Politics
AP FACT CHECK: Fabrications of Trump and his critics
Published
8 years agoon
By
Willie DavidWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump fabricated history when it came to assessing the 2016 election, his achievements on the opioid epidemic and a congressman’s voting record on taxes. Critics of his immigration policy got it wrong when they accused the Trump administration of taking 1,500 immigrant children from their parents and losing them.
The week in review:
TRUMP: “African-Americans vote for Democrats for the most part. You know, vast majority. They’ve been doing it for over 100 years.” — Nashville rally Tuesday.
THE FACTS: Not 100 years or anything close. Most African-Americans for much of U.S. history were disenfranchised, then prevented from voting until the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which outlawed racial discrimination in voting. Before then, those who could vote mostly backed Republicans until the 1932 election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal programs of economic relief helped spur a longer-term shift of black support from Republican to Democrat.
TRUMP: “Some of these states, I won by 44 points.” — Nashville rally.
THE FACTS: Not some. One. He won Wyoming with 70 percent of the vote in 2016, exceeding Hillary Clinton’s 22 percent by nearly 48 points, according to Associated Press election data. His next biggest win came in West Virginia, where he won by 42 points.
Nationwide, Trump lost the popular vote. He garnered 46 percent to Clinton’s 48 percent, but ultimately won the election based on an Electoral College system in which the votes of smaller rural states that generally backed Trump are weighted more heavily than big, Democratic-leaning states such as New York and California.
Under the U.S. system of electing presidents, Electoral College votes are set equal to the number of U.S. representatives in each state plus its two senators.
TRUMP: “A.P. has just reported that the Russian Hoax Investigation has now cost our government over $17 million, and going up fast. No Collusion, except by the Democrats!” — tweet Friday.
THE FACTS: The AP did not report the cost is going up fast. It cited a Justice Department finding that the investigation over 10 months has cost $16.7 million, which Trump rounded up to $17 million. Of the costs assigned to the investigation, $9 million would have been spent even absent the investigation, the department said.
TRUMP: “Not that it matters but I never fired James Comey because of Russia! The Corrupt Mainstream Media loves to keep pushing that narrative, but they know it is not true!” — tweet Thursday.
THE FACTS: Trump himself fed that “narrative.” The president has said at least twice that Comey’s firing in May 2017 was related to the FBI’s investigation into whether Trump’s campaign associates coordinated with Russia in an effort to sway the 2016 election. And his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News in May that Trump fired Comey because the FBI director wouldn’t publicly state that Trump “wasn’t a target” of the Russia investigation. Trump’s public rationale for firing Comey has shifted on multiple occasions.
TRUMP, referring to Robert Iger, CEO of ABC’s parent Walt Disney Co.: “Iger, where is my call of apology? You and ABC have offended millions of people, and they demand a response. How is Brian Ross doing? He tanked the market with an ABC lie, yet no apology. Double Standard!” — tweet Thursday.
THE FACTS: “No apology” is wrong. Trump should know that because he expressed satisfaction in December with ABC’s statement that said, “We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error” by Ross, an investigative reporter.
Ross had reported that Trump, as a candidate, directed aide Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials during the campaign, a potentially explosive development. Ross changed his report hours later, saying his source stated that Trump’s outreach actually came after Trump won the election, when presidents-elect might be expected to get to know foreign officials. ABC issued the apology, suspended Ross for four weeks without pay and said he would no longer report on Trump.
At the time, that pleased Trump, who tweeted: “Congratulations to @ABC News for suspending Brian Ross for his horrendously inaccurate and dishonest report on the Russia, Russia, Russia Witch Hunt. More Networks and ‘papers’ should do the same with their Fake News!”
Trump’s revived wrath at ABC and Iger comes after the network canceled Roseanne Barr’s show because of her racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, who was an aide to President Barack Obama. Iger tweeted that the cancellation was “the right thing” to do.
TRUMP: “There is no one better to represent the people of N.Y. and Staten Island (a place I know very well) than @RepDanDonovan, who is strong on Borders & Crime, loves our Military & our Vets, voted for Tax Cuts and is helping me to Make America Great Again. Dan has my full endorsement!” — tweet Wednesday.
HE FACTS: He’s incorrect about the tax cuts he signed into law in December. Donovan voted against them, one of the few Republicans to do so. He told AP on Thursday that Trump knew that. “The president was well aware,” he said. “We’ve had discussions about my tax vote, the president and I.” Donovan opposed the tax bill because he said it would mean a tax increase for his constituents. “With the state and local tax deduction nearly eliminated, this tax bill doesn’t equal relief for far too many New Yorkers,” he said at the time.
TRUMP, sharing this tweet from broadcaster Rush Limbaugh: “If the FBI was so concerned, and if they weren’t targeting Trump, they should have told Trump. If they were really concerned about the Russians infiltrating a campaign (hoax), then why not try to stop it? Why not tell Trump? Because they were pushing this scam.” — Thursday.
THE FACTS: The FBI did tell the Trump campaign about threats posed by foreign intelligence services. What level of detail it disclosed has not been established. It is now well known that Trump aides had multiple contacts with Russian interests during the campaign and the FBI was investigating those contacts for any evidence of collusion between the campaign and Russia. It is therefore unlikely that the FBI would share specifics that might compromise its criminal investigation.
