Republican Convention Night 3
Summary
Vice President Mike Pence and others twisted facts on the economy, some of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s positions and more:
- Pence claimed that President Donald Trump “created the greatest economy in the world.” But the economy had been growing for seven years before Trump took office.
- Pence falsely suggested Biden would “defund the police” and baselessly claimed Americans “won’t be safe” if Biden were president.
- Pence cited a federal officer’s killing during “the riots in Oakland, California.” But he didn’t explain that the death was unrelated to demonstrators protesting in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Federal prosecutors have charged a right-wing extremist with the killing.
- 1960s Civil Rights figure Clarence Henderson said Trump “created” a “record” number of jobs for Black Americans. Actually, Black employment grew faster under Obama.
- White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said that, under Trump, “the single mom with two kids, two jobs, two commutes … finally has health insurance.” But the number of uninsured women ages 19 to 64 decreased during the Obama administration and had increased under Trump, as of 2018.
- Pence misleadingly claimed that Biden “even opposed the operation that took down Osama bin Laden.” Biden said he opposed the timing of the operation, and suggested that the raid should be delayed in order to take further steps to confirm bin Laden was at the compound in Pakistan.
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn falsely claimed that “Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their radical allies … encourage protests, riots and looting in the streets.” Biden has repeatedly condemned violent protests.
- Richard Grenell, a former acting director of national intelligence, criticized the Russia investigation as unwarranted — but multiple independent reports found that there were grounds to investigate the Trump campaign’s contacts with people with ties to the Russian government.
- Rep. Elise Stefanik criticized the House impeachment of Trump last year as “illegal.” It’s not. The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to impeach the president.
- Pence wrongly claimed that Trump “suspended all travel from China,” when the administration’s restrictions contained exceptions.
- Pence misled when he said that “after years of scandal,” Trump “reformed the VA and veterans choice is now available for every veteran in America.” Although the Trump administration expanded the program, it began in 2014 under Obama.
And there were several repeat claims on fracking, abortion, school choice, military pay and immigration.
Analysis
Pence’s Economic Distortion
Vice President Mike Pence repeated a central theme of the Trump campaign when he said Biden “presided over the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression” and that Trump ”created the greatest economy in the world.”
It’s true that the economic recovery from 2009 to 2016 was the slowest since World War II, and probably since the 1930s Depression as well. That’s not surprising considering that the country was recovering from the most severe economic downturn since the Depression itself.
But claiming that Trump “created” the “greatest economy” is a grandiose distortion.
Pence ignores the fact that the economy had been growing without interruption for seven years before Trump took office. As we noted when he was inaugurated, unemployment was already well below the historical norm, and the economy had already racked up the longest uninterrupted stretch of monthly job gains on record. Stock prices had doubled and tripled; the S&P 500 index had gained 166% even before Trump’s surprise election victory on Nov. 8, 2016.
Trump didn’t “create” any of that; it was given to him.
Job growth has continued under Trump, but at a slower pace. The economy added nearly 2.5 million jobs in the 12 months before Trump took office, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show. It added just over 2 million during Trump’s first year. The unemployment rate continued to drop, from 4.7% when Trump took office to a 50-year low of 3.5% under Trump, before the COVID-19 pandemic sent it shooting up to the worst levels since the 1930s. It hit 14.7% in April and stood at 10.2% last month — still worse than any month of the Obama-Biden administration.
