Fact Check: Trump resurfaces debunked claims in speech
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, spoke during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
WASHINGTON >> Despite promising “the truth, and nothing else” in his convention speech, Donald Trump presented the nation with a series of previously debunked claims and some new ones Thursday night — about the U.S. tax burden, the perils facing police, Hillary Clinton’s record and more.
A look at some of the Republican presidential candidate’s claims and how they compare with the facts:
TRUMP: “Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement. Homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America’s 50 largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years.”
THE FACTS: A rollback? President Barack Obama has actually achieved some big increases in spending for state and local law enforcement, including billions in grants provided through the 2009 stimulus. While FBI crime statistics for 2015 are not yet available, Trump’s claim about rising homicides appears to come from a Washington Post analysis published in January. While Trump accurately quotes part of the analysis, he omits that the statistical jump was so large because homicides are still very low by historical standards. In the 50 cities cited by the Post, for example, half as many people were killed last year as in 1991.
TRUMP: “The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015. They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.”
THE FACTS: The pace of releasing immigrants is driven not by the Obama administration, but by a court ruling. A federal judge ruled last year that the government couldn’t hold parents and children in jail for more than 20 days. An appeals court partially rolled that back earlier this month, saying that parents could be detained but children must be released.
By the standard used by the government to estimate illegal border crossings – the number of arrests — Trump is right that the number in this budget year has already exceeded last year’s total. But it’s down from 2014.
TRUMP: “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 before.”
THE FACTS: Clinton’s use of a private server to store her emails was not illegal under federal law. Her actions were not established as a crime. The FBI investigated the matter and its role was to advise the Justice Department whether to bring charges against her based on what it found. FBI Director James Comey declined to refer the case for criminal prosecution to the Justice Department, instead accusing Clinton of extreme carelessness.
As for Trump’s claim that Clinton faces no consequence, that may be true in a legal sense. But the matter has been a distraction to her campaign and fed into public perceptions that she can’t be trusted. The election will test whether she has paid a price politically.
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, which tracks police fatalities daily. The group found that the number of police officers who died as of July 20 is up just slightly this year, at 67, compared with 62 through the same period last year. That includes deaths in the line of duty from all causes, including traffic fatalities.
It is true that there has been a spike in police deaths from intentional shootings, 32 this year compared with 18 last year, largely attributable to the recent mass shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge. But that was not his claim.
And overall, police are statistically safer on America’s streets now than at any time in recent decades.
For example, the 109 law enforcement fatalities in 2013 were the lowest since 1956.
TRUMP: “My opponent has called for a radical 550 percent increase in Syrian (refugees). … She proposes this despite the fact that there’s no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from. I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people.”
THE FACTS: Trump persists in making the bogus claim that the U.S. doesn’t screen refugees. The administration both screens them and knows where they are from. The Department of Homeland Security leads the process, which involves rigorous background checks. Processing of a refugee can take 18 months to two years, and usually longer for those coming from Syria. Refugees are also subject to in-person interviews and fingerprint and other biometric screening.
For all that caution, U.S. officials acknowledge that the Islamic State group could try to place operatives among refugees. Last year, FBI Director James Comey said data about people coming from Syria may be limited, adding, “If we don’t know much about somebody, there won’t be anything in our database.”
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. The sluggish recovery over the past seven years has been frustrating. But with unemployment at 4.9 percent, the situation isn’t as bleak as he suggests.
Trump’s figure of 14 million who’ve stopped working since Obama took office comes from the Labor Department’s measure of people not in the workforce. It’s misleading for three reasons: The U.S. population has increased in that time; the country has aged and people have retired; and younger people are staying in school longer for college and advanced degrees, so they’re not in the labor force, either.
A better figure is labor force participation — the share of people with jobs or who are searching for work. That figure has declined from 65.7 percent when Obama took office to 62.7 percent now. Part of that decrease reflects retirements, but the decline is also a long-term trend.
On national debt, economists say a more meaningful measure than dollars is the share of the overall economy taken up by the debt. By that measure, the debt rose 36 percent under Obama (rather than doubling). That’s roughly the same as what occurred under Republican President George W. Bush.
The Hispanic population has risen since Obama while the poverty rate has fallen. The Pew Research Center found that 23.5 percent of the country’s 55.3 million Latinos live in poverty, compared with 24.7 percent in 2010.
TRUMP: “Another humiliation came when President Obama drew a red line in Syria, and the whole world knew it meant absolutely nothing.”
THE FACTS: Trump’s reference is to a threat by Obama for retaliatory strikes if Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against rebels — and he’s basically on target. When Assad crossed Obama’s “red line” in 2013 by using chemical weapons, the U.S. president backed down.
Obama’s two secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, pushed for intervention, as have a former defense secretary and CIA director. But Obama as commander-in-chief has the last word, and nothing has swayed him thus far.
TRUMP: “When that same secretary of state rakes in millions and millions of dollars trading access and favors to special interests and foreign powers, I know the time for action has come.”
THE FACTS: That’s a somewhat overheated take on a legitimately troublesome issue for Clinton.
Although financial disclosures show she earned only her government salary as secretary of state, she made more than $21 million afterward, over three years, for speeches and appearances for private companies. None of those speeches was paid for by foreign governments, but some groups she addressed could be counted as special interests.
As well, the Clintons’ family charity, the Clinton Foundation, received millions of dollars in donations while she was secretary of state, some from foreigners. And Bill Clinton earned millions making appearances and speeches for foreign corporations and organizations while his wife was at the State Department.
