An olive branch in one hand is meaningless if you have a knife in the other.
17
Why is the press so reluctant to call a lie a lie?
Wrong or misleading statistics (like the employment numbers) are not true. Total mischaracterizations—like the statements about abortion & border crime—go beyond “not true” to become outright lies.
President Trump lies continually without any consequences. The press has a moral obligation to call out deliberate lies.
38
We teach our children about Integrity Honor Truthfulness. We turn on our TV and we are subjected to Lies. The sad part those in authority know there have been lies. This has now the Age of Truthful Lies. Sad! So, I have lied to my children and grandchildren..?
10
Awesome that you guys can compile a list like this for those of us that couldn’t be home during the address. Keep up the great work NYT!
9
Can we sue the president for deceptive actions due to the amount of lies he spewed to Congress?
12
Trump should have only submitted a written version of his speech and done nothing else to meet his state-of-the-union constitutional obligations.
5
I on purpose had a crazy exhausted day to miss the State Of The Union Address. Sad.
6
When the economy was booming during Obama’s presidency , and unemployment was cascading too , Trump said it was Fake News . Doesn’t anyone remember this ? Now the same thing is happening and Trump is touting it as biblical fact ! Unbelievable !
19
Crisis of drugs? The biggest crisis is with the abuse of Opiate drugs manufactured by nice USA pharmaceutical companies.
And then there is the abuse of anti-anxiety drugs prescribed by M.D.s who, thanks to their tunnel vision all too often don't have any idea how to prescribe Mindfulness Practice targeting anxiety (see: Calming Your Anxious Mind by Jeff Brantly, M.D.) let alone Cognitive-Behavioral therapy or deeper psychodynamic therapies.
In any event, the larger issue not being asked by CrookedDonnie (can we start that hashtag?) or any other politician, is what's wrong with the culture in this society that there is so much need to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol?
And why is everyone so anxious? Why do folk in this culture not prioritize inner peace, but always external success and $ ?
3
I just have some concerns about the judgements made piece.
The Economy is at a higher GDP than when President Trump took office. I believe at the end of 2016 the growth in GDP was only 1.6%, for 2018 it was 3.5% growth. That is twice as fast as previously. The second part about being the hottest economy anywhere is evidenced by the number of foreign investors wish to put their money in the US.
The new USMCA does have provisions to bring manufacturing back to the USA. The analysts who are sited only said it COULD be possible to send those jobs farther afield - possibility, not a certainty.
The author states the rule of Nicolas Maduro has brought Venezuela to economic ruin, but claims that the president was misleading. He touts analysts that decry the corruption and dictatorial leadership as the real reasons for the poverty in that country. Didn't those two issues bring down the Soviet Union the Iron Curtain?
The New York's RHA does allow for only one, down from three, health care providers with no specified specialty to and not always an MD to evaluate whether a pregnancy is harmful to a woman’s life. Abortions from the seventh month on when BABIES are viable then.
The 2018unemployment rate was 3.97% the lowest since 1952. So the country has rather high employment.
I just wonder how truthful any article under the heading of Politics can be!
2
I just have some concerns about the judgements made piece.
The Economy is at a higher GDP than when President Trump took office. I believe at the end of 2016 the growth in GDP was only 1.6%, for 2018 it was 3.5% growth. That is twice as fast as previously. The second part about being the hottest economy anywhere is evidenced by the number of foreign investors wish to put their money in the US.
The new USMCA does have provisions to bring manufacturing back to the USA. The analysts who are sited only said it COULD be possible to send those jobs farther afield - possibility, not a certainty.
The author states the rule of Nicolas Maduro has brought Venezuela to economic ruin, but claims that the president was misleading. He touts analysts that decry the corruption and dictatorial leadership as the real reasons for the poverty in that country. Didn't those two issues bring down the Soviet Union the Iron Curtain?
The New York's RHA does allow for only one, down from three, health care providers with no specified specialty to and not always an MD to evaluate whether a pregnancy is harmful to a woman’s life. Abortions from the seventh month on when BABIES are viable then.
The 2018unemployment rate was 3.97% the lowest since 1952. So the country has rather high employment.
I just wonder how truthful any article under the heading of Politics can be!
1
When did the State of the Union morph into a telethon and/or infomercial? It is great to honor those whose bravery and service has aided their country but is the State of the Union the place for this? I think not!
4
You don't have to be a Republican to know that Trump crushed it. Very positive and inclusive.
1
As he spoke, I was listening for numbers. Every single number he spoke was false. They were all made up out of thin air. Every number.
7
Trump and the GOP say they are pro life. As soon as the fetus is born the GOP think it is a socialist moocher not worthy of clean water or healthcare. Many congressmen run to canada for treatment because the US is near the bottom on quality healthcare.
5
These comments resonate (echo chamber).
'Mr. Trump said the “socialist policies” of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela have ruined his nation.
This is misleading.
This has become a popular talking point among American conservatives. It is true that the rule of Mr. Maduro has brought Venezuela to economic ruin. Inflation is at astronomical rates, and ordinary people are struggling to get basic food and health supplies. Three million citizens have fled. Some of the collapse can be traced back to Mr. Maduro’s economic policies, which do
fall under the broad label of “socialism.” But analysts say that corruption, the lack of rule of law and the absence of democrac — all the hallmarks of a dictatorship — have played just as big or larger roles. There are many nations in South America, Europe and other parts of the world that have adopted their versions of socialist economic policies and had positive outcomes.'
--> Is the inference that Maduro's policies are not socialist as said (and as said by Maduro)?
--> Or are possibly coercive policies with socialist characteristics (not inconsistent with what was said)? Or extreme socialism (which like communism and fascism demands coercion)?
--> "Fact checking"?
Did I miss something in the State of the Union address? No mention of Climate Change, it's economic costs, as well as its devastating effects on individual well being and quality of life.
No mention of gun control in the anti-Semitic Pittsburgh attack.
One statement on the drug epidemic linking it to illegal crossings but no mention, money nor programs. Why is there a huge
marketplace for those drugs in our country? The desire
is at the heart of the problem.
7
where are the fact checkers for fact checkers. There are some very dubious claims being made in this article with no evidence. For example, the article claims that the existing border wall between San Diego and Tijuana has not have any effect on illegal crossings in that area. Surely, you must be joking. It is unthinkable what chaos, death and crime there would be in San Diego if the barrier were torn down.
3
"...and now our Treasury is receiving billions and billions of dollars."
This should have been labeled as "misleading", for surely the President's purpose in framing it this way was so he could count it as a "win", i.e. we're raking in the money from other countries thanks to our leader's negotiating prowess. But as you point out, the money flowing into our Treasury isn't coming from other countries, it's coming from American consumers. So it's kind the opposite of a "win".
30
Plus, the ostensible purpose of these tariffs was to raise the price of imported goods so that U.S. firms and consumers would switch to goods made in the United States. If Treasury is collecting billions and billions of dollars in tariffs, then that purpose is not being achieved.
21
Why sugar coat it by a suggesting Trump got things wrong? As President, and at the State of the Union address, you don't get things 'wrong'....you either tell the truth, or you lie.
35
Can you put links to your sources at the end of this article? There are some vague statements made here that I'd like to see where you're pulling from?
9
Donald Trump spared the country 82 minutes of tweeting and speaking nicknames and slurs. Trump did not take credit for Las Vegas Mandalay Bay the deadliest mass shooting in American history. MAGA!
7
SOTU = Same Old Trump Untruths. So he did not disappoint .....
16
Where is the reporter who will tell Trump that his border paranoia is directly lifted from the movie “Sicario”? Why does no one say this to him?
15
NYTimes, you got that right.
It is, as usual, Trump AGAINST the facts.
10
Credibility and merit is earned and demonstrated. It is not handed out based on fairness and equality.
Here is my demonstrated and earned credibility and merit.
“Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments from birth.”
This is misleading.
Me: New York Democrats Cheering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMc4yTQDWbA
Mort's State of the Union Quote:
You can fool some of the people some of the time and that is enough to make a good living...
***WC Fields can be incorrectly Quoted and still be correct.
****Do not try this with our President.
2
Let it be noted for the historical record that every addition Trump made to the fairy tale he was weaving and building throughout the night was punctuated by a chorus of thunderous applause by the Republican patriarchy on hand. Generations can go back to the video in order to witness that the GOP was complicit.
25
Trump's statement about tariff revenues is misleading at best. Clearly he's suggesting that China is paying for those billions of new tariff revenues, when in fact it's American businesses and consumers. He left out that minor detail for a reason.
11
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES The writer reviewed 16 statements made by Trump, indicating that 3 of them were true and the rest false, misleading, exaggerated or unsupported by any evidence. Let's see now that means that his answers were true about 18% of the time. That's lower than his job approval ratings. Lower than Nixon's lowest job approval rating at the time of his resignation, or about 24%. Trumps attempts at truthiness fail to cut muster. The question is how is it that his job ratings are about 36%, just about double the true statements he made. I think that people are taken in by the family, friends and community members they know well and have positive attachments to them.
2
Can we be clear on a few terms please?
"Moments before birth" is when either the mother is in labor and about to give birth, or she's being prepped for her c-section.
There is no such thing as an abortion that "would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments before birth".
If the mother or her care providers feel that her baby should be born before the onset of spontaneous labor, it's called an "induction of labor" not an abortion.
When a woman is carrying a nonviable fetus, the mother and her care providers have a discussion regarding the best method of labor induction. They also have a discussion about how to care for the infant after delivery. The issue is how best to care for an infant that, if it was not dead in utero, will die soon after delivery. I have cared for women and their families during such deliveries and believe me, it is a delicate and heart-breaking decision that parents and and their care providers (midwives, doctors, nurses) make together and is never an "execution".
28
Why is it that Trump thinks tariffs are something that really hurts our trading adversaries and really are a cost incurred by the American consumer? Is it that complicated a concept for a man of his brilliance and business acumen?
6
Someone should fact check the fact checker. To say that the socialist economic policies in Venezuela have played on a small role in the economic collapse is absurd. Socialist and communist regimes are historical corrupt - please don't tell me how well it works in Finland; a country about 2/3 the size of New York City. That is like saying the Walmart should copy the way a corner deli is run.
4
Before making any claims about “socialism” one must define the term. Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands and Sweden all have socialist tendencies.
Venezuela has more communist (totalitarian socialist) than just socialist. The fact checkers rightly identified corruption as a major contributing factor. Likewise, Venezuela suffers from over dependence on the energy sector. They rolled in the cash during the Gulf War oil spike, and their economy crashed with the price of oil.
5
My overall reaction to the SOTU is that he is continuing to sew a insurmountable rift between Republicans and Democrats. He missed a number of opportunities last night to ease division and instead continued to exacerbate tensions with threatening rhetoric. He's incapable of learning nuance or exhibiting humility. I'm still living in the aftershock of 2016 and have yet to come to terms with the millions who voted for him in the first place. Social anthropologist will have to solve and define how and why mas misogyny corrupted the moral compass of a large portion of our populace. We need to recognise and correct the symptoms that give rise to such terribly flawed individuals like Trump.
5
After this State of the Union, I am once again reminded of how terrified I am for what the future holds. We, as citizens, should not have to weed out the innumerable lies that are fed to us and feel the need to fact-check the statements the PRESIDENT of the United States makes. As a student studying politics, after listening and rereading the statements that were made, I'm angered, frustrated and saddened by the state of our political future. The lack of compassion, the lack of empathy, the lack of unbiasedness, it all breeds an uncertainty for the "adult life" I'm approaching and the critical decisions shaped by this administration's polices that will stand before me. How have we come to live in such an era of uncertainty and fear for our futures?
13
@Lena
Yet you give us hope. After your studies, we will be looking for you to take the lead in demonstrating compassion, empathy and values. You are our light in the midst of this tragic midnight. Hurry up. We need you so!!
1
Trump has been a lying con artist all his life with numerous bankruptcies ,failure to pay contractors and 3400 lawsuits like Trump University fraud he settled for 25 million. Trump lied and conned his way into the White House and the GOP looked the other way to get tax cuts for the rich and right wing judges. If Trump is compromised by Putin they don't care as long as their donors get tax cuts. The House will investigate Trump as much as he threatens the democrats they will work harder to find out what corruption Trump has hidden from the public as six closes associates face prison ,birds of a feather apply to Trump and his bizarre relationship with Putin who he trusts or fears more than our own Intel agencies.
8
Many commenters act as if Trump is solely responsible for his speech. We should remember, however, that if Trump does not use an official speechwriter, there are probably several aides who help him communicate his thoughts. The scariest part of this thought, then, is that these aides either write the lies and/or read and approve the lies. While not a new idea, it just illustrates - again - that integrity appears to missing in the White House on all sides.
9
I have so gotten use to the President's lies, that this fact check seems almost positive, something along the lines of an unscrupulous real estate agent. Oh. That is Donald.
Nothing the President can do or say now can in any way diminish his abhorrent behavior and the character he has firmly establish since he came into the general public’s consciousness starting with his tirade about Mexican “drug merchants and rapists” on his escalator ride down in the opulent Trump Tower lobby. This man has not a single redeeming quality. He has no humility, modesty, honesty, empathy, self deprecating capability. He is narcissistic, self aggrandizing, boorish, ignorant, and lacking in much of a sense of humor. So trying to compliment something he may have said in his SOTU speech last night is difficult, if not imposible.
4
Last night I listened intently to what the president of the United States had to say about the "State of the Union," and I heard not one word about the two extremely serious issues needing immediate governmental action in this nation:
1) global warming
and
2) climate change.
What leadership?
5
What Trump got wrong was staking his viability and legacy as president on getting a physical wall built along our vast southern border that, in reality, is is expensive, not very effective at keeping out illegal immigrants compared to other options, and is largely a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars that could be more constructively spent on much more needed and worthwhile things for our physically and morally crumbling society.
But Trump is obsessed with that wall, even throws temper tantrums and shut down much of our federal government, which caused severe economic hardship and stress to furloughed government workers. Why?
