Fact-checking Trump’s RNC speech | PBS News

This truth test initially appeared on PolitiFact.

MILWAUKEE — Former President Donald Trump closed the Republican Nationwide Conference by accepting the presidential nomination and providing a speech that started somber and turned combative.

WATCH: Donald Trump speaks at 2024 Republican Nationwide Conference

First, he recounted surviving an assassination try 5 days earlier in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“You’ll by no means hear it from me once more a second time as a result of it’s too painful to inform,” Trump informed a hushed viewers. “I stand earlier than you on this enviornment solely by the grace of Almighty God.”

When Trump stated, “I’m not alleged to be right here tonight,” the viewers chanted, “Sure you might be. Sure you might be.” Onstage, Trump kissed the firefighter’s uniform of Corey Comperatore, whom Trump’s would-be murderer killed.

After about 20 minutes, Trump’s speech shifted. He countered Democrats’ claims that he endangers democracy, praised the federal decide who dismissed the categorized paperwork case towards him and known as the authorized expenses “partisan witch hunts.”

Although he criticized the insurance policies of his opponent, Democratic President Joe Biden, Trump stated he’d keep away from naming him.

Trump often provided conciliatory notes, however extra typically repeated questionable assertions we’ve repeatedly fact-checked. Listed here are some.

Immigration

Immigrants are “coming from prisons, they’re coming from jails, they’re coming from psychological establishments and insane asylums.”

False.

When Trump stated earlier this yr that Biden is letting in “hundreds of thousands” of immigrants from jails and psychological establishments we rated it Pants on Fireplace. Immigration officers arrested about 103,700 noncitizens with felony convictions (whether or not within the U.S. or overseas) from fiscal years 2021 to 2024, federal knowledge exhibits. That accounts for folks stopped at and between ports of entry.

Not everybody was let in. The time period “noncitizens” consists of individuals who could have authorized immigration standing within the U.S., however should not U.S. residents.

The information displays the people who the federal authorities is aware of about however it’s inexhaustive. Immigration specialists stated regardless of these knowledge limitations, there isn’t a proof to help Trump’s assertion. Many individuals in Latin American nations face limitations to psychological well being therapy, so if sufferers are coming to the U.S., they’re in all probability coming from their properties, not psychiatric hospitals.

“Caracas, Venezuela, actually harmful place, however not anymore. As a result of in Venezuela, crime is down 72 p.c”

False.

Though Venezuelan authorities knowledge is unreliable, some knowledge from unbiased organizations exhibits that violent deaths have lately decreased, however not by 72 p.c. From 2022 to 2023, violent deaths dropped by 25 p.c, in keeping with the unbiased Venezuelan Observatory of Violence.

Criminologists attribute this decline to Venezuela’s poor economic system and the federal government’s extrajudicial killings. They stated there isn’t a proof that Venezuela’s authorities is emptying its prisons and sending criminals to the US.

El Salvador murders are down 70 p.c “as a result of they’re sending their murderers to the US of America.”

False.

There was a big drop in crime in El Salvador, however it isn’t as a result of the nation is sending prisoners to the U.S.

Based on knowledge from El Salvador’s Nationwide Police, in 2023, the nation reported a 70 p.c drop in homicides in contrast with 2022, as Trump famous.

But it surely’s been nicely reported — by the nation’s authorities, worldwide organizations and information organizations — that El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has aggressively cracked down on crime. There isn’t any proof that Bukele’s effort entails sending prisoners to the U.S.

El Salvador has been underneath a state of emergency, due to gang violence and excessive crime charges, since March 2022. On July 10, the Legislative Meeting voted to increase its use.

The order suspends “a spread of constitutional rights, together with the rights to freedom of affiliation and meeting, to privateness in communications, and to learn of the explanation for arrest, in addition to the requirement that anybody be taken earlier than a decide inside 72 hours,” in accordance a Human Rights Watch report.

The state of emergency has led a number of worldwide human rights teams and governments, together with the U.S., to sentence human rights abuses in El Salvador resembling arbitrary killings, compelled disappearances and torture.

