoning for voters: are we going to succumb to very powerful forces tearing at our social fabric, dividing us economically and socially or are we going to come together to solve problems, build an economy that works for everyone, make our nation more secure and make sure every American has the same opportunities,” said Robby Mook, campaign manager for Hillary for America.
“We will hear her invoke the principles that have guided her throughout her career – how it takes a village, a theme from her 1992 book, in this campaign, 2016, talking about how we are stronger together, and you will hear her flesh out not just what this means from a values standpoint, but specific policies to make our country stronger, and do it together.”
Highlights tonight:
A governor of a must-win state, Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf, “will actually be attending our convention (versus Governor John Kasich who did not attend the convention in his state of Ohio and did not endorse Trump). Also Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York.
Also, former Reagan official, Doug Elmets and co-founder of Republican Women for Hillary, Jennifer Pierotti Lim, Director of Health Policy for the US Chamber of Commerce, who will build out the message Michael Bloomberg began that Republicans and Independents should come together o support Hillary
Speakers like General John Allen, former Commander, International Security Assistance Forces and Commander United States Forces-Afghanistan will also build on the case made Wednesday on national security. General Allen will outline Hillary’s commitment to veterans and how they can trust her ability and experience to keep the country safe and secure.
Marlon Marshall, Director of State and Political Engagement for Hillary for America, will also speak. He is behind the organizing program that has been underway all week – holding watch parties – and underway in force after the convention, building up in every state, particularly the battleground state, the grassroots organizers who knock on doors and make phone calls.
The campaign launched the 3 million Stronger program on July 18, with a mission to register and commit to vote three million people. “We used the convention this week to continue to do this work, going into communities to register to vote and commit to vote for Hillary. Tonight there will be 350 house parties in battleground states and more tuning in tonight. In the hall, we will connect four of the watch parties with the attendees – you will see on the screen as they watch in Richmond VA, Brooklyn NY, Madison WI, and Denver CO. You will get a chance to see what is happening in their living rooms – see organizing first hand, how we are using this convention to build.”
The convention was viewed as a unique opportunity to introduce Hillary Clinton and her plans to address economic and national security to people who don’t typically tune in. The firs ttwo nights set record viewership, she said and she expected the same for the third night, when Obama and biden spoke, according to April Mellody, the DNC’s Deputy CEO for Communications.
“Particularly since after what the country saw at RNC, America has a chance to see from Democrats why Hillary is the most qualified person to ever seek the office of president, and also how she has been motivated her whole life to help children and families and has the values to be a great president.
“They are seeing plans to make an economy that works for everyone, an economy that will grow – Mayor Bloomberg spoke effectively, he is not just as concerned American but as a businessman who said Hillary would be the best for business – not just growth but fair growth.”
Hillary Clinton, surprising the DNC after President Obama’s rousing speech, embraces Obama (c) 2016 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Obama was not shy mentioning Trump by name, Hillary is likely to be clear about what the choice is in this election and the threat his presidency would pose, and why she is better.
During a press briefing, she said, this week, Trump “suggesting that a foreign country – in this case a hostile state to US conduct espionage against an opponent running to seek the presidency of US is never sarcastic, never a joke, [the Hillary campaign] shall take it seriously. You should treat it seriously because he is the Republican nominee for president and we should hold him accountable. As the New York Times reported, US intelligence has told the White House they believe the DNC was hacked by Russians.
“This is first time in modern history that we’ve had presumably a foreign power seek to engage in influencing our election and there are a lot of questions that all you should consider seriously – such as Mr. Trump’s view that we should weaken our alliances against Russia. That the RNC platform chose to take away language that was in support of Ukraine and express support for Russia’s involvement there. Trump’s disturbing affinity for Putin and others. This is not a curiosity any more, not politics, this is a matter of national security and should concern every American and take seriously.”
Asked about Obama’s reference to “jihadists and home grown demagogues,” she “Donald Trump demagogues in a way that we have not seen on the modern political stage, in a way that seeks to divide Americans.”
As for Hillary’s themes, “Throughout the week you have heard- culminating best in Obama speech – in the words of our president, the most qualified person to seek the office – and behind that, through the week, people she never met who has helped, the people closest to she has helped guide, and people she has sought out whose lives she has made her own passion – each night, what has motivated her for public service her own time.
“This is a moment of reckoning for America – two paths – one that seeks division, gives into forces whether economic or social that can divide us, versus a path that working together will make America stronger, and make the economy stronger.”
Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia will focus on the now historic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton as Commander in Chief.
Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention culminated with the history-making nomination of the first woman for president by a major party. It built to an amazing crescendo, with the vigorous roll call vote brought to dramatic conclusion when Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders moved to suspend the rules and declare Hillary Clinton the nominee by acclamation, and with overall, the party projecting all-important unity. It climaxed with a display of all 44 presidents to date, culminating in a virtual shattering of a glass ceiling and a live video appearance of Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, NY, surrounded by friends and families, expressing her gratitude for the high honor and historic milestone.
The evening was devoted to showcasing fights Hillary Clinton has waged her entire life – for families and children, civil rights, health care, for gun violence prevention, for 9/11 responders and victims, and finally, for national security. Her life was best encapsulated by President Clinton, who spoke, not as a former President, but as the candidate’s spouse, giving a tour de force in recounting their personal story and how she has been a true change-maker. And in each instance, the stark contrast with the experience, values, character, temperament were drawn between what Hillary Clinton has done and accomplished and the Republican candidate, Donald Trump.
The third day of the convention will focus even more intently on national security.
“Tonight will focus and spotlight the Secretary’s strength and qualifications to be Commander in Chief, versus Donald Trump’s reckless, dangerous approach to national security,” said John Podesta, chair of Hillary for America.
The message will be presented by people who know her well: John Hutson, a retired rear admiral who switched party affiliation from Republican to Democrat; Gold Star wife, Jamie Dorff; combat veteran Kristen Kavanaugh; and Leon Panetta, former CIA director and Secretary of Defense.
“Their perspective will show the temperment, judgment, experience needed in a Commander in Chief, the kind of person they would want leading the armed forces and why Hillary Clinton has that unique combination of attributes to successfully carry the mantle of the job,” said Jake Sullivan, foreign policy advisor, Hillary for America.
The variety of perspectives will underscore “why Trump is simply temperamentally unfit and unqualified to be commander in chief – his strange policy ideas like more countries getting nuclear weapons, or his rebuke to our core allies, the way he denigrates our armed forces, calling our military ‘a disaster’, saying ‘I know more about defeating ISIS, believe me,’ saying the military would commit war crimes if he orders them to. He has disrespected the military and that will shine through tonight. He also shows a fascination with dictators and strongmen, such as Saddam Hussein, Kim Jung Il, and Vladimir Putin,” Sullivan said.
“The simple proposition: this person should not be given command of the armed forces, the nuclear codes, or the title commander in chief.”
Trump’s coziness with Putin is of concern in light of the growing certainty that Russia state actors were behind the leak of DNC emails.
“She, like any Republican, Democrat, Independent who cares about national security is alarmed by the prospect and proposition that Russia is interfering in the American election – that’s not political, it’s a national security issue. She believes it is obviously new to see them interfering in an American election, but it is part of a pattern of Russia interfering in domestic affairs of other countries. Over past few years, Putin has increasingly taken positions at odds with the interests of the US. Unlike Trump who praises Putin, adopts pro-Putin positions and inserts them into his platform, she has taken a firm, tough, ultimately smart position on dealing with Russia going forward.”
“Secretary Clinton believes the Number One priority of a president and commander-in-chief is keep American people safe, and no more important is that the threat of radical jihadist terrorism is stopped, pushed back and ultimately defeated,” Sullivan said. “We will hear about that and the combination of strength and smarts it takes to execute a strategy to achieve that. Her history and experience working on this set of issues, and the broader story. To defeat a threat that is now in dozens of countries around world will take global coalition, using intelligence, pushing back in the US, Europe, everywhere, disrupting flows of men, money, propaganda and fighters moving across country. All that will require a president who can forge relationships, has relationships and has the temperment. Over the course of the next two days, you will see our conviction that Trump doesn’t.”
The evening will also focus on keeping the nation safe, spotlighting Clinton’s commitment to reduce gun violence, with families of victims of Orlando, Charleston and Sandy Hook, and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords with her husband Mark Kelly.
Also, “making the case for the unique post-partisan nature of this election” will be former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who won his elections as a Republican and as an independent.
Mayor Bloomberg will talk about the reason he has come to the conclusion that Hillary is right choice to be a stable leader on economic matters and why Donald Trump through his life in business is incapable of managing the economy, let alone managing his own affairs without creating disaster for his workers, investors, contractors – focus will be on economic choice facing the American people.”
The evening will be topped off with speeches from Vice President Joe Biden, VP designate Tim Kaine and President Barack Obama.
All the speakers will talk about what’s at stake in this election – the loss of loved ones and personal experiences and the President and Vice President will talk about working directly with Hillary as senator and Secretary of State.
Tim Kaine will have chance to let American people know what he’s been involved with his entire career –interestingly, in parallel fashion to Hillary, his decision in law school to work in a missionary school in Honduras – serving in local government as mayor of Richmond, bringing people together, being the Lt. Governor and Governor and then US Senator from Virginia – his life and story will be told.
“Tim Kaine has a long history,” Podesta said. “What got him into politics was fight for social justice, fight that everyone could get education to live up to their God-given potential – whether fighting for immigration reform, standing up to gun lobby in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, creating economic conditions to create jobs in Virginia, he brings strong credentials, deep conviction. He’s been on the city council, mayor, governor, senator. He is well qualified for this job and four-square with Hillary Clinton in pushing forward a very progressive agenda and we look forward to him making that case and talking about his life story, talking about people left out and left behind.:
With Secretary Clinton about to give one of the biggest speeches of her life, Sullivan said, “I can faithfully report she is in a positive frame of mine,” having made history as the first woman to be nominated for president from a major party. “She is in an even more positive frame of mind, because she views Thursday as an opportunity to speak directly to the American people about her ideas, her vision, what motivates her. She cares deeply [about this country and people] and wants to communicate that.”
Asked whether Clinton is linked to closely with President Obama, Podesta said, “From the beginning of this campaign, she celebrated the success of the Obama presidency but also said there are new challenges that need to be taken on going forward – how to make the economy work better for working people. This president inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression and kept us from falling into a second Great Depression –that is a tremendous accomplishment. His job approval is more than 50%. She believes he has done a terrific job for the American people, but she is not running for his third term. She has her own ideas, and will lay them out for the American people, where she wants to go and take the country.”
One of these areas is breaking with Obama on TPP which Clinton has said she would oppose, not renegotiate.
“She is against TPP before the election and after the election,” Podesta said. “She has a long economic agenda that includes investing in infrastructure, enforcing trade laws, raising the minimum wage, fighting for the right to organize, making sure college is affordable. She is not interested in renegotiating the TPP.”
The convention will “take a moment to celebrate the success of Barack and Michelle Obama and the Bidens – the role models, the kind of leadership they have offered.
“President Obama will talk about the Hillary Clinton he knows – the Hillary he competed against in the 2008 primaries but who he found to be the right person to be his partner in carrying out foreign policy for the country, to reset America’s position in the world, the bond they built, the friendship they built, and why she is the right choice for the American people.
“It will be a chance to celebrate Obama’s accomplishments, talk about the future, and speak directly to the American people about the kind of leader she was working for him as part of his administration. It is a unique moment in that sense. We are looking forward to it, and looking forward to him being out on campaign trail in the fall – we will use him as much as we can. He is a great and effective person to inform the American people, frame the choice and talk about what the stakes are, what the job is like, sitting behind the desk making the life/death decisions a president has to make and why she is the right choice and Donald Trump is not.”
Michele Obama wows the Democratic National Convention talking about why character matters so much in the Oval Office (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Tonight in Philadelphia, history will be made when Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the official nominee of the Democratic party.
100 years in the making, Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention will tell that story, “the fight of her life, how she has worked her entire life on behalf of children, families, this country,” said Karen Finney, Hillary for America senior advisor . “You will hear from people who have worked with her – whether the fight for 9/11 responders getting health care they needed, a program like the Arkansas program that helps parents be the first teachers to their children, and President Clinton, who is in best position to talk about her as a change-maker.
The contrast tonight will be stark with the Republican candidate, she said. Hillary Clinton has not just worked on behalf of children and families her whole life, but achieved results. “Trump has a lot of bluster, makes promises, but has a lifetime to accomplish those things but time and time again hear he has taken advantage of people for his own gain. While Hillary Clinton has worked to get something done particularly for the most vulnerable among us, you have Donald Trump who has tried to make money off the most vulnerable among us.”
Another contrast: “You heard more policy, more ideas last night than the whole four nights – and not one new idea – at the RNC. Tonight, people will be talking about their own experiences, humanizing, so we remember that this election is about people, not about dividing people, platitudes, bluster. Coming out of this convention will be more unified than ever, ready to take on Trump and win in the fall.
Last night, First Lady Michelle Obama gave amazing speech – commentators say it potentially may go down in history as one of the most powerful speeches at a convention. In that speech, Obama raised the issue of how important how who occupies the White House becomes a role model for children, and drew the contrast of the values represented by Donald Trump and the Republicans with the Democrats.
“Tonight, people will be talking about their own experiences, humanizing, so we remember that this is about people, not about dividing people, platitudes, bluster,” said Karen Finney, senior advisor to Hillary for America. “Coming out of this convention we will be more unified than ever, ready to take on Trump and win in the fall.”
A lingering problem – continuously raised by the media – are the polls that suggest a large share of the electorate question Hillary’s trustworthiness (or worse).
“It has oft been said that she is the most famous, least known person in the country,” said
Jennifer Palmieri, director of communications, Hillary for America. “As famous as she is, people know her resume, her big jobs – she came on the national scene in their mind in 1992 as first lady. What we want people to know tonight, and as general election gets underway, what’s that core value that has propelled her to do this. She started at Children’s Defense fund – through line of her career. She shares with Sen. Kaine who went to Honduras. After law school pursued housing discrimination suits. Both are not show horses, but get the job done, stay at it and deliver results. That’s the spirit tonight, in the convention and through the campaign.
“As Hillary Clinton has said, we read polls, she has acknowledged she has work to do to earn people’s trust, but she realizes that there aren’t magic words that develop trust overnight. What she wants people to know about her in the course of this campaign is, ‘Look at what I’ve done, the people I’ve represented, whether working for people in Arkansas, as Senator for New York, as Secretary of State – when people needed me, they could count on me, and I’ve delivered for you.’ Let her prove that they can count on her – that’s the argument she will continue to make throughout the campaign.
The speakers on this second night of the convention will testify to that quality of character.
“Tonight you will see people who needed Hillary Clinton, whether 9/11 survivors, people she helped in Arkansas, mostly without fanfare on her part, and sticking with it, to make sure that whatever concern this person had was delivered on.
[Clinton, Obama and Kaine] are people who know how to make progress, Palmieri said. “We are sometimes asked that Hillary been at this a long time, si that the right candidate in an election so focused on change? The answer is yes. Has she been at it a long time? Yes. But she knows change is hard fought, takes a long time, she has been at it in the trenches for decades, whatever role she has had. And that’s what her running mate has done, too.
“Then Senator Obama transferring to President, and all that he has accomplished to make that progress. What you see represented is an incredible story of America – the first African American, the first woman – six people – the Clintons, Obamas, Kaines [whose father-in-law was a governor of Virginia and whose wife is the state’s Secretary of Education] – incredibly committed to the country, doing the really hard work to make progress and also to protect our values, against a Donald Trump who is a frightening prospect.”
The differences between the two conventions is also clear from the diversity that Democrats embrace “as a promise” while Republicans see “a problem”..
“There was more diversity on stage last night than all four days of the Republican convention – that is part of it – voices and faces, and issues,” said Finney.
The second day of the convention will feature a Pittsburgh police chief, Mothers of the Movement who will talk about losing their children to gun violence and other forms of violence. “We will again talk about range of issues that affect people in their daily lives, that Hillary willing to take on those issues.
The first night offered a synopsis of solutions that Clinton and the Democrats offer “to make the economy work for everybody, not just those at the top. We offered more solutions in one night than the entire RNC. Hillary Clinton’s primary goal is to get out of wage stagnation and create well-paying jobs, address work-life policies like family leave, child care (and scheduling). These are not just family issues, but hold back the economy. She would make the biggest investment in jobs creation since World War II.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was accorded the stage at the Democratic National Convention where he gave a full-throated endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president, but his supporters booed and heckled the entire night (c) 2016 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Tonight will focus on Hillary but the first night’s convention gave Bernie Sanders his due, showcasing the Sanders’ representatives contribution to creating the most progressive platform in the party’s history
Throughout the night many prominent Sanders supporters – elected officials like Oregon Senator Merkley and celebrities like Sarah Silverman – spoke about while they supported Bernie and still do, they will work hard to make sure Hillary becomes the next president. And it culminated with a full-throated endorsement by Sanders, who came out to a sea of Bernie signs and cheers, looking just as it would be if he were there to accept the nomination.
But through the entire proceedings, passionate Sanders supporters also heckled speakers – early on, every time Hillary Clinton’s name was mentioned – even Sanders supporters and lionized progressives like Elizabeth Warren, even disrupting Paul Simon singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which was supposed to symbolize bridging the divide between the Clinton and Sanders supporters.
Palmieri dismissed the dissention noting there was an enthusiastic voice vote for party platform, most progressive ever adopted by Democrats, “The Senator’s campaign and our campaign came together and worked hard to develop that – in public sessions that had a lot of input – and when it was adopted, it was a very important step. In terms of what people saw last night, Sanders supporters not just in the hall – and Sanders himself very graciously offering support of her and his key validators too. In this room, there are Clinton’s and Sanders’ most passionate supporter s- not just people who believe in candidate but selected to represent them. They made our party’s primary much more substantive and productive than what you have seen on republican side, which was a race to the bottom.”
Today’s highlight will be the roll call of all 57 states and territories, so that each vote could be counted. It is expected that Hillary Clinton will become the first woman nominated to become President by a major party – a historic event 100 years in the making.
It is also likely that the Bernie supporters will not be appeased.
Asked if the campaign would do anything to tamp down the heckling, Palmieri said with a shrug, “This is democracy. It’s the Democratic party.”
With hours to go before the Democratic National Convention gavels in at the Wells Fargo arena in Philadelphia, the Democratic National Committee outlined how it plans to offer a “stark contrast to what we saw in Cleveland, to give our country a clear vision of our vision, our values, and how we plan to move America forward, and not just a lot of verbiage.