TRUMP: “After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the entire world. Libya is in ruins, and our ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis now threatens the West. … This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness.”
THE FACTS: 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.
Clinton worked to impose sanctions that helped coax Tehran to a nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers last year, a deal in which Iran rolled back its nuclear program to get relief from sanctions that were choking its economy.
She did not start the war in Libya, but supported a NATO intervention well after violence broke out between rebels and the forces of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country slid into chaos after Gadhafi was ousted and killed in 2011, leaving it split between competing governments.
Clinton had no role in military decisions made during the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Republicans’ claim that high-level officials in Washington issued a “stand-down” order delaying a military rescue in Benghazi has been widely debunked.
On Iraq, Clinton as a senator voted in 2002 to grant President George W. Bush authority to invade Iraq, but has since said it was a “mistake.” Many in the Middle East do not regret Saddam’s ouster and regional allies allowed U.S. bases in their country to support the war. But many also now fear the Islamic State group, which rose in the chaos of Syria’s civil war and Iraq’s security vacuum.
TRUMP: “America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.”
THE FACTS: Trump continues to repeat this inaccuracy. The U.S. tax burden is actually the fourth lowest among the 34 developed and large emerging-market economies that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Taxes made up 26 percent of the total U.S. economy in 2014, according to the OECD. That’s far below Sweden’s tax burden of 42.7 percent, Britain’s 32.6 percent or Germany’s 36.1 percent. Only three OECD members had a lower figure than the U.S.: Chile, South Korea and Mexico.
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. She does support a ban on certain military-style weapons, similar to the law President Bill Clinton signed in the 1990s. That ban expired after 10 years and was not renewed. Clinton also backs an expansion of existing criminal background checks to apply to weapons sales at gun shows. The checks now apply mainly to sales by federally licensed gun dealers.
Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Stephen Braun, Deb Riechmann, Jim Drinkard and Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.
166 responses to “Fact Check: Trump resurfaces debunked claims in speech”
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Drumpf has a particularly troublesome M.O. of putting the worst possible spin on anyone he doesn’t like, while consistently avoiding simple, declarative answers to any questions about himself.
The illustrations above are classic examples of his spinning or fabricating negatives about someone else. What bothers me is the way he ducks, dodges, feints and weaves when asked to answer a personal question. He does this even when it’s completely unnecessary, and that makes it a matter of concern.
Ask him something as straightforward as what time he gets up in the morning. He’d reply something like this:
“Isn’t it nice to hear the birds singing so cheerfully early in the morning? They sound wonderful, fabulous. And how about those sunrises, huh! Those gorgeous colors in the sky, lighting up the clouds like the marquees on one of my casinos. You know I have the best casinos in the world — nobody has better casinos than I do. And the newsboy delivering papers, what a great example of the American work ethic!”
So he doesn’t actually say he’s ever listened to the birds or seen a sunset, heard a newspaper thump on his front porch (or even sat down to read one). And he certainly hasn’t told you when he gets up.
I have a real problem with anyone who can’t answer a simple, straightforward question with a simple straightforward answer.
Germany has more shootings today, more to Fuel Trump campaign!
Naturally. Fear, and the fact that his supports don’t know any better, is all he has.
Klastri, during his first inaugural address in 1933, Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Do you also believe that fear was all President Roosevelt had and his supporters did not know any better?
Ronin006 – You cannot possibly be this dense. President Roosevelt was mocking the other party, that was selling fear. President Roosevelt (good grief … how can you not know this?) was explaining that the United States was strong and there really was nothing to fear.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Meaning don’t be afraid of your own shadow. Like you are.
How did the Republican Party attract such cowards? It’s a national disgrace.
klastri, thank you for your brilliant insight, and please stop making up stuff and rewriting history. Roosevelt was not mocking the Republican Party; he was giving his assessment of the numerous problems and challenges facing the nation caused by the Great Depression in the US and by the global economic collapse in the 1930s. He was telling the American people that fear was a powerful emotion and that their reaction to it was making matters worse. Not once during his speech did he cast blame on Republicans for what was happening worldwide. Blaming Republicans is a modern-day liberal interpretation of what Roosevelt meant.
It’s nice to see that you’re so gleeful over a mass shooting. Yes, you certainly are a Trump supporter ….
Sometimes fear is the appropriate response, especially when people are trying to kill you.
We’re one of the safest countries on earth.
How did some Americans (Republicans) become such immature cowards? This is really sad. Not many things worse than cowardice.
That was true eight years ago. Not many things worse than cowardice. How is that Red Line and the JV Team working out for the Coward-in-Chief?
sarge22 – We’re actually much safer than we were 8 years ago. But you don’t seem to be influenced by facts and such.
Too much violence. People want to be safe. Obama has six months to fix a problem that he and the Secretary started. It’s too late for “well if I’m elected President” She’s in a hammer lock of Obama failed policies one after another. Or “between a rock and a hard place”. I’m glad they didn’t use that phrase. They’d be accused of plagiarism.
The President and Mrs. Clinton “started violence?”
You expected that to make sense?
He’s learning to be a politician. Ask them a straight question and you’ll get the run around.
BS You can try to spin this as hard as you can, but you can’t re-invent the facts.
Lying Donald.
That is correct. The Donald is the number one Liar. (Pants have long burnt off)
Really…Hillary fans calling other people liars. Really?
They all in denial. smh
Try to see if the AP & the SA will Fact Check Hillary. Won’t happen.
