In addition to sending reckless, treasonous letters to foreign leaders, Tom Cotton also spends his time lying about terrorism…and even his own record. He’s made multiple false claims about there being more terrorism under Obama, Mexican involvement with terrorist groups, and even his own vote against the Farm Bill–extremely important legislation to his home state of Arkansas. Just like the Liar-in-Chief Donald Trump, Cotton is a (young) man in a hurry…to spread fear and false information.
TOM COTTON LIED ABOUT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S RECORD FIGHTING TERRORISM
Tom Cotton claimed more “jihadists have reached their targets in the United States under Barack Obama” than under the Bush administration after 9/11. “In barely four years in office, five jihadists have reached their targets in the United States under Barack Obama: the Boston Marathon Bomber, the Underwear Bomber, the Times Square Bomber, the Fort Hood shooter, and, in my own state, the Little Rock recruiting office shooter. In over seven years after 9/11, under George W. Bush, how many terrorists reached their targets in the United States? Zero. We need to ask: Why is the Obama administration failing in its mission to stop terrorism before it reaches its targets in the United States?” [Politifact, 4/26/13]
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Politifact rated Cotton’s claim “Mostly False.” “Cotton said, ‘In barely four years in office, five jihadists have reached their targets in the United States under Barack Obama,’ compared to zero ‘in over seven years after 9/11 under George W. Bush.’ Cotton’s math is inconsistent and stacked against Obama — and there’s a limit to how fairly a comparison like this reflects what an administration can accomplish in counter-terrorism. On balance, we rate Cotton’s claim Mostly False.” [Politifact, 4/26/13]
TOM COTTON LIED ABOUT MEXICAN INVOLVEMENT WITH TERROR GROUPS
Tom Cotton claimed Hezbollah collaborated “with locals in Mexico to cross our borders, attack us here.” “REP. TOM COTTON: No, Hezbollah has tried to launch terrorist attacks right here in Washington D.C. They’re under federal indictment collaborating with locals in Mexico to cross our borders, attack us here. As long as our border is open and it’s defenseless, then it’s not just an immigration issue, it’s a national security issue. And we know that these drug cartels in Mexico are focused primarily on power and profit. They’ll branch out into any activity if it brings them more money and helps them consolidate control. That’s yet another reason why we have to get control of our border.” [NBC’s Meet the Press, 11/30/14]
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FactCheck.org: “Neither Hezbollah nor anyone else was ‘collaborating with locals in Mexico to cross our borders.’” “More relevant to Cotton’s point about border security, neither Hezbollah nor anyone else was ‘collaborating with locals in Mexico to cross our borders.’ Quite the opposite, Arbabsiar — a naturalized U.S. citizen — crossed the border into Mexico in search of a hit man.” [FactCheck.org, 12/2/14]
Tom Cotton: “Groups like the Islamic State collaborate with drug cartels in Mexico” to “infiltrate our defenseless border and attack us right here.” “The problem is with Mark Pryor and Barack Obama refusing to enforce our immigration laws, and refusing to secure our border. I’ll change that when I’m in the United States Senate. And I would add, it’s not just an immigration problem. We now know that it’s a security problem. Groups like the Islamic State collaborate with drug cartels in Mexico who have clearly shown they’re willing to expand outside the drug trade into human trafficking and potentially even terrorism. They could infiltrate our defenseless border and attack us right here in places like Arkansas. This is an urgent problem and it’s time we got serious about it, and I’ll be serious about it in the United States Senate.” [Washington Post, 10/7/14]
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Washington Post Fact Checker awarded Cotton’s claim “Four Pinnochios.” “As we’ve noted, just because something is on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s true. As a lawmaker, Cotton needs to be careful about making inflammatory statements based on such flimsy evidence. At the very least, he needs to expand on his sources of information. He earns Four Pinnochios for trying to turn idle speculation into hard facts. Four Pinocchios.” [Washington Post Fact Checker, 10/9/16]
TOM COTTON LIED ABOUT HIS VOTE AGAINST THE FARM BILL
2014: In an ad Cotton claimed he voted against the Farm Bill when President Obama “turned it into a food stamp bill, with billions more in spending.” “When President Obama hijacked the farm bill, turned it into a food stamp bill, with billions more in spending, I voted no. Career politicians love attaching bad ideas to good ones. Then the bad ideas become law—and you pay for it.” [Washington Post Fact Checker, 9/13/14]
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Washington Post Fact Checker awarded Cotton four Pinocchios for his misleading ad. “The most problematic aspect of Cotton’s ad is that he suggests that attaching food stamps to the farm bill was a new idea—something that he was fighting against. But that’s invented history. As we have shown, this ‘bad idea’ has been in place since before Cotton, 37, was born…Cotton would be on more solid ground if he had looked into the camera and said that, despite a tradition of merging food stamps in the farm bill, he was tired of the politics as usual and took a firm stand against the longstanding practice. Instead, he uses President Obama as a straw man, suggesting the president purposely pushed Congress in a different direction. By creating a fantasy version of history, Cotton certainly sounds like a career politician. We wavered between Three and Four Pinocchios, but Cotton’s self-righteous tone tipped this to Four.” [Washington Post Fact Checker, 9/13/14]
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Politifact gave Cotton a “Pants on Fire” for saying Obama “hijacked the farm bill (and) turned it into a food stamp bill.” “Cotton said that Obama ‘hijacked the farm bill (and) turned it into a food stamp bill.’ That’s not correct — food stamps have been part of every farm bill enacted since 1973. One could say that Cotton and his allies in the House, by seeking a farm bill stripped of food stamp provisions, were actually the ones taking a more radical step, one that Congress ultimately voted against. We rate this claim Pants on Fire.” [Politifact, 9/19/14]