Is the Trump Train going off the rails?
Short Answer: yes.
The long answer?
After repeatedly threatening legal action against the women who have accused him of groping them during his own disastrous and divisive “Gettysburg Address,” Trump showed up nearly an hour and fifteen minutes late to his rally in Virginia Beach tonight. He went on to deliver a very short, low-energy 29-minute speech in which he told lie after lie. The remarks came as news broke that the Log Cabin Republicans announced they would not endorse Trump—and the most recent polls showed him deeply behind in Virginia. And in a sign of just how desperate the Trump campaign has become, they actually cited praise from actor Dean Cain to prove that their widely panned (and gimmicky) Contract with America was a success. Ouch.
Here’s Trump’s top lies in Virginia Beach:
LIE #1: Trump Lies About His Economic Plan Creating 25 Million Jobs and Creating Four Percent Economic Growth
TRUMP’S LIE: “I’m going to get us to a 4% growth, and maybe more than that, and create 25 million jobs over a 10-year period.” [Virginia, Beach, VA, 10/22/16]
THE TRUTH: CRFB blog: Donald Trump’s promise of 3.5 percent economic growth is “unrealistic” and “likely unachievable.” “Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump announced significant revisions to his tax plan that would reduce its cost by about half, a change CRFB president Maya MacGuineas described as ‘moving in the right direction.’ Unfortunately, to pay for his plan, Trump relies largely on unrealistic levels of economic growth, while ruling out changes to large portions of the budget to pay for his tax plan. Trump’s campaign estimates the new tax plan will cost $4.4 trillion, about half of the $9.25 trillion that we had estimated his old plan would cost. The new plan would be paid for in part with reductions in non-defense spending but mostly by increasing economic growth to 3.5 percent annually. This rate of economic growth is likely unachievable, and unfortunately Trump has taken many alternative offsets off the table that he could use to make up the difference.” [Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, 9/16/16]
CNBC: Trump’s 25 million new jobs promise doesn’t add up. “Donald Trump’s promise to grow the U.S. economy fast enough to create 25 million new jobs over the next decade is bound to win support among American workers. There’s only one problem with his pledge. Without a wave of new immigrants entering the American workforce, Trump will have a hard time finding enough workers to fill those jobs.” [CNBC, 9/15/16]
LIE #2: Trump Falsely Claims Our Military Is Depleted
TRUMP’S LIE: “We are going to rebuild the depleted military.” [Virginia, Beach, VA, 10/22/16]
THE TRUTH: The United States has the most powerful military in the world and in 2015 spent more on the military than the next seven biggest-spending nations combined. “THE FACTS: The U.S. continues to have the most powerful military in the world. Although defense spending has declined with the end of the war in Iraq and the drawdown of NATO forces in Afghanistan, in 2015 the United States still spent nearly $600 billion on its armed forces — more than the spending by the next seven biggest-spending nations combined. China, the second-biggest spender, has a defense budget less than a third of the Pentagon’s.” [Boston Globe, 7/21/16]
-
New York Times: “A single aircraft carrier with its escort ships wields more firepower than most militaries on the planet.” “But military commanders and experts say the claim purposely obscures the ability of today’s Navy, ignoring the vast gap between what a warship could do a century ago and the frightening array of armaments, aircraft and surveillance equipment carried by modern Navy vessels. Cruisers and destroyers carry cruise missiles, submarines can launch nuclear weapons, and a single aircraft carrier with its escort ships wields more firepower than most militaries on the planet.” [New York Times, 9/7/16]
PolitiFact said that Donald Trump’s claim that our military has been “totally depleted” was untrue. “‘Our military’ has been ‘totally depleted.’ While military spending has decreased, the United States’ defense budget is larger than the next seven to eight countries combined. And while the number of ground troops and Navy ships have shrunk, size is no guarantee of military might. In fact, experts say the Army and Navy of today are much more capable than they were decades ago.” [PolitiFact, 6/22/16]
LIE #3: Trump Lies About Hillary Clinton’s Trade and Border Positions
TRUMP’S LIE: “Speaking in secret to a foreign bank, Hillary Clinton said her dream is for a totally open trade, there go your businesses, and open borders, there goes your country. You lose your businesses and your country.” [Virginia, Beach, VA, 10/22/16]
THE TRUTH: Hillary Clinton’s remarks were not made “in secret” and did not represent her goals in office or actual policy proposals. “Clinton does not plot the destruction of the nation in any way during her paid speeches, which Trump inaccurately characterizes as secret. They were private. In one 2013 speech Clinton says her ‘dream’ would be ‘a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders.’ She does not say that is her goal in office, or that she believes it could ever be realistic. Her actual proposals identify increased border security as a key goal.” [NBC News, 10/13/16]
LIE #4: Trump Falsely Claims Hillary Clinton Supports Open Borders with the Middle East
TRUMP’S LIE: “Hillary’s plan includes an open border with the Middle East.” [Virginia, Beach, VA, 10/22/16]
THE TRUTH: PolitiFact rated the claim that “Hillary Clinton is for open borders” as “False.” ”Giuliani said, ‘Hillary Clinton is for open borders.’ Clinton supported a 2013 bill that would have invested billions in border security in addition to a path to citizenship. As a presidential candidate she has called for securing the border and targeting deportation to criminals and those who pose security threats. While her plan would make it easier for many undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation, that’s not the same as allowing a free-for-all at the border and ending enforcement. We rate this claim False.” [PolitiFact, 7/18/16]
LIE #5: Trump Falsely Claims that Crime Is Surging
TRUMP’S LIE: “We’re going to […] reduce surging crime.” [Virginia, Beach, VA, 10/22/16]
THE TRUTH: PolitiFact gave Donald Trump’s claim that “crime is rising” a rating of “Pants on Fire.” “Speaking generally about the state of the country, Trump said, ‘Crime is rising.’ […] We rate his claim Pants on Fire.” [PolitiFact, 6/9/16]