As of April 1, 2019, President Donald Trump has made 9,451 false or misleading statements since taking office, The Washington Post reported earlier this week. That adds up to an average of 22 "fishy claims" per day - an almost three-fold increase from 5.9 in his first year.
On Wednesday, Anderson Cooper debunked a bundle of the president's trumped-up zingers from the previous 24 hours.
Cooper began by nailing Trump on his promise to release his tax returns after they are done being audited. They are neither being audited nor has he released them. There is also no rule against making tax returns that are under audit public, which they are not.
Here is a quick rundown of Cooper's fact-checking, with some of our own:
- Trump claimed on Tuesday that 98-99 percent of immigrants do not show up for their court hearing. In fact, a substantial majority make it, because they would prefer to not be deported.
- Contrary to what Trump insists, Central American countries are not sending their citizens in caravans to invade the United States. Experts say that cutting off aid will actually make the problem worse.
- After Trump decided to rekindle the fight to destroy Obamacare, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said there are no such plans for a Republican health care overhaul.
- Trump said - for the third time - that his father, Fred, was "born in a wonderful place called Germany." Fred Trump was born in New York. His grandfather, Friedrich, was born in Germany but was basically expelled from the country for avoiding military service. Bone spurs must run in the family.
- Trump has boasted that the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act was the "biggest tax cut" in history, except it was not. That award goes to Ronald Reagan's tax cuts in 1981.
- Trump on Tuesday peddled a conspiracy that windmill noise causes cancer. It does not. Windmills can reduce property values as Trump also pointed out, but not by 75 percent.
- Trump also suggested that Republicans that lose elections should question the vote totals, resurrecting his totally unsubstantiated lie that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election, which he won.
Check out Cooper's commentary below:
This is getting to be exhausting.
The windmill thing is just... yeah.
We have to laugh right?
Trump also struggled to say the word 'origins' while referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and report, which Trump has deemed "illegal," a "hoax," and a "witch hunt."
Instead, he said "oranges." Multiple times.
At least tomorrow is Friday.