The WALL is a metaphor for Trump (and for many of his avid supporters). The Wall is symbolic of Trump's "inner wall" that has walled him off emotionally from others (no empathy or compassion for others), morally and ethically from doing the right thing (a business and political life characterized by lying, cheating, corruption), and cognitively from reality.
Trump has not done well with reality in his 72 years, with a harsh and demanding father; bankruptcies, business, and financial failures; 2- 3 failed serial marriages where he cheated regularly on his wives and children; and shunned by wealthy Manhattan social elites for the crass and craven clod that he is.
But Trump is wearing very thin, and is increasingly walling himself off and in, with his numerous bad decisions and failed presidency. He is a lonely, incompetent man that few will work for
7
Among his most false assertions was the labeling of investigations as 'partisan.' Indictments, guilty pleas & guilty verdicts belie this. Among those snared so far -- his national security adviser, campaign chair, deputy campaign chair, personal lawyer, foreign policy adviser ... Then there is the corruption in plain sight, such as the many foreign emoluments he rakes in at his DC hotel.
5
I got one important impression from his speech: The fate of our democratic principles is being threatened by the continuous whitewash within the Republic. "The Voice of 10000 Lies"
4
I would never vote for Trump but he did something right last night. “Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country."
If the Democrats don't get rid of their love for socialism they're going to lose the election and we will be stuck with Trump for another 4 years.
2
@BobC
Trump has no idea what "socialism" means--he just thinks it has something to do with de-regulation as far as the eye can see, and not having a system created to make and sustain really rich folks. What do you mean by the term, BobC?
4
Where the numbers backing up your first "fact check"??
The estimate for the rate of Q1 '17 --- which you do not provide -- is 1.8%
3.5% is nearly twice 1.8%
"the hottest economy anywhere in the world." -- "hottest" economy in the world -- that could be interpreted in several ways -- not only by using a growth rate comparison. And actually it would be somewhat ridiculous to interpret that much smaller economies: Latvia & Poland -- have "hotter" economies than the US, merely due to growth rate.
Your fact check is misleading.
5
A decade ago, Rep. Joe Wilson (R) interrupted a speech by President Obama with the phrase, "You lie." It was an unseemly accusation. By contrast, when Trump spoke, he offered a cascade of lies so transparent that to shout "You lie" would hardly be worth the effort. Trump breathes; therefore Trump lies. Nancy Pelosi permitted Trump to address Congress, and Democrats let him dissemble and ramble as is his wont because Democrats know that Trump's day of reckoning is at hand.
8
Most of these supposed "fact" checks are quibbling with details - was it 4.9 million new jobs, or 5.3 million new jobs? And from what metric? - or based on what the "experts" say. Other experts would say this is not sound journalism.
1
"More people feel sick to their stomach and sick at heart watching and listening to me than ever has happened during any State of the Delusion Address." THIS IS TRUE.
2
Rather than 5 fact checking categories – true, false, misleading, exaggerated, no evidence – I would like to suggest the NYT use 2:
True: for statements which are completely accurate/consistent with known facts/information
False: for statements which are inaccurate/inconsistent with known factual information (i.e. lies) AND statements which mislead, exaggerate and/or for which there is no corroborating evidence (followed by explanations/clarification as currently provided).
There is no excuse for a president of the US (or other elected officials) to present as fact, as true, information which (intentionally or unintentionally) has been so distorted that the truth is unrecognizable.
6
“The U.S. economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.” - This is a Lie.
Funny how he excoriates President Obama, yet takes credit for the Eight Years of very, very hard work that Obama did (in the face of blatant obstructionism by the GOP) to right the ship of our economy after Bush wrecked it.......
6
Nothing the President can do or say now can in any way diminish his behavior and the character he has firmly establish since he came into the general public’s consciousness starting with his tirade about Mexican “drug merchants and rapists” on his escalator ride down in the opulent Trump Tower lobby. This man has not a single redeeming quality. He has no humility, modesty, honesty, empathy, self deprecating capability. He is narcissistic, self aggrandizing, boorish, ignorant, and lacking in much of a sense of humor. So trying to compliment something he may have said in his SOTU speech last night is difficult, if not imposible.
3
That's funny...
And not - funny, hah hah -
Rather, funny - peculiar.
CBS analyzed the same speech that the New York Times did and concluded that only two elements were inaccurate, a couple somewhat misleading, and the majority, mostly or entirely true.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/2019-state-of-the-union-fact-checking-trump-state-of-the-union-address-2019-02-04-live-updates/
Maybe there's a reason, that no one, trusts anything, they read in the N Y Times.
1
Great article. I only want to thank to Thre New York Times for publising it. Congratulations from Argentina.
1
Give me a break. The thrust of Trump’s comments was fully accurate. The NYT simply loves to pick on factually immaterial details. Why don’t they instead report on the methodologies used to measure the claims? But, no, actually asking questions, and reporting, would be too much work — and would disrupt the NYT narrative. As usual, ‘All the news that fits, we print.’
2
What is truly chilling is we have a president who lies and distorts the facts with almost every breath and this is reported as if somehow this is all normal! It is not normal.
3
---Uh...So, in other words, in keeping with his general ongoing M.O., trump either lied or exaggerated his way through an hour-and-twenty minutes of our time, while Republican Congressional members cheered him on.
Perfect.
Thanks, NYT. Keep keepin' him honest. Or, rather, keep calling out the massive untruths he spews, as they occur.
I believe that's called...job security.
2
When you "fact check" things like your first item, that "the U.S. economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office," it would be helpful for you to tell us what the fact really are. Your reply on this one only covered the second half of the President's statement. How can you say a statement is false when you don't let us know what the truth is? I am a big NYT fan and not a President Trump fan, but a fact check that starts this way loses credibility immediately.
3
As always this is an Anti-Trump site and reading the comments, verified that. All you people are against him and what he stands for, America, Shame on you all.
One glaring omission: the One Trillion Dollar deficit. Fast growing economy, low unemployment, blah, blah, blah. None of it matters when your a Trillion short of a sustainable economy.
4
Trump lied about immigration and the southern border. What a surprise. Alternative seriousness.
3
Trump said that it is HIS OPINION that we dodged a war with North Korea. The NYT said that his statement was inaccurate. As if the NYT knows Trump's personal opinions better than Trump! LOL!
10
@Ernie G
Hey, Ernie G.....trump puts his "OPINIONS" out on twitter every single day. It's not that hard to READ them to discern what he wants.
But to some, notably the vast uneducated, it must seem like *magic* to read his very words.....
3
in my opinion Ernie, opinions can be wrong
2
Did the President really say that we want 4 words on our goods? Made in the U.S.A.
Is it 4 words of 7?
Isn't U.S.A. the abbreviation for the United States of America? I guess the President thinks that U.S.A. is a proper word and not an abbreviation? I guess the Wharton School at UPenn doesn't teach basic English.
8
Isnt "to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments from birth” just "birth"
14
What is worse? A lying President or an adoring GOP?
27
Who cares? If adherence to the truth were an issue, Trump would not be sitting in the White House.
What counts, is the way the public perceives the truth - Trump is a master at honing in on that. Conversely, the "leaders" of the Democratic party are constantly pounding on the "deplorables", demanding that the Democratic Party's "Future Truth" be accepted.
In the 2020 Presidential election, the party of Denunciation, will not stand a chance against the party of "Comfort Lies".
Morality? If Wining is Everything in Football - which is just a game - what do you think it is in Politics?
5
@Peter Zenger
The Leaders of the Democratic party are NOT constantly pounding on the "deplorables".
We are, sir, standing up to willful stupidity. There's a difference.
4
Well , one thing that we can say about Donald Trump is that he is consistent .
He lies constantly, he exaggerates to the point of falsehood, he remains ill-informed about facts that his advisers have waiting for him, and ultimately he thinks this is all about him- he thinks of himself and the nation as one and the same , so that when he is under investigation he thinks that “the nation is under attack “. And he does all of the aforementioned even in his State of the Union address !
I have never in my life seen a more pathetic leader in the United States. One would feel sorry for him where it not for the fact that he is a clear and present danger to the security of the United States and to its citizens .
In the final analysis we must remedy this mistake that we have made when we elected this man , and we must never make it again.
If we don’t try to remove Donald Trump from office by any legal means possible , we will never forgive ourselves.
12
Fact checking political narratives comes down to opinion. Lines between narratives and facts are blurred here.
6
@Lane
No, Lane. Facts are verifiable.
There is no 'grey areas' in that.
4
Nice to have NYT's fact-checking. Curious how last night's speech compares with other presidents over the past 10-15 years regarding true/false/misleading "facts."
Can't help but compare our current leader with Ronald Reagan (aka the Teflon president). Reagan often said the most outrageous things, but his polished public performance (which included a "sincere, warm" smile) made him impervious to most criticism. Then again, the public viewed Reagan as an absent-minded uncle, not a bully.
4
No one cares if it's true or not, he' their god, if he said it, it must be true.
4
The fact checker is WRONG by characterization of Northam's that the just delivered baby "wasn't going to live" is just FALSE. The real implication was that the baby rendered comfortable had their life dependant upon a decision between its mother and her doctor. If the mother decided no - it would have been murder.
4
The Union is in despair. Both the Democrats and Republicans are treating America like a child that each claims parental rights to. And each is content to tear the country, which is analogous to Solomon decreeing that the disputed baby should be cut in half, with each mother getting a piece. Can either side really say that they love America? Flag wavers and Leftists alike are destroying our democracy due to their inability to take these steps. 1. Free national voter ID (stops Republicans from whining about voter fraud). It also is proof of citizenship and should be shown by anyone on demand by law enforcement. 2. Build the wall. I don't think it will work, but I am willing to do it for the 35% who believe it is the answer. 3. Provide a path to citizenship/permanent residency for the people here now. 4. Criminalize future illegal entry into the US with harsh punishment if caught. Going forward there will no new "dreamers". 5. Fix the immigration system to streamline the application process. 6. Make English the primary language but make Spanish a required second language. 7. Establish election boundaries without political manipulation. That's a start...but there is much more to do!
2
@Tony Pierson
Not only is the "both sides are just as bad" narrative a lazy alternative to legitimate analysis, it's demonstrably false.
3
Why is it misleading to say that Maduro is at fault of Venezuela's problems, because in your opinion " corruption, the lack of rule of law and the absence of democracy" are the cause?
Obviously " corruption, the lack of rule of law and the absence of democracy" are all caused by Maduro's regime.
5
@Lida
I think the misleading part of what Trump said was in blaming the socialist policies for the situation in Venezuela rather than blaming it on corruption, the lack of rule of law and the absence of democracy. That's the way I read it, at least.
2
Stephen Miller's hands were all over the immigration part of the SOTU. Miller is a paranoid xenophobic from Santa Monica. He has an irrational early 90's fear of the gang MS-13. MS-13 scare stories were all over California when he was growing up. He must have had a nightmare at one time, and now it affects everything he does. Yes, gang members are dangerous, but not on the level of billions in allocated tax dollars along our southern border. That is an irrational waste of money. Better ways to combat MS-13, drugs, and trafficking.
Trump is a xenophobe surrounded by hardcore xenophobes who are angling for billions to be allocated to build a wall around America. Their vision: a sort of Mar-a-Lago America, call it Mar-A-Merica, a walled-off enclave, a gated community club -- elitist, soulless, immoral, un-American, wrong. And, moreover, it does not solve the problems associated with crime and illegal immigration.
6
Trump did not write this speech. Likely Miller and more of his ilk.
@PE. You mean like where Nancy Pelosi lives ?
Same old, same old Trump, despite the high drama of the occasion.
2
As a non American (Canadian), I am continually amazed by the outrageous claims of American greatness and exceptionalism that go largely uncontested by your mainstream media, including this one. While you do challenge Trump’s dishonest claims about the “hottest economy” in the world, you do a disservice by not expanding on what a ludicrous claim it is. America does not break into the top 100 countries on the planet when it comes to annual GDP growth rates. America ranks 11th when it comes to GDP growth per capita. As for the rest of American exceptionalism and the greatness of your country, you rank 14th as a country in education. While you spend more money on health care, double that of any other country, you rank 11th out of the 11 most developed countries when it comes to health care outcomes. Literally the only things that are exceptional about your country are your murder rate, gun deaths, incarceration rates and the fact you spend more money on your military than the next nine countries combined. You should all stop lying to yourselves.
11
3 out of 15 true. The rest are false, misleading, no evidence or exaggerated. I would not hire an intern based on a record like that. No wonder he has gone bankrupt so many times. Now he is trying to bankrupt the country. And the Republicans have goose-stepped along for over 2 years.
Vote the bums out! All of them.
11
I'm surprised that even NY Times still care to check what that pathological liar tells... I was least interested in his speech and did not listen to it. But he was still going on even after 1 hr 30 mins when I switched on my TV to watch the Stacey Abrams's speech.
I would be more interested if the major TV channels boycott this President to save us from wasting time listening to his lies (and they make more money too by keeping the regular programs).
1
@bonku. You mean like kind of in Russia ?
Like many Americans, I am exhausted by trump and his lies, his ignorance, his intimidation of experts who fear his temper, his dismantling of everything the US is supposed to represent. I just want him to go away and give us the country we had prior to November 2016.
11
So Trump lied. How Trump gets basic information wrong that is put out by the US government is staggering!
For the umpteenth time : with Donald Trump, the race to the bottom has no finish line.
I greatly appreciate this political piece from the NY Time. Apparently, this is something important and new. I can't recall this being done for any previous State of the Union addresses. I dons't mean the overall coverage story, but the separate fact checking article here. I am certain this is totally objective coverage.
1
@Mark Shyres
Maybe because there has never been a pathological liar in the White House before.
2
Great speech. The smirks of Harris and Pelosi really showed. The "Women in White" act was childish and looked like the female version of the KKK. There was a lot of exaggeration but that is to be expected of any politician. The core message was do your jobs as legislators. You can dislike Trump but the fact is the Democrats supported a Wall in the past. The only reason to deny one now is hate of Trump. That's not enough. If the idea is right then adopt it. If it is wrong then offer an alternative. Despite what the Press indicates the Border is a mess. Fix it.