Try to see if the AP & the SA will Fact Check Hillary. Won’t happen. The AP says a Republican “lied” but a Democrat “misrepresented the facts”.
Of course they’ll check her facts.
Speaking of facts, from where did you pull that “lied” quote in any news story published by the AP? You see, quotation marks serve a specific purpose – place them around something that was never actually stated an you’re “misrepresenting the facts.”
Bootsie..Pants burnt off? Hillary must be bottomless.
lol, another person who cannot keep on topic. This article is about The Donald. Shame he is no Eisenhower.
I Like Ike.
OMG sarge22!!! What a despicable image!!!
Bell bottom.
You are correct, peanutgallery. Before going online today I knew I would see the kind of nonsense being spewed by AP and gleefully published by the SA as news.
So Trump starts his speech by saying, “at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else,” and then he recites a litany of lies, many of which have been repeatedly rated as “pants on fire” by fact checkers. When fact checkers have repeatedly called his statements false and when his campaign has been unable to provide facts to support his claims, it doesn’t deter him. He keeps repeating the same whoppers, and his fans cheer loudest when he recycles his hit parade of debunked lies and conspiracy theories. When a Presidential candidate tells Alex Jones that he is going to make him proud, you know that something is seriously wrong.
Chuckling now. The Associated Press as neutral “fact checkers”. Good one. Had me going for a minute there.
Here’s what the AP is–Democrat mouth pieces with bylines. Is it any wonder that the press has zero credibility. Looking forward to next weeks cuddly embrace of St. Hillary by the same “news” organization in which the AP will no doubt castigate Clinton for not being quite as magnificent as she claims.
This is what you get, BS (dual meaning) when our major institutions corrupt themselves, the press, the political weaponization of the Federal bureaucracy, executive disregard for the constitution, the calculated division of the country. You get a mountain of contempt and a candidate like Trump.
They are scared…the “system” is in deep trouble and they know it.
The Associated Press is scared? Of what? Of Mr. Trump suspending the First Amendment (impossible, of course) as he threatened he would?
What are you talking about?
They are afraid that they are losing control of the sheep.
Despite your last comment @bumbai, it’s pretty clear that “they” — being the Trump campaign — have control of their ignorant, fearful, self-loathing sheep.
bumbai – Well that’s not true and makes no sense. Nothing new there.
klastri asks: The Associated Press is scared? Of what?
Here’s what has the so called “news” media soiling their dainty under garments:
For the first time since my hero, Spiro, took on the media 47 years ago ~~ accurately nailing them as the worst enemy America faces, “nattering nabobs of negativism” &c. ~~ a major political figure is now willing and eager to wade into them and throw dynamic, up-from-the-floor haymakers at them. Unlike gutless obsequious pantywaists masquerading as GOP, Trump does not curl up in fetal position for fear someone will call him a name.
Trump has already demonstrated again and again that he can play these media twerps like a fiddle and they are COMPELLED to give him billions of dollars worth of free publicity even when (especially when) he attacks them.
The media are stuck on stupid. What they fail to appreciate is Trump’s point of view: there are two and only two kinds of publicity GOOD publicity and NO publicity.
Well said Winston, positively Churchillian!
How many Churchillas does it take to make a coat?
Winston, the people at AP clearly are suffering from “Three Monkey Syndrome” in their quest to protect and support Hillary. It appears the disease has spread to bsdetection, klastri, OldDiver and boots.
You’re right. All of the usual suspects are suffering from severe cases of beam and mote syndrome.
These guys are really intense. Do you really want to see them win the White House or the Out House. The latter for me.
This so-called “fact check” is so poorly researched and written that it’s easy to see it is pure propaganda. Now let’s wait until a week from now to see whether news media run a “fact check” on the nonsense Hillary will spew during her upcoming convention.
Thanks Ken Conklin, couldn’t said it better than you!
Ken, why don’t you enlighten us and fact check the fact checkers.
Crickets …..
Why do you demand that others do the heavy lifting for you?
Find out for yourself – – unless you fear Truth.
SA must have slipped up and printed a negative letter on Hillary in the Letters to the Editor so in case you all missed it. Clinton seems to be shameless
“It is beyond doubt that Hillary Clinton has boldly lied to the American people, not once, but many times.
Her lies about her email server are legion. She shamefully lied to the grieving families of those who died in Benghazi.
Her lies were self-serving, and she is unrepentant.
She has proven herself to be dishonest and untrustworthy, yet she defiantly continues to run for the presidency of the United States.
That we have been deceived by her repeated lies, shame on her.
If we put her into the White House, shame on our nation.”
Americans, think about it. If you want Klastri and Bill in the White House vote for lying Hilliary. If you want Ivanka and Melania in the White House vote for Donald J. Trump. What’s in your ballot box?
Ken, I agree. The writer must have an agenda.
Ken, How is it poorly researched? Can you be specific like you usually are? As for Hillary, that is not relevant. This was an article about the Donald, the republican nominee for president. I am sure at some point the paper might run a comparison.
From what I read, the bit about the emails is warped to the point of being false to fact.
When I read Director Comey’s report I did not come the conclusion that he said she did not break any law.
The storage of top secret documents on an unsecured private server is against the law.
In the cyber world, what she did was the equivalent of leaving a packet of top secret documents on the sidewalk in front of your house.
If I have it right, the statute in question only requires gross negligence. Extreme carelessness is a definition of gross negligence.