Trump claims Bukele is “sending all of his criminals, his drug sellers, his folks which can be in jails. He’s sending all of them to the US.” However El Salvador’s jail inhabitants has drastically elevated in recent times, in keeping with InSight Crime, a assume tank targeted on crime and safety within the Americas.

In 2020, El Salvador’s jail inhabitants stood at round 37,000. In 2023, it was greater than 105,000 — round 1.7 p.c of the nation’s inhabitants, InSight Crime stated.

“Behind me and to the fitting was a big display that was displaying a chart of border crossings underneath my management, the numbers had been completely wonderful.”

As he recounted the story of his tried assassination, Trump talked about a chart of unlawful border crossings from fiscal yr 2012 to 2024. We fact-checked the false and deceptive annotations on the chart.

For instance, a crimson arrow on the chart claims to point out when “Trump leaves workplace. Lowest unlawful immigration in recorded historical past.” However the arrow factors to a decline in immigration encounters originally of the coronavirus pandemic, when migration total considerably dropped as nations imposed lockdowns. Trump left workplace 9 months later, when unlawful immigration encounters had been on the rise.

Later within the RNC speech, Trump stated, “Underneath my presidency, we had essentially the most safe border.”

That’s Principally False. Unlawful immigration throughout Trump’s administration was increased than it was throughout each of former President Barack Obama’s phrases.

Unlawful immigration between ports of entry on the U.S. southern border dropped in 2017, Trump’s first yr in workplace, in contrast with earlier years. However unlawful immigration started to rise after that. It dropped once more when the COVID-19 pandemic began and immigration decreased drastically worldwide.

Within the months earlier than Trump left workplace, as some pandemic journey restrictions eased, unlawful immigration was rising once more. A spike in migrants, particularly unaccompanied minors, began in spring 2020 throughout the Trump administration and usually continued to climb every month.

It’s tough to match pre-COVID-19 knowledge with knowledge since, due to modifications in knowledge reporting. However, accounting for challenges in knowledge comparisons, a PolitiFact evaluation discovered a rise of 300 p.c in unlawful immigration from Trump’s first full month in workplace, February 2017, to his final full month, December 2020.

The roles which can be created underneath Biden, “107 p.c of these jobs are taken by unlawful aliens.”

Principally False.

This Republican speaking level paints the Biden years as being higher for foreign-born staff than native-born People. However it’s flawed.

Since Biden took workplace in early 2021, the variety of foreign-born People who’re employed has risen by about 5.6 million. However over the identical interval, the variety of native-born People employed has elevated by virtually 7.4 million.

The unemployment charge for native-born staff underneath Biden is corresponding to what it was throughout the closing two prepandemic years of Trump’s presidency.

Assassination try

Trump: “There’s an fascinating statistic, the ears are the bloodiest half. If one thing occurs with the ears, they bleed greater than some other a part of the physique.”

Principally True.

Trump stated that in reference to the harm he sustained to the highest of his proper ear throughout the assassination try at his July 13 rally.

Though the ears do bleed closely, PolitiFact couldn’t establish statistical proof that they’re the “bloodiest half” of the physique.

READ MORE: Trump’s marketing campaign has given no official data about his medical care following assassination try

The ear will get most of its blood from a department of the exterior carotid artery. An harm to an artery is liable to heavier bleeding, in keeping with a research revealed within the European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgical procedure.

However different components of the higher physique would possibly bleed extra from an exterior harm, docs stated.

“The scalp is probably essentially the most ‘bloody’ a part of the physique if injured or reduce,” Céline Gounder, a doctor, senior fellow at KFF and editor-at-large for public well being at KFF Well being Information, informed PolitiFact in an e-mail. “However, typically, the top/neck is the ‘bloodiest’ a part of the physique. The ear is a part of that.”

“​​An harm much like what Trump sustained to the ear would bleed much less if inflicted on part of the physique beneath the neck,” Gounder added.

Economic system

Throughout my presidency, we had “the most effective economic system within the historical past of our nation, within the historical past of the world … We had no inflation, hovering incomes.”

False.

One of many strongest methods to evaluate the economic system is the unemployment charge, which fell throughout Trump’s presidency to ranges untouched in 5 a long time. However his successor, Joe Biden, matched or exceeded these ranges.

