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The next President of the United States, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton both made phenomenal claims that may or may not have a basis in truth. Here is a comprehensive analysis of 33 claims made by both Donald and Hillary. If you’re a Democrat, then be warned, because Clinton’s clams may have been a bit too good to be true, and Trump may have been a bit too truthful and thus triggering. The TRUTH METER Accuracy Award goes to Donald Trump hands down! Here’s why…

Claim 1: Clinton – “Today is my granddaughter’s second birthday”

Verdict: UNCERTAIN

This is uncertain, but it’s most likely true.  

Claim 2: Trump – “We owe $20 trillion we cannot do it any longer”

Verdict – TRUE

The US government owes $19.5 trillion in federal debt. That’s $59 837 per person.

Source: http://www.usgovernmentdebt.us

Claim 3: Clinton – We have a much better economy now and so “we shouldn’t go back to what we had”

Verdict – PARTIALLY TRUE

Hillary’s claim that the US economy is much better may be partially correct in comparison to 2008. However, it is nothing like what she makes it out to be. The US economy has continued to go downhill since late 2014. In fact, GDP growth was only 0.8% in the first quarter of 2016, and 1.1% in the second quarter, almost half that of the 2% of October 2015, which in turn was much worse in comparison to the 5% of late 2014. So it’s clear that the economy isn’t what it used to be, and Hillary is doing a bad job of trying to manipulate the current economic situation to suit her own argument. The accuracy of her claim may also depend on each individual’s perception. 

Source: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth

Claim 4: Clinton Trump’s tax plans will “blow up the debt by over $5 trillion” according to “independent experts”

Verdict – TRUE

Hillary was right in saying that estimates show that Trump’s tax plan will add $5 trillion to the federal debt. These estimates were the result of an analysis by Lily L. Batchelder of New York University Law School, and showed that Donald’s tax policy will result in an extra $5 trillion to the budget over the next 10 years. Repeat: over the next 10 years. Not immediately, as she made it sound like. Also, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget claimed that it would result in an added $5.3 trillion to the debt.

Source: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/sep/27/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-correctly-cites-outside-analyses-t/

Claim 5: Trump – “We invested in a solar company, our country. That was a disaster. They lost plenty of money on that one.”

Verdict – TRUE

Yes, Trump was actually right when referring to Solyndra, a company that the US government invested in and went bankrupt. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 resulted in the provision of a loan to the company. But it lost $500 million in taxpayer money.  However, to be fair, the Act of 2005 is considered to be a successful venture in partnership with the private sector, as it created thousands of employment opportunities and ended up turning a profit due to other successful companies. But Trump is correct when referring to the downfall of Solyndra.

Source: http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/trump-solyndra-debate/

Claim 6: Trump – “The Obama administration, from the time they’ve come in, is over 230 years’ worth of debt, and he’s topped it. He’s doubled it in a course of almost eight years”

Verdict –  PARTIALLY TRUE

The Obama administration did indeed double the debt, approximately, since the day it commenced in 2009. During Obama’s term, gross debt spiked and increased 80%, while debt held by the public increased 120%. However, it can be argued that Obama may not have been the only cause of such a dramatic increase in debt. Nevertheless, Trump’s statement is correct in saying that the debt doubled during Obama’s term.

Source: http://crfb.org/blogs/has-president-obama-doubled-national-debt

Claim 7: Clinton – “Incomes went up for everybody. Manufacturing jobs went up also in the 1990s, if we’re actually going to look at the facts.”

Verdict –  MOSTLY FALSE

She is half-right about income growth. It began to go down in the early 1990s, and picked up again sluggishly at 1994. Manufacturing jobs were actually down for most of the 1990s. They began to climb in around mid 1993, but again went down in late 1994, before rising again and going back down in 1998. Employment in manufacturing went down for most of the 1990s. Does that say something about Hillary’s husband’s administration, as well as her credibility? We think it does.

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/200838/median-household-income-in-the-united-states/

https://www.creditwritedowns.com/2012/05/chart-of-the-day-us-manufacturing-unemployment-1960-2012.html

Claim 8: Clinton – “When I was secretary of state, we actually increased American exports globally 30 percent. We increased them to China 50 percent.”

Verdict – UNCERTAIN

Gary F. Locke, the US ambassador for China, claimed that exports to China doubled after 2009 due to Obama’s National Export Initiative in a speech he gave in November, 2012. However, it is uncertain whether this is the real number.

