Fact-checking Trump's departure speech

View this email in your browser  This week:  Joe Biden's inaugural speech, fact-checked … Fact-checking former President Trump's departure speech … Introducing the Biden Promise Tracker … Will a minimum wage hike make your Taco Bell cost more? How much? A weekly note from the editor of    (AP) Joe Biden's inaugural speech, fact-checked In a move not seen in 152 years, former President Donald Trump was absent from the ceremony that marked the peaceful handoff of power. But in his inaugural speech, with outgoing Vice President Mike Pence and other Republican leaders in attendance, President Joe Biden called for a fresh start and an end to "this uncivil war." "Politics does not have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path," Biden said. "Every disagreement does not have to be a cause for total war. We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and manufactured." As is often the case with inaugural addresses, Biden focused on broad themes. His few factual assertions were largely accurate. "A once-in-a-century virus, it silently stalks the country. It's taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II." This is close to accurate.  As Biden was speaking, the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker was reporting 402,269 deaths in the United States. That is just shy of the 405,399 U.S. deaths during World War II, according to the Congressional Research Service. With the seven-day moving average of coronavirus deaths reaching 3,015 on Inauguration Day, the four-year World War II total was due to be matched by the coronavirus either on Jan. 20 or 21, less than a year after the virus reached the United States. With this milestone reached, the only war that has killed more Americans than the coronavirus pandemic is the Civil War, which took between 618,000 and 750,000 lives on both sides, according to estimates. Currently, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington projects 566,720 COVID-19 deaths by May 1, even with vaccine distribution under way. "Millions of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed." Biden was correct about jobs lost during the pandemic: Between February and December 2020, the number of nonfarm jobs nationally fell by more than 9.8 million. As for businesses, while it's undeniable that a large number have closed for good, the specific numbers are fuzzy.  One metric, the Yelp Local Economic Impact Report, counted almost 100,000 permanent, cumulative closures in its September report, plus another 66,000 temporary closures. The actual number could be higher, since not all businesses are captured by Yelp's methodology. And these numbers are several months old by now. "108 years ago, at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote." Biden made the point to contrast with Kamala Harris' historic swearing-in. "Don't tell me things can't change," Biden said. Harris became the first Black vice president, as well as the first Asian-American and woman to serve as either president or vice president. Biden accurately described a clash in 1913, on the eve of Woodrow Wilson's inauguration (though not on the day of the inauguration). According to the Library of Congress, suffragists mobilized 5,000 women who were mistreated on the streets of Washington by unruly crowds and police. "'Women were jeered, tripped, grabbed, shoved, and many heard 'indecent epithets' and 'barnyard conversation,'" according to contemporary reports cited by the Library of Congress. "Instead of protecting the parade, the police 'seemed to enjoy all the ribald jokes and laughter and part participated in them.' One policeman explained that they should stay at home where they belonged." "Now, a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat." Biden's reference to the rise of such groups tracks back to the threats that FBI director Christopher Wray described in a September 2020 House committee hearing. "Racially motivated violent extremists over recent years have been responsible for the most lethal activity in the U.S.," Wray told lawmakers. "Now this year, the domestic terrorism, lethal attacks we've had have, I think, all fit in the category of anti-government, anti-authority, which covers everything from anarchist violent extremists to militia types. We don't really think in terms of left, right." Wray drilled down and clarified that among the racially motivated extremists, "people subscribing to some kind of white supremacist-type ideology is certainly the biggest chunk of that." When Biden cited Wray's data during the campaign, we rated it True. —  Jon Greenberg and Louis Jacobson   Share Tweet Forward Fact-checking Donald Trump's departure speech President Donald Trump spoke Wednesday morning at a departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews before flying home to Florida. The event allowed Trump to hold a mini-rally attended by supporters. In remarks before a modest crowd, Trump said, "I wish the new administration great luck and great success. I think they'll have great success." However, the consistent pattern of his political life — a penchant for exaggeration, and even outright falsehood — continued into his last hours in office. Here are some of the questionable assertions Trump made during his departure speech — the last time we'll fact-check claims made during Trump's presidency. "We also got tax cuts — the largest tax cut and reform in the history of our country, by far."  