READ MORE: U.S. persevering with jobless claims rise for ninth straight week, although unemployment stays traditionally low

One other measure, the annual will increase in gross home product, had been broadly related underneath Trump to what they had been throughout the closing six years underneath his predecessor, Barack Obama. And GDP progress underneath Trump was nicely beneath that of earlier presidents.

Wage progress elevated underneath Trump, however to say they soared is an exaggeration. Adjusted for inflation, wages started rising throughout the Obama years and saved growing underneath Trump. However these had been modest in contrast with the two p.c a yr enhance seen within the Sixties.

One other metric — the expansion charge in private consumption per individual, adjusted for inflation — wasn’t increased underneath Trump than earlier presidents. For a lot of households, this statistic serves an financial exercise backside line, figuring out how a lot they will spend on meals, clothes, housing, well being care and journey.

In Trump’s three years in workplace by means of January 2020, actual consumption per individual grew by 2 p.c a yr. Of the 30 nonoverlapping three-year intervals from 1929 to the tip of his presidency, Trump’s intervals ranked within the backside third.

As for inflation being zero, that’s additionally flawed. It was low, starting from 1.8 p.c to 2.4 p.c will increase yr over yr in 2017, 2018 and 2019. That is roughly the vary the Federal Reserve likes to see. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic-dominated yr of 2020, inflation fell to 1.2 p.c, as a result of demand plummeted as leisure and journey collapsed.

“Our present administration, groceries are up 57 p.c, gasoline is up 60 p.c and 70 p.c, mortgage charges have quadrupled.”

Principally False.

There is a component of reality, as a result of costs have risen for all of those. However Trump exaggerated the odds.

The worth of groceries has risen by 21.5 p.c within the greater than three and a half years since Biden was inaugurated in January 2021.

Gasoline costs are up 55 p.c over the identical interval.

Mortgage charges haven’t quadrupled. However they’ve greater than doubled, due to Federal Reserve charge will increase to curb inflation. The common 30-year fixed- mortgage charge mortgage was 2.73 p.c in January 2021, however 6.89 p.c in July 2024.

Crime

“Our crime charge goes up.”

Principally False

He’s flawed on violent crimes, however has a degree for some property crimes.

Federal knowledge exhibits the general variety of violent crimes, together with murder, has declined throughout Joe Biden’s presidency. Property crimes have risen, principally due to motorized vehicle thefts.

The FBI knowledge exhibits the general violent crime charge — which incorporates murder, rape, theft and aggravated assault per 100,000 inhabitants — fell by 1.6 p.c from 2021 to 2022, the newest yr with full-year FBI knowledge.

Personal-sector analyses present continued crime declines. As an example, the Council on Legal Justice, a nonpartisan assume tank, samples experiences from legislation enforcement companies in a number of dozen cities to gauge crime knowledge extra shortly than the FBI. The council’s knowledge exhibits the declining violent crime traits continued into 2023.

Property crime has elevated underneath Biden, though three of the 4 principal classes the FBI tracks — larceny, housebreaking and arson — had been at or beneath their prepandemic degree by 2022. The principle exception has been motorized vehicle theft, which rose 4 p.c from 2020 to 2021 and 10.4 p.c from 2021 to 2022.

Taxes, Social Safety and Medicare

The Biden administration is “the one administration that stated we’re going to boost your taxes by 4 instances what you’re paying now.”

False.

Biden is proposing a tax enhance of roughly 7 p.c over the subsequent decade, not 300 p.c, as Trump claims.

About 83 p.c of the proposed Biden tax enhance can be borne by the highest 1 p.c of taxpayers, a degree that begins at slightly below $1 million a yr in revenue.

WATCH: Biden pronounces tax plan at marketing campaign occasion in Scranton, PA

Taxpayers incomes as much as $60,400 would see their yearly taxes decline on common, and taxpayers between $60,400 and $107,300 would see an annual enhance of $20 on common.

The IRS employed “88,000 brokers” to go after People.

Principally False.

The determine, which has been cited as 87,000 in previous statements, is expounded to hires the IRS accepted in 2022 that included data expertise and taxpayer companies, not simply enforcement workers. Lots of these hires would go towards holding workers numbers regular within the face of a historical past of price range cuts on the IRS and a wave of projected retirements.