Comey indicated that statutes could have been broken, but they were not normally prosecuted without intent, of which they had not found any.
This is even though the statute does not require intent.
I assume this means intent to give away secrets.
As for consequences, the report suggested administrative or security repercussions.
In my opinion, one of these would be the lifting of her security clearance.
Extreme carelessness is not synonymous in law with gross negligence. You should speak with an attorney.
Security clearance regulations do not apply to any Constitutional officers. The President decides who within or outside of government – other than Constitutional officers – must comply with security clearance regulations. That is within the power of the Commander in Chief.
Re Klastri on: extreme carelessness.
As you know, Rudi Guliani was U.S. attorney for New York.
In reference http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/07/05/rudy_giuliani_hillary_broke_the_law_gross_negligence_equals_extreme_carelessness.html he states
“It’s the first definition that comes up in the law dictionary,” he said. “It’s the definition the judges give to juries when they charge injuries on gross negligence. Negligence equals carelessness. Gross negligence equals extreme carelessness….”
Cricket_Amos – There is extensive case law on this, which Mr. Guiliani (of course) fails to mention. I’m right.
If the Trump/Pence ticket prevails, don’t be surprised to see Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton in the dock, charged with treason, given her reckless misconduct that has engendered national security on a scale not seen since Julius and Ethel Rosenberg got a ride on Old Sparky.
Even if she cops to a lesser offense, there will likely be some serious slam time in what Mark Twain once called “strong lodgings” in her future.
thos – Given Mr. Trump’s loathing for the Constitution and the rule of law, that outcome wouldn’t surprise me. There’s nothing more comforting than a dictator who does what you want him to do. And what better use of public resources than to settle a personal vendetta?
You certainly are a Trump supporter!
The good news is that he’ll never be President.
Never say ‘never’, Chump.
Thos, sorry, but you almost have no idea on what you are talking about or offer anything of substance to substantiate what you are proffering.
The elements of treason are as follows:
the defendant owes allegiance to the government, and.
the defendant intentionally betrays that allegiance by either. levying war against the government, or. giving aid or comfort to the government’s enemy.
It is this type of hyperbole and shallow understanding of the most basic tenets of law that disallow you from being taken seriously on either an intellectual or political level.
Cricket,
What difference at this point does it matter. Whether she was grossly negligent or extremely careless, only 4 people died. She sweared she turned over all her official emails. She provided access to her private server for every Mahatma, Chow Loon and Sergei. Let’s move on.
Americans, if you want Klastri and Bill in the White House vote for Crooked Hillary. If you want Melania and Ivanka in the White House vote for Donald J. Trump.
Ikefromeli – Again, you’re relying on some kind of normal adult reason and logic. Which is sadly rare here.
Ken Conklin: Can you point out the discrepancies in the “poorly researched” and written article?
He can’t, as all he would do is route you to some self-published article (because a real university press would only run in fear or reject him in earnest) on some obscure Slovenian website.
because a real LIBERAL university press would only run in fear or reject him in earnest Nothing new here.
So, is your posit that the some school like Liberty Univeristy is a beacon of intellectual and independent thought as opposed, to say Princeton?
Ike from Eli, how old is your computer? Does it have spell or predictive text? You are really smart but sometimes?
“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is” ~Bill Clinton
Okay, I can’t stand Donald Trump and don’t think he would make a good president. (I feel the same about Hilary Clinton)
But I stopped reading after the first two “debunkings.” This is NOT debunking, it’s arguing over interpretation of the facts.
When Hilary Clinton said she dodged bullets and sniper fire and “we ran with our heads down” when she landed in Bosnia in 1996 and footage showed this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BfNqhV5hg4
THAT’S debunking, not “While Trump accurately quotes part of the analysis, he omits that the statistical jump was so large because homicides are still very low by historical standards. In the 50 cities cited by the Post, for example, half as many people were killed last year as in 1991.”
1991 WAS 25 years ago!! Please don’t put me in the position of defending Donald Trump, but this is not journalism and belongs on a personal blog somewhere, not under the headline claiming you are “debunking” him when in fact the SA just sounds grouchy that many of his statements are actually correct.
You are right and this AP piece is poorly researched. Both CNN and the Washington Post did morning after takes on his speech and did a fact check as well. In summary, both found every fact cited by trump was true. What was open to interpretation is what those facts meant and like every politician, he came to his own conclusions. I don’t like trump either, but this is shoddy journalism.
Tony94, surely you kid. The Washington Post found Donald Trumps speech full of convoluted cherry picked nonsense.
The Washington Post is full of convoluted cherry picked nonsense.
sarge22 – Yes, if data doesn’t support what you think or wish it should, it’s biased. That makes perfect sense.
Likewise.
I read both, and did not read that they found his “facts” to be basically true.
I think your problem is you stopped after the second point. How about the following:
TRUMP: “America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.”
THE FACTS: Trump continues to repeat this inaccuracy. The U.S. tax burden is actually the fourth lowest among the 34 developed and large emerging-market economies that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
I know it is all relative, but this is simply a lie. The Donald wants to increase government spending, so we are just going to borrow again and perhaps declare bankruptcy? So typically republican. Eisenhower is spinning.
Boots says:
July 22, 2016 at 7:08 am
I think your problem is you stopped after the second point. How about the following:…”
No, that one too. Even if we the 34 highest taxed countries on Earth, there are something like 195 different countries out there. We could be the 95th highest taxed countries and he’d still be correct.
Breaking it out into “large market emerging economies” is simply quibbling and trying to undermine a true statement.
