Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Democratic Congresswoman Calls Trump Out For Having '5 Pinocchios On A Daily Basis'

Democratic Congresswoman Calls Trump Out For Having '5 Pinocchios On A Daily Basis'
Samuel Corum - Pool/Getty Images // Mark Wilson/Getty Images

At last count, President Donald Trump has told nearly 13,500 lies or "false statements" since his inauguration in 2017.

That said, President Donald Trump is a frequent subject in The Washington Post's fact checks.


The fact checker system, headed by Glenn Kessler, evaluates the falseness of a statement on a scale of one to four "Pinocchios."

Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) invoked the system during Wednesday's public impeachment hearings to show just how often the President lies.

Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) interrupted Speier's statements regarding the whistleblower—who spurred the impeachment inquiry against Trump—having a right to anonymity.

Conaway reiterated a point made earlier about claims a whistleblowers has a statutory right to anonymity. Conaway said the claim was given three Pinocchios by The Washington Post fact checkers.

Speier responded:

"Well, the President of the United States has five Pinocchios on a daily basis, so let's not go there."

Watch below.

Her statement sent the crowd into laughter and spontaneous applause.

The Pinocchio system only goes up to four Pinocchios, not five. However, Speier's point still stands.

As of last month, 12,000 of Trump's lies had earned a total of 1,010 Pinocchios, at an average of 3.4 Pinocchios per lie. In 2016, over 60 percent of Trump's statements earned four Pinocchios.

During the second year of Trump's presidency, The Washington Post's fact checking team created the "bottomless Pinocchio":

a three or four Pinocchio claim that's been repeated over 20 times.

The applause that rang out in the hearing room for Speier carried over to Twitter as well.








Conaway quieted down shortly after.

This shirt is available here.

More from People/donald-trump

JD Vance
Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Associated Press Just Made A Super Awkward Fact Check About JD Vance And His Couch

The 2024 election has officially gotten weird.

This week, the Associated Press, along with many other media outlets, issued a fairly shocking fact check: No, Republican candidate for Vice President JD Vance did not, in fact, have sex with a couch.

Keep ReadingShow less
time lapse photography of owl flying
Richard Lee on Unsplash

People Share The Most Obscure Fascinating Wildlife Facts They Know

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. Earth has a great deal of diversity in both flora—plants—and fauna—animals because the planet has many different ecosystems.

From blazing deserts to frozen tundra, life has adapted to live on most areas of our planet. It's only extremely high peaks where life hasn't been found and that may someday change if the climate continues in the direction it's going.

Keep ReadingShow less
People With Estranged Siblings Explain What Caused The Rift
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People With Estranged Siblings Explain What Caused The Rift

In life, all good things come to an end.

The same can be said for most bad/toxic relationships.

Keep ReadingShow less
Richard Simmons
Rodrigo Vaz/Getty Images

Richard Simmons' Staff Shares The Eerily Fitting Final Pre-Written Message He Had For Fans

Richard Simmons staff shared the late fitness guru's final message for fans on social media before his untimely death on July 13, a day after his 76th birthday.

Simmons remained mostly reclusive in his later years after he had been an inspirational fitness icon for decades starting with his weight loss-focused programs, notably through his Sweatin' to the Oldies aerobics instruction videos that vaulted his stardom in the 1980s.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tori Spelling; Shannen Doherty
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images

Tori Spelling Says She's 'Super Grateful' For Healing 'Last Conversation' With Shannen Doherty

Tori Spelling opened up about being "super grateful" for her "last conversation" with Shannen Doherty, who died earlier this month at the age of 53 after a long battle with cancer.

Speaking with her 90210MG podcast cohost and fellow former Beverly Hills 90210 costar Jennie Garth, Spelling revealed she learned from losing loved ones in the past that she didn't want to have any "regrets."

Keep ReadingShow less