Republicans head to Cleveland this week with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump leading the charge.
PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia have been fact-checking Trump’s statements since he became a candidate. And we’ll be keeping a close eye on the Republican National Convention.
Abbreviated versions of our latest Trump fact checks can be found below.
Full versions can be found at www.myajc.com/s/news/politifact/.
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Donald Trump on Monday, July 11th, 2016, in a speech:
“A shocking 20 veterans are committing suicide each and every day, especially our older veterans.”
Department of Veterans Affairs figures show that the veteran suicide rate actually has increased 32 percent since 2001. That compares with a 23 percent increase in the rate for nonvets during the same period.
According to the new report, the suicide rate among veterans who used VA services has increased 8.8 percent since 2001, while the rate among veterans who didn’t use those services increased 38.6 percent.
Critics have said focusing on the daily number of veteran suicides is pointless and that attention should be fixed on examining the veteran suicide rate and how it compares with the rest of the country.
His claim is supported by recent research by the VA.
We rated the statement True.
Donald Trump on Saturday, June 18th, 2016, during a Phoenix rally:
Says Hillary Clinton has been given tens of millions of dollars by countries that “treat women horribly … and countries that kill gays.”
Trump’s comment oversimplifies donations to the Clinton Foundation to make a quick attack against his Democratic rival.
He makes it sound as if Clinton personally received money from foreign governments with poor records on human rights. But political candidates cannot accept donations from foreign governments.
Several countries with harsh rules for women and that kill gays, however, have contributed to the Clinton Foundation, both before and after her tenure at the State Department.
We rated Trump’s claim Half True.
Donald Trump on Tuesday, July 5th, 2016, during a speech in Raleigh, N.C.:
“We got the highest vote count in the history of the Republican Party.”
That’s accurate. He received 13.3 million votes, beating George W. Bush’s record of 11.5 million votes.
Yet what Trump failed to mention is that he also holds the record for the most votes cast against a primary candidate, and that he’s one of only a few Republican front-runners in modern history to have been supported by less than half of the party’s primary voters.
Trump’s claim was accurate but missing that context.
We rated this claim Mostly True.
Donald Trump on Tuesday, July 5th, 2016, during a rally in Raleigh, N.C.:
“You know what (Saddam Hussein) did well? He killed terrorists.”
Trump has a point in saying that Hussein’s Iraq was free of the widespread Islamic terrorism that flourishes there now.
On the other hand, Hussein’s opposition to terrorism sprung largely from a desire to eliminate opponents to his rule; by contrast, he was willing to support terrorism as long as it advanced his interests beyond Iraq’s borders. And it’s not as if Hussein’s methods offer a helpful model for a democracy like the United States.
We rated Trump’s statement Mostly False.
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