Washington, D.C.–This evening, Correct The Record President Brad Woodhouse released the following statement on Donald Trump’s rally in Loveland, Colorado:
“Trump’s failed attempt to gloss over what has been found in his tax returns by The New York Times is pathetic–the Republican nominee for president is now boasting about avoiding paying his fair share, unlike millions of hardworking Americans who know how important it is to contribute to our schools, to our veterans, and to our infrastructure. His tax avoidance makes it clear that Donald Trump is only looking out for Donald Trump, not for middle class Americans.”
To add insult to injury, Trump just can’t stop lying. Here are Trump’s top four lies from tonight’s rally.
TRUMP’S TOP 4 LIES IN LOVELAND
LIE #1: Trump lies about the treatment of veterans
THE LIE: Trump: “We have illegal immigrants in many cases treated better than our veterans.” [Loveland, CO 10/3/16]
THE TRUTH: Washington Post Fact Checker gave Donald Trump’s claim that veterans are “in many cases” being treated “worse” than undocumented immigrants a rating of “Four Pinocchios.” “Trump often says veterans ‘in many cases’ are being treated ‘worse’ than illegal immigrants. To an extent, whether one group of people is treated ‘worse’ than another is a matter of opinion. But it’s clear that the ‘many cases’ that his campaign cites are apples-to-oranges comparisons that don’t make much sense. And more broadly, people who are in the United States illegally aren’t granted the same rights as people here legally — both civilians and veterans. This is an absurd comparison, and Trump needs to drop it. Four Pinocchios” [Washington Post, 9/13/16]
PolitiFact rated Donald Trump’s claim that “our veterans, in many cases, are being treated worse than illegal immigrants” as “False.” “Trump said, ‘Our veterans, in many cases, are being treated worse than illegal immigrants.’ In some states undocumented immigrants are barred from enrolling in post-secondary institutions, or pay out-of-state tuition even if they’ve lived in that state most of their lives; veterans are eligible for federal benefits for higher education and training and are eligible for in-state tuition. Undocumented immigrants also aren’t eligible for Medicaid, cannot buy coverage through the Affordable Care Act and cannot receive Social Security benefits, all of those services and benefits are available to veterans. Veterans also have the right to vote and are eligible for federal job placement resources. Veterans are entitled to several more benefits that are not offered to civilians, much less undocumented immigrants. We rate Trump’s statement False.” [PolitiFact, 9/9/16]
LIE #2: Trump lies about U.S. taxes being “just about the highest in the world”
THE LIE: Trump: “Just about the highest in the world, our taxes.” [Loveland, CO 10/3/16]
THE TRUTH: Washington Post Fact Checker said Donald Trump’s claim that “we’re the highest-taxed country in the world” wasn’t “anywhere near” true. “‘Right now, we’re the highest-taxed country in the world.’ –Trump As a self-proclaimed billionaire, Trump probably personally faces high tax rates. But the statistics don’t lie—the United States isn’t anywhere near the top among industrialized nations.” [Washington Post, 2/7/16]
PolitiFact rated Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S. had “the highest tax rate anywhere in the world” as “False.” “Trump, while lamenting the condition of the middle class, said the U.S. has ‘the highest tax rate anywhere in the world.’ All sets of data we examined for individual and family taxes prove him wrong. Statutory income tax rates in the U.S. fall around the end of the upper quarter of nations. More exhaustive measures – which compute overall tax burden per person and as a percentage of GDP – show the U.S. either is in the middle of the pack or on the lighter end of taxation compared with other advanced industrialized nations. We rate Trump’s claim False.” [PolitiFact, 10/20/15]
LIE #3: Trump lies about getting a “small loan” from his father to start his business
THE LIE: Trump said he got a “small loan” from his father to start his business. [Loveland, CO 10/3/16]
THE TRUTH: Donald Trump received more than $74 million from loans tied to his father. “The ‘small loan’ was the $1 million from Trump’s father, Fred, to finance his Grand Hyatt hotel in 1978. (At this point, Donald was already president of his father’s real estate company.) But Fred Trump made out many other loans to Donald until his death in 1999, including a $70 million construction loan for the Grand Hyatt and a $3.5 million casino chip loan to bail out Trump’s struggling gaming empire, the Washington Post’s Fact-Checker reported.” [PolitiFact, 6/22/16]
Donald Trump received what he characterized as “a small loan” of $1 million loan from his father. “Donald Trump on Monday said his climb to the top of the business world hasn’t been an easy one and depicted a $1 million loan from his father as ‘small.’ ‘My whole life really has been a ‘no’ and I fought through it,’ Trump said Monday at an NBC-sponsored town hall here. ‘It has not been easy for me, it has not been easy for me. And you know I started off in Brooklyn, my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars.’” [CNN, 10/26/15]
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Donald Trump’s “small loan” of $1 million would likely be worth around $6.8 million in 2016 dollars. “That small loan from Trump’s father was worth $1 million, probably given before Trump entered the Manhattan real estate market in the early 1970s. If Trump’s father made the loan in 1968, the year his son graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, that $1 million would be worth $6.8 million in today’s dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index inflation calculator.” [CNN, 6/22/16]
LIE #4: Trump claims Clinton “brought enormous poverty to all communities”
THE LIE: Trump of Clinton: “In America, she brought enormous poverty to all communities.” [Loveland, CO 10/3/16]
THE TRUTH: No. In fact, read this.