Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich, the governor of Florida and the ride-sharing service Uber.
They all took a recent ride on the AJC Truth-O-Meter, courtesy of PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia.
Want to see how they 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/.
Newt Gingrich on Friday, December 2nd, 2016 in a radio interview:
“We adopted the modern Social Security system at a time when the average person died before they were old enough to get Social Security.”
The bill signed by Roosevelt offered benefits to retirees when they turned 65.
U.S. life expectancy for a person born in 1935 was just under 62 years, according to records from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On average, girls were expected to live to 64 and boys to 60.
We were curious whether the retirement age was set purposely at 65 to deprive most people of receiving Social Security. Did Roosevelt make this calculation?
“Certainly the Roosevelt administration did not,” said Edward Berkowitz, a professor of public policy at George Washington University and author of several books on Social Security.
“My understanding, that I received from longtime Social Security actuary Robert Myers, was that the age 65 had no particular significance and was chosen because a choice needed to be made and (it) seemed reasonable.”
Myers, who died in 2010, helped to write the Social Security law and in a 1992 memoir offered a simple explanation for how the Roosevelt administration chose the qualifying age for benefits.
“Age 65 was picked because 60 was too young and 70 was too old,” he wrote. “So we split the difference.”
We rated Gingrich’s statement True.
President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday, December 11th, 2016 in an interview on “Fox News Sunday”:
“We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College.”
Trump won, but to call it a “massive landslide” in the Electoral College is not accurate by any reasonable definition.
Trump surpassed the required 270 electoral votes with room to spare.
But his margin ranks no better than the bottom quarter of Electoral College showings in American history, and no better than the bottom one-third of the showings since the end of World War II.
Trump’s claim is inaccurate.
We rated it False.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Friday, December 2nd, 2016 in a press release:
More than two months ago President Barack Obama signed a bill for more than $1 billion in Zika funding, but “the federal government has still only committed $7 million” to help Florida.
Obama signed a bill that included $1.1 billion in Zika funding Sept. 29. About a month later, federal officials told Florida that it would get $7.5 million for now.
But Scott omits that the state previously had access to millions of additional dollars earmarked to combat Zika — about $9 million, as of the date of Scott’s statement.
Also, the state can access other public health dollars.
We rated this claim Half True.
Uber on Monday, November 28th, 2016 in an online petition and in a press release:
A recent study found “that cities where Uber operates have 3.6%-5.6% fewer drunk driving deaths than cities without access to ridesharing.”
Uber claims a Temple University study found the service cuts drunken driving deaths by a measurable percentage.
But the study looked only at California cities. Two national studies found the service had no effect on drunken-driving deaths.
The statement is partially accurate but overstates the study’s overall findings.
We rated this claim Half True.
About the Author