5
@Eddie Women wearing white and looking like the KKK has to be one of the silliest things I have ever heard, but I guess Trump supporters would know more about the KKK than me.
2
Misleading? Where I come from, these were lies. We yearn for the truth. Going easy on this President is not going to encourage him to be honest. What is misleading is the Times labeling here.
5
“The American economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018. Growth in Latvia and Poland was almost twice as fast. Same for China and India.”
I know it’s tough for the Times to understand and overcome its liberal bias but anyone with half a brain knew he was comparing against other developed countries. He’s not comparing against Latvia or India ok?
7
An honest question - have there been other Presidents in the past who need their State of the Union address to be fact-checked? It feels baffling and upsetting to me that the President of the United States can stand before the entire nation and say things that are actually, categorically untrue. And - why is this acceptable?
8
For the cameras and the world at large, the President did rather well. It may well be a hollow narrative but the reality is in politics you can pretty much get away with anything if you have a bit of personality. And to be honest Mr. Trump did.
1
Come on. The labor Department does an “overview” on wages in different occupations. They put a lot of information in one bucket that obscures reality. Take construction labor for example: a laborer according to their Unions (non-union labor is considerably lower) gets in the range of $15-17 per hour. The Journeyman gets $25-$40 an hour. These are recent 2017 stats. And the needle barely moved for Laborers and Journeymen, alike, in the Trump era.
As for the increases exclaimed here within we are talking a blip on the earnings chart. For Trump or the media to claim that these wages are quickly moving upward and creating a fair and equitable pay scales is laughable and a big fat lie. Try living off a construction laborers salary and one will quickly realize how tough it is out there.
1
Overall, the economic and employment numbers are quite good for American workers.
Lowest unemployment rate in several decades. As usual, however, the important economists that count are not counting those who have stopped looking for work.
Big mistake to neglect tens of millions of drop outs all these decades.
These numbers could very well carry Trump to re-election. Only the promise of taxing corporations and the rich big time, as Republican Eisenhower did, can sway workers back to the Democrats. But only Bernie Sanders has the credibility to campaign and win on the economic reform that higher taxes could produce. Barring, of course, Republican corporatist obstructionism.
3
It is hypocritical to denounce socialism as Trump did in his SOTU II.
Take the case of compulsory education upto the age of 14. We have had it for over a century. Is that socialism? If so, is it bad?
The modern world requires more than high school education. That is, college education. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to make it affordable? Is this socialism? If so, is it bad?
There is dangerously increasing economic inequality in America (and in many other countries). How many pairs of jeans, shoes, bedrooms, loaves of bread, underwears, etc. does a multi-billionaire need? His excess wealth should be put to use for the benefit of the society. Benefits such as affordable education, affordable healthcare, money for retirement, better roads, better transportation, clean air, etc. Is that socialism? If so, why is it bad?
Socialism is mindlessly denounced in America. We have capitalism. No problem. We need to distribute its benefits a little better so that most of our citizens can lead healthier, happier, and more productive and prosperous lives. It would not need too drastic a change in the way we circulate our national wealth. It would only need common sense.
4
NYT and other news media must stop letting Trump slide over tariffs. It doesn’t matter- in fact it is a huge negative- that our coffers are spilling over with tariff generated revenue. Trump implies that this is foreign money when - in fact - it is Americans who are forced to pay. In interviews I have never heard or read a reporter insisting that Trump acknowledge that fact - it is only referenced in the small print. The press is contributing to a general misunderstanding of Trump and his tariffs!
3
No matter the lies nor the distortion of facts, Trump's base is not interested in the truth. They hear what they want to hear. How do you overcome this? How do you convince them he isn't the Second Coming? I have no doubt if Mueller turns up incontrovertible evidence that Trump and his family violated Constitutional law his base (with an assist from Fox News) will believe it is some kind of Deep State conspiracy.
I was absolutely shocked and horrified when Trump won the presidential election in 2016, but I won't be shocked if he wins in 2020. While Trump's popularity is low overall, there is a long time to go until we step into the voting booth. He was underestimated before, and as the saying goes "there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip". What Trump and the Republicans will do to secure power in 2020 is the stuff of nightmares.
12
@Diana
With what happened during the midterms, the House going overwhelmingly to the Dems with so many women and diversity, I’m going to lay my bets on someone other than Trump winning in 2020 if he’s not in prison by then.
2
Not a good bet - if Biden runs he stands a good chance - Spartacus, Warren, Gillibrand, Harris - not so much - they will win REALLY big in New York and California though
1
Regardless of race,political leaning or gender identification what are we teaching our children? When the President of The United States has to be fact checked on the fly we have reached a low point. If you are of a certain age you were taught George Washington told his father about cutting down the cherry tree with a refrain that he could not tell a lie. Whether the Washington story was embellished or not we were taught lying was unacceptable. Trumps daily playing with the truth has become acceptable to his party and base. When will the party that has sold itself for years on family values really stand up for something? During the Cold War we were taught to hide under our school desk if we were nuked by the Russians. Now our president is the BFF of the Russian Bear. When the truth no longer is valued we are in dire straits. There was a guy in the last century who came to power in Europe. He maintained his power by lying and dividing people. His base believed his lies and followed him blindly to their destruction. Nations built on lies never last. Maybe it is time we cut the rhetoric and really take a look at where Trump is taking us.
11
But we can rest assured that America won’t become a socialist country, as if that was a remote possibility. It’s far more likely that we will become a fascist country, under leaders like Trump.
16
The emperor has no clothes.
11
politics always involves some hyperbole, or massaging of facts to put things in a desirable light, or framing; that's part of the art of political rhetoric. but is it too much to want a president who does not consistently lie to the country,especially when his obvious tissue of lies is so clearly self serving ? is that a lot to ask? whatever happened to that Republican architype, Honest Abe?
3
So Venezuela problems have nothing to do with US interference for how many years? at least 19 years and sanctions. It has nothing to do with the right wing billionaires and their stooges holding back grocery store supplies driving up prices.
It has nothing to do with the US salivating for the oil that the people own?
We never hear about all the people that elected and support Chavez and Muduro? Now who does the military support? I believe it is still the democratic elected President of that country, Muduro.
3
Knowing what to expect from the SOTU speech, I took a therapeutic alternative. I watched several episodes of "Shameless" instead.
The plot lines share a creepy similarity (dysfunction) but I laughed out loud at the compulsive corruption of Bill Macy's character and got a big kick out of the family's improbable survival enabled by the matriarchal instincts of the elder daughter and her pre-teen sister.
It's gratifying to see fearless art parallel and expose the stupidities of the leaders we take seriously and offer the curative relief of laughter.
5
@Kirk Bready that was a good idea! I chose to watch on the NYT website, but muted the sound, trying to imagine what he was saying based on his and other's facial reactions. Was able to watch a soccer game at the same time. A good evenings worth of entertainment.
this kind of analysis (false or true) by politicians had been going on for years. during Trump admin it has taken a new leap. yes, you write and I read but should there be any accountability? if not, it is just another vapor for us to breath. if any reporter becomes hard on his fact-check, he or she may be banned for further question - a failure of democratic principle.
Here's the thing. The president is a sociopathic liar. That he's the president will haunt those deluded enough to vote for him in the first place as well as those who didn't bother to vote at all.
18
The State of the Union was a plethora of lies. The tax cut benefits the rich, not the middle class. Building a wall invites more tunnels, such as those built by El Chapo. The rollback of regulation is polluting our air and water. Ending the penalty for refusing health insurance increases the uninsured, who are as likely to get sick or have accidents as the rest of us. And on and on. While our president smirks and takes bows on "stage" like the phoney actor he is.
237
I'm surprised that anything that Trump said was supported by any objectively verifiable facts at all. The man is a serial liar who lives in a fantasy world of "alternative facts."
24
@Richard "Ending the penalty for refusing health insurance increases the uninsured, who are as likely to get sick or have accidents as any of us." This is false. The people who decline health insurance are generally young, healthy, single individuals. Young and health people are not as likely to get sick as older Americans with a history of chronic illness. And these people did not "lose" their health insurance coverage. They elected not to purchase it. Big difference.
@Richard
Yes but for 82 minutes Trump stopped tweeting and speaking nicknames and slurs. MAGA!
Perhaps America should do this SOTU thing once a day to keep Trump's ignorance, lying and stupidity away from damaging America and the rest of the world.
6
We have reached a stage where The President of The United States has to be fact checked immediately after he opens his mouth. We spend countless hours of airtime and many pages of newsprint debating what Trump said as opposed to calling him out as a liar. Most of us were taught as children that if you tell one lie you will tell two lies. By last count our president has told thousands of lies and we are sure he will tell thousands more.Where is the outrage from religious,political and just plain folks about Trump’s lying. We have reached a new low when people who know in their gut that Trump is telling a bold faced lie and still stand and appauld. Mexico is not paying for a wall and there is no brown invasion horde coming to our southern border. Trump’s properties have a penchant for hiring the undocumented and no one calls him out on that while he sends federal workers to the bread line. Where is the outrage over Trump and his cabinet of millionaires Let Them Eat Cake attitude during the last shutdown? We blow Trump’s liies off as common place now. When there is a real emergency who are we to believe? Seeing the director of the CIA and the head of Homeland Security stand numerous times during The State of The Union was disheartening. Just last week Trump accursed them of lying and now they appauld his lies?
392
@Steven McCain
Yes but Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman are still smiling and smirking. So Trump must be doing something really great for them and their nations.
Trump is going to meet with Kim Jong Un again. Kim is also smiling and smirking. Trump is also threatening Xi Jinping who is also smiling and smirking. China and North Korea seem satisfied with Trump's efforts on their behalf.
What is going on with snarling snarky sneaky tweeting and speaking nicknames and slurs Donald Trump and MAGA?
4
@Steven McCain
I think most people have known that ALL Presidents lie almost all of the time. I don't think we have had an honest president in the last 60 years if not the entire history of our country. Being able to lie is almost a requirement for the position. There is never any outrage at any other president so why would you expect there to be outrage about this one? I don't know and don't really care if everything he said last night was a lie, but I do know that I (middle class) have benefited from the tax cuts, I have benefited from the economic growth, and I always expect lies during ANY presidents state of the union speech. The point of the speech is to point out all the good things the president has done and is going to do. Sometimes you gotta lie a bit to make things sound better than they actually are. In my case, things seem to be going pretty good now. Before Trump, things weren't looking that great for me and most people in my local area. So, expect the lies from all presidents in the future and base your issues about that president from how his or her actions have touched you personally, for better or worse. I technically don't care much for republicans, democrats, libertarians, or any other party out there. i think the whole party system should be demolished and a person should run for president independently. I also feel like the president and senators, and all other elected positions should not be paid and should be a volunteer position. JMTC
1
The speech was the classic Trump charlatanism two step. One, talk out of both sides of your mouth - extreme partisan demagoguery on the one hand and empty conciliatory speech on the other - so he can claim credit for or deny he is doing either whenever it suits him. Two, invent crises that don't really exist - illegal immigrant invasion; infanticide; parasitic allies; rampant crime, stagnant economy - propose to solve the crises with something ineffective or negligible, then, lo and behold, declare the non-existent problem solved by the work of your own hand.
The good economy and a comparatively peaceful world are the the house of lucky cards upon which Trump's entire presidency rests.
313
@MH
The good economy was built during the Obama Presidency. A peaceful world, where is that from Trump? Nada. Trump is a low class grifter conman.
12
@MH
Trump's world rest on Julian Assange, Bill Clinton, James Comey, Mitch McConnell, Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman.
Along with whatever Trump is hiding from the American people in his personal and family income tax returns and business records.
4
@Homer
After the "recession" we had no other place to go besides up. This is how our system works no matter who is president. The federal reserve controls the economy for the most part.
2
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
-Shakespeare
62
this works... as long as you feel Trump is merely delusional, and not intentionally lying with malice aforethought to achieve his own objectives. is he what they call they call a Hobbsian choice?
8
@SouthernLiberal Having followed Trump in the press for his entire adult life (as a native New Yorker) I can assure you, he is being true to himself. This is who he's always been. When something he does fails, he goes on to some other project. He'll do the same with America.
6
@SouthernLiberal
Shakespeare put this clichéd advice in the mouth of the bombastic Polonius. It's good advice, like Ben Franklin's wise sayings, but was meant to get a laugh from the audience.
3
This article shows how far our country has fallen since Trump became president. Since when is it ok for a President to lie so much that it’s hard to determine if anything he says is true?
189
@Javaforce
He is very consistent. you do not have to wonder whether what he says is true. Absolutely nothing he says is true.
20
@shimr - Nothing of consequence, at any rate - unless it's a Freudian slip, or somehow incomplete.
2
@shimr
as statesmen and people who know a liar from a beggar, can we just make his presidency just another mark of shame against us and make sure that we do not suffer his idiocy another term?
10
Any president who gives a State of the Union speech has the responsibility and the obligation to fact-check every sentence he or she plans to utter BEFORE giving the speech.
17
Trump did not write this speech, but did a dictator's persuading oratory. The democrats need a Barbara Jordan to move us forward.
1
Let's be honest here. The idea of constantly fact checking someone who doesn't care about the facts is a total waste of time and frankly, his followers don't care anyway.
One thing is for sure, if there was something Trump said that had any semblance of truth to it, it was strictly by accident, not because he knew it was the case.
18
No, it’s not a waste of time, and never will be, exhausting as it is, regardless of and perhaps because of what his base thinks and cares about. His lies are a form of enslavement, in that they are intended to rip away our right to observe and evaluate based on the truth, the intention rooted in political expediency and, particularly, self aggrandizement. We’re lost if we ever give into this.
2
@Tim Kingan
Or, another way to look at it is that if we spend so much of our attention responding to the provocations of a man who likes to say things of little value, then we are enslaved to his whims and absurdity.
I am not sure why you ignoring a liar would make it impossible to know the truth. I know he lies and my grip on reality isn't shaken if he says whatever he always says and I pay no mind.
