Facts Falling Off the Fiscal Cliff

November 14

In press conferences on the so-called fiscal cliff, House Speaker John Boehner greatly exaggerated the negative effect on the economy of raising taxes on upper-income individuals. Boehner erred when he said that “the problem with raising tax rates on the wealthiest Americans is that more than half of them are …
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Obama’s Numbers, Updated

November 5

In the interest of timeliness and accuracy, we are issuing an updated version of “Obama’s Numbers,” our collection of key measures of the president’s time in office. A few things have changed since we published our original version Oct. 8 — some for better, and some for worse. The number …
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The Final Attack Ads

November 2

Both sides in the presidential race are making one last push for votes with false and distorted claims on television, radio and even in text messages: A liberal super PAC’s radio ad in Ohio twists Mitt Romney’s words by having him say six times: “I’m not concerned about the very …
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Campaign Funny Business

November 1

An ad from the Romney campaign mocks President Obama’s proposal to create a “Secretary of Business,” but misrepresents the president’s proposal. The ad says that “his solution to everything is to add another bureaucrat.” But in fact, Obama’s plan actually seeks to consolidate more than a half dozen agencies, trim …
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Hawaiian Whopper

November 1

An ad by Republican Senate candidate Linda Lingle in the Aloha State is telling a real whopper — about us. Her ad says that FactCheck.org rated a claim made by her opponent as “the worst political deception of the year,” and it shows our logo with a headline reading “Whopper …
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Republican Mailers Mislead in New Mexico

October 31

New Mexico’s Republican Party misleads in two mailers attacking the state’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, two-term Rep. Martin Heinrich. One mailer states that “New Mexico workers have a jobs problem.” But the state’s unemployment rate is 6.4 percent, well below the national rate, or the 8 percent figure the flier …
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New Obama Ad Repeats Old Distortions

October 29

A new Obama campaign ad repeats old distortions in a homestretch appeal to voters. The ad claims Romney would make “catastrophic cuts to education,” but the ad cites an editorial that says Romney has promised to cut discretionary spending — not necessarily education. The ad repeats the claim that Romney’s tax plan …
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Romney Distorts Facts on Jeep, Auto Bailout

October 29

Mitt Romney falsely claimed in a recent speech that “Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.” Chrysler says it is considering adding Jeep production sites in China to address rising demand in that market. But the company says it is “a leap that …
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DCCC’s Troop Pay Deception

October 26

Republican Rep. Jeff Denham of California is suing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee over an ad accusing him of turning his back on pay for troops while voting to guarantee his own pay. We find the ad’s claims to be distorted and misleading. The ad says Denham “voted against a …
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Our Subscribers Speak

Most say we're clear, accurate, useful and unbiased

November 14

Summary Once again, FactCheck.org’s subscribers tell us they find our articles to be clear, unbiased, accurate and useful. The results of our latest post-election survey are similar to those from surveys we conducted after the presidential elections of 2004 and 2008. In all three surveys, 99 percent said they found …
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The 2012 FactCheck Awards

Our Election-Day sampler of funny, scary and just plain bizarre campaign ads.

November 6

It’s that special time of year again when campaigning is over (finally!) and the voting has begun. On Election Day we can stop being so serious about fact-checking false or deceptive claims and have some fun handing out imaginary hardware …
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Whoppers of 2012, Final Edition

The biggest falsehoods from the presidential campaign.

October 31

With only days to go until Election Day 2012, we look here at the most egregiously false and misleading claims from the entire presidential campaign. Some examples …
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Benghazi Timeline

The long road from "spontaneous protest" to premeditated terrorist attack.

October 26

The question won’t go away: Did President Obama and administration officials mislead the public when they initially claimed that the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi began “spontaneously” in response to …
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False Claims in Final Debate

Obama, Romney take turns twisting the facts in Florida on foreign policy.

October 23

In the third and final Obama-Romney debate, the candidates again contradicted each other, while each offered incorrect or twisted factual claims. President Obama erred when he accused Mitt Romney of saying during the 2008 campaign that “we should ask Pakistan …
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FactChecking the Hofstra Debate

Obama and Romney continue false, misleading attacks in second debate.

October 17

The second Obama-Romney debate was heated, confrontational and full of claims that sometimes didn’t match the facts. Obama challenged Romney to “get the transcript” when Romney questioned the president’s claim to have spoken of an “act of terror” …
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