Again “I dodged sniper fire in Bosnia” is a claim that can be and has been debunked. “The USA is one of the highest taxed countries in the world” is a true statement.
Boots says: “I think your problem is you stopped after the second point. How about the following:…”
No, that one too. Even if we the 34 highest taxed countries on Earth, there are something like 195 different countries out there. We could be the 95th highest taxed countries and he’d still be correct.
Breaking it out into “developed and large market emerging economies” is simply quibbling and trying to undermine a true statement.
Again “I dodged sniper fire in Bosnia” is a claim that can be and has been debunked. “The USA is one of the highest taxed countries in the world” is a true statement whether you like it or not.
this is not journalism
Beginning with the worst president in our history – – son of a rich bootlegger who bought this punk kid his razor thin “victory” in 1960 and who almost got us fried in a full up arsenal exchange with the USSR two years later – – there has been no journalism.
Now the so called “news” media take dictation from the Religious Left and in the pretense of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable, they spike legitimate news stories that don’t fit the narrative they push.
In that regard they do not PRESENT the news, but rather PREVENT it from becoming news.
Of course he lied at the convention. He’s been lying his entire life – about just about everything.
He lied to his two earlier wives about “working hard” when in fact he was having multiple sexual affairs with strangers; he lied about the abject fraud that is Trump University; he lied about his wealth, and the fact that he was eager to release his tax returns; he lied on hundreds of contracts to which he signed his name and then did not pay people who performed work for him; he lied about not changing his many positions over the years and even the political party he belongs to; it’s a very long list. Very.
His life has been one long, large lie. There’s no reason for him to stop now.
But it doesn’t matter, they were dead already, come on, let’s move on. It was only 4 including her friend, an ambassador. No big deal.
The lady is dirty and some people want her to be the next POTUS?
Whether or not Trump wins or not, none of the sweet 16 would have come this far. Not one.
Sure he made mistakes but he played hard ball, not soft ball like Mickey Mitt.
We’ve got a candidate and I’m sticking with him because he is for You.
And his wife and daughter are beautiful and will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington.
I can see you (still, remarkably) didn’t read the Gowdy report. You keep writing the same things over and over again.
Please just read the report. You’ll actually learn something, and it’ll give you something productive to do today.
Did you perhaps see Gowdy question the FBI chief regarding Hillary and her classified emails. Here it is in case you missed it..GOWDY: Good morning, Director Comey. Secretary Clinton said she never sent or received classified information over her private e-mail. Was that true?
COMEY: Our investigation found that there was classified information sent —
GOWDY: So it was not true?
COMEY: That’s what I said.
GOWDY: OK. Well, I’m looking for a little shorter answer so you and I are not here quite as long. Secretary Clinton said there was not marked classified on her e-mails either sent or received, was that true?
COMEY: That’s not true. There were a small number of portion markings on I think three of the documents.
GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said ‘I did not e-mail any classified material to anyone on my e-mail, there is no classified material.’ Was that true?
COMEY: There was classified material e-mail.
GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said she used just one device. Was that true?
COMEY: She used multiple devices during the four years of her term as secretary of State.
GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said all work-related e-mails were returned to the State Department. Was that true?
COMEY: No. We found work-related e-mails, thousands that were not returned.
GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said neither she nor anyone else deleted work-related e-mails from her personal account. Was that true?
COMEY: That’s a harder one to answer. We found traces of work related e-mails in — on devices or slack space, whether they were deleted or whether when a server was changed out something happened to them. There’s no doubt that the work-related e-mails that were removed electronically from the — the e-mail system.
GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said her lawyers read every one of the e-mails and were overly inclusive. Did her lawyers read the e-mail content individually?
COMEY: No.
In a later exchange with Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) Comey said Clinton wasn’t sophisticated enough to understand what information was classified and what wasn’t.
“A question about sophistication came up earlier, whether she was sophisticated enough to understand what a ‘C’ means,” Comey said.
Meadows shot back: “You’re saying the former secretary of State is not sophisticated enough to understand a classified marking?”
“That’s not what I said,” Comey said. “I think it’s possible, possible, she didn’t understand what a ‘C’ meant when she saw it in the body of the e-mail like that.”
In light of the discrepancies between Clinton’s statements and the FBI’s findings, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said the House committee investigating her email scandal plans to ask the federal agency to investigate the statements she made to the federal agency.
Comey explained the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s emails did not include investigating whether her testimony was truthful because the agency needs a referral from Congress to investigate.
“You’ll have one,” Chaffetz said. “You’ll have one in the next few hours.”
sarge22…excellent post on Comey & Gowdy. Libs still can’t believe it lol
lol, as if Hillary had anything to do with it. You act like she planned the attack on the embassy and that she is really part of the terrorists. She was not. Love the consistency of phony conservatives who were quick to dismiss those who questioned GW and his record of attacks but are so quick to condemn a democrat. Just goes to show that Its ok if you are republican but not ok if you are a democrat. Just love your hypocrisy.
I am sure you believe everything Obama and Hilary say.
You’re sure, but of course you’re wrong. Neither of them are ignorant of the basics of government as Mr. Trump is. Just yesterday, Mr. Trump made a totally ridiculous statement about NATO.
So among the very long list of things he knows nothing about, we can add History.
HiLIARy will soon be HISTORY and MR Trump sure knows what that is.
Mrs. Clinton is going to win in an electoral college landslide. The goal is going to make Mr. Trump’s loss as humiliating as possible.