The U.S. Treasury Division beforehand stated that folks and small companies who make lower than $400,000 per yr would see no change, whereas audits of firms and high-net-worth folks would rise. Home Republicans handed a invoice in 2023 to rescind the funding for the hires. Passage by the Democratic Senate majority is unlikely. President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the invoice if it reaches his desk.

“Democrats are going to destroy Social Safety and Medicare, as a result of all of those folks, by the hundreds of thousands, they’re coming in. They’re going to be on Social Safety and Medicare and different issues, and also you’re not capable of afford it. They’re destroying your Social Safety and your Medicare.”

False.

Most immigrants within the U.S. illegally are ineligible for Social Safety. Some individuals who entered the U.S. illegally and had been granted humanitarian parole — a short lived permission to remain within the nation — for multiple yr, could also be eligible for Social Safety for as much as seven years, the Congressional Analysis Service stated.

Immigrants within the U.S. illegally are also usually ineligible to enroll in federally funded well being care protection resembling Medicare and Medicaid. (Some states present Medicaid protection underneath state-funded packages no matter immigration standing. Immigrants are eligible for emergency Medicaid no matter standing.)

It’s additionally flawed to say that immigration will destroy Social Safety. This system’s fiscal challenges stem from a scarcity of staff in contrast with beneficiaries. Immigrants who’re legally certified can obtain Social Safety retirement advantages solely after they’ve labored and paid Social Safety taxes for 10 years. So, for at the very least 10 years, these immigrants might be paying into the system earlier than they draw any advantages.

Immigration is way from a fiscal fix-all for Social Safety’s challenges. However having extra immigrants in the US would enhance the worker-to-beneficiary ratio, doubtlessly for many years, thus extending this system’s solvency, financial specialists say.

Electrical autos

Trump: “They spent $9 billion on eight chargers.”

False.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation, which Biden signed in November 2021, allotted $7.5 billion to electrical car charging. Trump exaggerated this system and charger prices.

The Federal Freeway Administration informed PolitiFact that as of this April, the infrastructure funding has created seven open charging stations with 29 spots for electrical autos to cost. They had been put in throughout 5 states — Hawaii, Maine, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania — the administration stated in an announcement.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated in a Might CBS interview that the Biden administration’s aim is to put in 500,000 EV chargers by 2030.

“And the very first handful of chargers at the moment are already being bodily constructed. However once more, that’s absolutely the very, very starting phases of the development to return,” Buttigieg stated.

The associated fee for gear and set up of high-speed EV chargers can vary from $58,000 to $150,000 per charger, relying on wattage and different elements.

The federally funded EV charging program began slowly. The Power Division stated preliminary state plans had been accepted in September 2022. Since April, federally funded charging stations have opened in Rhode Island, Utah and Vermont.

“I’ll finish the electrical car mandate on Day 1.”

False.

There isn’t any electrical car mandate to start with.

The Biden administration has set a aim — not a mandate — to have electrical autos comprise half of all new car gross sales by 2030.

Later in his speech, Trump stated: “I’m all for electrical. … But when any individual needs to purchase a gas-powered automotive… or a hybrid, they’re going to have the ability to do it. And we’re going to make that change on Day 1. ” The Biden administration has launched new laws on gas-powered vehicles however these insurance policies don’t ban gas-powered vehicles. They will proceed to be offered, even after 2030.

Power

“Underneath the Trump administration, simply three and a half years in the past, we had been power unbiased.”

Half True.

There are numerous definitions of “power independence,” however throughout Trump’s presidency, the U.S. grew to become a internet power exporter and commenced producing extra power than it consumed. Each milestones hadn’t been achieved in a long time.

Nevertheless, that achievement constructed on greater than a decade of enhancements in shale oil and gasoline manufacturing, together with renewable energies. The U.S. additionally didn’t obtain internet exporter standing for crude oil, which produces the kind of power that voters maintain politicians most accountable for: gasoline.

Even throughout a interval of larger power independence, the U.S. power provide continues to be delicate to world developments, specialists informed PolitiFact in 2023. As a result of many U.S. refineries can’t course of the kind of crude oil produced within the U.S., they should import a unique kind of oil from abroad to serve the home market.