In August 2016, an FBI counterintelligence agent gave candidate Trump what is known within the bureau as a defensive briefing about the threats from foreign intelligence services. Such briefings are fairly standard and are intended to help campaigns guard against infiltration or hacking by foreign governments, such as Russia and China. Similar briefings were given to Clinton and the two vice presidential picks prior to the election, according to an October 2017 letter from Greg Brower, then the FBI’s head of congressional affairs.
TRUMP: “We got $6 billion for opioid and getting rid of that scourge that’s taking over our country. And the numbers are way down. We’re getting the word out — bad. Bad stuff. You go to the hospital, you have a broken arm, you come out, you’re a drug addict with this crap. It’s way down. We’re doing a good job with it. But we got $6 billion to help us with opioid.” — Nashville rally.
THE FACTS: That’s misleading. One leading indicator of the opioid epidemic is down — painkiller prescriptions. Other indicators are up, such as the number of overdoses and deaths. And none of that has to do with the $6 billion enacted by Congress. The numbers are from 2017; the money is for this year and next.
Prescriptions for opioid painkillers filled in the U.S. fell almost 9 percent last year, the largest drop in 25 years. The total dosage of opioid prescriptions filled in 2017 declined by 12 percent because more prescriptions were for a shorter duration, fewer new patients started on them and high-dose prescriptions dropped. The numbers are from health data firm IQVIA’s Institute for Human Data Science.
But overdose deaths involving opioids rose to about 46,000 for the 12-month period ended October 2017, up about 15 percent from October 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers are preliminary because of continuing cause-of-death investigations later in the reporting period. They could go higher.
As well, the CDC says emergency department visits for overdoses of opioids rose 30 percent in the U.S. from July 2016 to September 2017. Overdoses shot up 70 percent in the Midwest in that time while increasing by 54 percent in large cities in 16 states.
TRUMP: “Democrats mistakenly tweet 2014 pictures from Obama’s term showing children from the Border in steel cages. They thought it was recent pictures in order to make us look bad, but backfires.” — tweet Tuesday.
THE FACTS: He is correct about widespread misrepresentation of the photos on Twitter.
The photos, taken by AP, were from 2014, during the Obama administration, but were presented by liberal activists as if they showed the effects of Trump’s immigration policy now. The photos were taken at a center run by the Customs and Border Protection Agency in Nogales, Arizona. One photo shows two unidentified female detainees sleeping in a holding cell. It’s not clear that many prominent Democrats spread the photos, from a 2016 Arizona Republic story, though some did.
Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor now running for governor, tweeted that he was: “Speechless. This is not who we are as a nation.” Jon Favreau, ex-speechwriter for Obama, tweeted: “This is happening right now.” They and others deleted their tweets when they realized the mistake.
JIM CARREY, actor: “1500 innocent children ripped from their mothers’ arms at our border. Lost in Trump’s ‘system’. — tweet May 27.
THE FACTS: This didn’t happen. Many Trump critics, Carrey among them, misrepresented the fate of nearly 1,500 minors who came to the border — without their parents — and were transferred by U.S. authorities to sponsors in the country.
The Health and Human Services Department followed up with such children by calling their households to check on them late last year, getting information on the whereabouts of most, officials said. But they could not account for 1,475 of them, in part because many sponsors didn’t respond to the calls.
On that basis, Trump critics are calling the children “lost.” But in that round of calls, the Trump administration actually had a slightly better rate of confirming such children’s circumstances than the Obama administration did in 2016, according to an inspector general’s report — 86 percent versus 85 percent.
The episode with the unaccompanied children and the 2014 photos distracted from what is actually happening. Under a Trump policy to enforce criminal charges against people crossing the border illegally with few or no previous offenses, separation of parents from children is bound to become more common, and that trend may have started.
A Customs and Border Protection official told lawmakers that 658 children had been separated from their parents at the border from May 6 to May 19, after border agents began referring every illegal entry to criminal prosecutors. This is in addition to hundreds more who were estimated to have been removed from their parents at the border since October.
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Florida
Trump Plans Fort Myers Rally as Byron Donalds Seeks to Become Florida’s First Black Governor
Published
18 hours agoon
October 17, 2026FORT MYERS, Fla. (FNN) — President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a midterm rally in Fort Myers on Friday, Oct. 23, bringing his campaign efforts to the congressional district represented by his endorsed candidate for Florida governor, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.
Donalds, the Republican nominee, faces Democrat David Jolly in the Nov. 3 election. If elected, Donalds would become Florida’s first Black governor, succeeding term-limited Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds speaks at a Turning Point Action event in Florida. Photo by Roman Garay / Florida National News.
Rally Set for Oct. 23
Trump’s remarks are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., with doors opening at 10:30 a.m., according to the Republican Party’s event registration page. All times are Eastern.
Gulf Coast News reports that the rally will take place at Alico Arena at Florida Gulf Coast University. However, the official GOP registration page still lists the venue as “To Be Announced.” Attendees should check that page for confirmation and updates.
