The White House is claiming the economy grew 3.1 percent last year, but it is spinning the numbers — focusing on a little-used measure to make the economy look a little more robust than it does measured the usual way.
Spinning GDP
Posts Distort Facts on Obama, Flint
Social media posts distort the facts to misleadingly claim that President Barack Obama “declared Flint water crisis a National Emergency and never fixed it.”
Obama Didn’t Give Iran ‘150 Billion in Cash’
A viral meme distorts the facts about the Iran nuclear agreement. The deal, approved by six countries and the European Union, gave Iran access to its own frozen assets.
Trump Is Wrong About Fact-Checkers
President Trump falsely suggested that fact-checkers didn’t hold then-President Barack Obama accountable for his false promise that if you like your health care plan or your doctor, you can keep them under the Affordable Care Act. We wrote as far back as 2009 that Obama couldn’t make that promise to everyone.
Phony Claim That Gold Went To Afghanistan
A meme making a bogus claim about the U.S. giving gold to Afghanistan is circulating online.
Wheeler’s Misleading Carbon Emissions Math
During his confirmation hearing on Jan. 16, Andrew Wheeler, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, repeatedly used a misleading statistic to defend the EPA’s proposed replacement for the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
Social Posts Distort Facts of 2013 Shutdown
Viral Facebook posts say that former President Barack Obama “shut down the government to force Obamacare.” That’s misleading.
Bogus Claim on Interest Rate Increases
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates nine times since 2015, so a claim circulating on social media that there were no increases during the Obama administration is wrong.
Meme Confuses Lincoln’s Bible With A Quran
Former President Barack Obama was sworn into office in 2013 with his hand on two Bibles. He did not use a Quran, as a meme circulating online falsely claims.
Several Administrations Used Tear Gas at the Border
Q: During the Obama administration, did Border Patrol agents use tear gas to control crowds of migrants during incidents at the U.S.-Mexico border?
A: Yes, and the gas was also used by administrations prior to his, news reports say.