“This will be the most exciting, innovative convention in our history,” said Rev Leah D Daughtry, CEO of the DNC.
The theme for the first day kicks off broader theme: how Secretary Clinton has spent her entire life fighting for kids and families, fighting to provide opportunity to those who are given the least, and bringing down barriers to opportunity,” said Robby Mook, campaign manager. “How we get this economy working for everyone, not just those at the very top.”
The night will feature “some of the brightest stars in the Democratic Party”: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the progressive firebrand who will deliver the keynote, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who will whole-heartedly endorse Clinton, Sen. Cory Booker, and First Lady Michelle Obama.
Sen. Warren will show that the clear choice in this election is between Sec. Clinton, fighting for working class families, getting an economy working for everyone, and Donald Trump who has spent his entire career making himself more wealthy and famous.
Senator Cory Booker will describe how Secretary Clinton is uniquely qualified to get this economy working for everyone, and her motivation and experience fighting for others.
Senator Sanders will talk about how we are stronger together when we join forces as a party to get the economy working for everyone.
First Lady Michelle Obama will talk specifically about the challenges facing families today and the type of leadership it will take in the white house to put families first.
Other speakers will include 11-year old Carla, 11 years old who approached Secretary Clinton at a Las Vegas primary event, describing how concerned she is her parents will be deported and will address how Clinton will provide opportunity and break down barriers for her family.
Over the course of the convention, President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former President bill Clinton will address this same issue of Secretary Clinton’s lifelong fight for working families. It will crystalize for the voters the fights she has taken on and what she has accomplished.
“This will be a big contrast to what we saw in Cleveland,” Robby Mook, campaign manager for Hillary for America told a press briefing. “Our convention will be optimistic, hopeful, and will talk about specific plans the secretary has to get this economy working for everyone, not just the top – to keep us more secure. Senator Sanders already endorsed Secretary Clinton, he is coming to double-down and unite the party to make sure she wins – not what we saw from Senator Cruz” at the RNC.
The governor of the state of Pennsylvania supports Clinton and will be here.
“We built a platform and rules that reflect the best of our campaign, the values of party. There will be no minority reports filed in this process.”
The DNC has just launched a new mobile app, hillary2016 – novelty, as compared to 2012 where obama campaign app was intended to help traditional organizing opp, this will provide people to help – share content, text, do other things to help campaign ibn other ways without going into office – combines fewatures from traditional gaming apps – software development engineer s- dreamworks, Etsy – available coincididng with launch of convention
“We are a united Democratic party, and will hit the ground running on Friday with an event in Philadelphia with Secretary Clinton and Senator Kaine,” Fallon said. The bus tour will extend over the weekend, continuing through Pennsylvania and Ohio, with large and small events in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Youngstown OH, Columbus OH, going after those rural working class voters disaffected by the state of the economy, who Donald Trump is targeting, but we are convinced we have the plans that will speak to them, leaving no voter untouched. They will embark right after convention for those critical rust belt
Fallon said that Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s decision to step down as DNC Chair “was her decision to step down” and that she reached out to Clinton to notify her and that Clinton thanked her for her work.”
Asked why she would step down now that the primary is over and all that is left is to elect Clinton, he said, “She did it for the sake of party unity, not to distract from the convention. It’s a noble thing on her part, not to be the distraction.”
Most troubling, it has emerged that Russian state actors were behind the hack of the DNC emails, with an interest in influencing the election in favor of Donald Trump.
Trump has made comments heaping praise and admiration on Putin, and recently said he might not come to the aide of NATO.
The hack of the DNC is being attributed to Russian state actors, and is troubling on two levels – some emails disclosed a suggestion to use religion against a candidate which Fallon categorically condemned. But it was also serious if the Russians are trying to tilt the election in favor of Donald Trump.
As for why Putin might prefer President Trump over President Clinton, he said, “Candidate Trump is espousing policies that would play into Putin’s hands – abandoning NATO alliance, leaving those states on the periphery of Russia sphere of influence. [Campaign chairman and chief strategist Paul] Manafort has worked as lobbyist propping up pro-Putin candidates. Trump has made general comments praising and admiring of Putin. It’s perplexing that he would be more supportive of Putin than our long-time allies.”
He dismissed the notion that the emails could have factored into the DNC playing any role in Clinton winning the primary. “We don’t condone emails we’ve seen. It’s distressing that might have used religion. But separate from notion that the primary election was rigged [is off base]. The primary won’t be decided over random thoughts from a DNC official but at ballot box. Clinton won decisively in the popular vote, states won, pledged delegates. Sanders himself has said she is the rightful winner. Sanders’ testimonial tonight, Elizabeth Warren, Booker, validating her credentials on progressive issues like income inequality.
He said there would be a roll call vote. “Every vote will be counted. Every delegate will be counted.”
Of President Bill Clinton’s role on Tuesday, he said, “There is no better advocate for her, especially describing her career as a change agent. As the First lady of Arkansas, he has said that many of his accomplishments were the work of his wife.”
Questions of Clinton’s trustworthiness? That’s been the subject of Republican attacks for awhile – it’s the only thing that unifies them. Their convention didn’t offer a plan, the candidate was barely mentioned by many speakers. The only thing to unify them was being against Hillary Clinton. We believe it will come down to who do you trust to get things done, to fight for you. Clinton who has a record, versus Trump, a fraud, pretending to stick up for the little guy.
As for what Michelle Obama will bring to the convention, he said, “The First Lady is one of the most popular figures in America. The way she has approached her role as First Lady along with her husband are quintessential role models for young people. We will hear of the importance of electing a leader who will communicate proper values.”
Asked how Clinton would answer the Climate Revolution March that took place on Sunday, that drew 10,000, many wearing Bernie stickers, buttons and carrying signs and a few anti-Hillary, anti-DNC activists, Fallon said, “Clinton talked about it in primary – she has the most ambitious goal to achieve the standard that Tom Steyer] [Billionaire hedge fund operator and “green” energy magnate] laid out, by 2027.” (See: www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/climate).
“Here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.” – Donald Trump. 7-21-16
“The GOP convention has ended and it’s clear that while the Republican party is divided over their nominee, they are united in their obsession with lying about Hillary Clinton. From deceiving viewers with misleading claims, to making up their own facts, to spreading straight up conspiracy theories, the GOP had no reservations when it came to smearing the former secretary of state,” the Hillary for America campaign responds.
The campaign compiled a list of 172 false and misleading claims told over the course of the convention that were debunked by independent fact checkers.
PolitiFact: “Trump called the United States ‘one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.’ […] [A] reasonable listener could take away from Trump’s remark that he meant taxes overall, particularly given that he set up the line with a joint reference to middle-income Americans and businesses. We rate the claim Mostly False.”
PolitiFact: “Trump said, ‘My opponent wants to essentially abolish the Second Amendment.’ […] We rate Trump’s claim False.”
PolitiFact: “Trump said, ‘In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map.’ The terrorist group known as ISIS was, in fact, on the map five years before Clinton became secretary of state. […] We rate this claim Mostly False.”
PolitiFact: “Trump said “Hillary Clinton invented ISIS with her stupid policies. She is responsible for ISIS.” […] This claim is inaccurate. We rate it False.”
CNN: “Trump also said that ‘58% of African-American youth are not employed.’ […] [T]he verdict is false.”
CNN: “Although the actual implementation of the deal with Iran occurred four days after the incident with the U.S. sailors, Trump referenced the signing of the deal which occurred the previous July. We rate his comments as false.”
CNN: “Trump says there’s ‘no way to screen these refugees.’ […] The effectiveness of these procedures may be a matter of debate, but to say that there is ‘no way to screen’ refugees is false.”
CNN: “According to Trump, ‘the Democrats, on the other hand, received 20% fewer votes than they got four years ago.’ […] We rate his claim about the Democratic vote tallies as false.”
CNN: “Trump returned to a common theme of the convention, slamming Clinton for her use of personal email during her tenure as secretary of state. […] Although Clinton did delete more than 30,000 emails, after a forensic examination, the FBI investigation ‘found no evidence’ that the deletions were made to conceal her activity, therefore we rate this claim ”
CNN: “Trump rattled off a litany of events he claimed would make up ‘the legacy of Hillary Clinton.’ […] [W]e rate his claim that the state of the Middle East and Libya are Clinton’s personal legacy as false.”
New York Times: Donald Trump claim: “In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60 percent in nearby Baltimore.” “Fact Check: Those statistics are based on an analysis performed by The Washington Post, which found no clear pattern in which cities saw increases in homicides.”
New York Times: Donald Trump claim: “The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent compared to this point last year.” “Fact Check: In fact, the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks officer deaths, reports that 68 police officers have been killed so far this year, almost exactly the same as the 69 who were killed in the same period last year.
New York Times: Donald Trump claim: “Nearly four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58 percent of African-American youth are not employed.” “Fact Check: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate of African Americans ages 16-19 in June was 31.2 percent.”
New York Times: “Fact Check: The deal does not directly give Iran money, but by easing or terminating sanctions, it would allow Iran to have access to many billions of dollars of its own money that has been frozen in overseas accounts.”
AP: “TRUMP: ‘Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.’ […] President Barack Obama has actually achieved some big increases in spending for state and local law enforcement.”
AP: “TRUMP: ‘When a secretary of state illegally stores her emails on a private server…’ […] THE FACTS: Clinton’s use of a private server to store her emails was not illegal under federal law.”
AP: “TRUMP: ‘The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent compared to this point last year.’ THE FACTS: Not according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.”
AP: “Trump persists in making the bogus claim that the U.S. doesn’t screen refugees.”
AP: “TRUMP: ‘Two million more Latinos are in poverty today than when President Obama took his oath of office less than eight years ago. Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely. … President Obama has almost doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing.’ THE FACTS: Trump is playing with numbers to make the economy look worse than it actually is.”
AP: “TRUMP: ‘America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.’ THE FACTS: Trump continues to repeat this inaccuracy.”
AP: “TRUMP: ‘My opponent wants to essentially abolish the Second Amendment.’ THE FACTS: Hillary Clinton has not proposed any revocation of the constitutionally protected right to bear arms.”
AP: “It’s an exaggeration to suggest Clinton, or any secretary of state, is to blame for the widespread instability and violence across the Middle East.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.’ […] But there’s simply no evidence that a federal ‘rollback of criminal enforcement’ has led to a reversal of those trends. […] Ruling: Baseless.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America’s 50 largest cities. […] But what Trump leaves out is that one of the researchers behind this work, Richard Rosenfeld, has repeatedly said that it’s way too early to say whether this trend is applicable to the rest of the country or whether it truly indicates a reversal to the long-term violent crime drop of the past 25 years.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent compared to this point last year.’ In fact: This statistic apparently comes from an outdated, poorly worded USA Today headline. But according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, on-duty deaths of police officers are actually down 1 percent in 2016 compared to the same point in 2015. […] Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.’ In fact: There are indeed about 180,000 immigrants with criminal records still in the United States who have been ordered deported. But the assumption that all of them are ‘threaten[ing] peaceful citizens’ is deeply questionable.”
Vox: “The reason that Trump is telling this story, of course, is to imply that all unauthorized immigrants are lawless. In fact, immigrants are less likely than citizens to commit crimes. But to Trump and his followers, the very fact that someone doesn’t yet have legal status in the US is proof that he’s on some level a criminal.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘58 percent of African-American youth are not employed.’ In fact: CNN’s Tami Luhby looked into this claim and found that the 58 percent figure was extrapolated from the fact that roughly 42 percent of black Americans ages 16 to 24 were employed as of earlier this year. That’s an erroneous way to calculate; many of those people aren’t unemployed but are simply in school or otherwise not looking for work.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when President Obama took his oath of office less than eight years ago.’ […] But this isn’t a case where using raw numbers is informative. If you use rates, the Hispanic poverty rate was either roughly unchanged or, using the more accurate metric, reduced in Obama’s time in office.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.’ […] Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Our trade deficit in goods reached — think of this — our trade deficit is $800 billion last year alone.’ In fact: This is just false. The manufacturing trade deficit is large, but it was $681 billion in 2015, not ‘nearly $800 billion.’ It’s also worth noting that many economists do not consider high trade deficits to be inherently bad.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are in Third World condition, and 43 million Americans are on food stamps.’ […] However, claiming that American airports are in Third World conditions is, at best, an exaggeration. According to Priceonomics, which analyzed reviews of 17,000 airports worldwide, America’s still rank among the best.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘The Iran deal … gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us nothing – it will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever made.’ […] [T]he United States does in fact get something out of the deal: In exchange for unfreezing these assets, Iran is complying with the requirements of the nuclear agreement that makes it much harder for the country to build a nuclear weapon. Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘America is far less safe — and the world is far less stable — than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy. … I am certain it is a decision that President Obama truly regrets.’ […] [T]he fact that Obama is now actively campaigning on behalf of Hillary Clinton strongly suggests he does not particularly regret the way she performed when she was his secretary of state.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map.’ In fact: The group named ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) did not formally exist under that name until 2013; however, it was formed out of the remnants of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which dates back to 2004.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘In 2009, pre-Hillary … Iraq was seeing really a reduction in violence.’ […] Iraq’s slide back into full-blown chaos began in 2010, when US troops, under an agreement reached by the Bush administration with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, began withdrawing from the country in significant numbers.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘In 2009, pre-Hillary … Syria was under control.’ […] The uprising of 2011 plunged the country into chaos, mainly because of the actions of Assad himself, who, rather than leave power, chose to launch a full-scale war against his own people.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Iran is on a path to nuclear weapons.’ […] There is no evidence that Iran is currently pursuing a nuclear weapon in contravention of the deal’s terms. Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘And when a secretary of state illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can’t see her crime…’ In fact: The claim that Clinton ‘illegally’ stored her emails has no merit, according to FBI Director James Comey. After an investigation that lasted nearly a year, Comey said he found no evidence that Clinton intentionally broke the law.”
Vox: “Second, when Trump claims Clinton deleted 33,000 emails to cover up a crime, he’s leaving out one key fact: According to Clinton, these were personal emails stored on her private server. And she had no obligation to turn personal emails over to the government.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘When the FBI director says that the secretary of state was ‘extremely careless’ and ‘negligent’ in handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what she actually did.’ In fact: FBI Director Comey did indeed use those terms, but Trump’s assertion that what Clinton ‘actually did’ was far worse is utterly baseless — an unsupported smear.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘…that same secretary of state rakes in millions and millions of dollars trading access and favors to special interests and foreign powers.’ […] But no evidence of criminal wrongdoing on the part of either Hillary Clinton or the foundation itself has been found to date, and even Peter Schweizer, the author of a book aimed at exposing the Clinton Foundation’s faults, admits as much.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘There’s no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from.’ […] Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers.’ […] Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Of all my travels in this country, nothing has affected me more … than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our border. These families have no special interests to represent them. There are no demonstrators to protest on their behalf.’ […] Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘By ending catch and release on the border, we will stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down. We will stop it. It won’t be happening very much anymore. Peace will be restored.’ In fact: Illegal border crossings are already extremely low. […] Ruling: Baseless.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country.’ In fact: Among rich countries, America is one of the least-taxed nations in the world. […] Ruling: False.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year.’ […] [T]his study doesn’t include any benefits of these regulations (such as, for instance, lower pollution and cleaner air). Failing to include benefits gives a misleading picture”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘We are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American energy. This will produce more than $20 trillion in job-creating economic activity over the next four decades.’ […] David Victor, an energy expert at the University of California San Diego, has called Trump’s $20 trillion number ‘a fantasy’ and ‘off by an order of magnitude.’”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘My opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and steelworkers of our country out of work — that will never happen when I am president.’ […] But miners would also very likely continue to go out of work even under a President Trump, because the coal industry is being crushed right now by cheap natural gas, collapsing demand from China, and other forces that Trump would have no control over.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own doctor again.’ […] One of the assumptions implicit in Trump’s statement is that right now, it’s particularly hard to see a doctor of one’s choice. But the data doesn’t back that up.”
Vox: “Trump says: ‘My opponent wants to essentially abolish the Second Amendment.’ […] Ruling: False.”
org: “Trump said, ‘Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons.’ But Iran was already on a path to nuclear weapons before Clinton became secretary of state in January 2009.”
org: Trump “also blamed Clinton for the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. But Clinton […] urged President Obama not to be quick to abandon support for Mubarak.”
org: “Trump claimed Clinton ‘plans a massive … tax increase,’ but tax experts say 95 percent of taxpayers would see ‘little or no change’ in their taxes under Clinton’s plan.”
org: “Trump boasted that under his tax plan, ‘middle-income Americans will experience profound relief.’ Experts say Americans at all income levels would see their taxes reduced under Trump’s plan, but the biggest cuts — both in raw dollars and as a percentage of income — would go to the wealthiest Americans.”
org: “Trump said, ‘America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.’ The U.S. has one of the highest business tax rates, but for personal taxes, the U.S. ranked in the bottom half among industrialized nations.”
org: “Trump was correct to say that ‘homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America’s 50 largest cities,’ but criminology and statistics experts disagree with his conclusion that a one-year increase in some cities means that ‘decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed.’”
org: “Trump twisted the facts when he said that Clinton ‘illegally’ stored emails on her private server while secretary of state, and deleted 33,000 of them ‘so the authorities can’t see her crime.’ The FBI on July 5 cleared Clinton of wrongdoing, and found no evidence of a cover-up.”
org: “Trump said that ‘there’s no way to screen’ those refugees to determine ‘who they are or where they come from.’ That’s false. All refugees admitted to the U.S. go through an extensive vetting process that involves multiple federal agencies and can take up to 24 months to complete.”
org: “Trump also used a bit of cherry-picking when he said, ‘Our trade deficit in goods reached nearly — think of this, think of this — our trade deficit is $800 billion … last year alone.’ The important word here is ‘goods.’ The total trade deficit, counting both goods and services, is smaller.”
org: “Overall, the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services was just over $500 billion last year. And another fact Trump didn’t mention — that figure peaked a decade ago.”
org: “Trump said: ‘Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst economic deals ever made by our country.’ Actually, [NAFTA] was negotiated and signed by President George H.W. Bush.”
org: “Trump criticized Clinton for her ‘failed policy of nation-building and regime change’ and he counted Libya among them. Left unsaid was that Trump also supported the military ouster of Moammar Gadhafi at that time.”
org: “Trump used an often-cited but outdated figure when he said, ‘Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000 — that’s 16 years ago.’ Actually, incomes have been rising lately.”
org: “[T]he notion of a 16-year decline is misleading. What Trump failed to mention is that in 2014, real median household income had already risen by $1,052 since hitting a recession-driven low in 2012.”
org: “Trump used a popular false talking point about the Affordable Care Act when he said that he’d repeal it and ‘you will be able to choose your own doctor again.’ The law didn’t take away the ability to choose a doctor.”
org: “Trump repeated an overstatement on the costs of regulation[.] […] Trump said that ‘excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year,’ but that figure comes from a conservative group’s admitted ‘back-of-the-envelope’ calculation and is an estimate of regulatory costs that does not include potential savings.”
org: “Trump was more careful with his wording in his convention speech, saying only that the Iran deal ‘gave back to Iran $150 billion.’ The deal did result in Iran gaining access to tens of billions in frozen assets. However, experts told us the $150 billion figure is inflated.”