Prominent conservative figures, including Tucker Carlson, then-former President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and Megyn Kelly, rallied Republican voters during the Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, July 15-16, 2023.
Photo by Roman D. Garay / Florida National News.
Trump’s Endorsement Connects President to Historic Bid
Trump has endorsed Donalds, whose campaign lists the president among its prominent Republican supporters. The Fort Myers visit places Trump in Donalds’ Southwest Florida political base during the closing weeks of the election.
Following his primary victory, Donalds acknowledged Trump’s influence among Republican voters.
“Obviously, he has the strongest following of anybody in our party,” Donalds said, according to Associated Press reporting.
A Donalds victory would give Florida its first Black governor and extend Republican leadership in the governor’s office. Trump’s endorsement connects the president to that potentially historic outcome, although the rally announcement does not identify the event as exclusively supporting Donalds.
Republican Unity and Voter Turnout
Donalds called for Republicans to unite after the primary, telling supporters, “Tonight we are one united Republican Party,” according to the AP.
The Fort Myers rally will provide Trump another platform to address supporters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The published event announcement confirms his appearance but does not list additional speakers.
Politics
RNC Chairman Joe Gruters Calls Trump an ‘Absolute Machine’ Ahead of Midterm Elections
Published
1 day agoon
October 17, 2026WASHINGTON (FNN) — Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters is urging Republicans to focus on voter turnout ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, praising President Donald Trump’s campaign appearances and arguing that the party’s success depends on getting supporters to the polls.
In a Fox News appearance highlighted in an RNC news release, Gruters described Trump as an “absolute machine” and pointed to the president’s rallies as a central part of Republicans’ election strategy.
Gruters: ‘It’s All About Turnout Now’
Gruters expressed confidence in Republican candidates while sharply criticizing their Democratic opponents.
“We have strong candidates; [Democrats] have incredibly weak candidates. It’s all about turnout now. That’s why the president’s going to all these rallies. He’s an absolute machine, getting the job done,” Gruters said, according to the release.
His remarks emphasized voter mobilization as Republicans seek to protect and expand their congressional majorities.
RNC Chairman Highlights Trump’s Policies
Gruters also praised the administration’s policies, particularly its approach to the southern border, presenting those efforts as reasons voters should support Republican candidates.
“This president deserves a lot of credit. He deserves a lot of praise for all these great things that he has done,” he said.
The release included broader claims about border enforcement and drug trafficking but did not provide supporting data. Those statements represent Gruters’ assessment of the administration’s record.
Florida Connection to National GOP Leadership
Gruters, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, now leads the national party’s effort to rally Republican voters. The Florida GOP described him as a longtime Trump ally when announcing his election as RNC chairman.
His national role places a political leader with Florida party experience at the forefront of Republicans’ midterm turnout campaign.
Closing Message: Get Supporters to the Polls
“This race all comes down to turnout,” Gruters said.
He framed the election as a choice about the country’s direction and urged voters to continue supporting Trump and conservative leadership.
“If you believe in the American dream, and you still have hope that you or your children could achieve it, then you’ve got to continue the leadership of the conservative party and this president, Donald J. Trump.”
Central Florida News
Tiffany Moore Russell Plans Orange County Campaign Stops Ahead of Early Voting
Published
1 day agoon
October 17, 2026ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (FNN) — Orange County mayoral candidate Tiffany Moore Russell plans to attend Orlando’s Come Out With Pride celebration and visit churches across the county this weekend as her campaign reaches voters ahead of early voting, according to a campaign announcement.
The Oct. 17-18 stops will give residents opportunities to discuss their priorities with Moore Russell. Candidates, elected officials, community leaders and supporters are expected to join her at various locations, the campaign said.
“This weekend is about traveling across Orange County, meeting residents where they are and hearing directly from them about the future of our community,” Moore Russell said in the announcement. “That is the kind of Mayor I will be — present, accessible and focused on delivering for the people of Orange County.”
Saturday: Come Out With Pride
Moore Russell is scheduled to participate in the Most Colorful Parade at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, in downtown Orlando, according to her campaign.
The campaign lists the parade’s starting point as Washington Street and Orange Avenue, with the route concluding at Lake Eola Park. Moore Russell’s appearance will highlight her support for Orange County’s LGBTQ+ community, the announcement said.
Sunday: Church Visits Across Orange County
Moore Russell’s community church tour is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, at Saint Mark AME Church, 1968 Bruton Blvd., Orlando.
She will then visit additional churches throughout Orange County to meet with congregations, according to the campaign. The announcement did not identify the other churches or provide a complete schedule.
Affordability, Transportation and Small Businesses
During the weekend stops, Moore Russell plans to discuss housing affordability, transportation connections to jobs, support for small and local businesses, and improvements to county government services.
The campaign described those issues as central to her vision for the county but did not outline specific policy proposals in the announcement.
Early Voting Begins Oct. 19
Early voting in Orange County runs Monday, Oct. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 1, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections. Registered Orange County voters may cast ballots at any of the county’s 27 early voting locations.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters casting ballots on Election Day must use their assigned polling place.
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