After former Republican President Donald Trump announced he would campaign for the White House in 2024, CNN reporter Daniel Dale fact-checked a number of "wildly incorrect" statements Trump made during his speech.
Dale said Trump's comments were “more accurate” than what he often says at campaign rallies, but only because Trump was using a teleprompter.
Dale told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper Trump's speech “was still less accurate than anything you’ll hear from basically anyone else in politics."
You can watch Dale's analysis below.
'Wildly incorrect': Daniel Dale fact-checks Trump's 2024 announcement youtu.be
Dale noted, among other things, that Trump gave himself credit for the liberation of the Islamic State's (ISIS) “caliphate” in Syria when he claimed that the terrorist group "was decimated by me and our great warriors in less than three weeks.”
But that is incorrect, because the so-called ISIS "caliphate" was liberated two years into his presidency, not three weeks. While it is not entirely clear what Trump meant by "decimated," the United States' fight against ISIS continued well after he took office.
Of course, there were significant lies about his former administration's relationship with China and the state of the pre-pandemic economy.
Dale said Trump's words go deeper than that.
"These claims are not even close to true. Then there was a general narrative about the economy under him. He can say whatever he wants about the pre-pandemic economy but he suggested that the economy was thriving two years ago when he left office."
"Look, he left office with the unemployment rate about double what it is today, so the idea that the Biden administration did not have to do anything and everything would have been hunky dory is just absurd as well."
Dale then pointed to a claim Trump made in which he underestimated the threat of sea level rise while accusing the world of not prioritizing nuclear threats.
He concluded Trump is "incorrect about climate change, both specifically and generally."
"This specific claim, he said the unnamed people say the oceans will rise an eighth of an inch over the next 200 to 300 years. That is totally wrong."
"In reality, the U.S. government's National Ocean Service says this: They say sea level along the U.S. coastline is projected to rise on average ten to 12 inches in the next 30 years, which will be as much as the rise measured over the last 100 years."
"But Trump also generally suggested that climate change might only affect us in some general way in 300 years. That also is not true. It's affecting us now, as we know, in a whole variety of serious ways."
"And that's not some radical left-wing view."
"Here's what the Pentagon, the military, said in a report last year. They said increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, more frequent, intense and unpredictable extreme weather conditions caused by climate change are exacerbating existing risks and creating new security challenges for U.S. interests."
"And finally, Anderson, nobody is not paying attention to nuclear issues because they're focused on climate change. That's not a real choice again. That's absurd."
Dale also addressed Trump's claim gas prices are "higher than ever" and his administration “filled up” the Strategic Petroleum Reserve but it has now been “virtually drained” by the Biden administration to "keep gas prices lower just prior to the election."
Dale said it's "not true" Trump "filled it up," adding:
"In fact, if you go to the U.S. Energy Information Administration website and look at the actual data, the Reserve had fewer barrels of oil when Trump left office than when he took office."
"Now, he did propose at one point in his administration that the Reserve be filled up with tens of millions more barrels, but he never secured the funding for it from Congress. It never happened."
"And although [Democratic President Joe] Biden has indeed released a bunch of oil to help keep oil and gas prices down, it is not virtually depleted, it's not empty as he claimed in a rally in November. It is still the world's largest strategic reserve of petroleum."
Dale also published a more comprehensive fact-check of 20 false and misleading claims Trump made during his speech.
Many have praised Dale for his commitment to accuracy and skewered Trump for continuing to lie so brazenly for the cameras.
Since Trump left office, Dale has largely spent time fact-checking his claims about the January 6 insurrection, which took place after a mob of Trump's supporters attacked the nation's seat of government on the false premise the 2020 general election had been stolen.
Dale was praised over the summer after fact-checking a 12-page statement—complete with footnotes—that Trump released questioning the integrity of the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection.
At the time, Dale said Trump was merely issuing the "same lies, now with pointless footnotes."
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