Yes, right, we know he lies, and we are not personally threatened by it. But we can’t stay silent when he lies, because silence is a form of acquiescence. Both Trump and every congressman needs to hear from us that’s it’s wrong, and that we won’t tolerate public policy based on lies. Not least because of the potential damage done when policy is based on lies. It’s a civic duty, like voting.
Suppose you were a professional boxer and you have a bout with a dishonest opponent. He puts lead into his gloves and hits below the belt , rabbit punches, punches after the bell, etc. Wow! If you are a decent person, unlike this other guy who lacks decency, you would have a tough time trying to win. It's the same when you argue with Trump . He makes up stories and statistics--he feels entitled to his own facts--and he proves his greatness and massive accomplishments by making up fairy tales. If his supporters are uneducated and have never learned to think critically , Trump becomes a very difficult person to defeat.
11
@shimr
I believe this says as much or more about the American voter and not only those that supported Trump. What "used to be" the Republican party has now morphed into the "Trump Party" because, realistically, over the years, other than lining the pockets of themselves and their wealthy donors, Republicans never stood for much of anything. After much consternation, they realized Trump was the ideal candidate to realizing their dreams of being able to systematically empty the American treasury.
When so many Americans only care about paying as little tax as possible while continually buying into the Republican mantra that "government, taxes and regulation are evil", this is the result.
Trump was 35 years in the making, it is no accident, look in the mirror.
2
Thanks. Confirms choice for Netflix.
6
This would be more effective had the program begun years ago. As it is it seems a sop to those who thrill to the strains of arguably misleading statements. A democratic opinion piece.
It's a little late. But, for next year, I propose a party game. Invite friends over. Mute the volume on your TV. Make up your own dialogue as Trump moves his lips. What you and your guests come up with, can be no worse than whatever he's actually saying.
And who knows? If you were to video your festivities,and put it on YouTube, you might get lots and lots and lots of "hits."
5
Thank you Times. Of course the people that need to read these bullet points, will not.
6
Trump's statement about Venezuela and the Times analysis are both misleading/false. US sanctions and now support for a virtually unknown, self-declared dictator play a huge part in the economic downturn in that country. More importantly, the reason for US meddling is not identified; VZ sits atop the largest OIL reserves on the planet and the US ruling elite / corporations want it - especially Exxon & the Koch bros.
https://www.gregpalast.com/avoiding-regime-change-in-venezuela/
5
Unfortunately, Rosneft has a huge stake in both the Venezuelan state oil company and in Citgo, including refineries in Texas.
Thank you for having to sit through all the lies and sorting fact from fiction. I vowed to not listen to this pathological liar's SOTU address and this article reinforces that decision from 2017. Of the 15 items discussed in this article, 12 were outright lies, exaggerations, or misleading, and only 3 statements were true. With an 80% lie rate, why would anyone tune in?
7
Mendacity. Plus a reality distortion field that makes Steve Jobs look like Opie Taylor.
1
The only way to protect yourself from getting burned is to avoid exposure to dangerous rays.
1
Trump is a serial liar on all counts, so why would anybody believe anything coming from him? Speaker Pelosi appeared very statesmanlike, and her presence up there at least gave some reassurance that the House Democrats can hold Trump in check.
4
Y'all should write some new philosophy texts since you seem to have transcended known logic and discovered how to fact check opinions!!!!
A lot of the stuff in here are opinions, like the border is in crisis. It cannot be proven to be true or false...
1
Thus the word “exaggerated.”Critical thinking and reading skills, or lack thereof, among trump supporters continues to amaze me. It’s like a large “class clown “ conference being held daily across several social media platforms. Sometimes I think maybe I’m just an educated elitist and too interested in reading widely ,thinking deeply, and learning....Naaaahhhh!
7
@Emily. Y’all are wrong...its not mostly opinions.
3
@Emily, people who live at the border don't seem to think there's a crisis. Is that bad logic, or accurate reporting?
4
Trump is unwilling and unable to put the interests of We the People over his personal self-aggrandizement. Trump refuses to do his actual job, which is to faithfully execute the law of the land, but instead tries to twist every law and every institution of our Republic to increase his wealth and power. This makes every official decision Trump makes corrupt by definition.
Every word of this State our the Union Address was designed to benefit Trump in some way, and trick Americans into supporting his blatant corruption. None of it is believable. None of it is relevant to the actual problems faced by We the People or the solutions to those problems.
For just one example, even as it has been shown that Trump uses illegal immigrants as labor in his businesses (and immigrant labour in the foreign countries where he produces his goods) he is a demanding a useless wall (that was not conceived of as a solution to illegal immigration, but as a a word to shout at his rallies. Any sane analysis of border security and immigration makes clear that physical barriers are a tiny piece of a giant puzzle, but Trump shut down the government to manipulate his base, not solve the puzzle.
Trump calls for unity as he viciously attacks his opponents. He calls for the rule of law, while he breaks the law. He floats trial balloons about being "president for life. He attacks all of the institutions of our Republic, including our intelligence agencies, judicial system, etc.
Trump is a LIE.
4
President Trumps SOTU address was outstanding. It's a shame that well-known news outlets like the NYT search out biased 'data' to support their liberal agenda. There was a time when reporters were journalist who sought out the truth and allowed readers to interpret the information. True journalism is dead.
I have read the data from Homeland Security/ICE and listened to border patrol and our southern border is not only a national security risk (potentially allowing terrorists to infiltrate our nation), but it's porousness allows drugs, human trafficking, etc. Crime is higher where there is no physical wall/barrier. You have not done your due dillegence in researching credible sources.
As far as NY's horrendous new law allowing abortion up until birth...again, you miss the truth. NY's new law, applauded by Democrats as a victory for women...allows abortions up until birth "if in the practioners 'professional' opinion the women's health OR LIFE are in jeopardy. The actual 'law' is vaguely written to ensure abortion on demand. The left leaning writers of this new law aren't concerned for women...but rather lining their pockets from the proceeds they are gaining. How about reporting on Cuomo receiving $2 million in proceeds from Planned Parenthood?
Be honest...your "fact check" is more personal opinion than actual "fact". Shame on you!
4
@Marla, I appreciate that you have strongly held opinions, but I wonder if sometimes wish that they were represented by someone a little more honorable than Donald Trump. Still, if he's all you've got I suppose it makes sense to defend him.
Fact checking is important, because small exaggerations can lead to large misstatements. This is true at the southern border, where exaggerations are shifting the focus away from the areas that are the real gateways for drugs and human trafficking. It is also true in the abortion question, where emotionlly manipulative exaggerations are the norm whenever legislation favors medical science over religious dogma.
BTW, I noticed that democrats were not hesitant to cheer, last night, at real victories for women.
4
@Marla. Shame on you for distorting the truth with your alternative facts. Seriously, what is with you trump supporters.
2
Although Trump may be “factually challenged “ he nevertheless is a master of propaganda and revising reality to serve his goals. In fact he was the “Apprentice “ of that reality show...learning how to hone an image of competence.
During the speech Trump used a heartwarming and and dramatic stand against anti-semitism
to unite the House in a standing ovation. Trump condemned anti-semitism and honored a holocaust survivor who also survived the horrific Tree of Life Synagogue massacre. He
brilliantly paired that story of personal survival with that of a World War II hero and concentration camp survivor, both honored in the gallery. It was a unifying and dramatic stand against hatred and in praise of American heroism and humanity.
It was a brilliant moment..not only for the positive message...but because Trump successfully erased part of the historic text of the synagogue massacre. Clearly anti-Semitic, the shooter was motivated by hatred of immigrants seeking refuge; helping such refugees is signature mission of that congregation. Through his emotional demonstration against anti-Semitism, Trump erased both the world view of the murdered congregants and the motive of their murderer.
Trumpistas decry his critics who say Trump’s rhetoric inspires acts of horrendous hatred such as the massacre in Pittsburgh. No, you can’t blame Trump for a madman’s violence; but Trump’s xenophobic rants against immigrants reflects the ignorant bigotry of some of his base and advisors.
15
@Asher Fried Yes you CAN blame Trump because xenophobic rants can sway fragile minds. He essentially put the gun in the madman's hands.
3
@Asher Fried, also, he managed to pair a promise of paid family leave (we'll see if that materializes) with an emotionally manipulative and totally dishonest characterization of New York's recent abortion legislation.
3
I can't listen to Trump speak. His deceptions and even outright provable lies (e.g., the El Paso comment) are infuriating. When Trump speaks I wait and read the press accounts after the fact checkers have completed their work. Thank you for articles such as this one. I am depending on you.
41
Last night during the live coverage you “fact checked” Trump’s comments on modern day slavery, suggesting his claims of thousands of women and girls being trafficked was “misleading” since the justice department only reported less than 600 cases. The nature of human trafficking of course makes it impossible to know exact numbers of victims. But if there were ~600 actually uncovered, you can bet there are thousands of victims going under the radar. Thankfully, I saw it promptly deleted. But I will not be trusting your “fact checking” any longer. What a way to trivialize an issue already ignored by society at large, something so ubiquitous we come into contact with it regularly. It’d be terribly irresponsible if people saw that and thought this whole “modern day slavery” thing is an exaggeration, when it is NOT and deserves much more coverage than it gets.
6
@GG
Even the best fact checker can err when working in real time. That's why the post was removed in less than a minute. Give them a break.
While there are surely many more people being trafficked than those reported, no one knows how many are brought over the southern border. It's fairly well established that people are also brought in by air and by boat. I even know of a case in which a local developmentally delayed man was forced to work in a local restaurant without pay for years before it came to light. The perpetrator is now in prison.
4
@GG "The nature of human trafficking of course makes it impossible to know exact numbers of victims. But if there were ~600 actually uncovered, you can bet there are thousands of victims going under the radar."
Actually, no you can't bet on it. It might true. It might not be. Your statement--without evidence--is nothing but conjecture on your part. There is no way of accurately estimating what portion of the total "~600" represents without study. Until that is done, Your statement is as wrong as the claim you make against the fact check.
2
@GG
Human trafficking is a terrible problem, but Trump mis-characterizes it with lurid imagery of bound women. A wall will not stop if. Victims are lured by false promises and emotional control.
Here's the report on Trump making border agents find evidence for his false claims and more.
https://www.vox.com/2019/1/27/18198729/women-duct-tape-trump-truck-border
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/04/trump-claims-wall-is-needed-stop-human-trafficking-no-data-back-up-his-claim/?utm_term=.50105f91a745
2
Unfortunately, few supporters of the President will fact check his remarks or choose read a piece like this one that does so. Thus, the perpetuation of falsehoods will continue.
19
Trump's followers, acolytes, republicans - lapped it up. If the MAGA people were listening/ watching, he gave them plenty to rah rah about. He is clearly the messiah for the unborn, the defender of the country from MS 13, and has delivered totally unprecedented growth and happiness. It was well orchestrated; each of his themes (immigration, women's choice, economy) were flooding social media for days.
I took little comfort from the set of diverse, young ladies showing solidarity for the suffragettes. I am glad they are now in congress; I have my fingers crossed about their reactionary agenda. I bet even money that they will fizzle out as they will dazzle. Will they make a difference beyond a novelty act - I do not knot know.
But there was something from which I drew comfort.
First, the republican knavery was on shameless display. The cloying, worshipful, cheering republicans - desperately clinging to Trump because he is their conduit to the MAGA segment. These tax cutters applauded when Trump announced he taxed US consumers with his tariffs.
Second, there was fear in Mitch's demeanor; maybe he knows something about Mueller's investigation that will shortly take Trump into a sticky swamp. There was disdain from Romney (partly because he would make such a great president).
Mostly, Trump was boring and irrelevant. I fell asleep almost immediately after - no deconstruction by educated elites was necessary.
9
Your claim that "This is misleading" is misleading because you took Trump's fact out of context. Using skills you learned in grade school, insert "in the San Diego area". If the wall at San Diego had ended all illegal border crossings there would be no need for additional walls. And your facts support his claim that more wall is needed. Finally, had Trump added that himself, he would have been derided for being redundant. Trump said, “San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in our country. In response, a strong security wall was put in place. This powerful barrier almost completely ended illegal crossings (in the San Diego area).”
5
@Cynthia Orchard, given the revelations at the recent "el Chapo" trial, we might be better served by a wall that was fourteen feet deep.
1
While being technically “true” that the Treasury is receiving “billions and billions” this should have been described as “misleading” given that Trump has previously made statements indicating he mistakenly believes (or wants others to believe) that China is paying this money and not, as you correctly pointed out, by American importers/consumers. Also, it should have been noted that while billions are indeed coming into the Treasury from his tariffs, billions are also going right back out in the form of trade compensation to farmers to offset the impact of retaliatory tariffs and lost sales.
14
I didn't watch Trumps SOTU. I don't know why anyone would listen to this man. Just thinking about him speaking makes me think about the old T-Heads song:
"Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Facts don't stain the furniture
Facts go out and slam the door
Facts are written all over your face
Facts continue to change their shape
I'm still waiting..."
2
OK, so I tuned in just to see all those white suits and dresses. Then we watched a movie. When the movie was over, Trump was still speaking. So there you have my review of the SOTU address.
Alec Baldwin has a short week to prep for Saturday night. I am certain he will nail it. That I intend to watch.
9
I only tuned in to hear the Sargent at Arms announcing "Madame Speaker,... ." All that I wanted to hear was Nancy Pelosi recognized. I knew that Trump would lie so I didn't waste my time on him.
7
FACTS? Why should Trump worry about facts when he lives in a fantasy world of his own making where alternative facts are much preferable to his way of thinking and telling it as he wants it to be. Reality is so unpleasant. Trouble is there are also many delusional voters who make up Trump's so-called "base" who want to believe everything Trump tells them. There are many institutionalized people who see the world in their own way different from what the majority of us see. Problem here is that a madman is in charge of the Institution, which in this case is our government. Danger lurks in every word and every tweet this president utters.
6
@RLW, that is why he does not go outside his properties for days.
1
We are a very gullible audience commercialism sell us the equivalent of the Brooklyn bridge constantly and the government allows this. So they do it too....why not it works! It's sad how gullible we are...
