Washington Post

The Fact Checker is the fact-checking column of The Washington Post in the United States. It rates claims with Pinocchios.

Checked by Washington Post6 Aug 2021United States Health

Ron DeSantis, Governor (R-Fla.)

“No elected official is doing more to enable the transmission of COVID in America than Joe Biden with his open borders policies.”

Washington Post rated this: Three Pinocchios

Washington Post says: There is little evidence to support this claim. Undocumented immigrants found to be covid-positive are quarantined until they are well.

Checked by Washington Post5 Aug 2021United States Health

video posted by Steve Scalise, Member of the House (R-La.)

“Democrats have a history of vaccine misinformation and not trusting science.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: The clips are misleadingly edited.

Checked by Washington Post4 Aug 2021United States

Muriel E. Bowser, Washington DC Mayor (D)

“We all know what the rules says about sitting at a dining table and dining. Don’t be ridiculous. … They took a picture of me where dinner and drinks were served.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: Bowser was clearly violating her own mandate, based on video evidence.

Checked by Washington Post30 Jul 2021United States

Chesa Boudin, San Francisco District Attorney (D)

“Like the majority of Americans, I grew up with an immediate family member incarcerated. The majority of Americans have an immediate family member who is either currently or formerly incarcerated, so I have that in common with the vast majority of people in this country.”

Washington Post rated this: One Pinocchios

Checked by Washington Post28 Jul 2021United States Crime and security

Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference Chair

“It is a fact that … in December of 2020, Nancy Pelosi was made aware of potential security threats to the Capitol and she failed to act. It is a fact that the U.S. Capitol Police raised concerns and rather than providing them with the support and resources they needed and they deserved, she prioritized her partisan political optics over their safety.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Checked by Washington Post20 Jul 2021United States Economy and jobs

Hakeem Jeffries, Member of the House (D-N.Y.)

“Republicans used it in 2017 to pass the GOP tax scam, where 83 percent of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1 percent and they saddled us with approximately $2 trillion in debt to subsidize the lifestyle of the rich and shameless.”

Washington Post rated this: Three Pinocchios

Washington Post says: He's using a number for 2027 -- far in the future -- that only emerges because of a quirk in how the bill was drafted.

Checked by Washington Post16 Jul 2021United States Health

Ron Johnson, U.S. Senator (R-Wis.)

“The fact of the matter is it looks like natural immunity is as strong if not stronger than vaccinated immunity. ... There is a risk to the vaccine. Again, it’s very small, but there are some pretty serious side effects, including death. We are already over 5,200 deaths reported on the VAERS system. That’s a CDC, FDA’s early warning system.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Checked by Washington Post15 Jul 2021United States Elections

James E. Clyburn, Member of the House (D-S.C.)

“No Democrat has never been against voter ID.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: Clyburn himself has opposed many forms of voter ID laws

Checked by Washington Post14 Jul 2021United States

Joe Biden, President

“There’s noncompete clauses of people running the machines that lay down asphalt. If, in fact, you get offered a job and you know, you’re in Arkansas doing it, a specific example is you can’t take a job in west Texas to do it. ... … Or there were clauses in McDonald’s contracts: You can’t leave Burger King to go to McDonald’s.”

Washington Post rated this: Three Pinocchios

Washington Post says: The McDonalds-Burger King story is wrong and the asphalt story cannot be verified.

Checked by Washington Post13 Jul 2021United States Economy and jobs

Jim Jordan, Member of the House (R-Ohio)

“Average gas price: June 2020: $2.21 June 2021: $3.07 President Biden’s economy!”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: Biden is not responsible for higher gas prices; the easing of the pandemic is.

Checked by Washington Post9 Jul 2021United States

Glenn Youngkin, GOP gubernatorial candidate

“Do not count on the revenue from legalized marijuana to amount to anything. It hasn’t worked in Colorado, it hasn’t worked in California, it hasn’t worked in Oregon. This has been a false advertisement.”

Washington Post rated this: Three Pinocchios

Washington Post says: Many states have exceeded their revenue projections for legal marijuana sales, even ones that face initial disappointment such as California.

Checked by Washington Post7 Jul 2021United States Crime and security

Cedric L. Richmond, Senior adviser to President Biden

“Republicans are very good at staying on talking points of who says ‘defund the police,’ but the truth is, they defunded the police.”

Washington Post rated this: Three Pinocchios

Checked by Washington Post2 Jul 2021United States Politics and government

Voiceover, Terry McAuliffe campaign

“Before he ran for office, he was a big fan of Terry McAuliffe and his record as governor.”

Washington Post rated this: Three Pinocchios

Washington Post says: The video slices and dice comments that do no prove Youngkin was a "big fan" of McAuliffe.

Checked by Washington Post30 Jun 2021United States

Elise Stefanik, Member of Congress (R-N.Y.)

“May was the third straight month of 170,000 apprehensions, which hasn’t occurred since 2000.”

Washington Post rated this: Two Pinocchios

Checked by Washington Post29 Jun 2021United States Health

Jim Banks, Member of the House (R-Ind.)

“The problem isn’t guns and it isn’t COVID either. It’s violent rioting and the Defund the Police movement, both of which were supported, financially and rhetorically, by the Biden admin.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: Biden supports boosting fundig for police.

Checked by Washington Post28 Jun 2021United States

Joe Biden, President

“The Second Amendment, from the day it was passed, limited the type of people who could own a gun and what type of weapon you could own. You couldn’t buy a cannon.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: No such ban on cannons existed.

Checked by Washington Post22 Jun 2021United States Crime and security

Donald Trump, Former president

“Thank you and congratulations to Laura Baigert of the Georgia Star News on the incredible reporting you have done. Keep going! The scam [in Fulton County, Georgia] is all unraveling fast.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Checked by Washington Post18 Jun 2021United States Elections

Charles E. Schumer, Senate Majority Leader (D-N.Y.)

“Georgia, Iowa, Montana, Florida, Alabama, Utah, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Arkansas — this is where some of these policies [to restrict voting rights] that I just mentioned are now law. ... The actions in state legislatures were totally partisan. None of these voter-suppression laws were passed with bipartisan support, not one.”

Washington Post rated this: Wrong

Checked by Washington Post15 Jun 2021United States Economy and jobs

Roger Williams, Member of the House (R-Texas)

“The President’s budget will increase taxes roughly $28,000 per household. Do you support paying more taxes next year?”

Washington Post rated this: Three Pinocchios

Washington Post says: This is a simple-minded average that says nothing about what households would pay.

Checked by Washington Post14 Jun 2021United States Economy and jobs

Terry McAullife, former Virginia governor (D)

“I inherited the largest budget deficit in the history of the state from the Republicans.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: This has already been fact-checked as false three times but McAuliffe keeps saying it.