ABC News: “Claim: Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment. Rating: False.”
ABC News: “Claim: America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. Status: Mostly False. The U.S. is near the bottom of the list of industrialized countries in terms of taxes as a share of GDP.”
ABC News: “Claim: There is no way to screen Syrian refugees. Rating: False.”
ABC News: “Claim: Hillary Clinton deleted emails to hide other crimes. Rating: Highly Questionable. This is a speculative accusation not supported by evidence.”
ABC News: “Claim: The U.S. gave Iran $150 billion for ‘nothing.’ Rating: False.
ABC News: “Claim: Obama signed the Iran deal just after U.S. sailors were captured by Iran and forced to kneel. Rating: False. The deal was finalized six months earlier.”
ABC News: “Claim: Crime has increased under Obama’s presidency. Rating: False.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon, and I mean very soon, come to an end.” “Policing, public safety and the vast majority of the criminal justice apparatus are controlled by state and local authorities, not the federal government.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.” “Fact checkers might beg to differ. PolitiFact, for instance, has found a number of false statementsuttered at this week’s RNC.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “Homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America’s fifty largest cities.” “[T]here’s a broader context for crime figures: While violent crime may be climbing this year, rates are far below their peak in the early 1990s.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50% compared to this point last year.” “The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says as of July 21, 2016, total fatalities this year compared with the same time last year reflect an increase of five deaths, or 8 percent.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015.” “[T]otal apprehensions at the border todayare far, far lower than they were in the early 2000s.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “One more child to sacrifice on the order and on the altar of open borders.” “America does not have ‘open borders.’”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “Nearly 4 in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58% of African-American youth are now not employed.” “[T]he unemployment rate for black Americans ages 16 to 19 was 38.1 percent as of June.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.” “The labor force has still been growing — Trump’s 14 million figure might imply that it’s not.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: The Iran Deal “gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us absolutely nothing – it will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever negotiated.” “PolitiFacthas debunked this — that $150 billion is an estimate (and a high one) of the value of Iranian assets tied up by economic sanctions, according to the site.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “In Libya, our consulate – the symbol of American prestige around the globe – was brought down in flames.” “The diplomatic outpost in Benghazi was not a consulate.”
NPR: “I am certain that [putting Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy] was a decision that President Obama truly regrets.” “President Obama has enthusiastically endorsed Clinton, so it would seem unlikely that he regrets choosing her to be his secretary of state.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will never change. Never ever.” “Clinton has reams of plans and proposals to change everything from the nation’s immigration system and criminal justice policies to the way people pay for college.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “And when a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can’t see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence – I know that corruption has reached a level like never ever before in our country.” “There was no official determination that the private server was illegal.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “When the FBI Director says that the Secretary of State was ‘extremely careless’ and ‘negligent,’ in handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what she actually did.” FBI Director Comey “said ‘no reasonable prosecutor’ would charge Clinton with a crime for the emails.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “[W]e will fix [Bernie Sanders’] biggest single issue: trade deals that strip our country of its jobs and strip us of our wealth as a country.” “Sanders had a lot of issues that he was deeply passionate about, including trade, but it wouldn’t be at the top of his list.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “Millions of Democrats will join our movement, because we are going to fix the system so it works fairly and justly for all Americans.” “A recent Pew poll found that just 9 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning Sanders supporters said they planned to vote for Trump in the general election.”
NPR: “Trump is saying that he and Pence will improve U.S. trade deals, but trade is just one of several areas on which they differ. Pence has been a strong proponent of free trade in the past, having approved of NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as the New York Times”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “I will restore law and order to our country. Believe me. Believe me. I will work with, and appoint, the best and brightest prosecutors and law enforcement officials to get the job properly done.” “[T]hose top federal prosecutors handle a small fraction of violent crime cases in the nation.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: President Obama “has made America a more dangerous environment that frankly that I have ever seen of anybody in this room has ever watched or seen.” “The Brennan Center for Justice says overall crime rates from 2014 to 2015 were ‘nearly identical.’”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “My opponent has called for a […] 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our country already under the leadership of President Obama.” “In 2015, the U.S. admitted (per the State Department) 1,682 Syrian refugees. That is well under President Obama’s goal. It would be hard to argue that is ‘massive.’”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end it very, very quickly.” “[A]s the Washington Post’s Fact Checkerhas pointed out, in the past this figure has been characterized as a ‘back of the envelope’ count, and that moreover, it doesn’t make sense to talk about costs without trying to count the benefits of regulation.”
NPR: Donald Trump claim: “My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: ‘I’m With Her’.” “‘I’m With Her’ started out as a hashtag and sometimes supporters do chant it at events, but the Clinton campaign doesn’t ask supporters to pledge loyalty by reciting it.”
NBC News: “TRUMP CLAIM: We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint. This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal. THE FACTS: It actually came AFTER the signing of the Iran deal.”
NBC News: “TRUMP CLAIM: Homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years. THE FACTS: […] [O]verall, violent crime is down significantly since the 1980s and 1990s, according to FBI statistics.”
NBC News: “TRUMP CLAIM: The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015. THE FACTS: That statistic is true, but it’s also a bit of cherry-picking.”
NBC News: “Trump isn’t correct that 58 percent of African American youth are unemployed.”
NBC News: “Trump is misleading on his claim about Latinos living in poverty.”
NBC News: “TRUMP CLAIM: Where was sanctuary for all the other … Americans who have been so brutally murdered [by undocumented immigrants], and who have suffered so, so horribly? THE FACTS: Researchers have found that first-generation immigrants (legal or not) commit less crime than native-born Americans or second-generation immigrants.”
NBC News: “TRUMP CLAIM: [Hillary Clinton] supported NAFTA, and she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization — another one of her husband’s colossal mistakes and disasters … She supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. THE FACTS: Trump’s vice-presidential running mate Mike Pence also has praised NAFTA and TPP.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump cherry-picks data to paint an alarming picture of homicide trends, when in reality, they have been declining for decades.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent compared to this point last year.” “This is wrong.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “It’s not clear what Trump is referring to” in saying that “decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this Administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015.” “This is another cherry-picked number.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers.” “This claim is quite convoluted.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “The official unemployment rate for black youth is about half of what Trump says it is.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump is being misleading” in saying that “2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the President took his oath of office.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.” “Yet another misleading figure.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000.” “So it is essentially flat, not down $4,000.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “[Trump] fails to mention that this is actually the lowest number of people receiving food stamps since it reached its peak in 2013.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.” “[T]he United States isn’t anywhere near the top among industrialized nations.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year.” “Trump presents an unbalanced figure”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump frequently misstates the facts about the Iran deal, making it sound like the United States simply shipped $150 billion of taxpayer’s funds to Iran.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump falsely calls the Benghazi facility a ‘consulate’ and a ‘symbol of American prestige’ but it was merely an unofficial and temporary facility that had not even been declared to the host government.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map. Libya was cooperating. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was somewhat under control.” “Aspects are not factually correct.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump likes to say ‘others’ have gotten punished for far worse than Hillary Clinton’s private email server, but there are few known cases that are comparable to hers.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump has criticized Clinton’s record as secretary of state and donations given to the Clinton Foundation. But critics […] have not been able to prove quid pro quo.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “America has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by Bill and Hillary Clinton.” “It is simplistic to pin all of the blame on trade agreements.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Donald Trump claim: “Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst economic deals ever made by our country.” “[NAFTA] was negotiated and signed by President George H.W. Bush.”
New Republic: “Trump is right that many American cities have murder rates that are unacceptable. But there are a lot of problems with this section of the speech, the biggest being that it’s just not really true. Blaming the national government for crime in cities is questionable at best.”
PolitiFact: “Pence said, “It was Hillary Clinton who left Americans in harm’s way in Benghazi and after four Americans fell said, ‘What difference at this point does it make?’” […] We rate Pence’s claim Mostly False.”
PolitiFact: “Ruffin said that Donald Trump ‘always pays his bills promptly.’ […] We rate the statement False.”
PolitiFact: “Scott said, “Our economy is not growing.” […] We rate this claim False.”
PolitiFact: “Glenn said, “Neighborhoods have become more violent under your watch,” referring to President Obama. […] We rate this claim Mostly False.”
CNN: “Priebus’ claim that the deal ‘lined the pockets’ of the Iranian government with American money is also false.”
CNN: “Because Priebus mischaracterized a number of details about the nuclear deal, we rate his claims false.”
CNN: “‘Our nuclear bases still use floppy disks. Our newest fighter jets can’t even fly in the rain,’ Thiel said. […] While the F-35 program continues to be mired with difficulties, we rate this particular claim as false.”
CNN: “Pence criticized the Obama administration’s use of executive orders. “We’ve seen relentless mandates from the executive branch. It seems no aspect of our lives is too small for the present administration to supervise, no provision of the Constitution too large for them to ignore,” Pence said. […] Because the actual count of executive orders issued by Obama is not out of line with those issued by modern day presidents, we rate Pence’s claim to be false.”
CNN: “Cruz also railed against the nuclear deal with Iran, claiming that the country expresses its hostility toward the West with two “holidays”: “Death to America Day” and “Death to Israel Day.” […] Verdict: False.”
CNN: “Donald Trump’s son, Eric, said in his speech that his father invested $2 million of his own money into the refurbishing of an ice skating rink in Central Park because he was ‘disgusted by government incompetence’ when the project ‘dragged on for over six years and ballooned to over $13 million — $5 million over an already inflated budget.’ […] So, while Trump took over the project, Eric’s claim that his father ‘invested $2 million of his own money’ is false.”
CNN: “Trump’s middle son rehashed one of his father’s favorite lines throughout his campaign: that the Obama administration agreed to give $150 billion to Iran as part of the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The line remains false.”
CNN: “Hamm, who helped pioneer the shale industry, slammed Obama’s energy policies Wednesday night, saying that restrictions on domestic oil and gas drilling was helping to fund terrorism. […] Therefore we rate the claim that restrictions on domestic oil and gas help “to fund terrorism” false.”
CNN: “We rate Hamm’s claim that Obama “chose not to get’ energy independence as false.”
CNN: “It’s also false to say Clinton wants to ‘eliminate fossil fuel development in America.’”
CNN: “[Michelle Van Etten] said the country needs a president “who will repeal Obamacare and allow small businesses to be able to provide health care for their employees again.” […] Small businesses are not now required to offer health insurance and they didn’t universally do so prior to Obamacare. Because of this, we rate Van Etten’s statement as false.”
AP: Pence and “other Republicans are wrongly accusing Hillary Clinton of speaking with indifference about the death of Americans in Benghazi, Libya — twisting her comments out of context to make their indictment.”
AP: Pence: “‘In my home state of Indiana we prove every day that you can build a growing economy on balanced budgets, low taxes.’ THE FACTS: While true, Pence’s balanced-budget claim isn’t much to brag about. … his biggest contribution to ‘low taxes’ was a reduction of Indiana’s income-tax rate from 3.4 percent to 3.3 percent last year — a savings of about $50 a year for someone with $50,000 in taxable income.”
AP: “NEWT GINGRICH, former House speaker: ‘Iran — the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism — is close to having nuclear weapons.’ […] Before the deal, Iran was just a few months away from having enough weapons-grade uranium to build 10 to 12 nuclear weapons, according to the U.S. government. Now, if Iran were to race toward an atomic weapon, the Obama administration and most independent experts say it would need at least a year, which they say would be enough time to discover the effort and intervene.”
AP: “GINGRICH: ‘So when you hear about Hillary’s dishonesty, or the emails, or taking millions from the Saudis and other Middle Eastern dictatorships — remember, this is not about politics.’ THE FACTS: Clinton was not personally paid for making any speeches in Saudi Arabia or other Mideast nations. […] Most of those donations were made before she took a leadership role in the charity after stepping down as secretary of state in 2013.”
AP: “CRUZ: ‘There is a better vision for our future: A return to freedom. … On health care, your freedom to choose your own doctor, without Obamacare.’ THE FACTS: Without ‘Obamacare’ or some replacement, millions of people would lose health insurance, which could make it tough for them to choose a doctor.”
AP: “FLORIDA GOV. RICK SCOTT: ‘We’ve allowed our military to decay, and we project weakness on the international stage.’ THE FACTS: The U.S. continues to have the most powerful military in the world. […] China, the second-biggest spender, has a defense budget less than a third of the Pentagon’s.”
AP: “GINGRICH: The terrorism danger to the United States ‘is even worse than September 11th, when 19 hijackers murdered almost 3,000 Americans.’ THE FACTS: Such an assertion fits the GOP convention’s theme of raising fears about the nation’s current political leadership, but it’s a stretch to say the danger has escalated since the 9/11 attacks. […] in the last 15 years the nation has spent massively on new security systems. The FBI has reinvented itself into a terrorism-fighting agency, securing surveillance powers that have diminished the likelihood of a coordinated attack in multiple cities.”
Vox: “Ted Cruz is being wildly misleading about Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi reaction […] If you’ve been listening to Republican convention speeches this week, you’ll have heard many, many, many variations on this riff — Republicans aren’t quite sure exactly why it’s Hillary Clinton’s fault that Americans died at Benghazi (spoiler: because it’s not).”
org: “Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, erroneously claimed that the Iran nuclear deal ‘lined the pockets of the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism with your money.’ Your money? No.”
org: “Priebus also said that ‘a Clinton presidency only means more debt.’ Yes, but Clinton’s plan would result in a ‘relatively small’ increase in the debt, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. On the other hand, the group found that Trump’s tax and spending plan would cause a ‘massive increase’ in the debt.”
org: “Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said that Hillary Clinton’s ‘only answer’ to the debt ‘is to keep borrowing and spending.’ But the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that Trump’s tax and spending plan would cause a ‘massive increase’ in the debt, while Clinton’s plan would result in a ‘relatively small’ increase.”
org: “Pence said ‘we cannot have four more years of apologizing to our enemies,’ an old claim from 2012 that Obama apologized to other countries. […] Our fact-checking colleagues at PolitiFact and the Washington Post Fact Checker reached the same conclusion: Obama never apologized.”
org: “Both Cruz and Pence took a Hillary Clinton quote on the Benghazi terrorist attacks out of context, leaving the false impression that she didn’t care about the deaths of four Americans.”
org: “Eric Trump wrongly claimed that the U.S. is ‘one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.’ Though the U.S. has one of the highest business tax rates, U.S. personal taxes don’t even break the top ten among industrialized nations.”
org: “Florida Gov. Rick Scott claimed the U.S. has ‘world-record high debt,’ when, in fact, it doesn’t, at least by the measure economists prefer. And he said the U.S. economy is ‘not growing,’ when it is.”
org: “Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm said that ‘America now has more oil than Saudi Arabia or Russia.’ Not so.”
org: “Pastor Darrell Scott was incorrect when he said that minority unemployment had increased under President Obama. In fact, unemployment for African Americans, Hispanics and Asians, the nation’s three largest minority groups, has declined significantly since Obama took office in January 2009.”
ABC News: “Priebus said: ‘It was on her watch ISIS began to spread its wings of evil over the Middle East.’ That is false.”
ABC News: “Claim: Hillary Clinton Took Money from Saudi Government Rating: Misleading. […] There is no evidence that Hillary Clinton personally ‘took’ money from the Saudi government, as Gingrich’s statement implies.”
ABC News: “Claim: Donald Trump set aside his company and global brand to run for president. Status: False.”
ABC News: “Claim: Hillary Clinton turned her back on American officials in Benghazi and lied about the attack […] No investigation has shown Clinton ignored the attack.”
ABC News: Ted Cruz claim: “The U.S. government admits ISIS terrorists as refugees.” “Rating: False. While intelligence gaps abroad means there’s a degree of risk in resettling refugees from Syria and elsewhere, the U.S. employs a thorough, multi-stage vetting process. Recent historical data further undermines this claim.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “This is a carefully phrased statement — note the use of the word ‘helped’ — that tries to pin the blame on Clinton for a complex dynamic that both pre-dates and post-dates her tenure as secretary of state.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Pence really pushes the envelope with this line. Numerous investigations into the September 2012 Benghazi attacks have found that security was inadequate at the Benghazi diplomatic facility, but no evidence has emerged that security requests ever reached Clinton’s level.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Pence’s attack on Hillary Clinton’s claim about coal jobs is another example of taking a statement out of context.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “[Pence] misfires when he criticizes Clinton’s proposals. Clinton proposes $1.45 trillion in new spending, but it would be mostly offset by new revenues.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: Eric Trump: “What had taken [New York City] over half a decade to botch, my father completed in less than six months.” “Actually, New York City ended up paying for this project, which ended up being a nice publicity boost for Trump.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “’If conservative reforms can work in a blue state like mine, they can work anywhere in the country.’ — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. This was one of Walker’s favorite lines when he was running for president. But … it stretches the truth.”
Haven’t got enough? Here’s critical reports from independent fact checkers from just the first 48 hours of the convention.
Politifact:“Trump said he liked having the convention in Cleveland and that he had recommended Ohio. […] The selection of Cleveland was conducted by the party in 2014, when it wasn’t known who would ultimately win the nomination. We rate Trump’s statement False.”
Politifact:“Donald Trump Jr. said Clinton is proposing ‘destroying Medicare for seniors.’ […] We rate the claimFalse.”
Politifact:“McConnell said that Clinton changed her views on allowing Iran to enrich uranium. […] We rate this claimMostly False.”
Politifact:“Day said that as a senator Clinton ‘paid women less than the men in your office.’ […] We rate this claimMostly False.”
