Donald Trump has told an average of 30 lies per day since he took office. The vast majority of them happened during his rallies, but he managed a good seven lies a day even when he was not on the campaign trail. Here are some of his biggest whoppers.
Politifact took on the significant task of checking out some of Trump’s latest lies during his strenuous push prior to Election Day. This included rallies in (Pensacola) Florida, Montana, Indiana, West Virginia, Missouri, and (Fort Myers) Florida. Those rallies started on October 31st and went through November 3rd.
In Pensacola, Florida, Trump said:
‘If you want to pay high taxes you ought to vote for the mayor of Tallahassee, FL, because you will pay high taxes.’
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D-FL) has been running for governor against Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a previous congressman. Gillum wanted a modest increase in corporate taxes to finance public education with $1 billion. This will not add a state personal income tax.
In Belgrade, Montana, the president said that there were about 300 people in the “caravan,” which is still about 1,000 miles away. He continued:
‘There’s some bad hombres in that group. So (the Department of Homeland Security) came out with a list of 300 really bad ones.’
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement that read:
‘Over 270 individuals along the caravan route have criminal histories, including known gang membership.’
POTUS’ statement cannot be verified independently. Aid workers say that the group is composed of “families with young children and young teens traveling without their parents.” DHS’s statement could not be verified either, because it would not release how it determined that number. A DHS official commented that it was “law enforcement sensitive.”
In Indianapolis, Indiana, the president stated as fact:
‘The Democrat plan would obliterate Medicare.’
The all-Republican led Congress has tried over 60 times to kill off the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare). Medicare transactions only cost about $3.00, whereas a private insurance transaction runs about $20 per transaction. Medicare for all would be cheaper. Trump tells people that would kill Medicare, but it would not.
Instead, Medicare would expand and cover additional services such as:
‘Dental, hearing, vision and long-term care. And it would cover more people.’
However, passing such a money-saving bill has not been popular among Republicans, who would not let it through Congress.
In Huntington, West Virginia, Trump said:
‘But I can tell you, they will shut down your coal mines. They want to take away your good health care and essentially use socialism to turn America into Venezuela.’
The president may not understand what socialism is. When the government owns or controls all the production, that is socialism. No Democrat has called for socialism. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has proposed a similar idea, but he has always been an Independent, and his idea had to do with healthcare, not business.
Florida State University political science professor, Sean Ehrlich, said:
‘While some might describe Medicare or Medicaid as socialism, because the government is providing health insurance to citizens, the health industry remains in private hands. The government doesn’t control the production of health care, they merely regulate some elements and reimburse providers and consumers for their health care costs.’
When, the commander-in-chief appeared at Columbus, Missouri for his rally, he said:
‘U.S. Steel is now building seven plants.’
U.S. Steel has restarted two closed mills, not seven, and other companies have either re-opened their mills or are building a few.
Then, in Fort Myers, Florida Trump claimed:
‘Democrats want open borders.’
Politifact found zero instances of any Democratic candidates pulling for open borders. A few top Democratic leaders wanted to restructure the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, but that is nowhere close to calling for completely free borders.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