Sources: http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/20121120amcham.html

Claim 9: Trump – “You are going to regulate these businesses out of existence”

Verdict – TRUE

Higher regulation only benefits large businesses. Small businesses will ultimately cease operations because they cannot keep up with the compliance costs associated with regulations. Higher taxes and regulations only makes it worse for small businesses, and they will cease to exist.

Sources: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/over-regulating-small-businesses-who-does-it-really-hurt-employers-or-employees-2011-2?r=US&IR=T

https://www.nationalcenter.org/TPRegulations.html

Claim 10: Trump – “That was more than a mistake. That was done purposely…when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the Fifth, I think it’s disgraceful.”  

Verdict – TRUE

Hillary Clinton did purposely set up a private e-mail server with full knowledge that it was inappropriate. In fact, she actually warned State Department employees to not use a private e-mail server while she did it herself. She took every precaution to make sure her private server was not accessible. And she may become the next POTUS…

Sources: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/02/12-things-i-learned-from-the-fbi-report-on-hillary-clintons-private-email-server/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/29/hillary-clinton-private-email-server-set-up-before/

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160623/09170034795/emails-show-hillary-clintons-email-server-was-massive-security-headache-set-up-to-route-around-foia-requests.shtml

Claim 11: Trump – American airports are “third world”

Verdict: TRUE

New York JFK Airport ranks 59 in the SkyTrax top 100 Airports rankings, below Lima (49), Xi’an (48) and Bogoto El Dorado (46), which are all third world airports. Los Angeles was 91st, beaten by the likes of Panama Tocumen (86) and Bangalore (74). Chicago didn’t even make the list. Denver was the highest raking US airport at number 28.

Source: http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards/world_airport_rating.html

Claim 12: ClintonTrump did not pay his workers, the “little guys”

Verdict: UNCERTAIN

There have been many accusations against Trump regarding this issue. But these accusations have not been proven, and their credibility is uncertain.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/06/10/dozens-lawsuits-accuse-trump-not-paying-his-bills-reports-claim.html

Claim 13: Clinton Trump applied for bankruptcies “6 times”

Verdict: SOMEWHAT TRUE

Trump did apply for bankruptcy for FOUR of his businesses: the Trump Taj Mahal in 1991, the Trump Plaza Hotel in 1992, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in 2004, and Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009. But it’s nothing like what Hillary makes them out to be, as if he was completely bankrupt 6 times.

Source: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/21/carly-fiorina/trumps-four-bankruptcies/

Claim 14: Trump – “I just got today the, as you know, the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, we just — just came in”.

Verdict: TRUE

Yes Trump has been endorsed by America’s largest police group, the Fraternal Order of Police, which cited Trump’s commitment to the country’s law and order as the main reason for doing so.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/09/16/fraternal-order-of-police-endorses-donald-trump/  

Claim 15: Trump – “In addition, I was just endorsed by ICE. They’ve never endorsed anybody…I was just recently endorsed — 16,500 Border Patrol agents”.

Verdict: TRUE

This is the first time the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers officialy endorsed a candidate. And they chose Trump. They have faith in Donald’s immigration policies in order to have greater border security. They have also accused Hillary of promoting a radical immigration program that might actually kill thousands of people in the process. And yes Trump was endorsed by the over 16000 members of the National Border Patrol Council in April this year, which has never endorsed a candidate in the primaries.

Sources: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/immigration-customs-enforcement-union-endorses-trump-228664

http://www.npr.org/2016/04/04/472929173/union-representing-16-000-border-agents-endorses-trump

Claim 16: Clinton – “Lester, I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police.”

Verdict: FALSE

There is no bias against the black community in police. In fact, in 2013, only 0.77% of murders constituted blacks killed by whites, while 9.83% were whites killed by blacks. Also, a young Harvard economist named Ronald G. Fryer, who happens to be African American, conducted a study that revealed there is no bias against blacks in police. In fact, his research found that African-Americans were less likely to be shot by police.

Source: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_6_murder_race_and_sex_of_vicitm_by_race_and_sex_of_offender_2013.xls

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/13/black-harvard-economist-finds-no-bias-against-blacks-in-police-shootings/

Claim 17: Trump – “I have the endorsement of the NRA, which I’m very proud of.”

Verdict: TRUE

Not much to say here folks. Trump supports the 2nd Amendment, and the NRA supports Trump.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nra-endorse-donald-trump-president/story?id=39253893

Claim 18: Trump “They’ve been abused and used in order to get votes by Democrat politicians, because that’s what it is. They’ve controlled these communities for up to 100 years.”