Politifact:“Manafort said, ‘The Clinton camp was the first to get it out there and try to say there was something untoward about the speech that Melania Trump gave.’ […] We rate Manafort’s claim False.”
Politifact:“Duffy said: ‘Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have left us with $19 trillion in debt.’ […] Our rating isMostly False.”
Politifact:“Sabato said Obama is “absolutely” a Muslim. That’s wrong. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!”
Politifact:“Sessions said, ‘There are about 350,000 people who succeed in crossing our borders illegally each year.’ […] The number of immigrants illegally in the country is staying the same or getting smaller. We rate Sessions’ statement False.”
Politifact:“Geist said, “We defied the stand-down orders” during the Benghazi attack. […] Testimony in the House Select Committee on Benghazi report shows there was no stand-down order to defy because there was never an order to not intervene in the unfolding disaster. […] We rate it Mostly False.”
Politifact:“Giuliani said, “Hillary Clinton is for open borders.” […] We rate this claim ”
Politifact:“Sessions said Clinton “has been a champion of globalist trade agreements. … Worst of all, they are now pushing the disastrous 5,554-page Obamatrade — the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.” […] We rate Sessions’ claim Mostly False.”
CNN:“While Clinton was head of the State Department at the time, Christie says she “fought” to keep [Boko Haram] off the list and there is no evidence that she herself was personally responsible for the delay in the designation. Our verdict: false.”
CNN:“Christie went on to add: […] “what was the solution from the Obama/Clinton team? A hashtag campaign.” […] Therefore we rate the claim that the “solution from the Obama/Clinton team” was a “hashtag campaign” as false.”
CNN:“Christie assumed the role of prosecutor on the RNC stage, arguing that Clinton’s policy in Libya made her “guilty” of “ruining Libya” and “creating a nest for terrorist activity by ISIS. […] because Clinton was neither the first to call for military intervention, nor the only one to plan the administration’s handling of the aftermath, we rate Christie’s claim false.”
CNN:“Donald Trump Jr. said his father would be “a President not beholden to special interests, foreign and domestic and one who funded his entire primary run out of his own pocket just to prove it.” […] His son’s claim is false.”
CNN:“We rate Donald Trump Jr.’s claim that Clinton has proposed destroying Medicare false, however you read the phrase — Clinton has not proposed to destroy Medicare, but to expand it.”
CNN:“So, is Cox correct in his claim that Clinton would abolish the Second Amendment? […] Verdict: False.”
CNN:“Our verdict on McConnell’s charge that Clinton changed positions on Keystone XL: false.”
CNN:“‘Hillary Clinton is promising more of the same. Open borders, executive amnesty and the surge of Syrian refugees,’ said Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the chairman of the Homeland Security Commission. […] Clinton’s proposed policies and past rhetoric do not reflect open borders. That’s false.”
CNN:“Therefore, Sessions’ statement that immigrants have taken all the jobs is false.”
CNN:“Glenn also said American neighborhoods have become more violent since Obama has been in office. […] Glenn’s assertion here is false.”
CNN:“Because Clinton’s role in the attack in Benghazi has been thoroughly investigated and she has been cleared of wrongdoing, we find Smith’s claim of culpability false.”
CNN:“Ernst said the terrorist group’s threat is not limited to the Middle East, but is spreading. “Terrorists from ISIS are in every one of our 50 states,” Ernst said. […] Therefore, we judge her statement false.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“But the security decisions were made well below Clinton’s level and no evidencehas emerged that Clinton was aware of the requests or decided not to provide the requisite level of security.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“But, unlike the implication of Ernst’s statement, Comey did not say that the ISIS terror group was present in each state or that these troubled souls had already become terrorists.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“Trump has made the same claim about Clinton recently, but Giuliani repeating itdoesn’t make it any more correct. Giuliani exaggerates Clinton’s stance on border security and immigration enforcement.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“Recent data show the unauthorized immigrant population has leveled off, whichdoes not support Sessions’s claim.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“But even so, Christie appears to not have been listening to Obama speak about the issue. He’s simply wrong that Obama has been silent on violence in Chicago.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“For example, homicides are a small percentage of the crimes committed by noncitizens, whether they are in the United States illegally or not.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“Our friends at FactCheck.org took an extensive look into the internal data from 2002 to 2008 and found that the median salary for men and women were the same. And the Clintons’ staff had roughly twice as many women as men.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“Christie grossly simplifies a complex debate at the State Department — which actually did not involve Clinton personally.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “This is a mysterious claim by Trump’s son that appears to have no factual basis. There is no specific proposal by Clinton that could be said to ‘destroy’ Medicare, the health-care program for the elderly.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“We’ve looked at this number before, and it’s pretty bogus. […] The $15,000 figure has serious methodological problems — even the report admits it is “not scientific” and “back of the envelope” — and it is especially misleading when the benefit side of the equation is ignored.”
Washington Post Fact Checker:“Trump’s campaign manager tried to pin the blame on the Clinton campaign for the flap over allegations of plagiarism in Melania Trump’s prime-time address Monday night at the Republican National Convention. But no evidence has emerged that is the case; indeed, Manafort has offered no evidence.”
New York Times:“Fact Check: He suggested Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server was a crime, something the F.B.I. director had concluded it was not.”
New York Times:“Fact Check: While Mrs. Clinton has said she supports President Obama’s executive actions to allow some illegal immigrants to live and work in the United States, she has not called for “open borders” and her support for accepting Syrian refugees has been limited to 65,000 people, far fewer than the number who were accepted by some European countries.”
New York Times:“Fact check: The Obama administration and Mrs. Clinton opposed the “Buy America” provision because, they said, it was a protectionist measure that could cause a trade war with China in the midst of an economic crisis.”
New York Times:“Fact check: Mrs. Clinton’s comments about Mr. Assad came in an interview in 2011, before much of the bloodshed, when she said that some members of Congress in both parties “believe he’s a reformer.” Some in the George W. Bush administration had also expressed hope that he would be a better leader than his father, Hafez al-Assad. And Mrs. Clinton did not “defend” the atrocities committed by Mr. Assad during the later period of the civil war.”New York Times: “Fact check: Mrs. Clinton was already gone from the administration when Mr. Obama pursued secret negotiations with Cuba, though she did express support for his efforts.”
org:“Donald Trump Jr. distorted Clinton’s gun control proposal, claiming, as his father did, that she wants to ‘take away Americans’ guns.’ Clinton’s gun control proposal doesn’t call for taking away guns.”
org:“Two speakers claimed that Clinton paid women less than men in her Senate office […] The Clinton campaign provided FactCheck.org a list of the names, titles and annual salaries of every full-time person employed in Clinton’s Senate office between 2002 and 2008. Those data show the median salary for men and women to be the same at $40,000. The data also show Clinton hired roughly twice as many women as men.”
org:“Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and former U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey both mentioned Clinton’s ‘what difference does it make’ quote on Benghazi, but left out the context of that remark. […] Republicans, like Mukasey, have portrayed the remarks as being uncaring toward the lives lost that night. Johnson himself went on to describe in his speech several victims of terrorists attacks, saying ‘it made a difference’ to them. But Clinton’s full remarks indicate she was concerned about the lives lost.”
org:“Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia took Clinton’s words on coal-mining jobs out of context. […] Sullivan and Capito ignore her promise to create new jobs for communities hurt by the shift away from coal.”
org:Sen. Shelly Moore Capito “used a one-sided report … to claim that ‘the burden of government regulations in this country amounts to $15,000 a household.’ And she exaggerated the number of coal mining jobs that have been lost since 2011, putting the figure at 60,000, when it’s 36,700.”
org:“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrongly said that Clinton was for the Keystone XL pipeline before she was against it. She did not take a position until she opposed the pipeline in 2015.”
org:Sen. Shelly Moore Capito said “the Obama ‘economic agenda’ has led to ‘the lowest workforce participation in decades,’ […] But Obama’s ‘economic agenda’ hasn’t caused the decline in the labor force participation rate, which actually started going down in the late 1990s, a full decade before he took office.”
org:“Sen. Jeff Sessions claimed that ‘respect for America has fallen,’ but the U.S. is viewed more favorably in many countries now than it was before President Obama took office. […] As we’ve written before, the U.S. is viewed more favorably now than it was before Obama took office in 2009.”
org:“Donald Trump Jr. also wrongly said that his father ‘funded his entire primary run out of his own pocket.’ Trump provided about 73 percent of the funding, but not all of it.”
org:“Two security contractors at the CIA annex in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, repeated their claim that they were told to ‘stand down’ and not help Americans under attack. But multiple official reports say such an order was never issued.”
org:“The sister of a slain Border Patrol agent said President Obama has left ‘border patrol agents thinly equipped,’ and undermanned. In fact, both funding and staffing have increased under Obama.”
org:Darryl Glenn, Colorado Republican nominee for Senate, “wrongly suggested that violent crime in the United States had gone up during President Obama’s time in office. The violent crime rate has gone down 20 percent from 2008, the year before Obama was sworn in, and 2014, the most recent statistics available from the FBI.”
org:“Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Michael McCaul both wrongly claimed that Hillary Clinton supports ‘open borders.’ She supported a bill that would have created a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally, but it also would have increased border security.”
org:Rudy Giuliani said that Hillary Clinton “‘advocated for the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya’ and should be ‘accountable’ for the country’s chaos. But he failed to mention that Trump, at the time, also supported the ouster of Gadhafi.”
org:“Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions claimed that wages ‘have fallen,’ when they’re up under Obama. He blamed immigration for a low labor force participation rate, when it’s mainly the result of demographics, including the aging of baby boomers.”
ABC News:“Claim: Hillary Clinton is an “apologist” for Boko Haram. She and Obama responded to its mass kidnapping with a “hashtag campaign.” Rating: ”
ABC News:“Claim: Clinton said that “what difference, at this point, does it make?” in discussing the deaths of Americans in Benghazi. Rating: ”
ABC News:“Claim: U.S. military responders were ordered to “stand down” during the 2012 Benghazi attack. Rating: Highly Questionable. Every investigation ever done on Benghazi concluded there was no “stand down order.”
ABC News: “Claim: ‘No one was ever held accountable’ for Fast & Furious. Rating: False.”
ABC News: Claim: ‘All security had been pulled from the embassy’ in Benghazi. Rating: False
NPR:“There’s been no evidence uncovered of a direct order to “stand down” from mounting a defense of the facilities.”
NBC News:“CLAIM (Rudy Giuliani): ‘Hillary Clinton’s answer to Congress about the death of these four brave Americans [in Benghazi] because of her failures as Secretary of State was ‘what difference at this point does it make?’ […] THE FACTS: According to the video of Clinton’s congressional testimony, Clinton’s ‘what difference at this point does it make’ was over whether the violence in Benghazi was inspired by anti-Islam video or not.”
NBC News:“CLAIM (Melania Trump): ‘Donald intends to represent all the people, not just some of the people. That includes Christians and Jews and Muslims, it includes Hispanics and African Americans and Asians, and the poor and the middle class.’ THE FACTS: In addition to the temporary Muslim travel ban that Trump first proposed in Dec. 2015, Trump has once talked about a ‘Muslim problem’ in a 2011 interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody.”
NBC News:“CLAIM (Rudy Giuliani): ‘…Obama’s Nuclear Agreement with Iran that will eventually let them become a nuclear power and put billions of dollars back into a country that the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism.’ […] THE FACTS: The Iran Deal requires that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency continuously monitor Iran’s nuclear sites to verify that Tehran is keeping its enrichment activities within limits set out in the deal and that none of the fissile material is being moved to covertly build a bomb.”
NBC News:“CLAIM (Jeff Sessions): ‘…From 2000 to 2014, while our existing population increased by millions, the number of jobs held by Americans actually declined. Amazingly, all the net job growth during that period went to immigrants.’ THE FACTS: Sessions is citing the research of the Center for Immigration Studies […] PolitiFact has checked out claims made from this study before and found that this reading of the data is misleading. The organization found that the study looks at jobs for workers 16-65, ignoring the gains for workers over age 65 that existed and ignoring the recession.”
NBC News: “CLAIM (Darryl Glenn, Colorado Senate candidate): ‘Neighborhoods have become more dangerous under [Obama’s] watch’ THE FACTS: While there is some evidence of an increase in violent crime in some large American cities in the last few years, the national trend shows overall crime going down.”
NBC News:Donald Trump: “I wanted it to be in Ohio, I recommended Ohio, and people fought very hard that it be in Ohio.” The Facts: “The Republican National Committee’s Site Selection Committee announced in July 2014 its recommendation of Cleveland, Ohio, as the site of the convention. Donald Trump announced his intention to run for president nearly a year later, in June 2015.”
Star Ledger:“The facts: In actuality, she simply related others’ opinions. ‘There is a different leader in Syria now,” Clinton said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” in 2011, according to Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site. “Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.’”
Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland was all bluster, bombast, hyperbole and outright lies – designed to raise Hillary Clinton’s negatives and distract from Trump’s utter lack of policy, proposals, agenda, experience or temperament to be president – that demand to be corrected. (These references are supplied by the Hillary for America Campaign):
FBI’s Comey: Emails Reported as “Marked Classified” Were Improperly Marked and Could Be Reasonably Judged as Not Classified
In a key development at today’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, FBI Director James Comey clarified an apparent inconsistency between his remarks earlier this week and Secretary Hillary Clinton’s long-running public statements.
Clinton has long stated that none of the emails she sent or received were marked classified at the time. Comey, however, said Monday that there was a “very small number” of emails that bore markings.
Moments ago, Comey reconciled this apparent contradiction. He acknowledged for the first time that there were only three such emails, and that in each case the emails contained only “partial” markings — meaning, he acknowledged, that they were improperly marked and that as a result, the materials could have been reasonably judged as not classified.
Comey’s statements add to the findings announced by the State Department yesterday. At a press briefing, a State Department spokesman said the markings on these emails were the result of “human error” and did not belong in these emails, as the underlying contents were not classified.
Below is the full exchange just now between Director Comey and Rep. Matt Cartwright:
KEY EXCHANGE WITH DIRECTOR COMEY AND REP. CARTWRIGHT
MATT CARTWRIGHT: You were asked about markings on a few documents, I have the manual here, marking national classified security information. And I don’t think you were given a full chance to talk about those three documents with the little c’s on them. Were they properly documented? Were they properly marked according to the manual?
JAMES COMEY: No.
MATT CARTWRIGHT: According to the manual, and I ask unanimous consent to enter this into the record Mr. Chairman
CHAIRMAN: Without objection so ordered.
MATT CARTWRIGHT: According to the manual, if you’re going to classify something, there has to be a header on the document? Right?
JAMES COMEY: Correct.
MATT CARTWRIGHT: Was there a header on the three documents that we’ve discussed today that had the little c in the text someplace?
JAMES COMEY: No. There were three e-mails, the c was in the body, in the text, but there was no header on the email or in the text.
MATT CARTWRIGHT: So if Secretary Clinton really were an expert about what’s classified and what’s not classified and we’re following the manual, the absence of a header would tell her immediately that those three documents were not classified. Am I correct in that?
JAMES COMEY: That would be a reasonable inference. There Has Never Been Any Evidence Clinton’s Server Was Hacked
Contrary to the baseless speculation and conspiracy theories, there has never been any evidence found to support the allegation that Hillary Clinton’s server was hacked:
NY Times: “Security Logs of Hillary Clinton’s Email Server Are Said to Show No Evidence of Hacking.”
Reuters: “The two sources said the U.S. investigation of Lazar turned up no evidence to support the hacker’s claims that he had broken into Clinton’s private server.”
FBI Director James Comey: “We did not find direct evidence that Secretary Clinton’s personal e-mail domain, in its various configurations since 2009, was successfully hacked.”
FBI Director James Comey: The hacker Guccifer “did not [gain access to Clinton’s server], he admitted that was a lie.”
Vox: “Importantly, the [State Department IG] report doesn’t turn up any evidence that Clinton’s emails were successfully hacked or compromised.”
Factcheck.org: “Trump falsely claimed that the private server that Clinton used as secretary of state “was easily hacked by foreign governments.” Attempts were made to hack into Clinton’s server, but the identity of the hackers has not been determined and there has been no evidence to date that any of them were successful.”
However, the same can not be said for the State Department and other government email systems:
Reuters: State Department’s Unclassified Email Systems Hacked
Washington Post: “The breach is the latest of a series of electronic intrusions first detected last month on government computer systems at a variety of agencies, from the White House to the U.S. Postal Service to the National Weather Service. The suspected hackers of the White House’s computer network were believed to be working for the Russian government.”
About Those “Classified” Emails: FBI Director’s Testimony to House Committee Backed Up Clinton’s Public Statements
Comey: “Marked Classified” Emails Were Improperly Marked and Could Be Reasonably Judged as Not Classified; No Evidence Clinton Ever Knew She Had or Retained Classified Information
In key developments during FBI Director James Comey’s testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, he clarified an apparent inconsistency between his initial remarks and Secretary Hillary Clinton’s long-running public statements.
During the hearing, Comey acknowledged for the first time that there were only three emails that were supposedly marked classified, and that in each case the emails contained only “partial” markings — meaning, he acknowledged, that they were improperly marked and that as a result, the materials could have been reasonably judged as not classified. A day earlier, a State Department spokesman said the markings on these emails were the result of “human error”and did not belong in these emails, as the underlying contents were not classified.
3 key pieces of Comey’s testimony:
1) Emails reported as “marked classified” were improperly marked.
MATT CARTWRIGHT: I don’t think you were given a full chance to talk about those three documents with the little ‘C’s’ on them. Were they properly documented? Were they properly marked according to the manual? COMEY: No.
2) And those emails could be reasonably judged as not classified. MATT CARTWRIGHT: If Secretary Clinton really were an expert at what’s classified and what’s not classified and we’re following the manual, the absence of a header would tell her immediately that those three documents were not classified. Am I correct in that? | COMEY: That would be a reasonable inference.
3) There’s no evidence Clinton ever knew she had received classified information or intended to retain it on her server. COMEY: There’s not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew she was receiving classified information or that she intended to retain it on her server.
Day One of Donald Trump’s Convention: Lies About Hillary Clinton
Following in the footsteps of every speech Donald Trump has ever delivered, the first day of the Republican Convention was filled with omissions, exaggerations and lies. Here are a sample of the falsehoods told from the podium:
1. FALSE CLAIM: Former Gov. Linda Lingle: “Clinton and Obama have treated our allies as strangers, insulted their leaders, and ignored their advice and interests.”
