Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

After McCain’s Death, a False Claim Resurfaces

After McCain’s Death, a False Claim Resurfaces

Q: Did John McCain “hide the fact that he ‘accidentally’ killed 134 American sailors”?

A: No. He wasn’t responsible for the fatal 1967 accident aboard the USS Forrestal.

Romney All Wet on Ships

Romney All Wet on Ships

The Romney campaign is moving full steam ahead with a new radio ad that repeats a misleading debate claim by Romney that the size of the Navy’s fleet is the smallest it has been since 1917. The number of ships is actually up a bit since 2007 under President George W. Bush.
Moreover, Navy officials say it’s silly to compare the size of the fleet in 1917 with that of today, because the mission and capabilities of today’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines are vastly different than that of the gunboats and coal-powered dreadnaughts of 1917,

Factual Flubs in Florida

Factual Flubs in Florida

The four remaining candidates debated once again, this time in Tampa, Florida — where facts took a beating.
Mitt Romney falsely claimed the Navy is smaller now than at any time since the start of World War I. (It had fewer ships as recently as four years ago.) And Newt Gingrich again claimed credit for balancing federal budgets that were voted on after he left the House.
The event was sponsored in part by NBC News,