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WAPO: Fact-checking President Trump's 2025 inaugural address (full of false claims already debunked in election)
Because of the article’s formatting, I’m treating each fact check as a single thought/single paragraph.
Much more at link.
WAPO link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/20/fact-checking-president-trumps-2025-inaugural-address/
Non-paywall Archival link: https://archive.is/Dv9vm
Comment: Trump is a liar and propagandist, aided and abetted by amoral/immoral techbros like Musk and that ass who runs META/Facebook.
That being said, I can’t help but think Trump is already overplaying his hand. Much like he did in his first term. Within a couple months he’s going to be just as unpopular as he was the first time around.
——————————
Fact-checking President Trump’s 2025 inaugural address
Trump relies on many claims debunked during the election campaign.
Analysis by Glenn Kessler
Today at 3:14 p.m. MT
Inaugural addresses, with their emphasis on lofty rhetoric, are generally not fertile ground for fact-checking. But President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration speech was more akin to a State of the Union address, with a laundry list of proposals and plans — and a hefty dose of false claims that we’ve fact-checked before.
Here’s a quick rundown of what was inaccurate or misleading in Trump’s address, in the order in which he made the claims. We’ll ignore rhetoric that is expressed more as an opinion — “for many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens” — even though the factual basis for such statements is thin.
“The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.”
Trump refers to “weaponization,” code for President Joe Biden supposedly using the resources of the U.S. government to target his political opponent. There is no evidence that Biden directed the Justice Department or local prosecutors to pursue prosecutions of Trump — and the actions were not violent.
“It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.”
This statement was a regular staple of Trump’s campaign speeches, but immigration experts know of no effort by other countries to empty their prisons and mental institutions, a claim Trump appears to have invented. As someone who came to prominence in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Trump appears to be channeling Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s 1980 Mariel boat lift. About 125,000 Cubans were allowed to flee to the United States in 1,700 boats — but there was a backlash when it was discovered hundreds of refugees had been released from jails and mental health facilities.
“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or more important, its own people.”
Trump appears to be referencing aid to Ukraine after it was attacked by Russia, but there is nothing unlimited about the aid. Congress, after lengthy debate, appropriated the money — most of which benefited Americans. The Fact Checker examined the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel, approved in April, and found that nearly 80 percent went either to weapons manufacturers in the United States to replenish stocks or supply weapons or to fund Defense Department operations in the United States and overseas.
“Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, been treated so badly.”
From the moment North Carolina was struck by Tropical Storm Helene, Trump claimed without evidence that the Biden administration treated rural areas in the state with disdain. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $292 million in public assistance grants and $202 million for debris removal, while the Federal Highway Administration made available $100 million to repair damaged roads and bridges. FEMA also says more than 7,600 households checked into FEMA-funded hotels.
Trump relies on many claims debunked during the election campaign.
Analysis by Glenn Kessler
Today at 3:14 p.m. MT
Inaugural addresses, with their emphasis on lofty rhetoric, are generally not fertile ground for fact-checking. But President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration speech was more akin to a State of the Union address, with a laundry list of proposals and plans — and a hefty dose of false claims that we’ve fact-checked before.
Here’s a quick rundown of what was inaccurate or misleading in Trump’s address, in the order in which he made the claims. We’ll ignore rhetoric that is expressed more as an opinion — “for many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens” — even though the factual basis for such statements is thin.
“The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.”
Trump refers to “weaponization,” code for President Joe Biden supposedly using the resources of the U.S. government to target his political opponent. There is no evidence that Biden directed the Justice Department or local prosecutors to pursue prosecutions of Trump — and the actions were not violent.
“It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.”
This statement was a regular staple of Trump’s campaign speeches, but immigration experts know of no effort by other countries to empty their prisons and mental institutions, a claim Trump appears to have invented. As someone who came to prominence in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Trump appears to be channeling Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s 1980 Mariel boat lift. About 125,000 Cubans were allowed to flee to the United States in 1,700 boats — but there was a backlash when it was discovered hundreds of refugees had been released from jails and mental health facilities.
“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or more important, its own people.”
Trump appears to be referencing aid to Ukraine after it was attacked by Russia, but there is nothing unlimited about the aid. Congress, after lengthy debate, appropriated the money — most of which benefited Americans. The Fact Checker examined the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel, approved in April, and found that nearly 80 percent went either to weapons manufacturers in the United States to replenish stocks or supply weapons or to fund Defense Department operations in the United States and overseas.
“Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, been treated so badly.”
From the moment North Carolina was struck by Tropical Storm Helene, Trump claimed without evidence that the Biden administration treated rural areas in the state with disdain. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $292 million in public assistance grants and $202 million for debris removal, while the Federal Highway Administration made available $100 million to repair damaged roads and bridges. FEMA also says more than 7,600 households checked into FEMA-funded hotels.
Much more at link.
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