2
The job of a good con man is to obfuscate situations, create doubt and incite chaos. Last night's STOU address contained all of the con man's bag of tricks. It apparently worked for his supporters as well as the applauding Republicans in the room. But there was not a sincere statement during this divisive spectacle. Filled with lies, exaggerations and a little truth, Trump soothed his overly needy ego for a few hours. Nothing will come of this event and no promise will be kept. Business as usual for our con man in chief.
6
Manufacturing jobs? Really? News flash from Detroit and Lordstown - GM lays off thousands of workers, including white collar, while Mary Barra takes home $22 million a year. Detroit demands a Green New Deal!
13
Who died and made the NYT "fact" arbitrator?
You are welcome to express your views, but you are not the authoritative source of truth. Sorry to disappoint or disillusion you.
3
@JOHN, do you know what the profession of journalism is?
7
@JOHN Please put your hat into the ring. Do the work. If you do a better / more complete job, then you have a case to voice your opinion.
Alternately, you might check with other organizations that perform this function. You might find a great number of similarities.
6
These highly biased "fact checks" are always good for a laugh.
'Trump said 46 billion! This is false. The actual number is 45.6 billion!
'Trump said the economy is the hottest on the planet. False, because...Latvia!!'
4
The Times would do better to fact check all its stories for misleading statements, headlines and errors or facts.
3
that treasury comment does make me wonder. where is all that money for tariffs going? part of me hopes it's going to pay down our deficit. but the rest of me rolls it's eyes at the notion.
5
Its true not all illegal immigrants are criminals. The question is how many.
Trump is correct about the negative effects on quality of life issues on middle class ,lower class neighborhoods and upper class being isolated from those effects.
Democrats ignore the rule of law for political benefit allowing cheaters to win... this is wrong.
1
@Lane
But it's not wrong if the Republicans do it?
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/30/680994504/n-c-congressional-seat-in-limbo-as-voter-fraud-investigation-continues
5
On tariffs on China you say: "Technically, that money is paid by Americans who bring the goods across the border, and it is often passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices." And you call trump's statement true?? Really???
5
The choir doesn't need fact checking. The base does and it won't pay attention to it.
3
As the President finished his speech last evening, the teacher in me wondered what his grade would be in the course, "Truthfulness in Presidential Speech Making"? Fortunately, The New York Times fact checked the speech so I can come up with a grade.
The Times article rated 15 statements from the speech. Most of the statements had numbers attached so their truth could be measured against other widely accepted numbers. I gave each statement 10 points, so 150 points were possible for the speech grade. Ten points for a true statement, 5 points for a misleading are exaggerated statement, and 0 points for a false statement. The Times judged 3 statements to be true (30 points), six statements to be partially true (30 points), and six statements to be false (0 points). That's 60 points out of 150 or a 40% grade which is an F in my book.
With such a low midterm grade, Mr. Trump should be referred to Counseling Services for remediation. Possible remediation could be required professional assistance or even dropping the course. This is called resignation in political terms. Stay tuned!
13
Thanks, NYT. Can't stand to listen to trump's blather, so I rely on reading about it afterwards.
trump doesn't twist the truth, he outright lies.
15
Thanks for all the SOTU coverage. Especially this.
4
Trump- "America will never be a socialist country." Report- "Federal gov't spends more than $20 Billion a year on subsidies for farm business." Farmers- "But we're feeding America." Breaking news- "Trump's base supports 'selective' socialism when it suits them." https://www.downsizinggovernment.org/agriculture/subsidies
15
This is exactly why I did not watch last night . More lies and propaganda and fear mongering. The man has no limit to the extent he will go to for promotion of his sick agenda. Please remove him from office before it gets worse, which it will.
5
I think all people who have been chosen by Trump to be part of his administration had to give up their personal integrity, self-respect and courage to appease his immense vanity. If such a person did not rise rapidly to his or her feet and applaud enthusiastically upon hearing Trump dish out one of his extravagant lies, they would be history in a matter of days. The way Trump runs his administration reminds me very much of the Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjx1i9XvWp8
7
@Wally Wolf The Republican applause reminded me of the enthusiastic audience response to Stalin's speeches during the Great Terror. Of course, those Soviets had a self-defense excuse - you might be hauled off to the gulag or worse if you didn't clap hard enough to make your palms bleed.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trumps-very-soviet-fixation-on-applause?reload=true
3
If President Obama told just one of those lies or made just one of those misleading statements there would be calls for his impeachment. Benghazi-like investigations would sprout through Congress like weeds.
The simple fact is that ONE lie by the president is one too many. I write a blog called the Slowly Boiled Frog. Much like that creature (mythically) acclimating to the hot water, Trump has widened our tolerance for mendacity. Meanwhile, the dignity of the office has been obliterated by a sociopath.
16
For all SOTU speeches, GOP and Democrat:
1. Can we please stop standing and clapping for every phony jingoistic driveling statement? It would be nice if the congress could just sit and listen to an honest SOTU delivered by an intelligent president in a serious way.
2. Can we stop bringing people to recognize? This lugubrious pulling at my heart strings by kids with cancer, aging vets and cops who do their jobs is tiresome and trite. Its insulting for the politicos to think you can make my heart soar with patriotism with that stuff
3. I did like the women in white though
20
@John MD
I so agree with all 3 of your statements. Also, the clappers and the risers make me think they are trying to convince themselves that his lying is okay. Not okay for me!
2
I ended up watching the State of the Union address last night, even though I told myself I wouldn’t. I couldn’t resist wanting to know just how bad he would utter outright lies right in the faces of millions of Americans. I wasn’t disappointed, that is for sure. I have been studying trump and his claims every since it appeared that he would win the republican nomination. Nearly every single thing that came out of his mouth was a total lie or very misleading. I was surprised that the NYT didn’t remark in greater detail on their fact checking about the job creation claims and the fact that a large number of those jobs are low-wage, no benefit, with little to no advancement jobs that a single person could never live on, nevertheless support a family. His comments about abortion, obviously co-written by his corrupt Christian and Evangelical support committee, were especially disconcerting to the point that somebody should have smacked him into next week.
I was hoping that Mueller, his team, and about 50 HRT agents dressed in full battle gear and armed with automatic weapons would have burst through the doors and arrested him on national television all the while hitting him with clubs and yelling, “STOP RESISTING!!!”
6
Trump represents the single greatest failure of our democratic system. We have no expedient way to remove someone so completely inept.
No doctor, pilot, policeman/woman, real estate agent or even hair dresser would be allowed to continue with Trump's history of lies, malfeasance, and looting.
Yet, here is he, addressing the world as though he knows what he's talking about and plans to act in the best interests of the USA.
If there is a god, he/she must hate America.
10
I rate the NYT fact check pertaining to economies is rated as " FALSE". The economic growth charts show the US as growing more in absolute dollars than any other economy by far except, in some charts, for China, which must be factored down the Communist government reporting method is unknown and exaggerated continuously. Basically Trump was absolutely correct and the NYT wrong.
3
@James Economic growth measured in "absolute dollars" is meaningless. Economic growth to be meaningful comparison is done per-capita. While your statement is technically right, you are wrong.
6
According to what Trump calls “the failing New York Times” (which isn’t failing), almost all of the main points in Trump’s speech last night were either false, exaggerated or misleading. Even when he got something correct, like when Trump said that there are more people working in the United States now than ever before, this is only ‘true’ because there are more people living in the United States now than ever before. There are NOT as a percentage, more people working now than ever before, nor is the economy remotely doing better than it ever has been like Trump says. Rather, the economy is in danger of teetering into a major recession or depression according to both many economists and, the obvious lessons of past American history.
This is the real “state of the Union”, that we have a president who consistently lies, misleads and grossly exaggerates to bolster his own ego at the expense of the rest of us. Hearing the chants of "USA, USA”, like little children who think they are somehow better than other little children by virtue of where they were born, it is no small wonder we are on the brink of world war three and global disaster, being lead by a mob of ignorance such as this.
Do Conservative Christians Really Follow Jesus?
http://freedomtracks.com/500/conservativechristians.html
11
I would like a horn or something happen everytime Trump or any other politician tells a lie in a speech.
6,000 lies and counting is absurd and has to be consequences. What an embarrassing President!
6
Didn’t watch, didn’t listen. A liar is a liar is a liar.Thank you to the New York Times for the fact check.
7
In front of a vast national and international audience last night, the President of the United States lied on six major issues: growth of the economy, his record of cutting regulations, his record on job creation, the state of immigration, taking credit for preventing war with North Korea, and false accusations of “baby execution” after birth. Without the fact checking by the New York Times, many of us would have been reluctant to flatly reject these false claims simply because we don’t have ready access to the facts. Our real problem is that seeking out this excellent fact checking by the NYT requires a degree of effort that many Americans are unwilling or unable to exert. It’s just easier to nod in agreement with the spoken lie, as Mike Pence did all last evening, creating a smoke screen to assure the viewers that everything is just fine and dandy with this utterly corrupt administration. Thank you, NYT fact checkers, for clearing the smoke from the room!
7
NYT even has to editorialize a fact check. A fact check should be “true” or “false”, no “misleading” or “exaggerated”. This quickly became an opinion piece instead of a fact check. Will need to turn to cvs for actual facts.
3
I agree. Everything trump said should have just been labeled as a LIE because misleading and exaggeration are pretty much lies anyway. It would be safer to just assume from the get-go that everything trump says is a LIE in one way or another.
3
@Center of the Road, Aren't you interested in why it's false, misleading, or exaggerated. I am. Otherwise it is no more interesting than what Trump said. Explication is not the same as editorializing. Though I admit the difference is sometimes hard to see.
I see, it is fine to "rip babies" from their mother's arms, put them in cages and potentially have them die there, but it is horrible to save a woman's life if she is carrying a dead fetus.
It all depends on who is doing the "ripping".
16
Is this normal? Did Obama misrepresent information as frequent? What about George W Bush?
5 This is False
4 This is Misleading
3 This is True.
In the case of Mr. Obama, he told a total of 67 lies or misleading statements during his 8 years as President. So far Trump has told over 7,000 lies or misleading statements in just over the first 2 years of his presidency. That is a fact and not fake news.
4
I would like to thank the NYT for publishing the fact checker... not everyone in the country can or will read this article... so in some ways you are preaching to the choir... How doe we get this news out of the church.
7
Tariffs aren’t ‘technically’ paid by Americans, they are IN FACT paid by Americans. To put it otherwise is just silly.
9
Stacey Abrams for President!
2
Give me a break. Does anyone honestly believe that the NYT fact checkers are investing their retirement money on the economies of Latvia and Poland? NY credibility is taking a nosedive.
3
Only a dunce would watch a dunce and T-rump is the King of Dunces. So WIH watched his"address"? Dunces.
2
This is what a banana republic looks like complete with a deranged despot at the helm. Our poor country!
7
Since it takes someone who can communicate in complete sentences, Trump clearly does not write his own speeches.
And since last night's string-of-anecdotes was filled with misrepresentations, half-truths, exaggerations, and yes - outright lies - it makes it clear that Trump is not the only one in his cadre of aiders and abetters with a tortured relationship with the Truth.
Add to that the jack-in-the-box performance by Congressional Republicans, and last night's performance is best described as fitting a theatrical bill of...farce?...comedy?...tragedy!
5
Uh oh! You've done it again.
You confuse your bias against Trump as fact-checking his statements of opinion.
'We are considered hottest economy in the world.'
- You say this is false then cite Latvian GDP. Trump didn't say who considers our economy better. It's not a fact, it's a statement.
'El Paso used to have high rates of crime'
- El Paso was never dangerous based on 2008? Go back a few years more, get ready to retract your own false statement.
“My administration has cut more regulations in a short period of time than any other administration..."
- You say false and cite unnamed "experts." Why not name them? Ask a single CEO or CFO of an S&P company. I dare you. You'll have to retract this claim too.
These statements you call misleading:
“More people are working now... ”
“San Diego (had) the most illegal border crossings..."
“We condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime..."
“Lawmakers in NY cheered... upon the passage of (late term abortion) legislation..."
These you claim are exaggerated:
“...caravans are on the march to the United States.”
“... pass the U.S.M.C.A... so we can bring back our manufacturing jobs...”
"Exaggerated" and "misleading" are OPINIONS.
Of this you said "there is no evidence."
“If I had not been elected... we would... be in a major war with North Korea."
This is not a fact to be checked. It is a statement of opinion by Mr. Trump. The fact that you feel compelled to mention it in a fact checking article just shows your bias.
4
@Johannes de Silentio Lies are lies whether they are presented as opinion or fact.
3
The headline is misleading that Trump calls for Unity (among AMERICANS), but draws a hard line on ILLEGAL) immigration. It is not contradictory for all Americans to draw a hard line on ILLEGAL immigration.
The headline suggests unity among Americans and a hardline on illegal immigration are diametrically opposed. They are not.
The Media continues to conflate Legal and Illegal immigration for the specific purpose of dividing America. It is not Trump who is dividing America, but rather those people who place their own selfish political agenda ahead of their own country.
Trump has consistently been in favor of LEGAL immigration, and consistently against illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is wrong on so many levels. First, it is the willful breaking of our laws; which were passed by our Congress; not laws made by President Trump because Presidents don’t make laws. Second, illegal immigration is horribly unfair to all the immigrants who came to this country legally; by waiting for approval and in many cases paying large fees to get here.
So, when you read or hear headlines from the Mainstream Media, look at the juxtiposition of their words, and question whether the claims by the media that Trump’s statements are misleading. In many cases, the misleading statements are emanating from the Mainstream Media.
3
@Samara, Miller and Trump want to severely restrict LEGAL immigration. They have said so, and they are acting on it.
4
The section about Venezuela omits the single biggest factor that led to the nation's economic ruin:
The country's overwhelming dependence on oil and the steep drop in oil prices thanks to fracking.
3
I think that fact checking by the NY Times and other organizations is vital to the preservation of democracy and freedom in this country. However, it has come to seem strange to me to talk about what Trump "gets" right or wrong.
That phrasing suggests to me that Trump possesses some understanding of the world and has some concern for factuality, even if he willfully makes false and misleading statements. But I believe that is substantially false.
