AP FACT CHECK: Trump and his familiar falsehoods
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says Mexico is paying for the wall (it isn’t), health care choice for veterans came from him (it didn’t) and his tax cut stands as the biggest in American history (nowhere close).
These are among his touchstones — the falsehoods that span his presidency — and he's giving them another go in the final days of his relentless campaigning.
He's got fresher false material, too, claiming “incredible” numbers in the pandemic response despite record infections, rising deaths and a statement from his chief of staff Sunday that the government cannot bring the coronavirus under control. He warned darkly of voting fraud in the Nov. 3 election without offering evidence that malfeasance is in play.
In weekend rallies, Trump also portrayed Democratic rival Joe Biden as the helmsman of a Marxist party who lined his own pockets with $3.5 million via Moscow. This didn't happen.
A look at rhetoric from the weekend:
THE VIRUS
TRUMP: "Even without vaccines, we’re rounding the turn. It’s going to be over." — on C-SPAN, Sunday.
TRUMP: "We’re rounding the turn. It’s going to be over.” — New Hampshire rally Sunday.
TRUMP: “We’re rounding the turn, we’re doing great. Our numbers are incredible.” — North Carolina rally Saturday.
THE FACTS: The numbers have turned harrowing, not “incredible.”
The U.S. set a daily record Friday for new confirmed coronavirus infections and nearly matched it Saturday with 83,178, data published by Johns Hopkins University show. Close to 8.6 million Americans have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and about 225,000 have died; both totals are the world’s highest. About half the states have seen their highest daily infection numbers so far at some point in October.
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