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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, Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz.
They all took a recent ride of the AJC Truth-O-Meter, courtesy of and PolitiFact Georgia.
Want to see how their fared? Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below. Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/.
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).
Bernie Sanders on Wednesday, May 4th, 2016 in a tweet:
“Increasing the min. wage to $15 an hour would reduce spending on food stamps, public housing and other programs by over $7.6 billion a year.”
Sanders based this on a study that looked at what would happen if the minimum wage were raised to $10.10, not to $15. In reality, no such study of a $15 wage hike exists — and economists say there’s good reason to believe that jobs lost from a wage hike that large could be significant.
It might even be big enough to increase the cost of government assistance, not lower it.
At the very least, a minimum wage increase this big is historically unprecedented, meaning that the degree of certainty in Sanders’ tweet is unsupported by academic evidence.
We rated Sanders’ claim Mostly False.
Donald Trump on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016 in an interview on Fox News:
Says Ted Cruz’s father “was with Lee Harvey Oswald” before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The sole “evidence” for this claim is a grainy photograph that shows Oswald with a man who may bear a resemblance to Cruz. But experts tell PolitiFact that the image is too degraded to offer much confidence.
At the same time, multiple experts about the world of early 1960s pro-Castro advocacy said they have never seen evidence of Cruz associating with Oswald and consider Trump’s claim implausible at best and ridiculous at worst.
We rated Trump’s claim Pants on Fire.
Hillary Clinton on Thursday, April 21st, 2016 in a “Good Morning America” town hall:
Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, “which you understand means that you can’t do any research about it.”
It’s hard to research marijuana, especially using plants (as opposed to synthetic versions) in studies involving human subjects. There are many regulatory hoops scientists have to navigate, and the government has a single-source monopoly on marijuana plants to be used for research. All of this makes setting up a marijuana experiment a lengthy and daunting process.
However, there are scientists currently studying marijuana, and federal funding supports some of these experiments. Clinton’s statement gives the impression that the government bans marijuana research flat-out, and that’s not the case.
Her statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.
We rated Clinton’s statement Mostly False.
Ted Cruz on Sunday, May 1st, 2016 in an interview on “Meet the Press”:
Says both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton say Planned Parenthood is “terrific and that it should keep taxpayer funding.”
Trump and Clinton seem to agree that Planned Parenthood does some positive work as it pertains to things like cancer prevention, and Trump has described that work as “wonderful.”
However, Clinton supports their abortion services, and Trump does not.
Trump thinks Planned Parenthood should not receive taxpayer dollars as long as they provide abortions. Clinton, on the other hand, has said Planned Parenthood should receive even more funding than it does now.
We rated Cruz’s claim Mostly False.
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