I believe that Trump simply says whatever he wants, whenever he wants, with the overriding (if not sole) criterion being whether it will serve his purposes (which are generally to reflect credit on himself). I can't see that Trump holds any concern with actually "getting" anything else. To speak of him as if he does gives him more credit than he deserves.
4
You have corroborated what was to be expected. With Trump, you have to assume most of what he says is not true, then come back to see what pieces of truth might have sneaked through.
4
Each of the four mainstream media websites I looked at this morning (CNN, Politico, USA Todaty and the New York Times) have articles about fact checking President Trump's State of the Union speech.
These media outlets' consensus assessment seems to be that around 20% of the points Trump made in his speech were true, 40% were either misleading, exaggerated or needed context, and 40% were flat out false.
My understanding is that the President's staff works on his State of the Union speech for weeks, with multiple drafts being reviewed and edited -- including by the President. How on each, then, can just one-fifth of what Trump spoke last night be judged by multiple media outlets as true?
1
Add in the misleading / lies about socialism
Socialism is an economic system, not a political. A democratic government can have a socialist economy, as can a monarchy government.
3
Am I the only one who took notice that while job wages in construction and manufacturing are going up that wages for those in service jobs ( predominantly female) are not? I realize that is a simplistic question, but still...
2
I just finished reading 'How Democracies Die' by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Two key concepts are required for democracies to survive - mutual toleration and forbearance. Mutual toleration is the understanding that competing parties are legitimate rivals. Forbearance is the idea that politicians should exercise restraint in deploying their institutional powers. After watching the SOTU last night I hope someone will read this book to Trump. Trump destroys mutual toleration when he wrongly describes democrats as Venezuelan Socialists and baby killers. Voter supression and gerrymandering are other examples. Since his election, Trump has pushed up against the guardrails of democracy by stating time and again that he has the legal authority to do whatever he wants. No constitution can be written to include guidelines for every conceiveable circumstance; that's why our norms, standards of behavior, and precedents are so vital to democracy. Forbearance, in a way, is how mature, serious people control themselves. Trump may technically have the power to declare national emergencies but should he do so for political purposes? Another example... Senator Mitch McConnell showed lack of forbearance by refusing to let Judge Merritt Garland come before the Senate as a nominee to the Supreme Court. My hope is that we can build a coalition in our country based upon freedom, equality, social justice and economic fairness regardless of sex, race, religious persuasion or class. Peace.
3
What happened to Trump Care?
You know he said he would give us the best health care in the world.
What happened to middle class tax cuts?
What happened to Mexico paying for a wall?
On and on.
6
How can we believe or trust Trump when he lies so much? Over 4,000 lies in two years.
He wants the wall because Netanyahu has convinced him that a wall is a real remedy. Trump doesn't get the fact that Netanyahu's wall is there to protect the people who stole the land inside the wall and keep out those who are true owners of the land. So a wall can be tyrannical to protect evil doers.
Also, Trump said that China took our jobs. Nothing can be further from the truth. The greedy multinational corporations took American jobs to China to increase their profitability at the expense of the middle class workers, which have been left destitute.
Millions of American jobs were lost during this time, and now fact checkers say that 456,000 jobs have been brought back. So who is the big loser there? Sadly, not the corporations and big money interests who feasted off of taking these jobs to a low wage country.
One day, in fairness, actions must be taken to reimburse those who lost their jobs.
This outsourcing of jobs resulted in the biggest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the corporations and their oligarch backers.
The US is losing its democracy.Justice Cordoza put it ominously right: "You can have a government where a small number of people control most of the wealth or you can have a democracy. But you can't have both."
3
Even the "true statements" are not exactly completely true. There is more to the story, as you pointed out.
The sad fact that any newspaper has to break down a President's speech into categories of "false, misleading, true" with some explaining to boot about the true statements is horrid. We should not have to have explained to us whether Trump lies, misrepresents or tells the truth, but not the whole truth.
The best part of that speech was watching the exuberance of the Democratic Women. They stole the show.
5
It would be nice if there were a big "fact checking" board posted behind the President during his speech. The problem is that his base believes what they hear. They don't question or even think much. If the President says it, then it must be true.
5
I for one would like to thank the rich for providing the Trump sideshow to help us take our minds off of our economic stagnation while they dismantle and haul away everything of value in the country. It certainly helps, if even only for a little while.
2
You missed his drum-beating using the recent MS-13 incident in NYC as justification for a wall. It should have been pointed out that MS-13 originated in the United States, and that coverage about the suspects in that case have not specified their citizenship or immigration status as of last night. (His apparent assumption that they were undocumented people who had sneaked across the border seems to be solely based on their ethnicity.)
38
Lies such as -NY allows a baby to be ripped to be ripped from the womb moments before birth or Virginia allows a baby to be executed- these aren’t the same old stump speech rhetoric. These are lies intended to inflame opinions and muddy facts on health issues. And let’s not forget the GOP hypocracy on these issues-remember the GOP congressman from Pittsburg who led the charge against abortion rights but was outed by his mistress when he encouraged her to get an abortion!
118
@jlcsarasota Yes indeed - it reeks of the old "do as a I say, not as I do." That one always grated on my nerves. But it is true, the neocons and that's what they are - they think most of the populace cannot see through their lies and questionable actions.
6
@jlcsarasota. NY did vote to allow abortion up until birth. Virginia tried and failed. Northam enthusiastically supported it but then the picture came out once he started speaking about it.
NY bill:
https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A00021&term=2019&Summary=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y
@Center of the Road
Yes, NY will allow abortion to save the life of the mother. The Party of Trump would rather see the mother die, then after 15 years of shuffling between foster parents, throw the baby in jail for life for smoking pot.
Pro-fetus is not pro-life Universal Healthcare is Pro-Life.
12
The simple fact is that freedom and democracy die when deregulated in order to profit the greedy. Trump made his deal with the devil as the grifter and has so far done nothing to change that fact!
55
The NYTYs and its writers don't have the say on what is right or wrong. Certainly they are not the authors of "the facts".
12
@Dixon Duval
Thanks for the laugh. We need a bit of levity at present and irony is terrific.
5
@Dixon Duval: True. But facts are available to everyone who can do the research, even the writers and researchers of the Times, and, as with those cited above, they can be proven to be true, just as Trump's many lies can be proven to be demonstrably false. By. the. facts.
4
@Dixon Duval Pardon me????
The facts are the facts. Truth is truth and lies are lies, unless you subscribe to the Kellyanne Conway school of "alternative facts."
5
Trump said "we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.” This is like Trump saying that Kim K is considered the hottest woman in the world. It's too ambiguous to be proven or disproven. Amazingly, the NYT thinks it can fact check this quote. Of course, the NYT concludes Trump's claim is false, apparently through an office poll. They think Greece and China have hotter economies. Are you kidding me?
9
@ Ernie G Look it up yourself. China, India, and others have hotter, though not necessarily larger economies than that of the US.
5
@Ernie G China’s economic growth rate is higher than America’s. So is Greece’s rate.
3
@Ernie G
I believe that economies all over the world are measured the same way: in terms of growth and using numbers. So much as you may want to change the narrative to suit yours, it just doesn't work...
3
The infrastructure filler. We need infrastructure! Yay! Anybody here against infrastructure? No! I am going to “propose legislation”! Yay..but hasn’t Trump been saying this for a while? What can we say? Maybe ridicule Jerry Brown’s high speed train maybe? No, that will make people think of my throwing $ down a hole for my Wall. The NJ-NY tunnel! Oh, I forgot, since the tax giveaway there’s no more $$ to pay for any of this!
21
Very strange, you claim Trump statement on abortion was false, then you state that the baby would be born alive, and could be killed!
By any standard, outside the womb, and having taken a breath, it is a human infant subject to all Constitutional Rights.
Neglect, failure to feed, etc are Felonies to an infant.
If you failed to feed an infant because it were Black, or female, I think your answer would have been opposite what you wrote.
9
@edge
My problem with the Right's screaming about babies not being born is they don't want to care for the ones that are born, and they don't want health care that might help Mother's give birth to healthy babies, especially if their skin isn't white. I.E. Those children being put in cages on our borders???? Hypocrites with twisted values.
4
@edge
No, the baby would not be "killed" - it would follow "God's will" and die of NATURAL causes.
4
@edge
Not all babies who are delivered can survive. That is not politics; that is nature. Just as not all fertilized eggs attach to the uterus. Heroic measures will not preserve the life of such an infant. No amount of food in the world will save the life of a child without developed lungs, for just one example.
5
Trump lies. Republicans cheer. The House couldn't stop the 17 ongoing investigations if it wanted to. Who was the genius who included the line about women gaining most of the jobs in the US? Did no one in the White House foresee the reaction of the newly elected women in the House of Representatives?
35
To no one's surprise, Trump's address was a stew of pabulum, lies and threats, effectively fact-free and convincing no one of anything.
We already knew he couldn't deliver a decent prepared speech. We already knew he's incapable of discussing his policies or the world around him without lying. And we already knew that he has a tiny, mingy little soul that's several sizes too small for the office he unfortunately and temporarily holds.
82
Our news media should not be part of allowing our president to spread lies. This happens in a dictatorship. It should never happen in a democracy. Last night he told flagrant untruths that many will believe to be truths because they heard it on their TVs or read it in their newspapers. The only way to stop this is to stop reporting what he says. Perhaps if we ignore him he will go away.
38
@carol
Too many get paid for being viewed/read to stop reporting. It is possible, however, to fact check so fast that a FALSE, with explanation, could be almost simultaneously flashed with some of his remarks. Inadvertent success with North Korea is a possibility he should be given another year to produce, after which we will probably be correct to see it as another Trump University. The Art of Getting Elected will never be written.
Trumps SOTU was a waste of time, filed with lies, vitriol, and anti-american behavior. It did nothing to advance America and not a single person was persuaded to join his side...
57
@mike How was it anti american ? Pelosi and Schumer are the ones that spread the hate and divide , they are truly the ones that are a disgrace to this country !
Trump is a dodo. Abrams lacked fervor and facts. The REAL state of the union was given by Bernie Sanders. We can always depend on this statesman to tell us the truth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAmMIeZawC4
7
@Veda
Stacey Abrams did a good job overall but her response was aspirational, not informational. Sadly Abrams kept the disaster that is the Trump Presidency in the background.
Where Abrams failed was not DIRECTLY linking the problems this country is facing to Trump. The only way the Democrats will win in 2020 is to bring Trump into the foreground.
By avoiding the subject of Trump the Democrats are going after right-leaning independents. Turning the Democratic Party into Republican-lite did not work in 2016 and it sure as heck won't work in 2020.
This brings to mind the quote attributed to Albert Einstein:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
You can count on Bernie Sanders to tell the truth. Readers who have not seen Bernie's response should make an effort to watch it.
In 30 minutes Bernie DIRECTLY addresses Trump's fantasy vision of this country. Bernie points out:
- Trump did not mention climate change, something most scientists agree is happening.
- Trump's attack on abortion is nothing but an attack on women's right to control their bodies.
- Trump mentioned an undocumented immigrant killing two people but ignored the White guy who killed/injured hundreds in the same state.
- Trump did not mention raising the minimum wage.
- Trump did not mention protecting Social Security.
To find out which issues are going to win the Presidency for the Democrats in 2020 watch Bernie's response.
The New York Times did give credit where credit was due. How about that! Some entries noted as false or misleading included picayune assessments. All in all the reporting was good
10
Which is all more the reason to not have watched or listened last night. It's futile.
23
This is a good article, but to my mind it should have been stronger on the much-repeated claim that the tariffs are free revenue from foreigners straight into the bank. Tariffs are a tax paid by all of us in higher prices throughout supply chains.
Trump’s comments on this point are so frequent and so deliberately misleading that it’s hard not to call them outright lies. The Times should at least have labeled them “misleading”.
119
@Jerryg Additionally, China has responded in kind with retaliatory tariffs of their own so the revenue collected is a wash in the economy as whole. At least Trump gets to say he levied them - hurrah!
@Jerryg
I would prefer us not to import anything at all. If everything we bought was made and manufactured in the U.S.A. then it would all equal out in the end. I also prefer products that I buy to not fall apart the day after the warranty runs out. The products I have bought that are made in the U.S. seem to last a lot longer and have better customer satisfaction and service.
These fact checks are solid, but the last one- on Northam - is misleading. It is entirely possibly to read Northam's statements about "and then a discussion would ensue" as leaving the door open for ending the infant's life. Northam did not say he would execute, but he also did not clearly defend the baby's life. Trump's statement is indeed false, but the fact check shows the NYT writer's bias.
10
@Patrick
Northam's intent -- what he was trying to say -- is obvious. His remark can be misunderstood, but only deliberately.
24
@Patrick
The paragraph started with the restriction that the fetus was non viable, which means that it would die soon after being separated from the mother. The discussions would be with the mother about whether to try heroic efforts to keep the child alive through resuscitations.
Taking this away from the issue of abortion, I have a document stating that if I am non viable, no such heroic efforts to resuscitate me should be taken (a medical directive with a DNR clause). I don’t think you could say that if my doctor follows my medical directive, he has murdered me. But that would be the same logic that calling Northam’s comments as supporting the doctor committed infanticide in the situation Northam describes.
3
@Patrick You think this fact check was solid? LOL! Trump said, "If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea." He said it was his personal opinion! Of course, the NYT concluded that there is "no evidence" that Trump holds that opinion. That's about as unsolid as it gets!
1
As Europe continues to decline the U.S. leads the world. The economy is much better than during or after Obama left; get the picture? El Paso WAS a highly dangerous city in the past; my sources saw the NY Times are incorrect as usual with other fallacies twisted to support the socialist democrat narrative of jealous, envious people whose idol was a former community organizer and not a business person as the democratic attorneys who represent them today. This SOTU blew it out of the ballfield; stick to your Russian collusion story as that is also FALSE.
10
@Jan your sources regarding the crime rates in El Paso are? If you can't cite don't say it.
And even the Trump administration admits the contacts with Russians during the election after lying about them.