TRUTH: America’s standing in the world drastically improved while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. 82 percent of countries surveyed by BBC had a more positive view of U.S. influence at the end of Secretary Clinton’s tenure than they did around its beginning (BBC 2009, BBC 2013).
2. FALSE CLAIM: Sen. Pat Roberts: “Hillary Clinton and the Democrats have changed our government. They have taxed us. They have regulated us. They have destroyed our health care system. They have stunned our economy and killed new jobs. They have made our world and our country less safe.
TRUTH:20 million more people have health care thanks to the Affordable Care Act. We’ve seen 72 months of job growth and 14.8 million private sector jobs.
3. FALSE CLAIM: Benghazi Video: “At a 7:30 meeting, Hillary Clinton’s State Department requested that the Marines go in civilian clothes, no military uniforms and no weapons – in a war zone, where Americans were under fire. Because they didn’t want to look like an invasion, because we didn’t want to offend anybody, really?”
TRUTH:PolitiFact: Mostly False: “The delay occurred after the surviving Americans and those who had been killed already had been evacuated to Tripoli.”
4. FALSE CLAIM:John Tiegen: “On three separate occasions, we got told to wait by the chief of base, and we told us to stand down.”
TRUTH:TPM: [M]ultiple fact-checking outlets have found no evidence that such an order was given by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In November 2014, the GOP-led House Intelligence Committee found the CIA properly responded to the Benghazi attacks, debunking residual claims that the CIA delayed its response or missed the opening for a possible rescue mission.
5. FALSE CLAIM: Sen. Pat Roberts: “Are we really ready to accept a different standard for the elites than for the rest of us? But that decision will no longer be made by a confused FBI or the administration’s Department of Justice.”
TRUTH: The FBI’s decision was not confused – it was unanimous. Republican FBI Director James Comey said unequivocally that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring this case.” And he made perfectly clear that Clinton did not receive preferable treatment – to the contrary, he said that pursuing charges against her would have been applying a double standard: “That would be celebrity hunting. That would be treating this person differently than John Doe.”
6. FALSE CLAIM: Rep. Mike McCaul: “And now Hillary Clinton is promising more of the same: open borders…”
TRUTH:Politifact: “This is a huge distortion of Clinton’s proposals. Clinton has praised work already done to secure the border, and she said she supported a 2013 bill that would have invested billions more in border security while creating a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. Her plan calls for protecting the border and targeting deportation to criminals and security threats. Her plan would make it easier for many undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation, but that’s not the same as ending all enforcement. We rate this claim False.” (And they rated it false tonight too)
7. FALSE CLAIM: Rep. Mike McCaul: “When four Americans were murdered and Benghazi burned, it burned, she blamed it on a video.”
TRUTH:Washington Post Fact-Checker: There is “little support for [the] claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occurring across the Middle East.”
8. FALSE CLAIM: Rep. Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy on rules of their household: “And no lying. Especially to the FBI.”
TRUTH:Reuters: “FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers on Thursday that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton did not lie to the FBI about her handling of emails as secretary of state and did not break the law.”
COMEY: “I don’t think the [FBI] agents assessed she was evasive [in their 3.5 hour interview with Hillary Clinton.]”
FALSE CLAIM:Sen. Jeff Sessions: “Worst of all, they are now pushing the disastrous 5,000-page ‘Obamatrade’ – the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.”
TRUTH:PolitiFact: “[Sessions is] painting Clinton’s position on free trade with an overly broad brush and is just plain wrong on her supporting for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.”
10. FALSE CLAIM:Fmr. Mayor Rudy Giuliani: “[Hillary Clinton’s] dereliction of duty and failure to keep her people safe played a major role, as you heard tonight, in the horrific Islamic terrorist murders on September 11 and 12, 2012 in Benghazi, which claimed the lives of four brave Americans.”
TRUTH:Huffington Post: House Republicans Spent Millions Of Dollars On Benghazi Committee To Exonerate Clinton: “After spending more than two years and $7 million, the House Select Committee on Benghazi released a report Tuesday that found — like eight investigations before it — no evidence of wrongdoing by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or other members of the Obama administration.”
11. FALSE CLAIM:Lt. General Michael Flynn: President Obama and Hillary Clinton pursued a strategy of “coddling and displays of empathy toward terrorists”
Allegations of “Stand Down” Order Have Been Widely Debunked
In their continued quest to politically damage Hillary Clinton, Republicans have falsely claimed that Clinton told former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and U.S military personnel to ‘stand down’ in the wake of the Benghazi attacks. This unfounded allegation has been widely debunked:
Multiple bipartisan investigations have concluded that no ‘stand down’ order was ever issued to U.S. military personnel in Tripoli.
Even Republicans from the House Armed Services Committee have refuted this claim.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence found no evidence of obstruction in mobilizing CIA security teams to respond to the attacks.
Secretary Panetta and General Dempsey have both confirmed Clinton did not in fact communicate with them on the night of the attacks. General Dempsey also stated that no limitations were placed on the military’s reaction to the attack.
AFRICOM Commander General Carter Ham has said no one under his command received a “stand down” order from Clinton.
The Commander of Special Operations in Tripoli at the time, Rear Admiral Brian Losey, publically stated “there was never an order to stand down.”
In fact, contrary to the GOP’s erroneous allegations, military assets were allocated and mobilized to address the crisis. The military’s ability to respond was limited—not because of Clinton or any official’s doing— but due to the status of U.S. forces that night and the speed of the attacks that unfolded:
The AFRICOM Command Center was given access to “every capability that was available and as quickly it could move.”
General Dempsey stated he was instructed “to use all available assets to respond to the attacks.”
Buck McKeon, Republican Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the “military did what it reasonably could during a chaotic night.”
Admiral Mike Mullen, who was the only military member of the Accountability Review Board (ARB) concluded that the “U.S. did everything it could on the night of the attack.”
Even former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, claimed in an interview, “had I been in the job at the time of the Benghazi attacks…. I think my decisions would have been just as theirs were.”
The fact is, all of the numerous official sources analyzing the military response –from the countless interviews with military officials, to congressional reports, to the Independent Accountability Review Board—have concluded that the military did everything it could, given the circumstances, in their response to the attacks. Even Republicans have openly acknowledged DOD’s inability to “respond immediately to every conceivable global contingency.”
The House Benghazi Committee’s Investigation Was A Purely Partisan Exercise That Still Found No Wrongdoing By Hillary Clinton
The Select Committee on Benghazi was a taxpayer-funded attack vehicle targeting Hillary Clinton. Despite spending two years and more than $7 million of taxpayer money, Republicans still were unable to find any evidence to back up their wild conspiracy theories and accusations against Hillary Clinton.
Washington Post:Republicans’ Benghazi goose chase comes up empty
LA Times: Republicans release Benghazi report with no new evidence against Hillary Clinton
LA Times: Editorial: After two years and $7 million in tax dollars, the latest Benghazi report tells the same old story
Bloomberg: Benghazi Report Has No Major Revelations About Clinton’s Role
Miami Herald: Editorial: In effort to trap Hillary Clinton, Benghazi committee produces a dud
Huffington Post: House Republicans Spent Millions Of Dollars On Benghazi Committee To Exonerate Clinton
Even Republicans confirmed the partisan nature of the Committee.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy: “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable right? We put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.”
Republican Congressman Richard Hanna: “This may not be politically correct, but I think that there was a big part of this investigation that was designed to go after people and an individual, Hillary Clinton.”
CNN: “A former investigator with the House Select Committee on Benghazi is accusing the Republican-led panel of carrying out a politically motivated investigation targeting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instead of the thorough and objective fact-finding mission it was set up to pursue.”
NYT:“Senior Republican officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing confidential conversations, said that Mr. Boehner had long been suspicious of the administration’s handling of the attacks and that Mrs. Clinton’s emails gave him a way to keep the issue alive and to cause political problems for her campaign.” Even leading conservative voice Bill O’Reilly weighed in: “If you don’t think the Benghazi thing is political, of course it’s political.”
Chris Stevens’ Family: Don’t Blame Hillary Clinton For Benghazi
Rudy Giuliani just ran through a series of debunked conspiracy theories in order to put partisan blame on Hillary Clinton for the tragic attacks in Benghazi. Here’s what Anne Stevens, the sister of Ambassador Chris Stevens has said about it:
Whom do you fault for the lack of security that resulted in the death of your brother, in Benghazi?
“I do not blame Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta. They were balancing security efforts at embassies and missions around the world. And their staffs were doing their best to provide what they could with the resources they had. The Benghazi Mission was understaffed. We know that now. But, again, Chris knew that. It wasn’t a secret to him. He decided to take the risk to go there. It is not something they did to him. It is something he took on himself.” – Dr. Anne Stevens, the sister of Ambassador Chris Stevens.
What did you think of Secretary Clinton’s conduct on Benghazi?
“She has taken full responsibility, being head of the State Department, for what occurred. She took measures to respond to the review board’s recommendations. She established better programs for a better security system. But it is never going to be perfect. Part of being a diplomat is being out in the community. We all recognize that there’s risk in serving in a dangerous environment. Chris thought that was very important, and he probably would have done it again. I don’t see any usefulness in continuing to criticize here. It is very unjust.” – Dr. Anne Stevens, the sister of Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The False Claim That Hillary Clinton Supports “Open Borders”
In an attempt to distract voters from his own divisive immigration policies, Donald Trump and his allies have falsely said Hillary Clinton wants to “create totally open borders.”
Politifact: “This is a huge distortion of Clinton’s proposals. Clinton has praised work already done to secure the border, and she said she supported a 2013 bill that would have invested billions more in border security while creating a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. Her plan calls for protecting the border and targeting deportation to criminals and security threats. Her plan would make it easier for many undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation, but that’s not the same as ending all enforcement. We rate this claim False.”
Trump’s False Claim that Clinton Will Repeal the 2nd Amendment
Chris Cox just parroted Donald Trump’s false claim that Hillary Clinton wants to repeal the 2nd Amendment. This debunked claim couldn’t be farther from the truth. In reality, Clinton believes that we can have common sense gun safety measures consistent with the Second Amendment and has repeatedly stated we can protect it while also protecting our families and communities
She will advocate for comprehensive federal background check legislation.
She will close the “Charleston loophole,” which allows any gun sale to proceed if a background check is not completed within three business days.
Hold dealers and manufacturers fully accountable if they endanger Americans:
She will repeal the gun industry’s unique immunity protection due to lobbying by the NRA.
She will revoke the licenses of bad dealers, such as those that supply guns to straw purchasers and traffickers.
Keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists, domestic abusers, other violent criminals and the severely mentally ill.
Clinton said “If you are too dangerous to fly, you are too dangerous to buy a gun, period.” She will insist on comprehensive background checks prevent suspected terrorists from buying guns.
She will support legislation to prohibit all domestic abusers and individuals suffering from severe mental illnesses from buying and possessing guns.
She will make straw purchasing a federal crime.
FLASHBACK: Support For Libyan Intervention Was Widespread, Including Trump and Pence
Donald Trump and his allies love to attack Hillary Clinton over the Libyan intervention. Curiously, they never seem to mention that Trump himself supported it. Repeatedly. And on his own video blog. And his running mate, Mike Pence backed the intervention as well, publicly thanking then-Secretary Clinton for her efforts on Libya.
BuzzFeed: Trump Claims He Didn’t Support Libya Intervention — But He Did, On Video
Trump, 2011: “I can’t believe what our country is doing. Qaddafi in Libya is killing thousands of people…. But we have go in to save these lives; these people are being slaughtered like animals. It’s horrible what’s going on; it has to be stopped. We should do on a humanitarian basis, immediately go into Libya, knock this guy out very quickly, very surgically, very effectively, and save the lives.”
Trump, 2011: “at this point, if you don’t get rid of Gadhafi, it’s a major, major black eye for this country.”
BuzzFeed: Mike Pence Publicly Thanked Hillary Clinton In 2011 For Her Efforts On Libya. Pence: “I also want to thank you, specifically, for the efforts by the administration and your offices to further isolate Libya during a time of extraordinary tragedy in the streets, tragedy of which I think we’re probably only partially aware.”
Donald Trump’s lies and hypocrisy aside, the reality is that in 2011, support for the Libyan intervention was widespread, at home and abroad. There was strong bipartisan support from U.S. leaders at home for the administration’s effort to impede Qadhafi’s brutality, and our closest NATO allies, partners in the region, and Libyan people were all making urgent calls for U.S. action.
Top Republicans were making calls for bold American leadership in this international crisis:
Feb. 22, 2011 – John McCain and Joe Lieberman: “The horrific situation in Libya demands more than just public condemnation; it requires strong international action. … Some Libyan diplomats have bravely called for a no-fly zone to stop the Qaddafi regime’s use of airpower to attack Libyan civilians. We support this course of action.”
Feb. 24, 2011 – Marco Rubio: “We should immediately engage willing partners to limit the regime’s ability to wage war against its own citizens. These measures could include (but are not limited to) pressing bordering nations to stop the flow of mercenaries into Libya, finding ways to restore severed communications, imposing a no-fly zone to protect civilians against aircraft attacks, and mobilizing a humanitarian relief effort.”
Feb. 28, 2011 – Lindsey Graham: “What I would suggest is that we really keep implementing U.N. sanctions on the economic side, on the travel side, go after assets. And a no fly zone would make a lot of sense to me.”
Feb. 28, 2011 – Susan Collins: “I do believe our allies may be able to join together with us to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to help protect the people from Gadhafi,” she said. “Any actions that we take I believe should be in concert with our allies.”
March 1, 2011 – By unanimous consent, the Senate adopts a resolution urging the UN Security Council to take “further action to protect civilians in Libya from attack, including the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over Libyan territory.”
March 7, 2011 – Newt Gingrich: “Exercise a no-fly zone this evening, communicate to the Libyan military that Gadhafi was gone … All we have to say is that we think that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we’re intervening. And we don’t have to send troops. All we have to do is suppress his air force…”
March 13, 2011 – John McCain: “First, the president [Barack Obama] should recognize Libya’s transitional national council, which is based in Benghazi but representative of communities across the country, as the sole legitimate governing authority of Libya, just as France has done. Second, the president should take immediate steps to implement a no-fly zone in Libya with international support.”
March 30, 2011 – Marco Rubio, to Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid: “I am writing to seek your support for bringing a bi-partisan resolution to the Senate floor authorizing the President’s decision to participate in allied military action in Libya. Furthermore, this resolution should also state that removing Muammar Qaddafi from power is in our national interest and therefore should authorize the President to accomplish this goal. To that end, the resolution should urge the President to immediately recognize the Interim Transitional National Council as the legitimate government in Libya
Day Two of Donald Trump’s Convention: Lies About Hillary Clinton
Day two of the Republican Convention built on the litany of lies heard on day one and every day since the beginning of Donald Trump’s candidacy. Once again, there were too many to count, but here are a sample of the falsehoods told from the podium:
FALSE CLAIM: Donald Trump Jr.: “Mark [Geist] was one of the men who received frantic phone calls from his buddies at the compound [in Benghazi]. Calls that pleaded for help. Calls that he and his team tried to answer. But calls that didn’t save all his friends, because Secretary Clinton’s State Department had ignored their requests for help, both on the night in question and even in the weeks and months leading up to the attack.”
TRUTH: Washington Post: “[S]ecurity decisions were made well below Clinton’s level and no evidence has emerged that Clinton was aware of the requests or decided not to provide the requisite level of security.”
FALSE CLAIM: Donald Trump Jr.: “Hillary Clinton is a risk Americans can’t afford to take. She said she’ll issue executive orders to take away Americans’ guns. She wants to appoint judges who will abolish the Second Amendment.”
TRUTH: PolitiFact: False. “We found no evidence of Clinton ever saying verbatim or suggesting explicitly that she wants to abolish the Second Amendment, and the bulk of Clinton’s comments suggest the opposite. She has repeatedly said she wants to protect the right to bear arms while enacting measures to prevent gun violence.”
FALSE CLAIM: Donald Trump Jr.: “Rather than being energy independent, our country will be forced to remain beholden to her buddies in the Middle East.”
TRUTH: Hillary Clinton has released a comprehensive plan to invest in modernizing our energy infrastructure to make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century and continue to reduce our reliance on foreign oil.
FALSE CLAIM: Donald Trump Jr.: “A president who will repeal and replace Obamacare without leaving our most vulnerable citizens without health care and who will do it without destroying Medicare for seniors, as Hillary Clinton has proposed.”
TRUTH: Hillary Clinton fought throughout her career to protect Medicare and has released plans to preserve and strengthen Medicare as president. The idea that she has put forth proposals that would destroy Medicare is ludicrous.
FALSE CLAIM: Gov. Chris Christie: “In Syria, imagine this, imagine this, she called President Assad a ‘reformer.’”
TRUTH:Washington Post’s Josh Rogin: “Christie is wrong. Hillary did not call Assad a reformer. She referred to that Kerry did. Facts are stubborn things.”
FALSE CLAIM: Gov. Chris Christie: “In Nigeria, Hillary Clinton amazingly fought for two years to keep an Al-Qaeda affiliate off of the terrorist watch list…. These Al-Qaeda terrorists abducted hundreds of innocent young woman two years ago. These schoolgirls are still missing today. And what was the solution from the Obama/Clinton team? A hashtag campaign! Now let’s figure it out, let’s decide. Hillary Clinton, as an apologist for an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Nigeria resulting in the capture of innocent young women, is she guilty or not guilty?”
TRUTH: This attack is very wrong on many levels:
Hillary Clinton condemned the group’s unjustifiable use of violence in 2011 and worked to crack down on them as Secretary of State. She took the unprecedented step of designating their key leaders as terrorists.
Clinton’s State Department didn’t designate Boko Haram as a Foreign Terror Organization because experts, including George W. Bush’s ambassador to Nigeria, warned this would elevate the group and help them fundraise and recruit.
The appalling 2014 attack, which Clinton swiftly and aggressively condemned, took place several months after Secretary Kerry’s State Department designated Boko Haram as an FTO – sadly, it did nothing to prevent the attacks.
FALSE CLAIM: Gov. Chris Christie: “She said there was no marked classified information on her server. The FBI Director said that’s untrue.”
TRUTH:FactCheck.org: “[FBI Director Comey] said three emails had ‘portion markings’ on them indicating that they were classified, but they were not properly marked”
FALSE CLAIM: GOP Co-Chairman Sharon Day: “She repeatedly plays the gender card. In fact, she boasts, ‘deal me in.’ Well, Mrs. Clinton, consider yourself dealt in. Because as a Senator, you paid women less than the men in your office.”