This is a falsehood he shared repeatedly during his time in office. (Our colleagues at the Washington Post Fact Checker found that this was Trump's second-most-commonly repeated false claim, shared 295 times during his presidency.) In inflation-adjusted dollars, the tax bill Trump signed was the fourth-largest since 1940, and as a percentage of GDP, it ranked seventh. "The job numbers have been absolutely incredible." This glosses over the reality that, while the unemployment rate has fallen since its post-pandemic peak of 13.3% in May, it remained at 6.7% in December, two full points above where it was when Trump was sworn in. "We built the greatest economy in the history of the world." Even when you exclude the pandemic-driven recession, and even if you look only at U.S. rather than world history, this is False. While unemployment was near historical lows under Trump, growth in gross domestic product was well below what previous presidents achieved. Other metrics such as wages and business investment ranged from decent to mediocre. Veterans "can go out, and they can see a doctor if they have to wait long periods of time. ... We didn't have any of those rights before when I came on." This is False. After the scandal of long waits and the efforts of administrators at some facilities to cover that up, Congress and the Obama administration passed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. "One of the things we're very, very proud of is the selection of almost 300 federal judges and 3 great Supreme Court justices. That's a very big number. That's a record-setting number." There's no question that Trump left an imprint on the judicial branch with his nominations for federal judgeships. But 300 is an exaggeration. The actual number is 234. That's more than one of the two recent one-term presidents (George H.W. Bush) but less than the other (Jimmy Carter). It's well below the recent two-term presidents — Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. "We just got 75 million votes." Trump received 74.22 million votes. Trump fell short of Biden's popular vote total, which was 81.28 million. This talking point, echoing Trump's months-long efforts to cast doubt on the election results, is not just a rounding error. The difference between 75 million and 74.22 million is substantive; 780,000 votes is almost three times the combined margin of Biden's victory in the seven closest states. — Louis Jacobson Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help   Yes, I support PolitiFact! Make a tax-deductible donation to make this message go away. Minimum wage increases and the myth of the $38 burrito Jordan Rachel, a Turning Point USA contributor, said a $15-an-hour minimum wage would raise the price of a Taco Bell burrito to $38. "If you want $15 minimum wage, don't complain when your Taco Bell order costs $38 for a burrito," said Rachel tweeted on Jan. 16. We rated her claim False.  This claim is countered by available evidence, including the current burrito prices at Taco Bell locations in cities and counties where a $15 minimum wage is in effect. Four economists characterized the claim as a far-off estimate at odds with economic theory. Read our full analysis for a detailed breakdown of taco and burrito prices around the country. Introducing the Biden Promise Tracker When Joe Biden campaigned for president, he laid out various plans to fight COVID-19, rebuild the economy, address systemic racism, combat climate change, provide a pathway to citizenship for certain immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally, and expand Obamacare. PolitiFact will be tracking his progress, or lack of progress, on the Biden Promise Tracker.  As we did for Barack Obama and Donald Trump, PolitiFact will report on the status of his campaign promises on a rolling basis over the next four years. We will focus on the top 100 Biden pledges. SEE THEM ALL: Joe Biden's top 100 campaign promises Biden can achieve some promises quickly with action on his own, such as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement. Using executive power, for example, Biden could raise the number of refugees allowed in the country from the low levels set by the Trump administration. But for many promises, Biden is expected to work toward buy-in from Congress, including Republicans. He will need lawmakers for promises that require funding or new laws. "Joe Biden is not big on acting unilaterally and by executive order," said Niambi M. Carter, Howard University political scientist. "It's not the way he wants to legislate, even though he has that authority and power. He is still a legislator at heart and wants to govern that way." We rate campaign promises based on verifiable outcomes, not on intentions or effort. Our promise meters include ratings of Stalled, In the Works, Compromise, Promise Broken and Promise Kept. Do you smell smoke?  Here's your Pants on Fire fact-check of the week:  "Inauguration Cancelled, Trump Remains in Office." See what else we've rated Pants on Fire this week.  Have questions or ideas for our coverage? Send me an email at holan@politifact.com. Put "Fact-checking" in the subject line. Thanks for reading! Angie Drobnic Holan  PolitiFact Editor-in-Chief  Send this link to your friends so they can sign up for this email! Copyright © 2021 PolitiFact, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website, attended one of our events, or communicated with us. Our mailing address is: PolitiFact 801 3rd St S 33701 St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list.  Subscription Information This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog   *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally