Fact checking Trump’s convention speech: There he goes again!

By Nick Gier
Reader Columnist

Trump’s acceptance speech at the GOP convention was filled with lies and misrepresentations.  Yes, it is true that “43 million Americans are on food stamps,” but the number rose because of the Great Recession not because of Obama.  Obama’s economic recovery has brought the number down since 2014, and 13 out of the top 20 states receiving food stamps are red states.

Trump’s repeated claim that “58 percent of African American youth are not employed” is false. The actual figure of 31 percent last month, which is down from a high of 49 percent in 2009.  The general unemployment rate reached a peak of 10 percent in October 2009 and was only 4.9 percent last month.

Trump misrepresents when he states that “America has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by Bill and Hillary Clinton.” Trump forgot to mention the enthusiastic support from Republicans on these negotiations.

Trump also neglected to acknowledge that since 2010 almost one million new manufacturing jobs have been added under Obama. Furthermore, as the Chicago Tribune explains: “It is simplistic to pin blame for the decline in manufacturing jobs on trade agreements. Increased efficiency and technological advancement have also played a major role.”

Trump’s claim that Obama has cut back on crime prevention is false. The 2009 stimulus contained billions of dollars in grants to cities and states. Nation-wide homicides have been steadily declining: from 5.6 per 100,000 in 2001 to 4.5 in 2014. Even in the 50 cities where rates have risen, they are still half the number of 1991 at the end of the Reagan-Bush era.

Trump’s figure on the number of police killings—up “by almost 50 percent compared to this point last year”—is false and fear-mongering. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the increase is to 67 deaths from 62 during the same period in 2015. The Associated Press states that “overall, police are statistically safer on America’s streets now than at any time in recent decades. For example, the 109 law enforcement fatalities in 2013 were the lowest since 1956.”

Trump distorts the facts when he says “two million more Latinos are in poverty today than when President Obama took his oath of office less than eight years ago.” The Associated Press responds: “The Hispanic population has risen since Obama while the poverty rate has fallen. The Pew Research Center found that 23.5 percent of the country’s 55.3 million Latinos live in poverty, compared with 24.7 percent in 2010.”

Fear-mongering and false is Trump’s claim that “Iran is on the path to [nuclear] weapons.” In fact, quite the opposite is the case. Their nuclear program is shut down and will be under regular inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Scientists at Iranwatch.org report that “Iran has begun implementing centrifuge restrictions, dismantling 4,112 IR-1 centrifuges and 160 IR-2m centrifuges from Natanz and 258 IR-1 centrifuges from Fordow as of November 15, 2015.” Iran cannot enrich uranium and then make a bomb without these very complex instruments.

Those who are intellectually honest will not repeat an error once it has been corrected, but Trump does not care about such moral scruples. Once again the claim that “America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world” is false. In terms of tax burden we stand at the fourth lowest among 34 developed countries. Our corporate tax rate is high, but thanks to high-paid tax attorneys many firms pay little or no taxes. According to David Cay Johnston, there is very good evidence that Trump has not paid taxes for decades.

In conclusion it’s time to update Politifact’s Truth-O-Meter where Trump is racking up a record number of Pants-on-Fire. He is now at 36, far surpassing Mitt Romney’s 19 during the 2012 election (Obama had 9). Clinton has added just one Pants-on-Fire for a total of 4.

Clinton’s percentage of true, mostly true and half-true statements is slowly rising and stands now at 72 percent. Trump’s percentage in these categories is a mere 29 percent.  Tony Schwartz, ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal,” puts in bluntly: “Lying is second nature to Trump.”

Nick Gier of Moscow taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years.  Read all of his columns on the 2016 election at www.NickGier.com/Election2016.pdf.