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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, Rudy Giuliani and Sean Hannity.
They all took a recent ride on the AJC Truth-O-Meter, courtesy of PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia.
Want to see how they fared? Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below.
Want to comment on our rulings or suggest one of your own? Just go to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/politifact.georgia). You can also follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/politifactga).
Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/.
Rudy Giuliani on Sunday, September 4th, 2016 in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union
“Food stamps have gone up two-and-a-half times under Barack Obama.”
Due to expanded eligibility and outreach, as well as the after-effects of the Great Recession the number of SNAP beneficiaries and the cost of the program has risen under Obama.
However, the increase in these metrics has been 36 percent and 50 percent, respectively — far less than the two-and-a-half-times multiplier Giuliani used.
It’s also worth noting that both of these figures have been falling consistently over the past several years, a trend that Giuliani’s comment obscures.
We rated Giuliani’s claim False.
Sean Hannity on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016 in a slide presented on Hannity’s show during an Austin interview of Donald Trump:Says that in 2015, “illegal” immigrants accounted for 75 percent of federal drug possession convictions and 5 percent to 30 percent of convictions for murder and kidnapping plus two other crimes.
Those figures accurately reflect federal data.
But a comprehensive picture would arguably include individuals convicted on similar state and local charges.
We rated Hannity’s statement True.
Donald Trump on Wednesday, August 31st, 2016 in a speech in Arizona:
The Secure Communities Program and 287(g) immigration programs “were programs that worked” but were “recklessly gutted” by the Obama administration.
The programs have led to the removal of criminal immigrants living illegally in the United States, and the Obama administration did scale down their scope. Yet the programs have been criticized for allowing officers to racially profile minorities, a federal judge found Fourth Amendment violations in one of them, and federal reviews have found discriminatory practices in the other.
While the programs have removed criminals from streets, they’ve also involved unlawful practices.
We rated Trump’s statement Half True.
Mike Pence on Sunday, September 4th, 2016 in an interview on “Meet the Press”:
Says Hillary Clinton “wants to increase Syrian refugees to this country by 550 percent.”
Donald Trump’s running mate pointed to a real policy distinction between the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees when he said that Clinton “wants to increase Syrian refugees to this country by 550 percent.”
Trump is opposed to refugee settlement, while Clinton supports it, and at a greater number than Obama’s current policy.
Clinton supported allowing in 65,000 refugees when Obama supported a 10,000 figure. (The refugees would be screened.) That’s a 550 percent increase. The UN has determined that about 478,000 Syrian refugees are in need of resettlement.
We rated Pence’s statement True.
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