Fact Check: 15 Claims From Trump’s Speech to CPAC, Fact-Checked
It is wrong to claim that enforcement of the Green New Deal would lead to “no energy” or no electricity. The legislation calls for the expansion of renewable energy sources, which accounted for about 17.1 percent of electricity generated in the United States in 2018.
What Was Said
“Then in 1913, they ended tariffs.”
False.
The Revenue Act of 1913, or the Underwood Tariff Act, reduced tariff rates to 25 percent from roughly 40 percent but did not eliminate them completely. Tariffs still accounted for nearly one-third of federal revenue in 1915. Rates were then raised in 1922 and 1930, before liberalization became a consistent trend in American trade policy. Tariffs have generated less than 2 percent of annual federal revenue for the past 70 years.
What Was Said
“So we fired Comey. Schumer who called for his resignation many times. Podesta, I believe that day ... called for his resignation.”
This is exaggerated.
Many Democratic lawmakers had criticized James B. Comey, the former director of the F.B.I., for his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server before he was fired by Mr. Trump. But the two men the president singled out had not called for Mr. Comey to step down.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, said that he had lost confidence in Mr. Comey, but he did not say that Mr. Comey should be ousted. John D. Podesta, the former Clinton campaign manager, called Mr. Comey’s handling of the investigation a “mistake” that broke with precedent but specifically declined to press for his resignation.
What Was Said
“We never have empty seats.”
False.
While Mr. Trump does draw large, passionate crowds at events and often fills overflow rooms, seats have been empty on occasion. For example, at a May 2017 rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Mr. Trump drew a crowd of roughly 9,500 people in an arena that could hold 11,431, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump had privately expressed disappointment with empty chairs at an August 2018 rally in West Virginia.