[ad_1]
It did not work very well.
When co-host Steve Doocy asked Trump if he was sure about his claim that the Democratic National Committee had given an important computer server that was hacked in 2016 to Ukraine (they had not), Trump said, providing no evidence and citing no sources, “That’s what the word is.”
When co-host Brian Kilmeade corrected Trump’s claim that European countries haven’t provided aid to Ukraine, Trump didn’t respond. (Kilmeade had quickly moved on to the next question.) When Kilmeade corrected Trump’s claim that he has “pulled out” of Syria, noting that Trump is keeping hundreds of soldiers in the country, Trump again said nothing. (Kilmeade quickly moved on again.)
Trump made at least 18 false claims in the interview — and that’s our initial count. We’re still looking into some other claims.
The list so far:
A factory in Texas
Trump said, “I just got back from Austin, Texas, where I was with Tim Cook. He’s going to be building a $1 billion facility to make whatever he makes. You know, that’s Apple. And he’s gonna build this incredible facility. We toured another facility where they make the Mac Pro, which is phenomenal, which was opening — the reason we, you know — it opened that day.”
Facts First: The plant Trump visited did not open that day. The Flex Ltd. facility has been making Apple’s Mac Pro computers since 2013.
The Ukraine scandal and impeachment
CrowdStrike
Trump said that Democrats gave a computer server that was hacked in 2016 to “a company owned by a very wealthy Ukrainian.”
Asked if he is sure the Democrats gave the server to Ukraine, Trump did not cite any specific evidence. He said, “That’s what the word is.”
The accuracy of the whistleblower
Trump said that the whistleblower complaint about his July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “bore no relationship to my call.”
Facts First: The whistleblower’s account of the call has largely been proven accurate.
In fact, the rough transcript released by Trump himself showed that the whistleblower’s three primary allegations about the call were correct or very close to correct.
The identity of the whistleblower
Trump said “a lot of people think” that the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, is “essentially the whistleblower.”
Facts First: This is simple nonsense. Schiff is not the whistleblower, “essentially” or otherwise.
The timing of Schiff’s comments
Trump said that Schiff made up what Trump said on the call with Zelensky, but then, when Trump released his rough transcript of the call, everybody was “embarrassed.”
Before he started claiming that Schiff did not expect a transcript to be released, Trump had complained that Schiff did not read the transcript available to him.
European aid to Ukraine
Trump said of aid to Ukraine, “Why isn’t Germany putting up money? Why isn’t France putting up money? Why isn’t all of the European nations, why aren’t they putting up?”
Facts First: European countries have provided hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2014. (Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade told Trump in this interview that Europe has indeed provided aid.)
Zelensky acknowledged European “help” during his meeting with Trump at the United Nations in September, though he said the world’s efforts had been inadequate so far: “And, I’m sorry, but we don’t need help; we need support. Real support. And we thank — thank everybody, thank all of the European countries; they each help us. But we also want to have more — more.”
Obama’s aid to Ukraine
Trump said President Barack Obama sent only “pillows and sheets” in aid to Ukraine, adding, “He wouldn’t send anything else.”
Facts First: Obama did refuse to provide lethal aid to Ukraine, but he didn’t send mere pillows and sheets; he sent counter-mortar radars, drones, armored Humvees and night vision devices, among other things.
Hunter Biden’s career
Trump said that Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden managed to get business opportunities during Joe Biden’s vice-presidency even though Hunter Biden “never made 10 cents in his life.”
Facts First: This is an exaggeration. While it’s certainly fair for Trump to raise questions about how qualified Hunter Biden was for the positions he secured while Joe Biden was vice-president, Hunter Biden did have prior professional experience.
Prosecutor Viktor Shokin
Trump said that the Ukrainian prosecutor Joe Biden had pushed to oust, Viktor Shokin, was “prosecuting” the company where Hunter Biden sat on the board, Burisma.
Facts First: Shokin was not prosecuting Burisma.
Zelensky and Marie Yovanovitch
Trump said of former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch: “By the way, when I was talking to President Zelensky, it’s right on the phone, you can read it. He didn’t like her. He brought up her name and he didn’t like her at all.”
Zelensky did criticize Yovanovitch, saying, “Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough.” But he had been prompted by Trump, not disparaging her on his own.
Marie Yovanovitch and Trump’s photo
Trump claimed about Yovanovitch: “This ambassador that everybody says is so wonderful, she wouldn’t hang my picture in the embassy. … She’s in charge of the embassy. She wouldn’t hang it. It took like a year and a half, or two years, for her to get the picture up.”
A State Department official who has recently served in Kiev said Yovanovitch never sought to prevent Trump’s photo from being put up at the embassy. The official said the photo did not arrive until late 2017.
Soldiers
The treatment of veterans
Trump said, “The vets: for years you would turn on your television, every night you’d see a story about the vets and how badly they’re being treated, it’s a horror show. You don’t hear that anymore.”
Facts First: We can’t speak for what Trump himself has seen on television, but it’s just not true that the rest of us no longer hear about veterans being treated badly at VA facilities.
Veterans Choice
Trump claimed to have been the one who passed the Veterans Choice health care program.
The US presence in Syria
Trump said: “I’m pulling back. I just pulled out of Syria, except I kept the oil, if it was okay with you.”
Facts First: Trump did not “pull out” of Syria. While he did withdraw US troops from the northeastern region, in advance of a Turkish offensive in that region, he has kept hundreds of troops in the country — as Kilmeade noted to Trump, responding, “You have 600 guys there, right?”
China
China’s economic performance
Trump said China is having its worst economic year in “57 years.”
Who is paying for Trump’s tariffs on China
Trump blamed “the media” for trying to convince people that Americans are paying for Trump’s tariffs on China.
The history of tariffs on China
Trump said the US has never previously taken in “10 cents” from tariffs on China.
The trade deficit with China
Trump said the US has for years had a “$500 billion” trade deficit with China.
CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed to this article.
[ad_2]
Source link