38
@Jan The GOP Recession had to be dealt with swiftly. When Republicans are in office they spend like there's no tomorrow, except when a Democrat is in the White House. The American Recovery Act, aka the Stimulus, was derided by Republicans in public yet off-camera more than 130 from the House lobbied for funds. The point is that the Recovery Act started a string of more than 72 consecutive months of private sector job growth. Trump and his supporters think he hit a triple regarding the economy, when all he did was walk from the dugout to stand on third base. Get the picture?
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@Jan I am surprised the NYT posted your comment. Without question there were some exaggerated claims, but largely correct. The article repeatedly claims "misleading", their whole analysis is biased and "misleading". Especially interesting was how successful the economies, in the opinion of the NYT, are in Poland, Latvia, China and India. Surprising anyone wants to come to America (sarcasm intended to make my comment understandable to socialists).
7
We need to stop comparing the US economy to economies like Latvia and India. Makes no sense at all.
20
Truth and FACT are always a struggle for political arguments. It’s like economists. Have 100 of them make a statement on the economy and you’ll probably get 100 different answers, all of which can be backed up with statistics that they’ve created.
My feeling is that the so-called State of the Union addresses should be eliminated: Period!!!
It’s no more than a political pep rally. It’s rarely based on Truth or FACT. It’s all emotion. Our side against YOUR side. I watched my last State of the Union last night. I wasted 1-1/2 hours watching it.
If you truly want to have an interesting read, Google it. Put in things like: When was the first State of the Union? Why do we have the State of the Union? When was it first broadcast on Radio? On TV?
After looking at just a few, you’ll understand why we no longer need to go through with the Charade.
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@Eric Cosh
So true
6
@Eric Cosh I may have never watched a State of the Union address or the reply. And as for last night, reading ahead of time it appeared it has devolved into Battle of the Special Guests.
3
"A lie can march half way around the world while the truth is still putting on it's hiking boots."
Mark Twain
Not likely Trump knows the quote; but, he does use this fact to his advantage when he lies and lies and lies.
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@Ronny I don't think Trump's lies are calculated. More likely, they reflect the bizarre reality where in he lives.
6
@Barbara B
No they reflect his utter disdain for the American people. He views them as imbecile who will buy anything that matches their groomed hatreds.
5
@Ronny
Yesterday, Trump said that Biden made gaffes because is is dumb, but when you think Trump made a gaffe, he claims that he did it in purpose. Anyone that thinks Trump is merely an ignorant, greedy liar, should realize that Trump often says outrageous things (like maybe he should be "president for life") as trial balloons to see what he can get away with, and to manipulate the media and his base. Trump is an expert at manipulating the media. He has been doing it for 50 years.
Trump was calling Joe Biden, "dumb." on the same day that he was demanding unity from Democrats. It's not an accident. He wants us to freeze like deer starting at headlights in the face of his constant contradictions. It is a common technique of directors and wanna be dictators.
And the media eats it up. No one thinks that calling Warren Pocahontas has anything to do with actual government policy, or whether Warren would be a good president, except Trump's base. Trump's base is never going to vote for any Democrat. If Reagan came back to life and ran as a Democrat, Trump's followers would call him a socialist. They called McCain a socialist.
We cannot get this country back on track by trying to understand the Trump voter, or appeasing them by giving up everything in a vain attempt to compromise with those who refuse to ever compromise.
More people did not vote than voted for either party. They are the ones Democrats need to understand and convince they are different from the Party of the Rich.
10
It's all too depressing, this game of deceit being played by Mr. Trump. The falsehoods, exaggerations, boldfaced lies, and tedious bravado are enough to make all but the most diehard Trumpbot sink into despair. THIS is what we've become? A nation utterly lacking common purpose, led by a pretender? Why do I think the worst of times are not yet upon us?
68
Another example of Trump being born on third base, “successful” businessman with Daddy’s money and business, successful economy inherited after Obama had to pull us out from a near depression.
If Trump would take the silver spoon out of his mouth, maybe his words could make sense when he speaks.
Oh wait. the metal in the spoon
affected his brain.
36
@joan nj: In addition, his family's money are pretty much ALL ill-gotten gains, unpaid employees and contractors and fraud.
29
@joan nj Obama's policies actually hindered the recovery and kept unemployement high for much much longer than prior recoveries.
@Cynthia Orchard
Sources?
2
The State of the Union has become inconsequential. And it will remain that way until someone restores integrity to the Office of the President.
61
GOP has degraded SOTU to a spread of hatred and lies..
86
“We recently imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods....” who passed the costs on to American consumers.
Even though the whole world knows that Trump lies continuously, the State of the Union is worth examining. It tells the world that literate Americans know that Trump is a liar. It is also historical evidence of the corruption, duplicitousness, and sycophancy of the Republican Party, that may be the end of the Party. Historians and Psychologists, and Linguists will write books, articles, and lectures about Trump’s speech. Pro-Trump TV pundits will be silenced by all but the most corrupt network and cable programs. Laughter and unrestrained derision will punctuate any defense of or agreement with Trump’s lies.
43
Doesn't matter what Trump says in a scripted speech someone wrote for him. What matters is the every day version of Trump, working to destroy the country by commission and omission. And he has a real knack for surrounding himself with the worst of the worst.
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I think this is a fair analysis, for the most part. On one item though, "“San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in our country...."
Calling it misleading, because it doesn't address overall illegal immigration rates on the S. border (how I read it), is just as misleading. One can't do that analysis until the border is equally secured, along its' entire length. If the illegal immigration rate dropped along the length of what was constructed, then it dropped. Kindly say so. Saying that the immigrants flanked the wall really is the point of making it extend the length where it either can't or won't be circumvented. Now if the border was equally (a word that can be used to mean different things, but I mean it as a relative term. Given the existing "threat") secure along its' length; if the GOVT of Mexico continues to take actions to enable people to work there (thanks for that report, it's the first, such, I have seen), if we can secure the border sufficiently to make changing other immigration law in a way that encourages people to immigrate legally... Now what about the VISA over-stayers, like the Brits I tried to turn in and no one at FED, State or local level would do anything (2002). Mom and Dad both worked, under the table) for a roofing contractor, until son's theft addiction got them al deported a year+ later... and how about illegals from Canadia, how many come down here and stay w/o green cards? The many memes of the internet ! Thanks
1
@TFolsom "One can't do that analysis until the border is equally secured, along its' entire length"
This is the thought process of people being pursueded with fear and anger by media and politicians that are not actually familiar with much of the border land.
Listen to the landowners and representatives ON the border and you'll find those unfenced areas are not open unwatched walkways for easy entrance into the US. CBP has 100mile buffer to work with and the take full advantage of that. A wall is an additional barrier but only a temporary slowdown for those trying to cross.
I've learned to hike in safety orange and green with my head up high so I don't get buzzed by helicopters or approached by aggressive agents that treat me like a smuggler when I'm in remote areas, even 50 miles north of the border. CBP has a good sense of what's crossing, even if they can't stop it because the landscape makes it so easy to run and hide.
We need more agents and stronger aerial surveillance for the border areas (remember, 100 miles into US territory), not a ridiculously costly speed bumb for those trying to cross.
3
As expected, it was the "Not the State of the Union" speech. Trump's grip on reality has gotten more tenuous. The best intelligence officers in the world try to advise him and he listens instead to junk TV. Please send him to Mar A Lago and leave him there. He belongs on the golf course, cheating, not in the Oval Office, lying.
163
I grew up with the Aesop's Fable of the Boy Who Cried Wolf (shepherd boy shouts "wolf!" several times to amuse himself, so no one believes him when it actually happens). If ever Trump faces a real emergency, two thirds of the country won't believe him, his Cabinet, or Republicans in Congress...just another way he endangers our country and our standing in the world.
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@e w
Two thirds? I'm not sure if that's correct. It's a lot closer to half.
Crime in El Paso dropped dramatically in the 1980s when the Border Patrol began stationing a phalanx of Border Patrol units parked in close proximity to each other along the banks of Rio Grande as it wound through El Paso/Juarez. Since the Border Patrol units were always within sight of each other, illegal border crossers could no longer cross the border without being spotted. Before that, El Paso residents commuting to work on I-10 near downtown frequently had to swerve to avoid hitting migrants darting across the interstate after wading the river.
6
@William Case You are mentioning border crossings, what is the specific connection to crime? Yes, yes, that is a crime, but besides that... like murders and robberies.
3
@Jorge
As Trump pointed out last night, "In the last two years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings or murders." However, the [primary purpose of the border wall is to stop illegal immigration, not crime.
1
@Jorge
The primary purpose of guarding the border his to prevent illegal immigration.However, as Trump noted last night, “In the last two years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings or murders.”
If we had stopped these criminals from crossing the border, we would have prevented 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings or murders.
Were you truly expecting Trump not to tell falsehoods or mislead?
29
Isn’t there a penalty for lying to Congress?
338
@Olenska Probably only if one is under oath. Trump wasn't under oath. He was just giving another stump speech.
25
@Jackie Before giving a speech he should have to be sworn in.
3
@Olenska
Congress is so full of idiots and liars how would they know any one was not being truthful?
1
So 3 out of 15 statements fact checked were marked as true, everything else he said was a complete lie, or an lie to some degree. What else would one expect from this President.
86
2 outta 15 ain’t bad. If you’re a misbehaving 5 year old.
Be interesting to see the lie/mislead/exaggerate quotient during any given SOTU by the last 5 presidents.
30
What about the lie that Democrats have asked for open borders?
Or that Mexico would pay for the wall?
Once you fall for the false givens, you’re through.
41
Fact Checking?
Why are you still doing - Fact Checking?
Everything that Trump says, is a lie - until HE can prove that it's not.
The burden of proof is on HIM, not everyone else.
Reporting fifteen hours later that Trump told a "misleading falsehood", is about as ineffective as journalism can get.
Here in New York, we've known for decades that Trump is a liar.
Whenever he bellows out of his bloated blowhole, the first thing that New Yorkers say is - "Prove It!"
39
Funny how you never did "fact check" for Obama, with all the lies he told. This is not "fact check", it's putting a liberal spin on everything. The liberal tyranny is trying to run our lives.
6
@pkvls A liberal spin? Are facts liberal now? Every single "false" and "misleading" thing here is backed up with sources. Please show me just ONE example that this is wrong. And no, what FOX news said isn't a fact nor is a viable source. I'm talking hard statistics like this article provided.
17
@pkvls the NYT did fact check President Obama, as did SNOPES, FACT CHECK, and other reputable sources.
20
@pkvls Facts have a liberal bias.
11
A few thoughts: The Times considers Latvia and Poland hot economies? If "Mr. Northam was talking about an end-of-life care discussion in the case of a child that would not live," why was he talking about resuscitating an infant? Is the Times saying Maduro is not a socialist, or if he is, it doesn't matter as long as he's a dictator? The Times says it's misleading to say that San Diego reduced its apprehensions of illegal immigrants by 91 percent because of a wall, but immigrants continued to come in where there weren't walls. What exactly is misleading? Yes, more people are living in the United States but at long last the labor force is increasing not decreasing. (Was the Times making a joke?) Who are the "analysts," "experts" and "some economists" the Times relies on?
6
An infant is resuscitated because the parents have not given consent yet for not doing so. That's what the discussion is about. The same as resuscitating an elderly patient if the children want it, unless there is a directive by the patient not to do so.
Some of the other fact claims are a bit of a stretch, I admit. Parsing of words to find a falsehood.
4
Is anyone surprised that Trump takes credit for conditions that existed before he took office? Or that he exaggerates the repercussions of a law governing reproductive rights? Or that he lies about the effectiveness of a border fence?
His has been the most divisive, ineffectual presidency in my lifetime, yet he continues to maintain support with his devoted followers through two reliable tactics: Deny reality, and claim others' successes as his own.
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@Jim In Tucson Effectiveness is in the eye of the beholder. If you like no government regulations, Trump's your man. If you like partisan political hack judges like Brett Kavanaugh, he's your man. If you're a white supremacist, he's your man. If science is too hard to fathom and you'd rather just make decisions from your gut, he's your man. If the actual outcome of a policy doesn't matter as long as you created the policy for the right reason (or so you say), he's your man. If you don't mind a tenth of one percent of the population sucking on 90% of the economy's teat, he's your man. And, if you don't mind the rule of law being subject to the whims of a president you like, Trump is your man. Very effective, with the GOP backing him up.
14
Always helpful this.
5
"Misleading" here means 'technically true but progressives disagree with it." For example, it is true that NY's law would allow abortions moments before birth; Mr. Trump's sound bite is true, no matter how many caveats or explanations progressives want to place on it. Similarly, it is absurd to suggest that Maduro's socialist policies did not destroy Venezuela, but even if you disagree it does not mean you can just say the statement is false. "Fact checking" is just an excuse for journalists to engage in editorializing.
9
@R.P. ""Misleading" here means 'technically true but progressives disagree with it." "
No, misleading means misleading.
Dishonest means dishonest.
Exaggerated means exaggerated.
If you take issue with any of the points made, once Orange Don's comments were rated as such, then have the integrity to discuss them here, issue by issue.
Fact is - you don't and you can't. All you're left with is infantile sputtering because you are frustrated with the fact that you voted for someone who has turned out to be a pathological liar and a colossal disaster for this country, and you're not man enough to admit that you and your ilk made a HUGE mistake.
22
@R.P. Lying by omission or stretching the truth is still lying. “Minutes before birth” is a truly unlikely occurrence, and would only apply if the fetus were already dead or the mother’s life were in danger.
11
Lies, lies, and more lies. A reoccurring theme in The Trump Administration. Very sad for America.
16
Just fact checking your fact check... perhaps the State of the Union language was a little loose, but it is true that year on year GDP growth was about 1.5% leading into the 2016 election and the most recent print was 3.0%. That’s a doubling. The current growth pulse might be weaker but that’s not yet been officially measured.
Comparisons to Greece and China, being recovering/emerging markets respectively are probably unfair and uncalled for.
I am no fan of Trump, but the NYT loses credibility when it goes out of its way to find falsehoods in his comments. Surely there are enough genuine, clear falsehoods to keep you busy.