Election fraud claims

“They used COVID to cheat.”

Pants on Fireplace!

Throughout the pandemic, a number of states altered guidelines to ease mail-in voting for folks involved about contracting COVID-19 at indoor polling locations. Modifications included mailing ballots to all registered voters, eradicating excuse necessities to vote by mail and growing the variety of poll drop containers. State officers used authorized strategies to enact these modifications, and the brand new guidelines utilized to all voters, no matter celebration affiliation.

The 2020 election was licensed by each state and confirmed by greater than 60 court docket circumstances nationwide.

Authorities

Throughout his presidency, we had “the largest regulation cuts ever.”

We tracked Trump’s progress on his marketing campaign promise to “enact a short lived ban on new laws” and rated {that a} Compromise.

Close to the tip of Trump’s presidency, an knowledgeable informed us that total the quantity of federal laws was roughly unchanged since Trump took workplace.

International coverage

Russia’s warfare in Ukraine and Hamas’ assault on Israel “would have by no means occurred if I had been president.”

That is unsubstantiated and ignores the complexities of world battle. There’s no solution to assess whether or not Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine in February 2022 if Trump had been nonetheless president, or whether or not Hamas wouldn’t have attacked Israel in October 2023.

Specialists informed PolitiFact that there’s a restrict to how a lot affect U.S. presidents have over whether or not a international battle erupts into warfare. “American presidents have scant management over international choices about warfare and peace until they present their willingness to commit American energy,” stated Richard Betts, a Columbia College professor emeritus of warfare and peace research and of worldwide and public affairs.

Throughout the Trump administration, there have been no new main abroad wars or invasions. However throughout his presidency, there have been nonetheless conflicts inside Israel and between Russia and Ukraine. For instance, Russia was intervening militarily within the Ukraine’s Donbas area all through Trump’s administration.

Trump additionally supported weakening NATO, decreasing expectations amongst allies that the U.S. would intervene militarily in the event that they had been attacked.

Though there’s no solution to understand how the warfare in Israel would have performed out, specialists stated the prospect of the Abraham Accords — the peace effort between Israel and Arab nations led by the Trump administration — possible helped drive Hamas’ assault.

“There’s little question in my thoughts that the prospect of the Abraham Accords being embraced by nations resembling Saudi Arabia was one of many principal causes of the Oct. 7 assault,” Ambassador Martin Kimani, the chief director of NYU’s Middle on Worldwide Cooperation stated.

When the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, we “left behind $85 billion price of navy gear.”

False.

That is an exaggeration. When the Taliban toppled Afghanistan’s civilian authorities in 2021, it inherited navy {hardware} the U.S. gave it. But it surely didn’t quantity to $85 billion.

A 2022 unbiased inspector normal report knowledgeable Congress that about $7 billion of U.S.-funded gear remained in Afghanistan and within the Taliban’s palms. Based on the report, “The U.S. navy eliminated or destroyed practically all main gear utilized by U.S. troops in Afghanistan all through the drawdown interval in 2021.”

We rated an identical declare False in 2021.

When he was president, “Iran was broke.”

Half True.

Iran’s international foreign money reserves fell from $128 billion in 2015 to $15 billion in 2019, a dramatic drop in absolute {dollars}. The decline is extensively believed to be a consequence of the tightened U.S. sanctions underneath Trump, and though Iran’s international foreign money reserves have grown since then, it’s nowhere close to pre-2019 ranges.

The Federal Reserve Financial institution of St. Louis pegged Iran’s international foreign money reserves in 2024 round $36 billion.

PolitiFact Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson, Senior Correspondent Amy Sherman, Employees Writers Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Maria Briceño, Madison Czopek, Marta Campabadal Graus, Ranjan Jindal, Mia Penner, Samantha Putterman, Sara Swann, Loreben Tuquero, Maria Ramirez Uribe and Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this story.

Our conference fact-checks depend on each new and beforehand reported work. We hyperlink to previous work every time doable. In some circumstances, a fact-check score could also be completely different tonight than in previous variations. In these circumstances, both particulars of what the candidate stated, or how the candidate stated it, differed sufficient that we evaluated it anew.

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