An independent experimental fact-checking site, exploring and advocating ways to make fact-checking better.
“(T)he Koch brothers, the second wealthiest family in America, are going to spend $900 million in the coming election cycle.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on March 31, 2015, at an Austin, Texas town hall meeting Overview Multiple methods of exaggeration lead to a wildly overblown claim. The Facts On March 31, 2015, Sen. Bernie Sanders gave a speech at…
Read more
“Sanders said that “in this last election in November, … 63 percent of the American people chose not to vote, … 80 percent of young people, (and) 75 percent of low-income workers chose not to vote.” … We rate the claim Half True.” —PolitiFact, from an April 2, 2015 fact check of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Overview PolitiFact burns…
Read more
“(Erek) Culbreath said, ‘According to the state of Florida, you are almost twice as likely to get attacked by an alligator than by someone with a conceal-and-carry permit.’” … We find the statement has an element of truth but ignores other information that would give a different impression. So we rate it Mostly False.” —PolitiFact Florida, from a March 23,…
Read more
“These numbers show that Webb is definitely right for the NASDAQ Composite (in fact, he underestimates a bit) and that he’s just about on target for the S&P 500 and the Wilshire 5000 if you round the figures upwards.” —PolitiFact, from a March 17, 2015 fact check of former Democratic Senator Jim Webb Overview PolitiFact’s claim massages the facts…
Read more
“One recent report on the gender pay gap in the Valley found that a woman with a bachelor’s degree here tends to make 60 percent less than a man with the same degree.” —Hillary Rodham Clinton, Feb. 24, 2015 Summary Clinton used the wrong percentage. The Facts Former Secretary of State and likely presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave a…
Read more
“Myth: President Obama wants the United States to stop climate change alone.” —The Democratic National Committee, December 2014 on its “Your Republican Uncle” website Overview The DNC identifies a myth nobody’s spreading and offers a dubious example of President Obama’s actions to cut carbon emissions The Facts The Democratic National Committee bills its “Your Republican Uncle” website as a…
Read more
“Atheists are underrepresented [in federal prison].” Mona Chalabi, in a March 12, 2015 article for FiveThirtyEight Overview FiveThirtyEight uses data inadequate for the task of estimating the percentage of atheists in federal prison. FiveThirtyEight’s argument won’t even support a probabilistic case that atheists are underrepresented in the federal prison population. The Facts FiveThirtyEight’s Mona Chalabi received a request from…
Read more
“Netanyahu Takes Kerry Out of Context” —FactCheck.org, from a March 3, 2015 fact check of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Overview FactCheck.org’s assertion that Prime Minister Netanyahu took Secretary of State Kerry out of context appears to lack any basis in fact. The Facts On March 3, 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a well-publicized address to both…
Read more
In a commentary piece we did in 2013, we developed a chart, based on Pew Research survey data, attempting to show the percentage of Muslims who favored punishing apostasy with a death sentence. That chart was wrong, so we added an updated chart and a short explanation to the original article. The thrust of the article, that Islamic zeal for…
Read more
“Myth: Immigration reform will allow illegal immigrants to take away jobs from hard-working Americans.” —The Democratic National Committee, from its “Your Republican Uncle” website, November 2013 Overview Not every illegal immigrant would take away the job of a hard-working American citizen, but it’s likely some would. The Facts Our examination of the Democratic National Committee’s “Your Republican Uncle” website…
Read more