TRUTH:PolitiFact: Florida’s Sharon Day misleads on Hillary Clinton and gender pay gap: “The data show a median salary of $40,000 for both men and women receiving official Senate pay over those seven years (excluding Clinton’s pay, since all senators have the same salary set by law.) The median salary remains equal if you factor in non-Senate work, too.”
FALSE CLAIM: Gov. Asa Hutchinson: “Hillary Clinton’s radical attempts at so-called ‘reform’ of the nation’s healthcare system would have been more destructive than even Obamacare has been.”
TRUTH: 20 million more Americans have health care as a result of the Affordable Care Act. As First Lady, Clinton worked with Democrats and Republicans to help expand health care to 8 million children. And as president, she’s vowed to strengthen and improve ACA, work with governors to expand Medicaid, and give states the opportunity to pursue a public option and a Medicare opt-in for adults over 55.
FALSE CLAIM: Gov. Asa Hutchinson: “Hillary Clinton’s bad judgment, as you heard last night, left us four dead Americans in Benghazi.”
TRUTH: Huffington Post: “After spending more than two years and $7 million, the House Select Committee on Benghazi released a report Tuesday that found — like eight investigations before it — no evidence of wrongdoing by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or other members of the Obama administration.”
FALSE CLAIM: Sen. Ron Johnson: “[Hillary Clinton] hatched her cover-up story and repeatedly lied to the American people” about what inspired the tragic attacks in Benghazi.
TRUTH:Washington Post Fact-Checker: There is “little support for [the] claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occurring across the Middle East.”
FALSE CLAIM: NRA’s Chris Cox: “In case you’re wondering where Hillary Clinton stands. She said, quote, ‘the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment.’ Think about that. All the Supreme Court said was that you have the right to protect your life in your own home.”
TRUTH: FactCheck.org: “Clinton’s gun violence prevention proposal would impose restrictions, including a ban on semi-automatic ‘assault weapons,’ but it does not call for banning all guns…. Asked about Clinton’s remarks about the Second Amendment, Clinton campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin confirmed that Clinton was referring to the Heller case. He said Clinton ‘believes Heller was wrongly decided in that cities and states should have the power to craft common sense laws to keep their residents safe.’”
FALSE CLAIM: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: “Once a backer of the Keystone pipeline, last year [Hillary Clinton] opposed it.”
TRUTH: PolitiFact, after Clinton announced her opposition to the Keystone Pipeline: “Clinton said, ‘I never took a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone.’… We rate Clinton’s position a No Flip.”
Day Three of Donald Trump’s Convention: Lies About Hillary Clinton
Third time was not the charm for the speakers at the Republican National Convention trying to stick to the facts when talking about Hillary Clinton. Once again, there were too many lies, distortions and exaggerations to count, but here are a sample of the falsehoods told from the podium.
But, to start, just for good measure, one lie from the stage about Donald Trump:
FALSE CLAIM: Businessman, Phil Ruffin: “He always pays his bills promptly. You won’t hear that. Promptly.”
TRUTH:PolitiFact: “ USA Today investigation found a large number of lawsuits — at least 60, plus hundreds of liens, judgments and other filings — because people have accused Trump of failing to pay for services rendered or products delivered. The complaints even come from law firms that had formerly represented Trump in these types of lawsuits. […] We rate the statement False.”
And now back to the lies about Hillary Clinton…
FALSE CLAIM:Mike Pence: And it was Hillary Clinton who left Americans in harm’s way in Benghazi and after four Americans fell, said “What difference at this point does it make?”
TRUTH:ABC News: “Claim: Clinton said that ‘what difference, at this point, does it make?’ in discussing the deaths of Americans in Benghazi. Rating: False.”
2, FALSE CLAIM:VP Nominee Mike Pence: “You know, it was Hillary Clinton who helped to undo all the gains of the troop surge, a staggering failure of judgment”
TRUTH:AP Fact Check: “And she had nothing to do with the ‘disastrous strategy’ of giving a departure date from Iraq. It was the George W. Bush administration that announced the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq in 2008.”
3. FALSE CLAIM: Laura Ingraham: “Hillary Clinton, she does not believe in borders.”
TRUTH:PolitiFact, two days ago, on the claim, “Hillary Clinton is for open borders.” – False.
4. FALSE CLAIM: Kentucky State Sen. Ralph Alvarado: “I have a message for one more person – Hillary Clinton, you failed the Hispanic community and you don’t deserve our vote.”
5. FALSE CLAIM:Oil mogul Harold Hamm: “Hillary Clinton would eliminate fossil fuel development in America, she would kill jobs, drive up gasoline prices and increase oil imports from her enemies”
TRUTH: Hillary Clinton’s energy plan specifically calls for ensuring that fossil fuel production taking place today is safe and responsible, and for investing in clean energy technology to make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century.
6. FALSE CLAIM: Sen. Marco Rubio: “[Hillary Clinton] planted the seeds for the disaster we now know as Obamacare.”
7. FALSE CLAIM: Sen. Marco Rubio: “She was a key figure in implementing Barack Obama’s shameful foreign policy record of appeasing our enemies and betraying our allies and diminishing our role in world.”
TRUTH:Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “In a world that is ever more complex, turbulent and dangerous, Secretary Clinton….has made a singular contribution to strengthening this country’s relationships with allies”
8. FALSE CLAIM: Former Speaker Newt Gingrich: “ We know that Hillary Clinton lied to us knowingly about the terror attack on our Benghazi consulate.
TRUTH:Washington Post Fact-Checker: There is “little support for [the] claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occurring across the Middle East.”
9. FALSE CLAIM: Former Speaker Newt Gingrich: “We know that Hillary Clinton and President Obama lie to the American people when they say they can safely screen the Syrian refugees. They cannot.”
TRUTH:CNN: “to say that there is no way to screen refugees or that Clinton believes that they should not be vetted is false.”
Independent Fact Checkers Weigh in on GOP Convention: “False,” “Simply Wrong,” “No Evidence,” “No Factual Basis,” Distorted”
The Republican National Convention has reached its midway point and the number of lies, distortions and exaggerations has been staggering. With positive words for Donald Trump few and far between, Republican speakers have resorted to their only real strategy – lie about Hillary Clinton.
Below are a sampling of the critical reports from independent fact checkers from just the last 48 hours:
“The Republican recipe: Take an ambiguous set of facts. Add in some innuendo. Arrange the facts in the most suspicious-seeming way. Then level an allegation that cannot be disproven.” – Michael Tomasky,Daily Beast
Politifact: “Trump said he liked having the convention in Cleveland and that he had recommended Ohio. […] The selection of Cleveland was conducted by the party in 2014, when it wasn’t known who would ultimately win the nomination. We rate Trump’s statement False.”
Politifact: “Donald Trump Jr. said Clinton is proposing ‘destroying Medicare for seniors.’ […] We rate the claim False.”
Politifact: “McConnell said that Clinton changed her views on allowing Iran to enrich uranium. […] We rate this claim Mostly False.”
Politifact: “Day said that as a senator Clinton ‘paid women less than the men in your office.’ […] We rate this claim Mostly False.”
Politifact: “Manafort said, ‘The Clinton camp was the first to get it out there and try to say there was something untoward about the speech that Melania Trump gave.’ […] We rate Manafort’s claim False.”
Politifact: “Duffy said: ‘Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have left us with $19 trillion in debt.’ […] Our rating is Mostly False.”
Politifact: “Sabato said Obama is “absolutely” a Muslim. That’s wrong. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!”
Politifact: “Sessions said, ‘There are about 350,000 people who succeed in crossing our borders illegally each year.’ […] The number of immigrants illegally in the country is staying the same or getting smaller. We rate Sessions’ statement False.”
Politifact: “Geist said, “We defied the stand-down orders” during the Benghazi attack. […] Testimony in the House Select Committee on Benghazi report shows there was no stand-down order to defy because there was never an order to not intervene in the unfolding disaster. […] We rate it Mostly False.”
Politifact: “Giuliani said, “Hillary Clinton is for open borders.” […] We rate this claim False.”
Politifact: “Sessions said Clinton “has been a champion of globalist trade agreements. … Worst of all, they are now pushing the disastrous 5,554-page Obamatrade — the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.” […] We rate Sessions’ claim Mostly False.”
CNN: “While Clinton was head of the State Department at the time, Christie says she “fought” to keep [Boko Haram] off the list and there is no evidence that she herself was personally responsible for the delay in the designation. Our verdict: false.”
CNN: “Christie went on to add: […] “what was the solution from the Obama/Clinton team? A hashtag campaign.” […] Therefore we rate the claim that the “solution from the Obama/Clinton team” was a “hashtag campaign” as false.”
CNN: “Christie assumed the role of prosecutor on the RNC stage, arguing that Clinton’s policy in Libya made her “guilty” of “ruining Libya” and “creating a nest for terrorist activity by ISIS. […] because Clinton was neither the first to call for military intervention, nor the only one to plan the administration’s handling of the aftermath, we rate Christie’s claim false.”
CNN: “Donald Trump Jr. said his father would be “a President not beholden to special interests, foreign and domestic and one who funded his entire primary run out of his own pocket just to prove it.” […] His son’s claim is false.”
CNN: “We rate Donald Trump Jr.’s claim that Clinton has proposed destroying Medicare false, however you read the phrase — Clinton has not proposed to destroy Medicare, but to expand it.”
CNN: “So, is Cox correct in his claim that Clinton would abolish the Second Amendment? […] Verdict: False.”
CNN: “Our verdict on McConnell’s charge that Clinton changed positions on Keystone XL: false.”
CNN: “‘Hillary Clinton is promising more of the same. Open borders, executive amnesty and the surge of Syrian refugees,’ said Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the chairman of the Homeland Security Commission. […] Clinton’s proposed policies and past rhetoric do not reflect open borders. That’s false.”
CNN: “Therefore, Sessions’ statement that immigrants have taken all the jobs is false.”
CNN: “Glenn also said American neighborhoods have become more violent since Obama has been in office. […] Glenn’s assertion here is false.”
CNN: “Because Clinton’s role in the attack in Benghazi has been thoroughly investigated and she has been cleared of wrongdoing, we find Smith’s claim of culpability false.”
CNN: “Ernst said the terrorist group’s threat is not limited to the Middle East, but is spreading. “Terrorists from ISIS are in every one of our 50 states,” Ernst said. […] Therefore, we judge her statement false.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “But the security decisions were made well below Clinton’s level and no evidence has emerged that Clinton was aware of the requests or decided not to provide the requisite level of security.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “But, unlike the implication of Ernst’s statement, Comey did not say that the ISIS terror group was present in each state or that these troubled souls had already become terrorists.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump has made the same claim about Clinton recently, but Giuliani repeating it doesn’t make it any more correct. Giuliani exaggerates Clinton’s stance on border security and immigration enforcement.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Recent data show the unauthorized immigrant population has leveled off, which does not support Sessions’s claim.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “But even so, Christie appears to not have been listening to Obama speak about the issue. He’s simply wrong that Obama has been silent on violence in Chicago.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “For example, homicides are a small percentage of the crimes committed by noncitizens, whether they are in the United States illegally or not.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Our friends at FactCheck.org took an extensive look into the internal data from 2002 to 2008 and found that the median salary for men and women were the same. And the Clintons’ staff had roughly twice as many women as men.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Christie grossly simplifies a complex debate at the State Department — which actually did not involve Clinton personally.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “This is a mysterious claim by Trump’s son that appears to have no factual basis. There is no specific proposal by Clinton that could be said to ‘destroy’ Medicare, the health-care program for the elderly.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “We’ve looked at this number before, and it’s pretty bogus. […] The $15,000 figure has serious methodological problems — even the report admits it is “not scientific” and “back of the envelope” — and it is especially misleading when the benefit side of the equation is ignored.”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump’s campaign manager tried to pin the blame on the Clinton campaign for the flap over allegations of plagiarism in Melania Trump’s prime-time address Monday night at the Republican National Convention. But no evidence has emerged that is the case; indeed, Manafort has offered no evidence.”
New York Times: “Fact Check: He suggested Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server was a crime, something the F.B.I. director had concluded it was not.”
New York Times: “Fact Check: While Mrs. Clinton has said she supports President Obama’s executive actions to allow some illegal immigrants to live and work in the United States, she has not called for “open borders” and her support for accepting Syrian refugees has been limited to 65,000 people, far fewer than the number who were accepted by some European countries.”
New York Times: “Fact check: The Obama administration and Mrs. Clinton opposed the “Buy America” provision because, they said, it was a protectionist measure that could cause a trade war with Chinain the midst of an economic crisis.”
New York Times: “Fact check: Mrs. Clinton’s comments about Mr. Assad came in an interview in 2011, before much of the bloodshed, when she said that some members of Congress in both parties “believe he’s a reformer.” Some in the George W. Bush administration had also expressed hope that he would be a better leader than his father, Hafez al-Assad. And Mrs. Clinton did not “defend” the atrocities committed by Mr. Assad during the later period of the civil war.”New York Times: “Fact check: Mrs. Clinton was already gone from the administration when Mr. Obama pursued secret negotiations with Cuba, though she did express support for his efforts.”
Factcheck.org: “Donald Trump Jr. distortedClinton’s gun control proposal, claiming, as his father did, that she wants to ‘take away Americans’ guns.’ Clinton’s gun control proposal doesn’t call for taking away guns.”
Factcheck.org: “Two speakers claimed that Clinton paid women less than men in her Senate office […] The Clinton campaign provided FactCheck.org a list of the names, titles and annual salaries of every full-time person employed in Clinton’s Senate office between 2002 and 2008. Those data show the median salary for men and women to be the same at $40,000. The data also show Clinton hired roughly twice as many women as men.”
Factcheck.org: “Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and former U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey both mentioned Clinton’s ‘what difference does it make’ quote on Benghazi, but left out the context of that remark. […] Republicans, like Mukasey, have portrayed the remarks as being uncaring toward the lives lost that night. Johnson himself went on to describe in his speech several victims of terrorists attacks, saying ‘it made a difference’ to them. But Clinton’s full remarks indicate she was concerned about the lives lost.”
Factcheck.org: “Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia took Clinton’s words on coal-mining jobs out of context. […] Sullivan and Capito ignore her promise to create new jobs for communities hurt by the shift away from coal.”
Factcheck.org: Sen. Shelly Moore Capito “used a one-sided report … to claim that ‘the burden of government regulations in this country amounts to $15,000 a household.’ And she exaggerated the number of coal mining jobs that have been lost since 2011, putting the figure at 60,000, when it’s 36,700.”
Factcheck.org: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrongly said that Clinton was for the Keystone XL pipeline before she was against it. She did not take a position until she opposed the pipeline in 2015.”
Factcheck.org: Sen. Shelly Moore Capito said “the Obama ‘economic agenda’ has led to ‘the lowest workforce participation in decades,’ […] But Obama’s ‘economic agenda’ hasn’t caused the decline in the labor force participation rate, which actually started going down in the late 1990s, a full decade before he took office.”
Factcheck.org: “Sen. Jeff Sessions claimed that ‘respect for America has fallen,’ but the U.S. is viewed more favorably in many countries now than it was before President Obama took office. […] As we’ve written before, the U.S. is viewed more favorably now than it was before Obama took office in 2009.”
Factcheck.org: “Donald Trump Jr. also wrongly said that his father ‘funded his entire primary run out of his own pocket.’ Trump provided about 73 percent of the funding, but not all of it.”
Factcheck.org: “Two security contractors at the CIA annex in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, repeated their claim that they were told to ‘stand down’ and not help Americans under attack. But multiple official reports say such an order was never issued.”
Factcheck.org: “The sister of a slain Border Patrol agent said President Obama has left ‘border patrol agents thinly equipped,’ and undermanned. In fact, both funding and staffing have increased under Obama.”
Factcheck.org: Darryl Glenn, Colorado Republican nominee for Senate, “wrongly suggested that violent crime in the United States had gone up during President Obama’s time in office. The violent crime rate has gone down 20 percent from 2008, the year before Obama was sworn in, and 2014, the most recent statistics available from the FBI.”
Factcheck.org: “Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Michael McCaul both wrongly claimedthat Hillary Clinton supports ‘open borders.’ She supported a bill that would have created a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally, but it also would have increased border security.”
Factcheck.org: Rudy Giuliani said that Hillary Clinton “‘advocated for the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya’ and should be ‘accountable’ for the country’s chaos. But he failed to mention that Trump, at the time, also supported the ouster of Gadhafi.”
Factcheck.org: “Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions claimed that wages ‘have fallen,’ when they’re upunder Obama. He blamed immigration for a low labor force participation rate, when it’s mainly the result of demographics, including the aging of baby boomers.”
ABC News: “Claim: Hillary Clinton is an “apologist” for Boko Haram. She and Obama responded to its mass kidnapping with a “hashtag campaign.” Rating: False.”
ABC News: “Claim: Clinton said that “what difference, at this point, does it make?” in discussing the deaths of Americans in Benghazi. Rating: False.”
ABC News: “Claim: U.S. military responders were ordered to “stand down” during the 2012 Benghazi attack. Rating: Highly Questionable. Every investigation ever done on Benghazi concluded there was no “stand down order.”
ABC News: “Claim: ‘No one was ever held accountable’ for Fast & Furious. Rating: False.”
ABC News: Claim: ‘All security had been pulled from the embassy’ in Benghazi. Rating: False
NPR: “There’s been no evidence uncovered of a direct order to “stand down” from mounting a defense of the facilities.”
NBC News: “CLAIM (Rudy Giuliani): ‘Hillary Clinton’s answer to Congress about the death of these four brave Americans [in Benghazi] because of her failures as Secretary of State was ‘what difference at this point does it make?’ […] THE FACTS: According to the video of Clinton’s congressional testimony, Clinton’s ‘what difference at this point does it make’ was over whether the violence in Benghazi was inspired by anti-Islam video or not.”
NBC News: “CLAIM (Melania Trump): ‘Donald intends to represent all the people, not just some of the people. That includes Christians and Jews and Muslims, it includes Hispanics and African Americans and Asians, and the poor and the middle class.’ THE FACTS: In addition to the temporary Muslim travel ban that Trump first proposed in Dec. 2015, Trump has once talked about a ‘Muslim problem’ in a 2011 interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody.”
