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 Post4 Apr 2024United States Health

Nicole Shanahan, Independent presidential candidate

“Pharmaceutical medicine has its place, but no single safety study can assess the cumulative impact of one prescription on top of another prescription, and one shot on top of another shot on top of another shot, throughout the course of childhood.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: There is no documented link between autism and vaccines

Checked by Washington Post26 Mar 2024United States War and conflict

Donald Trump, Former US President

“Democrats "are KILLING SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE by allowing the INVASION OF THE MIGRANTS”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: Migrants pay into Social Security and Medicare wihout getting benefit.

Checked by Washington Post25 Mar 2024United States Economy and jobs

Jesse Watters, Fox news host

“As Perry [Iowa] residents struggle to cope with mass layoffs, Tyson Foods has its eyes on a different class of workers. The company is now offering new jobs to asylum seekers in other states …. They’re firing Americans and offering perks to illegals. This was the Democrat plan all along.”

Washington Post rated this: False

Washington Post says: Watters took discrete events and conjured a false narrative suggesting that U.S. citizens were being fired in Iowa in exchange for illegal immigrants being hired in New York.

Checked by Washington Post19 Mar 2024United States Politics and government

Donald Trump, former US president

“Trump held back "a tape" of his phone call with the Ukrainian president in order to trick Democrats like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: The transcript was released before Adam Schiff spoke about it

Checked by Washington Post18 Mar 2024United States Economy and jobs

Shalanda Young, White House budget director

“The budget reduces the deficit by about $3 trillion by making our tax code fairer.”

Washington Post rated this: Not the Whole Story

Washington Post says: The budget never explains how to pay for a big tax cut

Checked by Washington Post14 Mar 2024United States Economy and jobs

Donald Trump, Former U.S. president

“In February alone, nearly 1 million jobs held by native-born Americans disappeared. Think of that. You lost a million jobs. Black people, that’s who lost the jobs. Hispanic people, that’s who lost the jobs.”

Washington Post rated this: False

Washington Post says: Thi number --w hich is doubled -- does not say what Trump claims.

Checked by Washington Post9 Mar 2024United States Politics and government

Katie Britt, Senator (R-Ala.)

“I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas. That’s where I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12. ...President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: The case took place during the George W. Bush administration and di not involved trafficking to the United States.

Checked by Washington Post8 Mar 2024United States Economy and jobs

Joe Biden, U.S. president

“The last administration enacted a $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits the top 1 percent, the very wealthy and the biggest corporation, and exploded the federal deficit. They added more to the national debt than any presidential term in American history.”

Washington Post rated this: Misleading

Washington Post says: The tax cut was not the main reason for the increase in the deficit under Trump.

Checked by Washington Post6 Mar 2024United States Elections

Donald Trump, Former U.S. president

“That’s why they are allowing these people to come in — people that don’t speak our language — they are signing them up to vote.”

Washington Post rated this: False

Washington Post says: There is no evidence this is the case.

Checked by Washington Post27 Feb 2024United States Economy and jobs

Donald Trump, Former U.S. president

“Unlike racist Joe Biden, I have spent my entire life working hand in hand with Black Americans to create jobs, build buildings, invest in our communities and expand opportunities and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color.”

Washington Post rated this: Lacks context

Washington Post says: Trump had a fraught relationship with Black people

Checked by Washington Post22 Feb 2024United States Politics and government

Joe Biden, U.S. president

“He [President Donald Trump] did not move on making sure that we dealt with vaccinating the American public. We ended up losing over a million people dead — a million people.”

Washington Post rated this: Misleading

Washington Post says: More covid death took place under Biden than Trump

Checked by Washington Post19 Feb 2024United States War and conflict

James Comer, Member of Congress (R-Ky.)

“We believe that one of the classified documents may be on an email that was in Hunter Biden’s laptop to Ukraine at a time when Hunter Biden was trying to prove his worth to Burisma.”

Washington Post rated this: False

Washington Post says: There's no evidence

Checked by Washington Post16 Feb 2024United States

Donald Trump, Former U.S. president

“Who can get elected with high interest rates, open borders, food that costs 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent more than it did just a few years ago?”

Washington Post rated this: False

Washington Post says: Food prices are up 20%

Checked by Washington Post10 Feb 2024United States

Joe Biden, U.S. president

“I’ve seen the headlines since the report was released about my willful retention of documents. This assertion is not only misleading, they’re just plain wrong.”

Washington Post rated this: Needs context

Washington Post says: The executive summary says that -- but the detailed report has many caveats

Checked by Washington Post9 Feb 2024United States

Donald Trump, Former U.S. president

“If you take a look at those five or six tweets [on Jan. 6], you will see very beautiful, very heartwarming statements.”

Washington Post rated this: False

Washington Post says: Trump failed for three hours to tell rioters to leave the Capitol

Checked by Washington Post7 Feb 2024United States Health

Kamala Harris, U.S. vice president

“Gun violence is the leading cause of death of the children of America — not car accidents, not some form of cancer — gun violence.”

Washington Post rated this: Inaccurate

Washington Post says: This is better expressed as children and teens

Checked by Washington Post30 Jan 2024United States Economy and jobs

Donald Trump, former U.S. president

“Those cars are all going to be made in China. … There’s no such thing as fair transition that destroys over 100,000 auto manufacturing jobs.”

Washington Post rated this: No evidence

Washington Post says: With the investments made by Biden experts expect jobs to be saved and made in the USA

Checked by Washington Post24 Jan 2024United States Economy and jobs

Donald Trump, Former U.S. president

“We had the best unemployment rates ever. And they were real unemployment, not like you have today where nobody’s working and they consider it to be.”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: There's been no change in the way the unemployment rate is calculated

Checked by Washington Post23 Jan 2024United States Economy and jobs

Joe Biden, U.S. president

“Look, folks, you know how many billionaires we have in America today? One thousand. You know what their average federal tax rate is? Federal tax rate is 8.5 percent.”

Washington Post rated this: Two Pinocchios

Washington Post says: The math mostly adds up but Biden is assuming income not currently counted for tax purposes

Checked by Washington Post17 Jan 2024United States Health

Make America Great Again Inc., pro-Trump Super PAC

“Drug traffickers, rapists, poisoning our country. But Nikki Haley refused to call illegals ‘criminals.’”

Washington Post rated this: Four Pinocchios

Washington Post says: This ad uses manipulated video to take remarks out of context