Q: Did the crew of Air Force One refuse to fly President Obama to play golf?
A: No. It’s a fake news story specifically targeting “conservative readers.”
Plane Crew Didn’t Rebuff Obama
Person: Barack Obama
Groundhog Friday
In our final wrap-up of repeated claims for 2016, the president and president-elect rehash familiar talking points.
The Whoppers of 2016
Donald Trump again dominates our annual review of political falsehoods.
Mailbag: Manufacturing Jobs and Fidel Castro
This week, readers sent us letters about President Barack Obama’s record on manufacturing jobs, and Sen. Ted Cruz’s claim that Obama praised the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Obama’s Record on Manufacturing Jobs
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that 805,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since President Barack Obama has been in office. In fact, there has been a net loss of 303,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2009.
Obama Didn’t ‘Praise’ Castro
Sen. Ted Cruz went too far when he claimed that President Barack Obama praised the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Obama offered neither praise nor criticism in his official statement on Castro’s death.
Clinton and Nuclear Launch Times
Q: Did Hillary Clinton disclose classified information when she said it takes four minutes to launch a nuclear missile after a presidential order?
A: The U.S. Strategic Command said it does not “disclose operational timelines.” But it is common knowledge that it takes about four minutes.
Obama’s Numbers October 2016 Update
Our last update on statistical indicators of the Obama presidency before his successor is elected.
Fired Over VA Wait Times
Speaking at a CNN town hall about the military, President Barack Obama suggested that his administration “fired a whole bunch of people who were in charge of some of these facilities” involved in the wait-times scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. That’s not the case.
Trump on Birtherism: Wrong, and Wrong
Donald Trump finally, definitively allowed that “President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.” But his terse statement on the matter included two falsehoods.