5
The fact that facts (as they truly are) are only used when convenient and are usually twisted beyond all recognition, or just suppressed in favor of positive fiction, in the most publicly visible address of this president (and all those before them) about sums up the the actual value of such a speech. It’s an entertaining and lucrative show that has little bearing on subsequent events and policy. An outline at best, a total joke at worst.
5
I so appreciate organizations that check facts for truth and accuracy. Our current President creates support for his ideas by referencing information that is just not true. Thank goodness you scholars are available to help him separate fact from fiction.
9
ENOUGH. Where are the GOPers who are elected to hold the exec branch accountable?
O right; they're in on the CON.
28
The last point, about abortion and Gov. Northam: can a suit be filed for slander with the President's false (and potentially damaging) statement? Put aside Northam's current issues, a blatant lie by the President of that caliber should not go unpunished. Although a majority of what Trump says is a lie or misleading, so I guess the courts would be very busy...
32
... and Nancy says a wall is immoral. How did that rate? Keep your doctor, keep your plan. I'll have to look at the archives and see how POTUS44 scored, if you even scored him. I assume that you didn't have time to rate many of the things he said in 1+ hours. Caravan size is real in Texas, but only misleading in NY I assume.
Overall, I believe the speech was an outstretched hand to bridge the divide in our country that is tearing us apart.
5
@Nick, are you serious? A bridge for our divided country? From the man who spends every day tearing our country apart? Trumps lies are counted and scored because he has lied repeatedly, egregiously and deliberately more than anyone else who has occupied this office. And I’ve voted for Republicans as often or more often than democrats. I’m sorry you cannot do the research to look at all he says and realize the level of his despicable behavior. Sorry you are so taken with immigration in Dallas. Sorry you cannot see how he is working to only further the divide.
23
@Nick, the speech was nothing but a play to his base. The are no hordes of migrants amassing at the border, no babies ripped from mother’s wombs or executed at birth. Did you watch this on Faux Fox Propaganda, perhaps? There are, in fact, lots of connections to Russia by Americans who are willing to sell out their country, women who were exploited and paid off to have sex with a married man, children who are taken from their mothers and locked in camps for months, cabinet members dismissed for corruption, but I digress. Please do go through the exercise of fact-checking Mr Obama. I guess the NYT did not feel the need as there was not the daily proof of such egregious misrepresentation of the truth. Please don’t insult our intelligence.
I don’t know about your upbringing but we weren’t permitted to lie in our house - my mother took it very seriously. But then my father was an honest WWII vet, not a war-profiteer. Different set of values, I guess.
11
@Nick...where to start? First, try to stick to what Trump said - this is a discussion about the address. Next, as everything is bigger in Texas, that would explain your caravan comment. And lastly, that was no outstretched hand...
2
I loved Stacey's speech better.
9
@Christine
What I loved about it was she never mentioned once. All of the Candidates should take a page out of her book.
I didn't watch, I watched reruns on Netflix. It sounds like the same old political speech we always get. No more, no less. Exaggerations, lies, pushing the Republican buttons in this case. But, all the things he talked about were negative stuff. We didn't find a cure for cancer, we didn't solve climate change, the economy doing better than during the recession is faint praise. Reducing regulations will increase profits but probably at the cost of a healthy environment. More jobs but no solution or even discussion about the effects of robotics and AI, and the erosion of the middle class. I am always made uneasy and unhappy by this dark, scowling, divisive figure. He is always pushing fear and negativity not creativity and joyfulness, he is always at war, always chaos, always fear, always division.
177
@William Trainor We are always at war with eurasia.
1
@William Trainor
This is actually the case with most presidents and definitely with any one that stands beside a single party and falls into the mob mentality instead of attempting to think for themselves.
How can a President of the United States have so many outright lies in a State of the Union speech? Some information is subject to interpretation....but this is a continuation of NOT NORMAL. We have lost our sense of proportion if we are not outraged...
VOTE in 2020.
308
@MS
Where was the Democrat willing to say " You lie" during the Trump SNAFU ?
Then be to willing to challenge Trump to a duel?
That would really MAGA.
@MS
We as a people have been NOT NORMAL for a very long time. We have never been outraged by any other president, why start with this one?
I have watched every SOTU since 1972.
I couldn't last night. I did watch 3 back to back College Basketball Games, seeing an upset, an expected win, and my Aztec lose to New Mexico. I slept better. I did watch and then read Ms. Abrahams Speech. For America, her ideas, manner, and strong moral observations reflect what America needs and wants - far more than the angry and devisive POTUS.
37
"And now our treasury is receiving billions and billions of dollars" is false! tarriffs are not accrued to the treasury, they are accrued to the end purchasers. Consequently, that statement you graded as true is actually also false. You guys need to get this stuff right. Trump's intent is to falsify who pays the tarriffs, it is the consumer.
55
@Walt, The extra money the consumer pays (the passed through tariff) does go to the Treasury. The point is that it is not a cost to the Chinese manufacturer but rather a cost to the American consumer. The cash passes from whoever is doing the importing to Treasury, that cost is passed on as a higher price through the supply chain and finally to the consumer. This does not make tariffs as a form of sales tax a good thing. It is still regressive taxation.
Of course as is pointed out in that section of the article the longer term effect of China specific tariffs is most likely to be to promote low labor cost manufacturing in other developing countries of consumer goods sold here. That part of Trump's boast, that tariffs on Chinese goods will bring manufacturing jobs here, is a boldfaced lie.
12
@carol goldstein
Yes correct. Trump also says that the tariffs are paid by the Chinese government, which is of course another lie.
5
I object to this sort of "fact-checking." It's an opinion in response to a statement of fact. In fact the labor force participation rate has increased under Trump, so the labor force is growing for that reason, not just population growth. It reversed a downward trend for most of the Obama presidency, until the final year. Plus it's a structural change in the economy that should be cheered. Select the 5yr chart here or 10yr to see.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/labor-force-participation-rate
“More people are working now than at any time in our history.”
This is misleading.
While the total number of people working in the United States is higher than ever, it is not because of the president’s policies. It is because more people than ever live in the United States
2
@Tom
If you want to project out in time then talk to me about the exploding federal debt under Trump's tax plan and the cut in federal tax revenues.
Now go back and destroy your own country with Brexit.
11
@flyfysher I'm a US citizen and did not vote for Trump. I won't take your comment personally. I mostly want good factual journalism so we can make up our own minds. The labor market is strong enough to draw people back in. This will create a strong tax base. The latest CBO analysis lowered the deficit forecast by $84 billion. Still their long-term growth estimate is 1.7%. If we can achieve 3% sustainably, there won't be a deficit problem. We have had a solid 18 months of 3% growth. The jobs figures are coming in well above estimates and that bodes well for reduced benefit expense and higher tax collections.
1
Apparently Republicans now believe that it’s horrible to hold investigations into a sitting administration in the House of Representatives. Next they’ll be saying it’s mean to give someone nicknames or to chant for someone to be Locked Up.
Never seen such a disingenuous group of voters and politicians. Ruthless against opponents when they hold power, terrified of even a modicum of the same being directed back at their party.
36
Fact checking is very beneficial, however, people usually hear what they want to hear. History is replete with false statements in political speeches.
7
Out of all that, he spoke the truth only three times. That's three times more than his last thousand tweets.
7
I found the Trump's falsehoods regarding abortion particularly stomach-churning. It makes me think that he (or more likely Stephen Miller) is feeling the hot breath of Robert Mueller on his collar, and is greasing the skids for a ( hopefully mercifully short) Pence presidency.
And of course, I have some very mixed feeling about all that that implies.
20
When it comes to hyperbole and mendacity he is the undisputed champion.
32
i.e. Immigration- The fact that Mexico is unable to curb illegal immigrants coming into the US and the fact that immigration control is a necessary factor in maintaining a country's sovereignty, I believe, is the real issue. I have no sympathy for the president's tactics and his fact ambiguity but no one has come up with a better solution for curbing illegal immigration.
4
@EDR
How about a mandatory 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each instance to any one who hires an undocumented worker (that is enforced) .....problem solved. Of course no oranges picked, or meat processed, or the hundreds of other things most immigrants are willing to do would not get done so let’s use them coming here to fill the jobs we provide that causes them to come here in the first place as a straw-man for a crises.
5
@Arnold
Then let's find a legal solution.
1
The driver of lost jobs is not immigration so much as is continued automation and technology. The immigration “crisis” was indeed a crisis under Reagan and Clinton, since then, it had markedly declined. It could be stopped entirely if R businessmen were to quit giving jobs to illegals. But no, they profit too much from that reality.
The R hypocrisy seems to have no limits, including the silent tolerance of rampant criminality in their presidents’s election team.
21
@RJB, "lost jobs" seems to be the best, clearest name for the maypole of the whole concept motivating our collective desire to address immigration.
Who are we losing our jobs to, them that snuck across the border illegally, or them that came in legally, and now remain here illegally? And what are the headcounts, are there more of the former, or more of the latter? We KNOW the answer to these two questions, and the question of "money well spent" follows immediately from that. It's not surprising that R's don't want to discuss it, but it's both stunning and maddening, that D's and Media shy away from this truth.
If lost jobs is a motivating factor, and you choose to focus on the group of non-citizens that are holding these precious jobs, then tell the truth about it, and address it squarely. Send agents into every employers' premises, and remove them that aren't properly credentialed, so that these jobs can be filled with citizens, and then attempt to ameliorate the problems that would follow from that course. Blowing immense sums on a big beautiful wall only gives us a straw-figure to fight over, for years if not generations, while the job loss continues.
It's approximately the same thing for healthcare - If the ACA is flawed, improve it. It is, at the very least, providing healthcare for larger numbers of people, who otherwise have none at all. Don't (attempt to) repeal it until you have formulated a replacement.
Sadly, there's plenty of hypocrisy to go around.
1
I have seen these fact-check articles for Trump be a little one sided. I don't see given to Trump much benefit of doubt (though perhaps he has not earned any). For example, "hottest economy" does not have an objective definition. You have chosen GDP--there are other indicators. More people ARE working than any time in our history! That's factual! Does anyone think it's because of Trump? He didn't even say as much. Lastly, the bit about "in [his] opinion" we would be at war. This is not a fact; it was plainly an opinion (indeed, he said it was one...), so why is it being fact checked? It strikes me as an opportunity to talk about what you want to talk about.
While Trump picks his facts, cherrypicking his alive and well at the NYT as well. The BLS numbers are pretty close; did ADP, or any other numbers line up with his? Was that question even asked?
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@Jeff M
Before last night, I'd usually point cite Franklin Pierce and the fact there were significantly more Americans in the work force than there were under William Henry Harrison. How about a little context here, Jeff M? Since as recently a 1980, our population has grown by 100,000,000 so, of course, there are more Americans working now. This has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with procreation.
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Biggest whoppers:
Can someone please advise Trump that we are still at war with North Korea and no peace treaty has been signed by all parties to the Korean war- just an Armistice agreement. He falsely claimed he stopped a war with North Korea. All he did was call of joint military exercises of US and South Korea in exchange for what?
And then there was the blood libel on Iran claiming more terrorists came from Iran than any other country. Really ??- How many Iranians have killed Americans?
How many Saudis?
Trump thinks most Americans are clueless when it comes to foreign policy so just make stuff up and no one cares.
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The bottom line in judging this serial liar is to never believe anything he says!
In most cases, the reality is exactly the opposite of what he claims, especially when it comes to his corruption, collusion, and business dealings.
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Trump gets away with some of his misstatements, exaggerations and hyperbole because his so-called base believes everything he says. They don't read. They don't cross check. They just believe that because he is a white, male, republican, because he purports to be rich, because he shoots from the hip and the lip and because he wants to "stick it to our institutions and the establishment" that he must be great.
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Compared to some of his diatribes, this is pretty much on the honest side, especially when compared to its length.
Lipstick on a pig results in minor parts looking better, but the bulk is still bad news on so many others. The real state of the union should include a review of the gutting of environmental laws and regulations which will make our nation's health worse. It should include, of course, the tremendous damage done in the name of the Wall by keeping the government shut down and endangering food safety and air traffic, not to mention hundreds of thousands who lost their income for months.
Tariffs have brought in money to the Treasury, amounting to a tax on consumers and leading to much lower auto industry profits and tens of thousands of lost jobs in high wage industries. He is trying to bring back from the dead the dirty coal extraction and burning. He has ignored infrastructure.
He has significantly lowered our place in the world of nations, insulting allies and cozying up to brutal dictators.
And then, there is his lawless conduct of personal business and elections, with self-enrichment and foreign influence. He is presiding over historic levels of election dirty tricks nationwide, voter disenfranchisement, big money speech forcing average Americans voices out.
The state of the union is declining... unless you are a billionaire, or a billionaire wanna-be like the Trump Royal Family.
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@Don Reeck Yup. There was no "State of the Union." This was just another advertisement for Donald Trump's reelection in 2020. He certainly has a genius for getting free press!
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Shouldn’t speeches be fact checked before presentation to prevent people from being misled - this is just common sense that a child in elementary school would understand
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@Russell
Naive to think so. This viewpoint is a side effect of the largely false assertion that the NYT is “fact checking”. Any adult knows that every social science statistic is an estimation based on assumptions that can vary amon “experts”. Another example of NYT “journalism” as a thinly veiled opinion piece.
The president lied because “experts say” it’s not so? How about a first year journalism class. I am not a Trumper and don’t particularly respect him. That said, he has a job to do, part of this he is accomplishing and part of it is political puffery. Is that so hard to understand or is personal hatred of the man too strong?
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Three (3) true statements out of fourteen (14) is an issue of public trust. False (5) , Misleading (4) and Exaggerated (2) statements do not present the clarity and transparency "Authentic Citizens of The USA" and our allies deserve. Thee of the five (60%) of the False statements were about our national economy, which is even more disturbing since this affects every citizen and our global neighbors. If we can not trust the president to tell the truth, what does the world think of our president, and how does that affect our domestic security?. This evidence, as presented by the New York Times, suggests this speaker does not support the principles of our constitution or honor the presidential oath of office. Very sad. Is this what you voted for?
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