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.
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders.
Some might consider them outliers in their respective political parties.
But both presidential hopefuls have something in common. Both have spent some time on the AJC Truth-O-Meter recently, courtesy of the non-partisan fact-checkers at PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia.
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/.
Bernie Sanders on Wednesday, February 24th, 2016 in a news conference
“Since (welfare reform) was signed into law, the number of families living in extreme poverty has more than doubled.”
Sanders is talking about a very specific and small percentage of American households living on less than $2 cash income per person per day. That figure has more than doubled from 636,000 to 1.5 million since 1996 when Bill Clinton signed welfare reform.
The data isn’t a perfect capture of how much these people receive in government benefits, and only so much blame can be placed on welfare reform legislation. But experts told us the law did play a significant role in this trend.
We rate Sanders’ claim Mostly True.
Donald Trump, on Sunday, February 28th, 2016 in comments on CNN’s State of the Union:
“I don’t know anything about David Duke.”
Trump seems to have forgotten that he knew enough about Duke to denounce him twice this election cycle. In 2000, he knew enough to criticize Duke’s racism. And in 1991, he knew enough to say he hated what votes for Duke represented.
We rate Trump’s claim Pants on Fire!
Conservative Solutions PAC on Friday, February 26th, 2016 in a TV ad:
Says Donald Trump has said “he would be neutral between Israel and its enemies.”
Trump has said that in order to negotiate between Israelis and Palestinians he can’t take sides.
“Let me be sort of a neutral guy,” he said at a town hall.
But the ad omits that Trump has had ties to Israel for years — he has called himself “pro-Israel” and endorsed Netanyahu’s re-election in 2013. That is a good indication Trump isn’t neutral.
We rate this claim Half True.
Bernie Sanders on Sunday, February 28th, 2016 in comments on “Meet the Press”:
Says he supported the 1994 crime bill because “there is a ban on assault weapons in that bill.”
There were many votes surrounding the crime bill. The trouble with Sanders’ claim is that his contention that he voted for the crime bill because of the assault weapons ban is at odds with votes for the bill that include no such ban.
As often with congressional votes, there is a lot of gray area to determining a legislator’s motivations.
We rate Sanders’ claim Half True.
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