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, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
They all took a recent ride of the AJC Truth-O-Meter, courtesy of PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia.
Want to see how their 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/..
Donald Trump on Wednesday, April 20th, 2016 in a tweet:
“Ted Cruz is mathematically out of winning the race.”
Cruz would need at the very least 678 more delegates to win the race. It’s impossible for him to reach that number in the remaining primaries, given that there are just 674 delegates left to win.
However, he could conceivably find more supporters in the states who’ve already held primaries, given that a few dozen are thus far uncommitted.
Trump’s statement is largely accurate but needs additional information.
We rated it Mostly True.
Jeff Bridges on Monday, March 28th, 2016 in a Facebook video:
“Every bit of plastic that has ever been created still exists.”
The experts say that’s rubbish.
“It’s too all-encompassing,” said Beckman.
Although far too much plastic persists in the environment in places and in forms that are unwanted, too much has been burned or degraded to make the assertion accurate.
Because his provocative claim leaves no room for subtlety, we rated it False.
Activist Lee Camp on Sunday, April 17th, 2016 in an episode of “Redacted Tonight”:
“In 2009 … Hillary Clinton was at the State Department working with U.S. corporations to pressure Haiti not to raise the minimum wage to 61 cents an hour from 24 cents.”
Leaked cables show that the U.S. Embassy in Haiti opposed the minimum wage hike that the Haitian parliament passed in 2009, and discussed the issue with business groups.
However, the cables do not contain conclusive evidence that the State Department actively pressured Haiti to block the increase nor do they prove that Clinton personally played a role.
We rated Camp’s claim Half True.
Bernie Sanders on Sunday, April 17th, 2016 in an interview on ABC’s ‘This Week’:
Says that in her speech to the pro-Israel group AIPAC, Hillary Clinton “had one line on the Palestinian people.”
Clinton actually had more lines than that — seven mentions of the word “Palestinian” in five sentences. And overall, she spent about 10 percent of her speech talking about the peace process, of which Palestinians are an integral part.
That’s still an imbalance — Clinton spent twice as many words discussing Israeli security — but Sanders’ assertion is still a significant exaggeration.
We rated it Mostly False.
About the Author
