President Donald Trump made several false, misleading and exaggerated claims in press briefings he held Aug. 7 and 8 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
FactChecking Trump’s Weekend Press Briefings
Issues: Police
Trump’s False, Recurring Claim About Biden’s Stance on Police
The Trump campaign has spent at least $20 million in July on advertising promoting the false and repeatedly debunked claim that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden favors defunding the police.
Trump Wrong on Obama-Biden Actions on Policing
In signing an executive order on policing issues, President Donald Trump falsely claimed former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden “never even tried to fix this during their eight-year period.” The Obama administration took several steps to address police violence and community trust issues, some of which the Trump administration has dialed back.
Trump’s Deceptive Ad on Biden and Defunding the Police
A Trump for President ad deceptively suggests that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden supports a campaign to “defund the police.” But Biden has said explicitly that he doesn’t.
LEGO Temporarily Halts Marketing, Not Sales, of Police Toy Sets
LEGO isn’t discontinuing the sale of its law enforcement-themed toys, despite an erroneous social media claim. The confusion arose after the company temporarily suspended some marketing efforts — not sales — amid the U.S. protests following the death of George Floyd.
Viral Tweet ‘Alert’ Wasn’t From Antifa
A tweet shared widely online during the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd — espousing a plan to bring violence to “residential areas… the white hoods” — was made to appear to be from antifa, the anti-fascist coalition. But the account behind the tweet was actually linked to a white nationalist group, according to Twitter.
Bloomberg Misleads on Stop-And-Frisk
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg misleadingly stated that he “cut” the police practice of stop-and-frisk — a policy that he “inherited” — by “95%” by the time he left office as mayor of New York. There were nearly twice as many stops in his last year as mayor compared with the year before he took office.
FactChecking July’s Round Two Debate
Several of the factual distortions concerned what the candidates had to say about one another.
Bogus Claim About ‘Impeaching’ Pelosi
A claim that the White House may impeach House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is false, but it is still circulating widely online.
Does Military Surplus Reduce Crime?
In lifting the Obama-era restrictions on police acquisition of surplus military equipment, Attorney General Jeff Sessions misleadingly cited studies to claim that President Obama “went too far” and undermined public safety.