Sarge, crooked Omama is on a slippery slope.
klastri says: Of course he lied at the convention. He’s been lying his entire life – about just about everything. He lied to his two earlier wives about… yada yada yada
Better start practicing now, Buckwheat, ‘cause it will be very difficult for one such as you to master: “President-Elect Trump”
It will help if you furrow your brow, stick your tongue out of the side of your mouth and convulse your self like a pretzel.
And remember, Practice Makes Perfect.
No matter how may times his lies are pointed out, one thing remains constant: The facts don’t matter to his rabid followers.
No. It’s amazing. Mr. Trump knows absolutely nothing about foreign or domestic policy – he’s completely ignorant of both – and people vote for him. There are going to be some funny books written after he loses the general election. Thankfully, there aren’t enough white supremacists, racists, bigots and xenophobes to elect him.
but there are millions of us regular folks too who support Donald and his beautiful family. Beats the heck out of voting for a criminal and the Clinton Foundation. Mr Trump is a very bright man. “Make America Great Again”
Regular folks …. yes, of course.
Because beauty is more important than substance. Understood.
I want no part of Hillary’s “substance.”
The substance got Bill in deep kimchee.
Careful who you are calling criminal. Trump University is the republican definition of legal?
Boots, Liz loved it, she made a lot of money. Flipped 3 houses. She was a star pupil.
Blacks should elect Trump, because he will bring blue color factory jobs back which they traditionally held before being fired by the Democrats jobs exports to China, Mexico etc.
Of course, Mr. Trump cannot do that. You don’t understand that of course, but he’s lying about that. Like he has lied about almost every facet of his life for decades.
No sale whs1966.
The one thing that remains constant is the success The Donald enjoys spinning the straw of such fatuous silly willies as yourself into the gold of free publicity.
As the famous if fictional olive oil importer, Vito (“Don”) Corleone (nee Andolini), told his sons: “You can never have so great an advantage over another man than to be underestimated by him”.
Folks like you are paving his walk into the Oval Office next January.
DOOOOOOO keep up the good work, Sportin’ Blood.
the female felon has an enormous campaign fund fueled by donations from repressive nations and munitions manufacturers that contribute to both her foundation and campaign. the female felon’s ability to place coconspirators from her state department to work simultaneously at the foundation boosted donations and speaking fees submitted to the foundation under false names.
that the glut of the female felon’s campaign ads released in the last week has failed to move poll numbers in ohio, which shows a tie, exposes the core gruber democrat voters’ distrust and dislike of the female felon. the puzzling results of the polls also reveal the strength of the public’s knowledge and acceptance of trump even with his lack of professional political staff and a lack of substantial campaign funds.
questions about the female felon’s background need to be addressed in light of her lack of press conferences this year as she attempts to dodge questions about her foundation, her serial sexual offender husband, epstein’s role in the formation and maintenance of the clinton foundation, and the extent of epstein’s intelligence collection of frequent passengers on his lolita airline.
Let’s add election finance law to the list of things you write about but do not understand.
Repressive nations cannot fund U.S. election campaigns.
So Mrs. Clinton is responsible for her husband’s sexual affair conduct, but Mr. Trump is not responsible for his own? Very interesting theory you have there. You certainly manufacture interesting analyses!
Check out the Clinton Foundation Corruption so big that the government is afraid to investigate. Too Big t Fail.
Afraid to investigate. Of course.
Well, that’s makes as much sense as anything else you write.
http://observer.com/2016/07/up-next-for-the-fbi-clinton-foundation-corruption/ Maybe I was Wrong.
just because something is illegal has never stopped the female felon or her serial sexual offender from doing the crime. $1.5 billion in arms deals for repressive nations that also contribute to the clinton foundation should be a red flag in normal investigations.
klastri asks: So Mrs. Clinton is responsible for her husband’s sexual affair conduct,
Yeppers. She has been his enabler for decades. She managed the bimbo eruptions by attacking and intimidating the victims of her nominal “husband”s serial sexual predation in order to silence them.
Monica Lewinski did not bother her. It was when her story went public that Hillary went berserk. Long before she married him she realized he is a low class, white trash, skirt chasing piece of [scatological term redacted] and that made no difference to her. What he had were the coat tails she could ride llke a magic broom stick to the cusp of personal POWER. And ride them she did.
Sure that makes sense. Mr. Trump is not responsible for his own serial adultery (you wave that away with some magic) but Mrs. Clinton is responsible for her husband’s.
And you know enough about the inside of that marriage (that’s obviously impossible, but logic doesn’t affect you) that you know that Mrs. Clinton “enabled” Mr. Clinton. Got it.
That’s what George Orwell would have called them…”Fact Checkers,”…no double working at the Ministry of Truth. Our media has deteriorated into a crude propaganda machine who clearly sees its only job as ensuring the election of their political overlords. Much like the old newspapers of the Soviet Union who existed only to lie, distort and manipulate the people. When these characters get huffy about being “journalists,” I laugh in their faces. People who make decisions and espouse views because they read it or heard it in the media are pathetic tools.
That’s quite a conspiracy theory you’ve come up with.
You might check to see if your aluminum foil hat is too tight.
The Donald is the typical republican. Lies through his teeth. Why anyone would consider such a liar is beyond me. Hillary is a saint by comparison.
boy there are some real toe the party line bootlicking demorats out here
That’s why they call him Boots. Ha – “Hillary is a saint…”.That’s even extreme for a boot licker.
