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Four times Donald Trump told the truth and nobody believed him: Fact-checking POTUS' statements in 2020

While there are allegations every now and then that he makes incorrect statements that aren’t backed by data, here are some fact-checked statements by the POTUS which were found to be true

It is never easy being the President of the United States. Every decision and statement made by anyone in that position is scrutinized and a hawk-eyed watch is kept by supporters and critics alike. The same is true for President Donald Trump. While there are allegations every now and then that he makes incorrect statements or statements aren’t backed by data, here are some fact-checked statements by the POTUS which were found to be true.

1. Murders this year have spiked 27 percent in Philadelphia

In July 2020, Trump during a speech he delivered from the White House had made this statement. Politifact fact-checked it and found it to be true. The website notes that at the time of the statement, there have been around 232 homicides in Philadelphia, 50 more than at that time last year, city crime statistics show. That’s an increase of 27 percent.

The report further states, violent crimes such as rape, robbery and some types of aggravated assault had fallen amid the coronavirus pandemic, but homicides and nonfatal shootings had not decreased. According to a July 2020 report by The Philadelphia Inquirer 23 people were shot across the city in a day — the most in a single day since at least 2013.

2. I just gave $28 billion to our farmers

During the final presidential debate in Nashville, Trump made this statement. According to The New York Times fact check, it is true. The report states that from 2018 through 2019, Trump’s administration did give around $28 billion to farmers. He did so by using a Department of Agriculture fund for the purpose of justifying the impact of his trade wars with China and Europe.

However, the following statement that he made, as quoted by Fortune, was found to be incorrect.  After the above statement, Biden had interjected and said, “[That’s] taxpayers’ money. [The money] didn’t come from China.”

To which Trump said, “No, no. You know who the taxpayer is? It’s called China. China pays $28 billion, and you know what they did to pay it, Joe? They devalued their currency, and they also paid up, and you know [who] got the money? Our farmers, our great farmers, because they were targeted.” However, NYT points out that it was American taxpayers' money.

3. He [Biden] opposed killing Soleimani

During the Republican National Convention’s (RNC) final day, Trump made this statement. The New York Times fact-checked this statement and reported that Biden indicated that the senior Iranian commander, Maj Gen Qasem Soleimani, deserved to be killed, however, he doubted the intelligence that Trump used to explain the strike and warned that it could lead to dangerous military escalation.

After the January 2 missile strike that killed Suleimani, Biden tweeted a statement. Even though he stated that Suleimani “deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region”, the president-elect called the strike “a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region.”

In a Democratic debate, Biden implied that he might have supported the killing if he believed that Suleimani was plotting an imminent attack on Americans in the Middle East as Trump claimed. But, he said, “The reason I wouldn’t have ordered the strike is there isn’t any evidence yet of an imminent strike that was going to come from him.”

Biden also alleged that Trump “flat-out lied” about the underlying intelligence, which has never been made public and which members of Congress who have seen it have also questioned.

4. Trump's criticism of Joe Biden on NAFTA support

Again, on the final day of the RNC this year, President Donald Trump accepted his nomination and gave a speech from the White House. During his speech, as reported by NBC News, he said, “Biden voted for the NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] disaster, the single worst trade deal ever enacted; he supported China's entry into the World Trade Organization, one of the greatest economic disasters of all time. After those Biden calamities, the United States lost 1 in 4 manufacturing job.” NBC News fact-checked that this statement was true, but trade was not the only reason that US companies shed these jobs.

The report notes that job losses resulting from NAFTA tend to be overstated — but one major study found that more than 850,000 jobs were displaced by the pact. As per the report, Robert E. Scott of the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute claimed that about 851,700 US jobs were displaced by the US trade deficit with Mexico from 1993 (shortly before NAFTA was implemented) to 2014.

Even The New York Times stated that Biden did vote to approve the NAFTA in 1993 and supported China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, which happened in December 2001. The NYT reports that the number of American workers employed in manufacturing shrank from 15.7 million to 12.1 million, a loss of a little less than 1 in 4 jobs.

These remarks were made by third-person and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently nor does it support these claims. The respective references are linked in the article