Verdict: TRUE

The Democrats prevented black people from gaining their civil rights for over 100 years. It was the Republican party that allowed legislation to pass in order to ensure black people had civil rights. Some people now believe in conspiracies that blame the Democrats for trying to keep information from black people in order to keep garnering their support. Ben Kinchlow claims that the media falsely promotes information that it was the Democrats that passed this legislation, when in fact it was the GOP.

Source: http://www.wnd.com/2016/06/black-americans-warned-democrats-are-not-your-friends/

Claim 19: Trump – “They were pressing it very hard. She [Patty Solis Doyle] failed to get the birth certificate. When I got involved, I didn’t fail. I got him to give the birth certificate.”

Verdict: PARTIALLY TRUE

Obama did produce a birth certificate after Trump questioned the accuracy of his birthplace. However, Patti Solis Doyle denied that Hillary’s campaign was “pressing very hard”. A transcript also confirms that she didn’t make this claim. BUT, it has been proven that it was Clinton campaign that began the birtherism conspiracy. Mark Penn, chief political strategist for Hillary, sent a memo saying, “I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values” and mentioned his “lack of American roots”. The campaign also publicised a picture of Obama wearing traditional Somali clothing. A report by Politico showed that the entire conspiracy began within a circle of radical Clinton supporters, who spread an email questioning Obama’s origins.

Sources: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/trump-clinton-debate-patti-solis-doyle-birther-obama/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/23/republicans-are-blaming-hillary-clinton-for-the-birther-movement-thats-wishful-thinking/

http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/7-news-stories-2008-prove-hillary-started-obama-birtherism/

Claim 20: Clinton – “But, remember, Donald started his career back in 1973 being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination because he would not rent apartments in one of his developments to African-Americans, and he made sure that the people who worked for him understood that was the policy. He actually was sued twice by the Justice Department.”

Verdict: TRUTH

Donald was sued by the Justice Department after it held a secret investigation about housing discrimination. So it is true that Donald was accused of discrimination. HOWEVER, Donald strongly denied these claims, and his lawyer counter-sued the Justice Department $100 million. In the end, the Trumps and the Justice Department made a deal that required the former to advertise their commitment to equally treating customers of all races. Donald claimed victory because the Trumps didn’t plead guilty, and he didn’t consider the deal to be a surrender on his side.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-governments-racial-bias-case-against-donald-trumps-company-and-how-he-fought-it/2016/01/23/fb90163e-bfbe-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html

Claim 21: Trump – “You were after him, you were trying to — you even sent out or your campaign sent out pictures of him in a certain garb, very famous pictures. I don’t think you can deny that”.

Verdict: TRUE

The Clinton campaign did indeed send photos of President Obama wearing traditional Somali clothing. It was intended as an attempt at showing Obama’s lack of American heritage.  The Obama campaign labelled this as a “smear”. Donald is right, again.

Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2008/02/obama-slams-smear-photo-008667

Claim 22: Trump “I do want to say that I was just endorsed — and more are coming next week — it will be over 200 admirals, many of them here — admirals and generals endorsed me to lead this country”.

Verdict – PARTIALLY TRUE

Donald was endorsed by 88 RETIRED admirals and generals for the role of Commander in Chief. He is saying that more admirals and generals will endorse him next week. Only time will tell. 

Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/retired-generals-admirals-endorse-trump-227755

Claim 23: Trump – “But what did we learn with DNC? We learned that Bernie Sanders was taken advantage of by your people, by Debbie Wasserman Schultz”.

Verdict – TRUE

100% accurate. The DNC primaries were rigged, and the Democrats already supported Hillary even before the DNC. The votes were definitely rigged, as revealed by WikiLeaks, and Bernie ended up endorsing Hillary at the end. It’s a game among the Democrats. You compete with your rival, then you end up endorsing them. Obama now endorses Clinton, and so does Bernie.

Source: http://observer.com/2016/07/wikileaks-proves-primary-was-rigged-dnc-undermined-democracy/

Claim 24: Trump – “Well, President Obama and Secretary Clinton created a vacuum the way they got out of Iraq…ISIS formed in this vacuum created by Barack Obama and Secretary Clinton”.

Verdict – TRUE

ISIS formed because of Obama and Hillary. Trump in fact blamed Obama and Hillary for actively supporting ISIS. That’s true too. In fact, Hillary received a memo that said Obama was supporting Al Qaida. Isn’t that triggering. They have both committed crimes against humanity. They were supporting Syrian opposition groups, including Al Qaida in Iraq (AQI).