The democrats are brain washed. They watch CNN and get subliminal messages. Blinking lights or something and go to the keyboards and start typing.
Shooting in Munich. Obama – work place violence?
It just happened, so no one knows, obviously. Except you, of course. Like always.
Obama already knows it’s workplace violence. Open mouth first, facts come later.
He created a lot of unnecessary prejudice.
Hey, how’s that JV team working out you dumbf@k?
ISIS according to credible reports are in all 50 states. The Democrats will have to address this issue. Too little too late. Americans must be vigilant. You see someone running through Ala Moana Sopping Center shooting shoppers kill him. Hillary will say what difference does it make, they were junior varsity. Let’s move on.
He and the President of North Korea sound and act alike.
Merkel and Obama/Clinton should be held accountable for the influx of ISIS and the proliferation of terror.
In the press conference with the Mexican President, Obama said the problems was for the next President to figure out.
This morning Trump repeated his earlier allegation that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination and said that the National Enquirer should get a Pulitzer Prize!
“his earlier allegation that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination ”
Here is the actual quote
“And, you know, his father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald’s being — you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous. What is this, right, prior to his being shot, and nobody brings it up. They don’t even talk about that. That was reported and nobody talks about it. But I think it’s horrible.”
Let’s make America Fear Again.
Be afraid, be very afraid as they are coming to get you. Again. lol How do they live with so many imaginary fears? Wonder they can get out of bed.
Donald Trump does not seem to understand that NATO is not a favor we are doing for European pals. A peaceful Europe and a constrained Russia are in America’s interests. As the last century showed, the U.S. tends to be drawn into Europe’s conflagrations; the best solution is to stop them catching alight in the first place.
The primarily American military umbrella that has kept Europe more or less calm since the end of World War II has saved, and continues to save, not just European lives, but American ones. The same is true of our other global commitments — for example, on the Korean Peninsula, where the presence of American military resources has checked the erratic North Korean regime. But Trump suggested his willingness to renegotiate, and perhaps even abandon, these arrangements, too.
It is one thing to express concern about the exploitation of America’s largesse; it is another to throw out half-baked thoughts with no appreciation for the weightiness of the interests at stake. So far Trump has given every indication that his approach to our interests abroad would be extraordinarily reckless. If his predilections were actually acted upon, it would make for a more, not less, dangerous world.
So, a know-it-all lib said this, or a hippie, or ill-informed college student–nope, the ever vigilant and thoroughly conservative National Review. So, very telling.
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438204/donald-trump-foreign-policy-dangerous
Let’s make America Fear Again.
As I expected, I provide a rather serious critique on a topic critical for any President, and the response is not meet with a meaningful discourse or even rebuttal, but rather a sophomoric and glib platitude–so very telling of one’s intellect when they cannot even advance to first base on a serious posit…..
President Trump will listen to his advisers and take appropriate actions. A review of NATO and their mission statement will probably take place. Trump wants other countries to carry their own weight. We aren’t the worlds policeman. Wasn’t it Clinton that made a deal with N Korea about nukes? Trump will pick good people as he has done in the past and that is the key to success.
So, you are in the mind of Trump? You know this for fact? Wow, a real live clairvoyant….
You better believe it. Just watch.
Just wanted to clarify, as it was already insinuated that you were replacing agile cognitive thought for that of a soothsayer and just plain wishing….
HISTORY PAGE, STOCKMAN’S BEST OF THE WEEK
Bill Clinton’s Epic Double-Cross: How “Not An Inch” Brought NATO To Russia’s Border
by David Stockman • May 18, 2014
American foreign policy is mindlessly driven by the machinery of our Warfare State—a vast accretion of economic, diplomatic, spying and military capabilities which are ceaselessly in search of missions and justifications for their colossal call on the nation’s resources. If you don’t believe that just read Ray McGovern’s succinct summary below of the US’s epic double-cross of Russia on NATO.
It began as a pledge by the first Bush Administration to Gorbachev that in return for German unification and liberation of the “captive nations” there would be “not an inch” of NATO expansion. It ended up its opposite, and for no plausible reason of American security whatsoever. In fact, NATO went on to draft nearly the entire former “Warsaw Pact”, expanding its membership by 12 nations. So doing, it encroached thousands of kilometers from its old Cold War boundaries to the very doorstep of Russia.
Agreed. History is another topic, in a long list of topics, about which Mr. Trump seems completely ignorant. It’s remarkable that someone who knows nothing about so many important topics has any supporters at all.
A federal judge has shut down the request from the State Department to blow off the RNC/FOIA requests for emails in the Hillary Clinton top aides lawsuit. The State Department wanted the entire lawsuit dismissed. This is one of many lawsuits out there against the State Department and ties to the corrupt Clinton crime family.
Awesome, very interesting.
this AP piece is far from neutral reporting. SAD Star Advertiser reprinted the piece.
Trump is a freak, ego maniac and a liar. His creepy obsession with his daughter Ivanka was in full display last night. He cannot be our president.
Are you an editor at the StarAdvertiser? Just curious.
ohhhhhhh Donald..lol
Are we going to see a fact check on Hillary’s speech on page 3 above the fold? I think not, not at least in this paper.
Then read another paper. I’m betting that you won’t be missed here.
Here’s one.
A prolific fundraiser for Democratic candidates and contributor to the Clinton Foundation, who later traveled with Bill Clinton on a trip to Africa, Rajiv K. Fernando’s only known qualification for a seat on the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) was his technological know-how.
