Fact-checkers had a field day with ex-President Donald Trump’s CNN town hall, but one stood out by ticking through a whopping 20 false or misleading claims.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins moderated a CNN town hall at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire Wednesday night that devolved into a chaotic spectacle of attacks, falsehoods, and abuse that sparked a barrage of criticism and recriminations at the network.
The pace and volume of Trump’s lies were such that post-show anchor Jake Tapper could not stop commenting on it. Seconds after the town hall ended, Tapper immediately remarked on the fact that from the very first minute, Trump began spewing lies about the 2020 election.
And a few minutes later, he punctuated correspondent Sara Murray’s game first attempt at a fact-check by exclaiming there were “more lies than I can count!”
Murray’s quick try took on three Trump claims.
The event touched off a veritable Fact Check Demolition Derby among outlets.
CNN’s morning-after fact check featured six claims from Trump. The New York Times
But the champ for this event is The Washington Post, whose fact-checker Glenn Kessler vetted the aforementioned whopping twenty Trump claims. A sampling:
- Claim: “That was a rigged election, and it’s a shame that we had to go through it. … If you look at True the Vote, they found millions of votes on camera, on government cameras, where they were stuffing ballot boxes. … If you look at what happened in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, if you look at what happened in Detroit, Michigan, if you look at what happened in Atlanta, millions of votes, and all you have to do is take a look at government cameras.” Ruling: “Repeatedly Debunked”
- Claim: “Even if you just look recently with the 51 intelligence agents, that made a 16-point difference.” Ruling: “no evidence”
- Claim: “The Constitution says that we’re supposed to have legal and well-maintained and well-looked-at elections.” Ruling: “does not say what Trump claimed.”
- Claim: “January 6, it was the largest crowd I have ever spoken to. That was prior to the walk down to the Capitol building. I don’t think — and I have spoken to hundreds of thousands of people. I have never spoken to a crowd as large as this.” Ruling: “The final report of the Jan. 6 select congressional committee quoted one official as saying the crowd was 30,000to 35,000.”
It goes on like that through 16 more claims.
Read the full fact-check here.