Sources:

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/08/12/fact-check-obama-hillary-founders-isis-bet/

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/06/15/memo-received-by-clinton-obama-admin-aided-group-that-became-isis-to-control-area-where-isis-formed-caliphate/

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/06/16/erik-prince-obama-clinton-complicit-creating-isis/

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/06/14/hillary-clinton-received-secret-memo-stating-obama-admin-support-for-isis/

Claim 25: Trump – “I did not support the war in Iraq”.

Verdict: PARTIALLY FALSE

Donald supported intervention in Iraq, however he criticised the way it turned out. Just like many Americans, he supported intervention in order to remove Iraq as a nuclear threat, but was vocally against the approach to and tactics of the invasion afterwards. He then began to openly oppose and criticise the war and its motives.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-iraq-fact-check-20160926-snap-story.html

Claim 26: Clinton – “He actually advocated for the actions we took in Libya and urged that Gadhafi be taken out, after actually doing some business with him one time”.

Verdict: TRUE

Yes the record shows that he did support the intervention. And yes he also conducted business with Gaddafi. However, he seems to oppose that decision now, and believes that it may have been beneficial for the US if Gaddafi was still the leader of Libya.

Sources:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/donald-trump-admits-making-money-out-of-gaddafi-bedouin-tent-deal-20160606-gpcyq4.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/flip-flop-trump-admits-suppoted-libya-intervention-article-1.2662238

Claim 27: Trump – she spent hundreds of millions of dollars on an advertising”

Verdict – TRUE

Hillary Clinton spent $98 million in ads, while Trump only spent $1 million.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/team-clinton-poised-98-million-ad-blitz-n621741

Claim 28: ClintonWe got a deal that ”put a lid” on Iran’s nuclear development without a gun because of good diplomacy

Verdict – TRUE

Well, she’s right, there was no violence between the USA and Iran during the Iran Deal. 

Claim 29: Trump – “And when they made that horrible deal with Iran, they should have included the fact that they do something with respect to North Korea”.

Verdict: TRUE

He is right to be concerned about the relationship between North Korea and Iran. Their relationship stretches back to the 1980s. This is a major reason why many Republicans rejected the Iran Deal.

Source: http://thediplomat.com/2016/04/the-iran-north-korea-connection/

Claim 30: Trump “One of the great giveaways of all time, of all time, including $400 million in cash. Nobody’s ever seen that before. That turned out to be wrong. It was actually $1.7 billion in cash, obviously, I guess for the hostages. It certainly looks that way.”

Verdict: TRUE

The US initially sent $400 million to Iran, but this was only the first of three payments to the Islamic Republic. While the Obama administration denied the payment as fulfilling a ransom, it later admitted that the remaining $1.3 billion was intentionally paid after the American hostages had safely left Iran.

Source: http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/us-iran-billion-hostages-arms-deal/

Claim 31: Clinton “This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs,” Clinton said fervently from the debate stage tonight. “And someone who has said pregnancy is an inconvenience to employers, who has said women don’t deserve equal pay unless they do as good a job as men.”

Verdict: UNCERTAIN

And the same verdict applies to her accusations of Trump insulting former Ms Universe contestant Alicia Machado. Donald continued to deny these claims. However, he did say that Machado was one of “worst” contestants because of her eating habits. He claimed that beauty contestants must be judicious about what they eat and how much in order to stay beautiful and healthy, which is a very reasonable opinion. And in regards to equal pay, there should be no such thing. People should be paid according to their performance. And yes Trump said pregnancy is an inconvenience. Oh how triggering.

Source: http://time.com/4509243/donald-trump-miss-universe-alicia-machado-piggy-housekeeping/

http://bringmethenews.com/2016/09/26/live-updates-and-fact-checking-from-the-first-presidential-debate/

Claim 32: Clinton “The only two (Donald Trump tax returns) we have show that he hasn’t paid a penny in taxes.”

Verdict: FALSE

This is a lie. Trump did not pay taxes in 1978 and 1979 because he made losses, and thus the rules allow him to avoid tax. The record actually shows 3 extra years where Donald did pay tax.

Source: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/may/24/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-claim-about-donald-trump-paying-no/

Claim 33: Trump – “…in New York City, stop-and-frisk, we had 2,200 murders, and stop-and-frisk brought it down to 500 murders”.

Verdict: TRUE

He is absolutely correct. The murder rate fell from 2200 to 500 in New York after stop-and-frisk was enacted.
Source: http://bringmethenews.com/2016/09/26/live-updates-and-fact-checking-from-the-first-presidential-debate/

THE ULTIMATE VERDICT: 

Who was based? Donald!

Who got triggered? Hillary!

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