How does PolitiFact Georgia’s Truth-O-Meter work?
Our goal is to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution fact-check statements by local, state and national political leaders, including lobbyists and interest groups. We then rate them on the AJC Truth-O-Meter.
To fact-check a claim, reporters first contact the speaker to verify the statement. Next, the research begins. Reporters consult a variety of sources, including industry and academic experts. This research can take hours or a few days or even longer, depending on the claim. Reporters then compile the research into story form and include a recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling.
The fact check then moves on to a panel of veteran editors who debate the statement and the reporter’s recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling. The panel votes on a final ruling; majority prevails.
Donald Trump, President Barack Obama, Rand Paul and a Democratic congressman from Illinois.
They all took a ride on the Truth-O-Meter last week, courtesy of PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia.
Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below.
Full versions can be found at: www.politifact.com/georgia/.
To comment on our rulings or suggest one of your own, go to our Facebook page (
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Donald Trump on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, in a television ad
A Trump television ad shows Mexicans swarming over “our southern border.”
Trump’s television ad purports to show illegal immigrants from Mexico swarming over “our southern border.”
The footage used to support this point, however, actually shows African migrants streaming over a border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, more than 5,000 miles away.
We rated the claim Pants On Fire.
After we published our fact check, the Trump campaign released a statement to the media:
“The use of this footage was intentional and selected to demonstrate the severe impact of an open border and the very real threat Americans face if we do not immediately build a wall and stop illegal immigration. The biased mainstream media doesn’t understand, but Americans who want to protect their jobs and families do.”
Barack Obama on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in a speech proposing executive action on gun regulations
“A violent felon can buy (a gun) over the Internet with no background check, no questions asked.”
The kind of transaction President Obama described is possible, though illegal, and more complicated than his comment suggests.
Federal law prohibits felons from buying guns. But with some effort, they can purchase guns from private sellers over the Internet without getting caught because private sellers are not required to run background checks. That seller would have to be in the same state as the buyer.
We rated Obama’s claim Mostly True.
Rand Paul on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
“Both Cruz and Rubio are missing the vast majority of their votes.”
Paul has a point that he has a better Senate voting record than Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. And over the past three months, Rubio has missed a majority of his votes, skipping out on nearly 60 percent as he campaigns for president.
This doesn’t hold for Rubio’s 2015 record or his Senate career. And Cruz has not missed a majority of his votes over any of those time periods.
Paul’s criticism goes too far in saying both candidates are “missing the vast majority of their votes.”
We rated it Mostly False.
Andre Carson on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week”
“Our larger domestic threat is from racial supremacist groups.”
Carson, a Democratic congressman from Illinois, said that the nation’s largest domestic threat comes from racial supremacist groups, adding that he knew this to be a fact.
His spokeswoman said that is based on his compilation of various trends and reports.
However, we could find no data to support the view that attacks driven by overtly racist beliefs cause more deaths or are seen by law enforcement as a greater risk than jihadist extremism.
We rated Carson’s claim False.
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