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.
‘Tis the season for presidential hopefuls to take some bumpy rides on the Truth-O-Meter, with Martin O’Malley’s claim that Hillary Clinton has changed her position on gun control faring best this week with a Half True.
Clinton missed the mark with a statement that ISIS is showing videos of GOP rival Donald Trump “to recruit more radical jihadists,” and Trump was off on his claims about using coal for fuel.
The most accurate statement of the week came from a Democratic congressman from California with the scary claim that “more than 2,000 suspected terrorists” have legally bought guns and other weapons in the United States.
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Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/.
Hillary Clinton in the Dec. 19 Democratic presidential debate
ISIS is “going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.”
During a Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton took a shot at Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump, saying that his rhetoric is a gift to ISIS.
Clinton said that ISIS is “going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.”
We found quotes supporting the notion that ISIS could be making recruiting videos, or that they will do so.
But we were unable to find any evidence to support Clinton’s contention — offered in the present tense — that they are currently doing so.
If ISIS was using Trump for recruitment videos, we would expect a frenzy of media coverage over it. We rate this claim False.
Martin O’Malley in the Dec. 19 Democratic presidential debate
“Secretary Clinton changes her position on (gun issues) every election year, it seems, having one position in 2000 and then campaigning against President Obama and saying we don’t need federal standards.”
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley took issue with Hillary Clinton’s shifting position on gun control, noting in the Democratic debate that she is pushing for stronger federal controls now but has not always been as firm in the past.
O’Malley said, “Secretary Clinton changes her position on (gun issues) every election year, it seems, having one position in 2000 and then campaigning against President Obama and saying we don’t need federal standards.”
In 2000, in the wake of the Columbine school shooting, Clinton was emphatic about her support for gun control. In 2008, she dropped her support for a gun license and registration proposal and positioned herself to the right of her major opponent, Barack Obama. While Clinton also advocated for leaving some gun control to the states, she still advocated for federal gun control efforts, and she never said “we don’t need federal standards.”
In 2015, Clinton has been more forceful with her support for gun control than she was in 2008 — closer to her rhetoric in 2000.
O’Malley has a point that Clinton’s position on gun control has shifted between election cycles, but it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as he made it out to be.
We rated his claim Half True.
Donald Trump in a Nov. 30 interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“We’re practically not allowed to use coal anymore. What do we do with our coal? We ship it to China, and they spew it in the air.”
In the same week that PolitiFact ruled that several claims from real estate developer Donald Trump were 2015’s Lie of the Year, we looked back at a recent claim that we ruled was only Mostly False.
In November, Trump told MSNBC host Joe Scarborough: “We’re practically not allowed to use coal anymore. What do we do with our coal? We ship it to China, and they spew it in the air.”
He has a point that the Obama administration has worked to reduce the amount of carbon emissions from U.S. sources, but Trump’s language vastly overstates his case.
Despite recent declines in coal usage, electric companies in the United States still burned more than 850 million tons of coal in 2014, making it easily the most common energy source for electricity generation. Trump’s point about the U.S. shipping coal to China is even less accurate. U.S. coal exports to China amount to only a tiny fraction of all U.S. coal exports, and U.S. coal accounts for just a tiny fraction of all of the coal that China imports.
The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so it spun the Truth-O-Meter to Mostly False.
Mike Thompson, D-Calif., in a Dec. 7 speech on the House floor
“Since 2004, more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have legally purchased weapons in the United States.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson recently took to the House floor to call for a ban on weapons purchased by anyone on the FBI’s Terrorist Watch List.
The U.S. Senate struck down a similar bill recently, but Thompson, following the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, was emphatic that thousands of people on the watch list have legally purchased guns and other weapons on U.S. soil.
“Since 2004, more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have legally purchased weapons in the U.S.”
He backed up his claim with FBI data that show 2,043 people on the agency’s terror watch list successfully applied for weapons at licensed gun shops over the past decade.
The congressman left out the fact that a federal audit in 2009 found 35 percent of the identities on the list had no ties to current terrorism cases. The audit said many of the names remained on the list when they should have been removed.
But given the large size of the terror watch list — with perhaps 10,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of foreigners — it’s reasonable to assume that 2,000 or more on the list made legal weapons purchases each year over the past decade.
We rated the claim Mostly True.
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