Corruption, they pulled strings to get him security clearance.
Trump’s inability to gain real momentum in the state where the convention is being held suggests that Republicans have chosen a weak nominee with little upside for growth. Trump isn’t any closer to breaking the 50% threshold in Ohio than he was before the convention.
The lack of support from the state’s governor, John Kasich isn’t helping Trump. The fact that Ohio voters oppose Trump’s views on Muslims and support Clinton’s proposed ban on assault weapons are both red flags for the GOP.
Donald Trump’s convention is looking like a dud, even after Republicans gathered in Cleveland…..
John Kasich isn’t helping Trump. Who needs the help of a sore loser. Trump even let Cruz speak at his party and Kasick didn’t even RSVP..No class.
Meanwhile you clinking out comments on a computer and he is a sitting Governor of one of the most pivotal states in the nation, who has ALWAYS commanded respect on a deep policy level from conservatives nationally—
Exactly And what are you doing?
I teach at a university and have the summer-off, but thank you for asking.
You’re welcome. Poli-sci or military history?
I had him right sarge, I figured he and another “professor” are inculcating kids with the usual Marxist dialectic of class warfare. No wonder some students cannot tell you who won the civil war.
Liberty University, Ike?
Yep, they should switch party.
I’m glad Kasich or Cruz didn’t get the nod. Hillary would have been the better President. Their true colors and lack of character oozed out. The right man won and he’s taking it all the way. I hope her supporters keep it up. With support that alienates who needs enemies.
Another piercing criticism of Trumps foreign policy by a leading conservative publication:
Reading Donald Trump’s foreign policy interview with David E. Sanger and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times did nothing to inspire my confidence in the Republican nominee. I am tempted to say that Trump’s knowledge of foreign policy is that of a fourth grader, but that would be insulting to your average fourth grader.
Trump’s foreign policy, such as it is, rewards our enemies and punishes our friends. It is one thing to want our NATO allies to pay a greater share of dues to the organization, but that’s the sort of thing that is done behind the scenes. You know diplomacy. Telling our NATO allies, “Congratulations, you will be defending yourself,” is music to Vladimir Putin’s ears. For that matter when Trump asks, “What are we getting out of this?” where it concerns protecting Japan from North Korean missiles is also music to the ears of not only North Korea, but of China which has its own centuries long rivalry with Japan. Such talk would petrify both Japan and South Korea.
Keep in mind, this is a very respected conservative journal, and they call his knowledge of foreign policy to be on the 4th grade level–telling.
The man who would be president, taking down by his own party and patently dismissed as being woefully unprepared and without nary a clue or background on foreign policy:
Haberman pressed Trump on how he would renegotiate NAFTA. Apart from quoting his stump speech, the best he could say was “you’ve got to be fair to the country.” If Trump’s idea of fairness is that U.S. capital cannot be invested outside the country without his permission then we have truly become a banana republic. Let’s also consider that NAFTA was originally known as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. If Trump wants to put the kibosh on NAFTA then what of our largest trading partner? I wonder if Trump is even aware that Canada is a party to NAFTA.
No Trump interview would be complete without at least one fib. When Sanger told Trump he had been complimentary of Putin he said, “No! No, I haven’t.” Recall that Trump said of Putin last December on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “He’s running his country and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.” If that isn’t complimentary of Putin then what it is it? Trump then twice told Sanger that Putin had been complimentary of him. Why does Trump take so much pride that Putin has praised him? Why does he delight in being praised by tyrants? Is it because he aspires to not only be a tyrant, but the best tyrant of all?
The American Spectator, July 2016
The only House the Democrats are going to win is the Out House.
Great article. Very enlightening. More please.
That was more of a slap at Obama than a complement. That’s how most sensible people would interpret that sentence.
Are Trump and Ivanka honest about adopting Bernie Sanders and Liberal Democratic positions contrary to the Republican Platform draft? For the Equal Rights Amendment, the Equal Pay for equal Work, Raising the Minimum Wage, Bucking Big Business and the US Chamber of Commerce and supporting unions on Trade, calling the banks and wall street rigged for the rich, for parental leave, subsidizing college education, and Supporting Gay Lesbian and Transgender Rights (Trump stopped his speach to emphasize his support and cheers from the Republicans on this that no one expected). There were more liberal positions he and Ivanka took– let’s hope he is truthful. Republicans now need to rewrite the draft platform which has been in the news lately.
Let’s have the Democrats win the Out House.
The main anxieties in this country are economic and social, not about crime. Trump surged to the nomination on the back of his supposed business acumen, not because he’s a sheriff. By focusing so much on law and order, he leaves a hole a mile wide for Hillary Clinton. She’ll undoubtedly fixate at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia on economic pain. Trump could end up seeming strangely detached.
But if Trump is detached from the country, and uninterested in anything but himself, he’s also detached from his party. Trump is not really changing his party as much as dissolving it.
A normal party has an apparatus of professionals, who have been around for a while and who can get things done. But those people might as well not exist. This was the most shambolically mis-run convention in memory.
A normal party is united by a consistent belief system. For decades, the Republican Party has stood for a forward-looking American-led international order abroad and small-government democratic capitalism at home, per, NYT.
Great article, keep it coming.
…per NY Times. There ya go.
They still don’t get it. Times have changed and the establishment continues to live in the past. Hopefully they won’t wake up until after the election.. It’s about the American peoples’ beliefs and not the party. “A normal party is united by a consistent belief system.” Normal Party? No way.