Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump's Speech Announcing His Run For President In 2024 Just Got A Brutal Fact-Check From CNN

Donald Trump giving speech; Daniel Dale on CNN
CNN/YouTube

CNN reporter Daniel Dale fact-checked several of Trump's 'wildly incorrect' statements during his speech.

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."

More from News/2024-election

Screenshot of Angus King holding up bath mat
@SenAngusKing/X

Maine Senator Calls Out Medicare Spending By Offering $11 Bath Mat Solution—And People Are Nodding Hard

Maine Independent Senator Angus King made a valuable point about Medicare spending during a Senate hearing, using an $11 bath mat to call out the agency's backwards thinking.

Last year, King and Rhode Island Democratic Senator Seth Magaziner introduced the bicameral Stand Strong for Medicare Act, legislation aimed at improving safety for older Americans by making fall-prevention equipment eligible for reimbursement under Medicare Part B.

Keep Reading Show less
Donald Trump
Al Drago for The Washington Post via Getty Images

$1.8 Billion 'Anti-Weaponization' Slush Fund Totally Backfires On Trump After Republican Senators Melt Down In Contentious Meeting

A meeting between Republican senators and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche went off the rails, dooming President Donald Trump's "Anti-Weaponization Fund" after lawmakers canceled their plans to vote on funding for immigration enforcement and the White House ballroom construction.

The Justice Department said Monday it was creating the fund as part of a deal in which Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. But despite a press release, memo, and a newly-released settlement agreement, many details about the program remain unclear.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of John Kennedy discussing Cuba on Fox News
Fox News

MAGA Senator's Rant About Cuba's 'Incompetent' Leadership Has Everyone Thinking The Same Thing

Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy had everyone thinking the same thing after complaining in a Fox News interview that Cuba's "incompetent" leadership only knows how to "oppress people."

Kennedy made the remarks after federal prosecutors in the United States announced charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro over the 1996 shootdown of aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.

Keep Reading Show less
Donald Trump
Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public via Getty Images

Trump's Commencement Speech Claim That The U.S. Is 'Hot' Right Now Turns Into Hilariously Brutal Self-Own

President Donald Trump's attempt to smear the Biden administration turned into a self-own while he spoke at the commencement ceremony for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy this week.

Trump spoke as several hundred protesters gathered outside Coast Guard Academy campus in New London, Connecticut. During the nearly hour-long address to cadets and their families, he alternated between praising the graduating class of 2026 and revisiting familiar themes about what he described as the country’s recovery after a period of decline.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshots from @tiktoktimmay8's TikTok video
@tiktoktimmay8/TikTok

Dad Brutally Reviews Perfumes During Daughter's Birthday Party At Ulta In Hilarious Viral TikTok

For those who did not know, having a birthday party at Ulta Beauty is now a possibility. Complete with skincare sessions, mini-makeovers, discounts, and goodie bags, it's kind of perfect for teens and tweens who are enthusiastic about makeup and skincare.

But while the birthday party is going on, what is a bored parent to do?

Keep Reading Show less