NBC News: “CLAIM (Rudy Giuliani): ‘…Obama’s Nuclear Agreement with Iran that will eventually let them become a nuclear power and put billions of dollars back into a country that the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism.’ […] THE FACTS: The Iran Deal requires that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency continuously monitor Iran’s nuclear sites to verify that Tehran is keeping its enrichment activities within limits set out in the deal and that none of the fissile material is being moved to covertly build a bomb.”
NBC News: “CLAIM (Jeff Sessions): ‘…From 2000 to 2014, while our existing population increased by millions, the number of jobs held by Americans actually declined. Amazingly, all the net job growth during that period went to immigrants.’ THE FACTS: Sessions is citing the research of the Center for Immigration Studies […] PolitiFact has checked out claims made from this study before and found that this reading of the data is misleading. The organization found that the study looks at jobs for workers 16-65, ignoring the gains for workers over age 65 that existed and ignoring the recession.”
NBC News: “CLAIM (Darryl Glenn, Colorado Senate candidate): ‘Neighborhoods have become more dangerous under [Obama’s] watch’ THE FACTS: While there is some evidence of an increase in violent crime in some large American cities in the last few years, the national trend shows overall crime going down.”
NBC News: Donald Trump: “I wanted it to be in Ohio, I recommended Ohio, and people fought very hard that it be in Ohio.” The Facts: “The Republican National Committee’s Site Selection Committee announced in July 2014 its recommendation of Cleveland, Ohio, as the site of the convention. Donald Trump announced his intention to run for president nearly a year later, in June 2015.”
Star Ledger: “The facts: In actuality, she simply related others’ opinions. ‘There is a different leader in Syria now,” Clinton said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” in 2011, according to Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site. “Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.’”
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has stated her commitment to building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Going way beyond rhetoric, sloganeering, she has put forward five major goals at the core of her vision for a stronger economy that helps us grow together:
1. A 100 Days Jobs Plan to Break Through Washington Gridlock and Make the Boldest Investment in Good-Paying Jobs Since World War II.
2. Make Debt Free College Available to All Americans.
3. Rewrite the Rules So that More Companies Share Profits With Employees, and Fewer Ship Profits and Jobs Overseas.
4. Ensure that Corporations, Super-Rich and Wall Street Pay Their Fair Share.
5. Put Families First by Making Sure Our Policies Meet the Challenges They Face in the 21st Century Economy.
Here are details from the Hillary for America campaign outlining the initiatives she is proposing to cultivate technology and innovation:
In setting forth this agenda, Hillary recognizes that technology and the internet are transforming nearly every sector of our economy—and she believes that with the right public policies, we can harness these forces so that they lead to widely-shared growth, good-paying jobs across the country, and immense social benefits in healthcare, education, public safety, and more.
Hillary laid out a comprehensive agenda for leveraging technology and innovation to create the jobs of the future on Main Street. These ideas are a core component of the jobs plan she will put forward in the first 100 days of her Administration, along with investments in infrastructure, clean energy and manufacturing.
Highlights of her technology and innovation agenda include:
Spurring entrepreneurship and innovation clusters like Silicon Valley across the country, by investing in incubators and accelerators, expanding access to capital for start-ups, and facilitating tech transfer to bring ideas to market.
Allowing young entrepreneurs to defer their federal student loans for up to three years, so they can get their ventures off the ground and help drive the innovation economy.
Connecting every household in America to high-speed internet by 2020, while hooking up more public places like airports and train stations to the internet and enable them to offer free WiFi to the public, and helping America deploy 5G and next generation systems that can offer faster wireless speeds and help unleash the Internet of Things.
Providing every student in America access to computer science education by the time they graduate, including through engaging the private sector to train 50,000 new computer science education teachers in the next decade.
In full, Hillary’s agenda for technology and innovation has five components, laid out below:
Building the Tech Economy on Main Street
Hillary’s technology agenda will be a catalyst for creating good jobs in communities across America. She is committed to making entrepreneurship and participation in the digital economy widely shared—across regions, across classes, and across generations.
Hillary will:
Invest in Computer Science and STEM Education by:
Providing Every Student in America an Opportunity to Learn Computer Science: To build on the President Obama’s “Computer Science Education for All” initiative, Hillary will launch the next generation of Investing in Innovation (“i3”) grants, double investment in the program, and establish a 50% set-aside for CS Education.
Engaging the Private Sector to Train up to 50,000 Computer Science Teachers: Hillary will launch an initiative to expand the pool of computer science teachers—both through recruiting new teachers into the field, and through helping current teachers in other subjects gain additional training.
Encouraging Local STEM Education Investments: Hillary’s Department of Education will support states and districts in developing innovative schools that prioritize STEM, implementing “makerspaces,” and build public-private partnerships.
Build the Human Talent Pipeline for 21st Century Jobs by:
Opening up the Higher Education and Job Training Landscape: Hillary’s College Compact dedicates $10 billion in federal funding to enable students to participate in promising new programs—such as nanodegrees, accelerated learning programs for computer coding, and online learning.
Rebooting Job Training around Industry Needs and Job Credentials: Hillary will create a grant program to support public-private partnerships to tailor job training opportunities to match labor demands in technology-driven industries.
Supporting Programs to Diversify the Tech Workforce: We must break down the barriers to full and equal participation by all groups in the 21st century economy.
Spur Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clusters like Silicon Valley across the Country: Hillary will support incubators, mentoring, and training for 50,000 entrepreneurs in underserved markets, while expanding access to capital for small businesses and start-ups.
Support Young Entrepreneurs: Hillary will allow entrepreneurs to put their federal student loans into a special status while they get their job-creating ventures off the ground. For millions of young Americans, this would mean no payments on their student loans for up to three years—zero interest and zero principal—during the start-up phase. She’ll also give innovators who start social enterprises or new businesses in distressed communities the opportunity to apply for forgiveness of up to $17,5000 of their student loans after 5 years.
Attract and Retain the Top Talent from Around the World: As part of comprehensive immigration reform, Hillary would “staple” a green card to STEM masters and PhDs from accredited institutions, and support visas that allow top entrepreneurs from abroad to come to the U.S., build companies, and create jobs for American workers.
Invest in Science and Technology R&D: Hillary will grow the research and development budgets of entities like the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and DARPA, so that we can tackle big challenges—like ensuring America continues to lead the world in High Performance Computing, green energy, and machine learning. She will also devote more resources to technology transfer, so we get ideas to market.
Ensure Benefits are Flexible, Portable and Comprehensive: As the nature of work in America changes, the government must do all that it can to update the safety net and ensure that benefits are flexible, portable, and comprehensive.
Investing in World-Class Digital Infrastructure
Hillary understands that investing in high-speed broadband and next-generation wireless is a win-win for jobs: it will put people to work in building out and upgrading our digital networks, and it will create millions of opportunities for people who can get online more easily, innovative, start companies, and sell their products. Hillary will:
Close the Digital Divide: Hillary will finish the job of connecting America’s households to the internet, committing that by 2020, 100 percent of households in America will have the option of affordable broadband with speeds sufficient to meet families’ needs.
Launch a “Model Digital Communities” Grant Program: Hillary would create a competitive grant program to give cities, regions, and states incentives to create a “model digital community” with lower cost, world-class connectivity for homes, businesses, and public spaces.
Connect More Community Anchor Institutions to High-Speed Internet: Similar to how the E-rate program, launched under President Bill Clinton, brought broadband to public schools and libraries, Hillary will invest new federal resources to hook up America’s anchor institutions—train stations, airports, and other public places—and enable them to provide free WiFi to the public.
Deploy 5G Wireless: Hillary will help foster the evolution to 5G and other next-generation systems that can deliver much faster wireless connections and support the Internet of Things, smart factories, driverless cars, and much more.
Advancing America’s Global Leadership In Tech & Innovation
Hillary’s technology policy agenda will position American innovators to lead the world in the next generation of technology revolutions — from autonomous vehicles to machine learning to public service blockchain applications. Hillary will:
Fight for an Open Internet Abroad: As Secretary of State, Hillary boldly elevated Internet Freedom to the top levels of American foreign policy. She will continue this work as President — fighting for Internet Freedom, insisting nations respect human rights online, and opposing efforts to block internet access or shutdown social media.
Promote Multi-Stakeholder Internet Governance: Hillary believes that internet governance should be left to the global community of engineers, companies, civil society groups, and internet users, and not to governments.
Grow American Technology Exports: Hillary will promote access to markets for U.S. technology companies and advance Export Control Reform. She will also protect U.S. trade secrets, and resist calls for forced technology transfer or data localization.
Promote Cyber-Security: Hillary will build on the U.S. Cybersecurity National Action Plan by empowering a federal Chief Information Security Officer and upgrading government-wide cybersecurity.
Safeguard the Free Flow of Information across Borders: Hillary supports efforts like the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield to find alignment in national data privacy laws and protect data flows across borders.
Update Procedures Concerning Cross-Border Requests for Data by Law Enforcement: Hillary will seek to modernize the MLAT system, and will pursue agreements with likeminded countries for compliance with requests for data by law enforcement, in a manner that respects privacy, security and human rights.
Setting Rules of the Road to Promote Innovation While Protecting Privacy
Hillary believes the government has an important role to play in laying a foundation for broad-based innovation and economic growth—by reducing regulatory barriers to entry, promoting healthy competition, and keeping the internet free and open. She also believes we should be ensuring that these advances protect individual privacy and security. She will:
Promote Healthy Competition at the Federal, State and Local Level: Hillary believes that all governments have a role to play in laying down rules of the road that foster innovation, promote healthy competition, and protect consumers.
Defend Net Neutrality: Hillary believes that the government has an obligation to protect the open internet, and she strongly supports the FCC decision under the Obama Administration to adopt strong network neutrality rules.
Improve the Patent System to Reward Innovators: Hillary will enact targeted reforms to the patent system to reduce excessive patent litigation and strengthen the capacity of the Patent and Trademark Office, so that we continue to reward innovators.
Effective Copyright Policy: The federal government should modernize the copyright system through reforms that facilitate access to out-of-print and orphan works, while protecting the innovation incentives in the system. It should also promote open-licensing arrangements for copyrighted material supported by federal grant funding.
Commercial Data Protection: Advances in computing like the rise of “big data” and the Internet of Things is yielding transformative benefits, but raising important questions about privacy. Hillary’s approach to privacy will be to encourage high standards—and affirm strong consumer protection—through regulatory enforcement in an adaptive manner that doesn’t stifle innovation.
Protect Online Privacy as well as Security: Hillary supports creating a national commission on digital security, so that the technology and public safety communities can work together on solutions that address law enforcement needs while preserving individual privacy and security
Engineering a Smarter and More Innovative Government
Hillary believes that, beyond enabling innovation and technology-driven economic growth, we should look technology and data to improve the way that government serves the American people. Hillary will:
Make Government Simpler and More User Friendly: Hillary will make the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) and other digital services a permanent part of the executive branch. She will charge the USDS with transforming the top 25-citizen facing government services. She will streamline government procurement, get rid of unnecessary red tape, and make it easier for the federal government to use innovative technology—including open source software.
Open up More Government Data for Public Uses: Hillary would accelerate the Obama Administration’s open data initiatives, including in areas such as health care, education, and criminal justice. She would fully implement the DATA Act to make government spending more transparent and accountable to the American people, improving USASpending.gov so that Americans can more accurately see how and where their taxpayer dollars are spent.
Donald Trump’s 45 minute attack on Hillary Clinton on June 22 – a rebuttal of sort to her scathing attack on Trump as someone who would crash the economy rather than create jobs – sounds like a desperate reaction to the building negatives his presidential campaign is facing as reporters begin to expose his hypocrisies and failures.
The New York Times today reported how he is funneling millions of dollars of campaign spending back to his own businesses and relatives: In May, the biggest-ticket item was Mr. Trump’s use of the Mar-a-Lago Club, his Florida resort, which was paid $423,000. The campaign paid $350,000 to TAG Air for his private airplanes, $125,000 to Trump Restaurants and more than $170,000 to Trump Tower, the Manhattan skyscraper that houses the campaign’s headquarters….” And said, “the presumptive Republican nominee, who points to his business acumen as a case for his candidacy, is trying to do what he has suggested he would in 2000 when he mulled making an independent run: ‘It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.’” (Donald Trump’s Self-Funding Includes Payments to Family and His Companies).
The Hillary for America Campaign also offered its own fact-checking.
Fact Check: 15 Biggest Lies in Trump’s Speech Attacking Hillary Clinton
In his speech attacking Hillary Clinton Wednesday, Donald Trump — Politifact’s reigning ‘Liar of the Year’ — resorted to a litany of hypocritical attacks, nutty conspiracy theories and outright lies.
Many of the most outrageous attacks were long ago discredited by independent fact checkers, but Trump is still peddling them.
Here is a breakdown of 15 of Trump’s biggest lies about Clinton in his Wednesday speech:
LIE: “Ambassador Stevens and his staff in Libya made hundreds of requests for security. Hillary Clinton’s State Department refused them all.” FACT CHECK: Trump made a similar allegation before, and the Washington Post Fact Checker called it a “whopper.”
LIE: “Under her plan, we would admit hundreds of thousands of refugees from the most dangerous countries on Earth – with no way to screen who they are or what they believe.” FACT CHECK: Hillary Clinton has called for being “vigilant in screening and vetting refugees from Syria.” Moreover, Politifact has rated the claim that there was no way to screen refugees from the Middle East as “false.”
LIE: “For the amount of money Hillary Clinton would like to spend on refugees, we could rebuild every inner city in America.” FACT CHECK: To date, the only financial commitment Hillary Clinton has specified along these lines is $15 million to broadly support the integration of immigrants, including refugees. And an independent analysis of the potential cost associated with resettling an additional 70,000 refugees–as Clinton proposed last year–has pegged the price tag at $582 million. By comparison, the cost to rebuild the city of Detroit alone is $1.25 billion, according to the city’s emergency manager.
LIE:“Thanks to Hillary Clinton, Iran is now the dominant Islamic power in the Middle East, and on the road to nuclear weapons.” FACT CHECK:Politifact rated the claim that Iran is on the road to nuclear weapons “false,” saying, “the terms of the deal expressly forbid pursuing a militarized nuclear program.”
LIE: “Hillary Clinton’s State Department approved the transfer of 20% of America’s uranium holdings to Russia, while 9 investors in the deal funneled $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.” FACT CHECK:According to Factcheck.org, “the author of ‘Clinton Cash’ falsely claimed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State had ‘veto power and ‘could have stopped’ Russia from buying a company with extensive uranium mining operations in the U.S.” In fact, the State Department was just one member of a nine-agency panel that reviewed this transaction. The panel was led by the Treasury Department, not State, and Hillary Clinton was never personally involved in the consideration of the deal.
LIE: “Hillary’s Wall Street immigration agenda will keep immigrant communities poor, and unemployed Americans out of work.” FACT CHECK: Comprehensive immigration reform would boost economic growth and increase the size of the labor force.
LIE:Hillary Clinton “has even deleted this record of total support [for TPP] from her book.” FACT CHECK: According to NBC News, “The cuts were part of 96 pages of cuts made to account for the paperback’s smaller size, according to a publisher’s note. But not all of them were cut: there’s still two pages praising the deal, or at least the idea of it.”
LIE:“Among the victims is our late Ambassador, Chris Stevens. He was left helpless to die as Hillary Clinton soundly slept in her bed — that’s right, when the phone rang at 3 o’clock in the morning, she was sleeping.” FACT CHECK: According to Factcheck.org, “Trump is certainly entitled to his opinion, but the evidence shows Clinton was fully engaged in the immediate response, and subsequent congressional investigations concluded the government response to the attack — including Clinton’s — was appropriate.”
LIE: “She has pledged to grant mass amnesty and in her first 100 days, end virtually all immigration enforcement, and thus create totally open borders in the United States.” FACT CHECK: While Hillary Clinton has pledged to push for comprehensive immigration reform in her first 100 days, Politifact has given a ruling of “Pants on Fire” to the claim that such a plan would equal “mass amnesty.” In fact, in her memoir, Hard Choices, Clinton wrote that she supported the 2013 Senate immigration bill, which included unprecedented investments in border security, along with a path to citizenship.
LIE: “To cover her tracks, Hillary lied about a video being the cause of his death.” FACT CHECK: According to the Washington Post Fact Checker, “Clinton says that in speaking with the families, she did not blame the Benghazi attacks on the video. Most participants we interviewed (four out of six) back up her version, saying they do not recall her mentioning a video.”
LIE: “She helped force out a friendly regime in Egypt and replace it with the radical Muslim Brotherhood.” FACT CHECK: According to the New York Times, “Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned on Sunday that removing President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt too hastily could threaten the country’s transition to democracy.”
LIE: Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy has “unleashed ISIS across the world.” FACT CHECK:Politifact looked at a similar claim Jeb Bush made and rated it “Mostly False.”
LIE: “To cover-up her corrupt dealings, Hillary Clinton illegally stashed her State Department emails on a private server.” FACT CHECK:Independent experts like Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists have said there was no criminal aspect to her use of a private email server. Additionally the Wall Street Journal reported that federal officials do not expect criminal charges to be filed as part of the Justice Department’s ongoing review of the private email system.
LIE:“Her server was easily hacked by foreign governments – perhaps even by her financial backers in Communist China – putting all of America in danger.” FACT CHECK:The New York Times reported that security logs show no evidence of foreign hacking.
LIE: “Hillary Clinton appointed a top donor to a national security board with top secret access – even though he had no national security credentials.” FACT CHECK: Contrary to Trump’s claim, the appointee in question actually serves on the Board of Directors of the American Security Project, the Foreign Policy Program Leadership Committee at the Brookings Institution, and on the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, a member of the national security board to which Fernando was appointed, said Fernando’s “expertise in cyber-security is a great asset to our national security.” Brookings executive vice president and former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said of Fernando: “I’ve always valued his foreign policy insights.”
On the same day as Donald Trump, who during the primary boasted that he was not accepting outside funding so would be unbeholden to anyone, issued his first email soliciting campaign contributions, declaring it will be “the most successful introductory fundraising email in modern political history,” Hillary Clinton delivered a speech detailing why “Donald Trump Is Unfit To Manage The U.S. Economy” and then followed up with “Here’s Why, Literally” documenting Trump’s actual record.
At the same time, his sycophants – the so-called Angry Voters who are desperate to look outside the “professional political class” for a new Leader of the Free World – point to his business acumen, thinking that would somehow translate into growing the economy (which is now the strongest in the world, even at the slow pace of growth) and creating jobs (“I’m going to be the greatest jobs president God ever created,” he boasted.)
