Trump walks out of news conference after reporter asks him about Veterans Choice lie he's told more than 150 times
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump abruptly ended a Saturday news conference after a reporter challenged him on a lie about veterans health care he has told more than 150 times.
Trump, speaking at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, had claimed again that he is the one who got the Veterans Choice program passed -- adding, "They've been trying to get that passed for decades and decades and decades and no president's ever been able to do it, and we got it done."
In fact, former President Barack Obama signed the Choice program into law in 2014. The law, which allowed eligible veterans to be covered by the government for care provided by doctors outside the VA system, was a bipartisan initiative spearheaded by two senators Trump has repeatedly criticized, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and the late John McCain of Arizona.
What Trump signed was a 2018 law, the VA MISSION Act, that modified and expanded the eligibility criteria from the Choice program. Rather than tout that bill, Trump has claimed over and over that he created Veterans Choice itself -- after others had failed for "50 years."
"Why do you keep saying that you passed Veterans Choice?" CBS News White House correspondent Paula Reid asked Trump at the Saturday news conference, during which Trump announced executive actions on coronavirus relief.
As Trump tried to call on another reporter instead, Reid continued, "You said that you passed Veterans Choice. It was passed in 2014...it was a false statement, sir."
Trump paused, then responded: "OK. Thank you very much, everybody." He then walked away as the song "YMCA" played.
Trump had either never or almost never been challenged on the Veterans Choice claim before Reid did so.
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Fact Checker is keeping a running list of the false or misleading claims Trump says most regularly. Here’s what you need to know. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)
July 13, 2020 at 3:00 a.m. EDT
The coronavirus pandemic has spawned a whole new genre of Trump’s falsehoods. The category in just a few months has reached nearly 1,000 claims, more than his tax claims combined. Trump’s false or misleading claims about the impeachment investigation — and the events surrounding it — contributed almost 1,200 entries to the database.
The notion that Trump would exceed 20,000 claims before he finished his term appeared ludicrous when The Fact Checker started this project during the president’s first 100 days in office. In that time, Trump averaged fewer than five claims a day, which would have added up to about 7,000 claims in a four-year presidential term. But the tsunami of untruths just keeps looming larger and larger.
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New lying song addition:
"Gaslighter" - The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) (MartieMaguire, NatalieMaines, EmilyStrayer & Jack Antonoff)
"Save your tired stories for your new someone else
Cause they're lie lie lie lie lies
Look out you little
Cause they're lie lie lie lie lies
Look out you little
[Chorus]
Gaslighter, denier
Doin' anything to get your ass farther (Ooh)
Gaslighter, big timer
Repeating all of the mistakes of your father
Gaslighter, you broke me
You're sorry, but where's my apology?
Gaslighter, you liar"
Gaslighter, denier
Doin' anything to get your ass farther (Ooh)
Gaslighter, big timer
Repeating all of the mistakes of your father
Gaslighter, you broke me
You're sorry, but where's my apology?
Gaslighter, you liar"
February 25, 2017
The biggest Pinocchios of 2016
By Glenn Kessler December 16 at 3:14 AM
It’s time for our annual roundup of the biggest Pinocchios of the year.
Just before the presidential election, we highlighted the most outlandish statements of the campaign. This list is limited to claims we checked in 2016. We also decided to keep the focus on whoppers that the candidates said about themselves or about policy issues, not political attacks.
In the past, we have tried to assemble a relatively equal number of claims by Democrats and Republicans but find that this is impossible this year. Donald Trump earned five of the “biggest Pinocchio” ratings; the previous record was three (President Obama in 2013 and Trump in 2015).
There has never been a serial exaggerator in recent American politics like the president-elect. He not only consistently makes false claims but also repeats them, even though they have been proven wrong. He always insists he is right, no matter how little evidence he has for his claim or how easily his statement is debunked.
During the campaign, Trump earned 59 Four-Pinocchio ratings, compared with seven for Hillary Clinton. Since winning the presidency, Trump has earned four more Four-Pinocchio ratings, and his staff has earned one, as well. Unfortunately, we see little indication that this pattern will change during his presidency.