Tag: Trump lies

Fact-checking President Trump’s retreat on the census citizenship question

Washington Post logoPresident Trump has officially dropped his plan to add a citizenship question in the 2020 Census, conceding defeat after a string of court losses.

But in remarks from the Rose Garden on Thursday, Trump also said he was “not backing down.” He ordered his administration to estimate the number of citizens, noncitizens and undocumented residents through other means.

The Census Bureau already was doing what Trump ordered, but the president didn’t mention that and described his move as a new direction. At other points, Trump made contradictory or arguably misleading comments. Here’s a roundup of his claims.

View the complete July 12 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.

Trump’s attempts to smear Christopher Steele just hit a roadblock

Trump’s attempts to smear Christopher Steele just hit a roadblock

For months, President Donald Trump and his allies have tried to smear Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous Steele Dossier, as someone bent on bringing down the president through lies and deceit.

But after this week’s revelations, they might have to try a new strategy.

As Reuters first reported, attorneys from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General’s Office grilled Steele early last month in the U.K. A report in Politico added that the two-day interview took a total of 16 hours.

View the complete July 10 article by Casey Michel on the ThinkProgress website here.

‘I barely know the guy’: To minimize critics, Trump employs selective amnesia

Washington Post logoPresident Trump sat across from British Ambassador Kim Darroch during the annual St. Patrick’s Day lunch on Capitol Hill in March, inquiring about Brexit and bragging of his strong political standing, according to people familiar with their exchange.

It wasn’t the first time they met. Trump interacted with Darroch on a number of occasions in London and Washington, and most of the president’s senior aides have attended parties at the luxurious, chandelier-draped embassy in Northwest Washington and met with the ambassador at the White House.

But after leaked cables showed Darroch criticizing Trump’s administration as “inept” and the president as “insecure,” the president seemed to have a memory lapse.

View the complete July 9 article by Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

Donald Trump’s origin story suffers another severe blow

Washington Post logoThe myth of Donald Trump, as written by Donald Trump, took yet another blow Monday.

The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish reported that Trump’s admission to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance — one of Trump’s go-to brags to play up his credentials — was hardly the feat he has claimed. In fact, Trump leaned on his older brother’s friendship with an admissions officer to get into the school. And even then, he was clearing a much lower bar than exists for acceptance to the prestigious school today.

Here are the key parts:

James Nolan was working in the University of Pennsylvania’s admissions office in 1966 when he got a phone call from one of his closest friends, Fred Trump Jr. It was a plea to help Fred’s younger brother, Donald Trump, get into Penn’s Wharton School.

View the complete July 8 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Trump has referred to his Wharton degree as ‘super genius stuff.’ An admissions officer recalls it differently.

Washington Post logoPHILADELPHIA — James Nolan was working in the University of Pennsylvania’s admissions office in 1966 when he got a phone call from one of his closest friends, Fred Trump Jr. It was a plea to help Fred’s younger brother, Donald Trump, get into Penn’s Wharton School.

“He called me and said, ‘You remember my brother Donald?’ Which I didn’t,” Nolan, 81, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “He said, ‘He’s at Fordham and he would like to transfer to Wharton. Will you interview him?’ I was happy to do that.”

Soon, Donald Trump arrived at Penn for the interview, accompanied by his father, Fred Trump Sr., who sought to “ingratiate” himself, Nolan said.

View the complete July 8 article by Michael Kranish on The Washington Post website here.

 

Trump has made unapologetic lies the centerpiece of his political process. Will they win in 2020?

AlterNet logoLast week news broke of the Donald Trump 2020 campaign using stock photos in online ads to deceptively suggest he has better support among key demographics — women, Hispanics, young voters — than he actually does. The news was troubling on more than one front: It reminded us of the various ways that campaigns will misrepresent and deceive voters to garner support and it underscored the reality that this type of misinformation can circulate relatively unchecked on social media.

The Trump campaign has been spending about $1 million weekly on Facebook and Google ads. In comparison, the Biden campaign spent about $75,000 last week. The Trump team knows that the online world is where their campaign thrives and they also know that they can expect little to no regulation from Facebook even when their ads are a direct violation of Facebook policy. As Judd Legum explains in “Popular Information,” Facebook is driven by profits, not partisanship, and these ads are great for revenue.

Legum, in fact, has identified six different types of pro Trump ads that offer voters misleading information. All signs suggest we should expect even more of the same tactics going forward.

View the complete July 8 article by Sophia A. McLennen from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

The Trump administration has changed its story on the census citizenship question at least 10 times in four months

Washington Post logoOriginally, it was supposed to help the Justice Department enforce the Voting Rights Act. Then the Supreme Court said that was a pretext.

It would not be used for immigration enforcement. Then it could be used to deal with the “burden” of undocumented immigrants.

It would not be used for congressional redistricting. Then it could be.

View the complete July 8 article by JM Rieger on The Washington Post website here.

New York Times Hits Back At Trump Claim Of ‘Phony’ Story On Migrant Detention

The president denied the paper’s report about nightmarish conditions at a Clint, Texas, facility.

The New York Times is hitting back at President Donald Trump after he accused the paper of fabricating a story about nightmarish conditions inside a Clint, Texas, migrant detention center.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted that the Times had written “phony and exaggerated accounts,” adding that “people should not be entering our Country illegally, only for us to then have to care for them.”

In response, the publication’s communications department told the president it stood by its reporting.

“We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting on the U.S. Border Patrol’s detention centers,” it said.

View the complete July 7 article by Amy Russo on the Huffington Post website here.

Trump Says Migrants Are ‘Living Far Better’ in Overcrowded Border Facilities

New York Times logoWASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that migrants were “living far better” in Border Patrol detention centers than in their home countries, one day after his own administration reported that children in some facilities were denied hot meals or showers, and that cells were so crowded that migrants begged to be freed.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Mr. Trump criticized Democrats who this week visited Border Patrol facilities in Texas, and reported that migrants had been forced to drink from a toilet. Customs and Border Protection officials have disputed that claim.

“Many of these illegal aliens are living far better now than where they came from, and in far safer conditions,” Mr. Trump said over multiple tweets. “No matter how good things actually look, even if perfect, the Democrat visitors will act shocked & aghast at how terrible things are.”

View the complete July 3 article by Zolan Kanno-Youngs on The New York Times website here.

No, Obama didn’t beg Kim Jong Un for a meeting

Washington Post logo“They couldn’t have meetings. Nobody was going to meet. President Obama wanted to meet, and Chairman Kim would not meet him. The Obama administration was begging for a meeting. They were begging for meetings constantly. And Chairman Kim would not meet with him. And for some reason, we have a certain chemistry or whatever.”

— President Trump, at a news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Seoul, June 30, 2019

Trump went to the demilitarized zone and crossed the demarcation line on Sunday, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea. It was his third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

That’s a lot of face time and photo ops. What has Trump gotten in return, aside from a hazy commitment from Kim to denuclearize North Korea? Well, at least Kim is open to discussion, Trump says, after “constantly” rebuffing requests to meet with President Barack Obama.

There’s just one problem with this claim — a total lack of evidence.

View the complete July 2 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.