Indeed, Trump’s entire record has consisted of doing whatever it takes to benefit himself, no matter who he hurts, from wealthy stockholders, to working class people just trying to get by, to the stooges he bilked out of thousands of dollars thinking Trump University would be their ticket to riches. Trump’s entire campaign so far has been one long advertorial for his businesses – he holds his press conferences in his hotels where he actually takes reporters on tour, holds up Trump steaks (not actually Trump steaks, of course), Trump wine, Trump water. But while he singular campaign strategy has been to “brand” Clinton as “Crooked Hillary,” he has time and again been shown to be the crook, the conman. (The New York Times reports how he was mentored in his tough-guy style by none other than the attorney Roy Cohn, who worked for Sen. Joe McCarthy and later for gangsters.)
Following Clinton’s major economic policy address, the Hillary for America Campaign issued an annotated release, documenting her core proposition:
“If Donald Trump were to get behind the wheel of the American economy, he would very likely drive us off a cliff, and working families would bear the brunt of the impact of lost jobs, lost savings, and lost livelihoods.
“That’s the natural conclusion when you look at Trump’s policy proposals, his rash and reckless temperament, and his record in the private sector of doing harm to working families and small businesses. Need proof? Just this week former McCain economic policy adviser Mark Zandi released a report saying that if Trump got his way he would lead our economy into a ‘lengthy recession’ that would cost millions of jobs, reduce growth, stagnate middle class incomes, and explode the debt.”
“See for yourself how the lines from Hillary’s Clinton’s speech today compare with Trump’s record:”
A few weeks ago, I said his foreign policy proposals and reckless statements represent a danger to our national security.
Hillary Clinton: He is not just unprepared — he is temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability, and immense responsibility
The Briefing: Trump Literally Said All Those Things Liberals and conservatives say Trump’s ideas would be disastrous. The Chamber of Commerce and labor unions… Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Warren… and economists on the left, right and center all agree: Trump would throw us back into recession. Politico: Economists savage Trump’s economic agenda
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Does a recession sound ‘great’ to you? Does 7 million lost jobs sound like ‘winning?’ No probably, not. And yet, that’s exactly where our country would be headed under Trump’s trade policies, according to an analysis released last week.
Mitt Romney: If Donald Trump’s plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into prolonged recession.
Elizabeth Warren: When the economy is in this kind of trouble, calling on Donald Trump for help is like if your house is on fire calling an arsonist to come help out.
One of John McCain’s former economic advisers actually calculated what would happen to our country if Trump gets his way. He described the results of a Trump Recession: we’d lose 3.5 million jobs, incomes would stagnate, debt would explode, and stock prices would plummet. And you know who’d be hit hardest: the people who had the hardest time getting back on their feet after the 2008 crisis.
One of the leading firms that analyzes the top threats to the global economy – the Economist Intelligence Unit – comes out with a new list every month. It includes things like terrorism and the disintegration of Europe. And this month, #3 on the list is Donald Trump becoming president. Just think about that.
Politico: A Donald Trump presidency poses a top-10 risk event that could disrupt the world economy, lead to political chaos in the U.S. and heighten security risks for the United States, according to theEconomistIntelligence Unit.
The Economist: July 2016 – Trump has a score of 16 on the same list as a Eurozone breakup (15) and the “rising threat of jihadi terrorism destabilises the global economy” (12)
Every day, we see how reckless and careless Trump is. He’s proud of it
Donald Trump actually stood on a debate stage in November and said that wages are too high in this country. He should tell that to the mothers and fathers working two jobs to raise their kids.
The Week: Donald Trump kicks off GOP debate by saying American wages are ‘too high’ TRUMP: Our wages are too high
He said – quote – “having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country” – at a time when millions working full-time are still living in poverty.
TRUMP: I think having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country.
Back in 2006, before the financial crash, he said, quote, “I sort of hope” that the housing market crashes, because he’d make money off all of the foreclosures.
TRUMP: I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy
Over the years, he said all kinds of things about women in the workforce. He called pregnant employees – quote – “an inconvenience.”
TRUMP: Well you know, pregnancy…it’s certainly an inconvneince for a business. And whether people want to say that or not, the fact is it is an inconvenience for a person that is running a business.
He says women will start making equal pay as soon as they do as good a job as men – as if we aren’t already.
QUESTION: So if you become president will a woman make the same as a man and will I get to choose what I do with my body? TRUMP: You’re going to make the same if you do as good a job. And I happen to be pro-life. OK? I’m pro-life.
And he clearly doesn’t know how much of our growth over the last 40 years is thanks to women.
McKinsey & Company: Since women’s participation in the workforce took off, in the 1970s, their productivity has accounted for about a quarter of current GDP
And he wants to end Obamacare, but he has no credible plan to replace it or to help keep costs down. It wouldn’t be good for our economy if 20 million people lost their health insurance. And it would be devastating to all those families.
DonaldJTrump.com: On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare.
What would Trump do? He said he wants to wipe out the tough rules we put on big banks.
TRUMP: Dodd-Frank has made it impossible for bankers to function…[My plan] will be close to dismantling of Dodd-Frank.
He said they created – quote – “a very bad situation.”
TRUMP: The regulators under Dodd-Frank have made it virtually impossible for the banks to lend money to those people, which is a very bad situation to be in.
He also wants to repeal the new consumer watchdog that Senator Warren helped create to protect families from unfair and deceptive business practices. That new agency has already secured billions of dollars for people who’ve been ripped off. He wants to get rid of it.
TRUMP: On repealing Dodd-Frank, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: “absolutely”
Donald Trump would take us back to where we were before the crisis. He’d rig the economy for Wall Street again.
TRUMP: [My plan] will be close to dismantling of Dodd-Frank.
And his tax plan sure lives up to the name. According to the independent Tax Policy Center, it would increase the national debt by more than 30 trillion dollars over 20 years. That’s “trillion” with a “t.”
Tax Policy Center: Trump’s plan “would add $11.2 trillion to the national debt by 2026 and $34.1 trillion by 2036”
It’s much, much more than any nominee of either party has ever proposed.
Estimates of reducation of federal revenues under Republican candidates’ tax plans:
And how would he pay for all this debt? He said, quote, “I would borrow, knowing if the economy crashed, you could make a deal. It’s like, you know, you make a deal before you go into a poker game.”
TRUMP: I would borrow knowing that if the economy crashed you could make a deal. And if the economy was good it was good so therefore you can’t lose. It’s like, you know, you make a deal before you go into a poker game, and your odds are so much better.
The full faith and credit of the United States is something we can just gamble away. That would cause an economic catastrophe worse than anything we experienced in 2008.
Michael Strain, economics fellow at American Enterprise Institute: When asked about Trump’s suggestion to default on the debt: “There are no merits to it. The extent to which U.S. Treasurys are kind of the foundation on which the global financial system is built is really hard to overstate.”
You don’t have to take it from me. Ronald Reagan said, “We have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility – two things that set us apart from much of the world.”
President Ronald Reagan: The United States has a special responsibility to itself and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility—two things that set us apart from much of the world.
Maybe Donald feels differently because he made a fortune filing bankruptcies and stiffing his creditors.
New York Times: How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions
Boston Globe: The Atlantic City savior who came up snake eyes
Trump also says, we can just print more money to pay our debt down
TRUMP: You never have to default because you print the money
The American dollar is the safest currency on the planet. Why would he want to mess with that?
PolitiFact: The current system has secured the United States’ position as the world’s safest harbor for global money
Finally, the Trump campaign said that, if worst came to worst, we could just sell off America’s assets.
Trump senior campaign advisor Barry Bennett: The United States government owns more real estate than anybody else, more land than anybody else, more energy than anybody else. We can get rid of government buildings we’re not using, we can extract the energy from government lands, we can do all kinds of things to extract value from the assets that we hold.
First, really? And second, even if we sold all our aircraft carriers and the Statue of Liberty – even if he let some billionaire turn Yosemite into a private country club – we still wouldn’t even get close. That’s how much debt he’d run up.
Government Accountability Office: The federal government’s reported assets totaled about $3.2 trillion as of September 30, 2015.
Washington Post: Trump’s nonsensical claim he can eliminate $19 trillion in debt in eight years
Maybe this is what he means when he says “I love playing” with debt.
TRUMP: I do love debt. I love debt. I love playing with it.
He’d give millionaires a three-trillion-dollar tax cut. Corporations would get two trillion dollars. He’s giving more away to the 120,000 richest American families than he would to 120 million hard-working people.
Now, before releasing his plan, Trump said, “Hedge fund guys are getting away with murder.” And, “They’ll pay more.”
TRUMP: Hedge fund guys are getting away with murder.
TRUMP: The hedge fund guys won’t like me as much as they like me right now. I know them all, but they’ll pay more.
Then his plan came out. And it actually makes the current loophole even worse. It gives hedge-fund managers a special tax rate that’s lower than what many middle-class families pay. I had to look twice because I didn’t believe it. Under Donald Trump’s plan, these Wall Street millionaires will pay a lower tax rate than many working people.
Josh Barro, New York Times: The usual fee structure for a hedge fund is called “2-and-20”: a flat management fee (often 2 percent) on all assets, plus a performance fee (often 20 percent) on profits above a set threshold. Currently, the management fee is taxed at ordinary rates up to 39.6 percent, while the performance fee enjoys a preferential rate of 23.8 percent. Under Mr. Trump’s plan, all this income would be taxed at a maximum of 25 percent. The performance fee would be subject to a small tax increase, but that effect would be dwarfed by the large tax cut on ordinary management fees
Tax Policy Center: The highest-income 1.0 percent would get an average tax cut of over $275,000 (17.5 percent of after-tax income), and the top 0.1 percent would get an average tax cut worth over $1.3 million, nearly 19 percent of after-tax income. By contrast, the lowest-income households would receive an average tax cut of $128, or 1 percent of after-tax income. Middle-income households would receive an average tax cut of about $2,700, or about 5 percent of after-tax income.
And of course, Donald himself would get a huge tax cut from his own plan. But we don’t know exactly how much – because he won’t release his tax returns.
TRUMP: There’s nothing to learn from them TRUMP: It’s none of your business, you’ll see it when I release. But I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible
Every major presidential candidate in the last four decades has shown the American people their taxes.
Washington Post: Trump “would be the first major-party nominee in 40 years to not release his returns.”
Donald actully told Mitt Romney to do it.
TRUMP: On Romney’s tax returns: “I think it probably be better off just to release them now”
And he said that if he ever ran for President, he’d release his.
TRUMP: If I run, you’ll see what a great job, because I’ll do a full disclosure of finances. … Maybe I’m going to do the tax returns when Obama does his birth certificate… I’d love to give my tax returns
TRUMP: Said he would “certainly” release his tax returns, saying he had “no objection” to the idea
What’s he afraid of? That we’ll learn he hasn’t paid taxes on his huge income? We know that happened for at least a few years – he paid nothing, or close to it.
Politico: Trump appears to have paid no taxes for two years in early 1990s
Daily Beast: New Evidence Donald Trump Didn’t Pay Taxes
PolitiFact: Public records show that Trump did not pay federal income taxes in two years — 1978 and 1979
Or maybe he isn’t as rich as he claims…
Fortune: Why Donald Trump’s Tax Returns May Prove He’s Not That Rich
or hasn’t given away as much as he brags about.
Washington Post: Missing from Trump’s list of charitable giving: His own personal cash
The Republican primary featured the Trump immigration plan: round up and deport more than 11 million people – almost all of whom are employed or are children going to school – then build a wall across our border and force Mexico to pay for it.
TRUMP: We have many illegals in the country, and we have to get them out
CNN: Trump has called for deporting all of the undocumented immigrants in the United States
TRUMP: I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.
This policy is both un-American and very bad economics. Kicking out 11 million immigrants would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and it would shrink our economy significantly. Some economists argue that just this policy alone would send us into a Trump Recession.
American Action Forum: The federal government would have to spend roughly $400 billion to $600 billion to address the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants and prevent future unlawful entry into the United States.
Interestingly, Trump’s own products are made in a lot of countries that aren’t named America. Trump ties are made in China; Trump suits, in Mexico;
WALLACE: Your Trump Collection clothing line, some of it is made in Mexico – TRUMP: It’s true. WALLACE: — and China. TRUMP: That’s true.
CNN: Donald Trump suits and ties are made in China
Trump furniture, in Turkey;
Trump Home Press Release: The entire production process, from the moment the raw wood is cut until the product is finished or upholstered, occurs in Dorya’s Izmir, Turkey.
Just the other day, he told a crowd that America is – quote – “not going to survive.”
TRUMP: It’s amazing that our country can continue to survive, but you know? Eventually it’s not going to survive. Just so you understand. Eventually it’s not.
The King of Debt has no real plan for making college debt free or addressing the student debt crisis that has people in their 40s and 50s still paying off loans.
Trump campaign Co-Chair Sam Clovis: When asked whether Trump would have a plan to ensure debt-free college: “Unequivocally no…It’s absurd on the surface.”
He has no credible plan for rebuilding our infrastructure, apart from his wall.
No ideas for how to strengthen Medicare and expand Social Security – in fact, his tax plan would endanger them.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Under [Trump’s] plan, balancing the budget in 2026 would require cutting all government programs — including Social Security, Medicare and defense — by about two-fifths if all programs were cut by the same percentage. Balancing the budget without cutting Social Security, Medicare, and defense would require eliminating essentially the rest of government under both plans.
No real strategy for creating jobs, just a string of empty promises.
TRUMP: We’re going to save that coal industry, believe me.
Jason Bordoff, director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy: The U.S. coal industry has been in structural decline for decades, recently driven by things like weak global demand and cheap natural gas. And eliminating environmental rules protecting air and water is not going to bring those jobs back.
Maybe we shouldn’t expect better from someone whose most famous words are, “You’re fired.”
He has no clean energy plan, even though that’s where many of the jobs of the future will come from and it’s the key to a safer planet. He just says that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese.
TRUMP: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive
TRUMP: Obama’s talking about all of this with the global warming and … a lot of it’s a hoax. It’s a hoax. I mean, it’s a money-making industry, okay? It’s a hoax, a lot of it.
And he has no plan for helping urban and rural communities facing entrenched poverty and neglect.
Donald Trump says he’s qualified to be president because of his business record.
TRUMP: I’ve been a world-class businessman…That’s the thinking that our country needs
A few days ago, he said, quote, “I’m going to do for the country what I did for my business.”
TRUMP: I’m going to do for the country what I did for my business.
He’s written a lot of books about business – but they all seem to end at Chapter 11.
PolitiFact: Trump’s four bankruptcies were Chapter 11 reorganizations
Over the years, he intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies and then defaulted. He bankrupted those companies – not once, not twice, but four times.
New York Times: His casino companies made four trips to bankruptcy court, each time persuading bondholders to accept less money rather than be wiped out.
Hundreds of people lost their jobs.
Chris Wallace: In that case alone lenders to your company lost over $1 billion and more than 1,100 people were laid off.
Shareholders were wiped out. Lenders lost money.
Forbes: In the case of his casinos, Trump has screwed his shareholders three consecutive times by wiping out their investment.
Contractors – many of them small businesses – took heavy losses. Many went bust. But Donald Trump always came out fine.
USA Today: Trump [offered] as little as 30 cents on the dollar to some of the contractors
New York Times: Triad Building Specialties nearly collapsed when Mr. Trump took the Taj into bankruptcy.
Here’s what he said about one of those bankruptcies: “I figured it was the bank’s problem, not mine. What the hell did I care?”
TRUMP: I figured it was the bank’s problem, not mind. What the hell did I care?
Just look at what he did in Atlantic City. He put his name on buildings – his favorite thing to do. He convinced other people that his properties were a great investment, so they would go in with him. But he arranged it so he got paid no matter how his companies performed. So when his casino and hotel went bankrupt because of how badly he mismanaged them, he still walked away with millions. Everyone else paid the price. Today, his properties are sold, shuttered or falling apart. So are a lot of people’s lives.
New York Times: How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions
USA Today: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills
And here’s what he says about that: “Atlantic City was a very good cash cow for me for a long time.”
TRUMP: Atlantic City was a very good cash cow for me for a long time.
Those promises you’re hearing from him at his campaign rallies? They’re the same promises he made to his customers at Trump University. Now they’re suing him for fraud.
CNN: Donald Trump still battling lawsuits from defunct Trump University
Fortune: How Bad Are the Charges Against Trump University? Really Bad
The New Yorker: Trump University: It’s Worse Than You Think
The Daily Beast: Maddings, an ex-marine now 32, who told The Daily Beast that he racked up around $45,000 in credit card debt to buy Trump University seminars and products. … “It was a con. I’m 25-years-old, barely making $3,000 a month and they told me to increase my credit limit. I just maxed out three credit cards and I’m supposed to be able to qualify for loans to buy real estate? Those stupid principles have led me to borrow $700,000 of other people’s money and lose it all. I’m still paying off some of that debt to this day.”
He’s been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits in the past 30 years.
USA Today: Trump’s 3,500 lawsuits unprecedented for a presidential nominee
A large number were filed by ordinary Americans and small businesses that did work for Trump and never got paid – painters, waiters, plumbers – people who needed the money, and didn’t get it – not because he couldn’t pay them, but because he could stiff them.
USA Today: At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters.
USA Today: Juan Carlos Enriquez, owner of The Paint Spot, in South Florida, has been waiting more than two years to get paid for his work at the Doral. The Paint Spot first filed a lien against Trump’s course, then filed a lawsuit asking a Florida judge to intervene.
Sometimes he offered them 30 cents on the dollar for projects they had already completed.
USA Today: Trump [offered] as little as 30 cents on the dollar to some of the contractors
Hundreds of liens have been filed against him by contractors, going back decades. They all tell a similar story: I worked for him, I did my job, he wouldn’t pay me what he owed.
USA Today: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills
He says, he’s a businessman, and this is what businessmen do.
TRUMP: Every major business leader, has used the – I never went bank bankrupt, by the way, as you know, everybody knows. But – hundreds of companies, hundreds of deals, I used the law four times and made a tremendous thing. I’m in business. I did a very good job.
Well, CNN pointed out that no major company has filed Chapter 11 more often in the last 30 years than Trump’s casinos.
CNN: No major U.S. company has filed for Chapter 11 more than Trump’s casino empire in the last 30 years
Now imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office the next time America faces a crisis. Imagine him being in charge when your jobs and savings are at stake. Is this who you want leading us in an emergency?
TRUMP: Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!
