Washington, D.C.—Today, Correct The Record President Brad Woodhouse released the following statement on Donald Trump’s mind-boggling continued lie about his support for the Iraq War in Cleveland, Ohio:
“Donald Trump just can’t stop lying,” said Brad Woodhouse, President of Correct The Record. “Last night, Trump’s comments about Iraq were debunked by fact checker after fact checker (as they have for months). After being exposed as an utter fraud, it’s clear that The Donald is in panic mode. In a speech supposedly about education, Trump spent nearly ten minutes defending his already-debunked claim that he opposed the Iraq War from the beginning. In the process, Trump once again exposed himself as a serial liar who is unfit to be our next Commander in Chief. For more than a year, Donald Trump has been at war with the truth—and he’s clearly losing.”
THE TRUTH ABOUT DONALD TRUMP’S SUPPORT FOR THE IRAQ WAR
2002: Donald Trump on whether he supported the Iraq War: “Yeah, I guess so.” “For months, Donald Trump has claimed that he opposed the Iraq War before the invasion began — as an example of his great judgment on foreign policy issues. But in a 2002 interview with Howard Stern, Donald Trump said he supported an Iraq invasion. In the interview, which took place on Sept. 11, 2002, Stern asked Trump directly if he was for invading Iraq. ‘Yeah, I guess so,’ Trump responded. ‘I wish the first time it was done correctly.’” [Buzzfeed, 2/18/16]
PolitiFact gave Donald Trump’s claim that he “was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war, and yes, even before the war ever started” a rating of “False.” “On the Iraq War, Trump said, ‘I was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war, and yes, even before the war ever started.’ The record just doesn’t support this. We could only find one example of Trump commenting on the Iraq War before the invasion where he seemed apprehensive but not vehemently opposed to the operation. In another interview, Trump said he supported the invasion. This claim rates False.” [PolitiFact, 6/22/16]
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PolitiFact: “There’s no evidence…that [Trump] advocated against the war in the first place, or that he was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war.” “Clearly Trump opposed the Iraq War in its early years. There’s no evidence, though, that he advocated against the war in the first place, or that he was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war.” [PolitiFact, 6/22/16]
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PolitiFact HEADLINE: “Trump still wrong on his claim that opposed Iraq War ahead of the invasion.” [PolitiFact, 6/22/16]
FactCheck.org: Donald Trump “has yet to provide any evidence” of his early opposition to the Iraq war, despite his claim that he could provide “25 different stories” proving it. “As we have said before, there is no evidence that Trump opposed the war before it started. We wrote a timeline of all Trump’s public comments that we could find in 2002 and 2003, and found no instances of Trump voicing his opposition before the war started on March 19, 2003. Trump has stated during primary debates that his opposition was ‘loud and clear’ and well covered by newspapers, claiming erroneously that he could provide ‘25 different stories’ to prove his opposition. He has yet to provide any evidence.” [FactCheck.org, 6/22/16]
CNN: “There’s no indication [Trump] said anything along the lines of ‘Do not attack Iraq’ before the invasion began.” “But these statements were made after the war began, mostly in 2004. There’s no indication he said anything along the lines of ‘Do not attack Iraq’ before the invasion began, as he has previously claimed.” [CNN, 6/22/16]
Donald Trump’s “detailed statement” to Esquire magazine in opposition to the Iraq War was made 18 months after the war began. “‘In August of 2004, very early, right after the conflict, I made a detailed statement to Esquire magazine in an interview [opposing the invasion].’ Trump clearly was outspoken about his opposition to the Iraq War starting in 2004, the year he reportedly considered a presidential bid. (Instead, he launched his popular TV series, ‘The Apprentice.’) Trump did sharply criticize the war in Iraq in the August 2004 cover story of Esquire magazine. But this was nearly 18 months after the invasion in March 2003. Trump also has pointed several times to a July 2004 Reuters article as proof he opposed the war from the outset. The Reuters article is a preview of the August 2004 Esquire cover story. Somehow, in Trump’s mind, 2004 has turned into 2003, and Trump now says he ‘was against the war from the very beginning,’ even prior to the March 2003 invasion.” [Washington Post, 8/16/16]