During his State of the Union (SOTU) Address Donald Trump once again laid claim to being the biggest liar in the history of the U.S. presidency. This is true even though he read the speech, which had been prepared in advance.
The biggest lie, of course, is that Donald Trump is a legitimate president, which he is not. Another lie is that he wants to work in a bipartisan manner with Democrats, which he does not.
But in addition to those problems, his speech did contain some gigantic lies. And here is a list of the biggest ones:
- He said:  “After 24 months of rapid progress, our economy is the envy of the world, our military is the most powerful on earth, and America is winning each and every day.â€
FACT:  The United States’ military has been the world’s biggest (and most costly) for the past 60 years. And while the economy has continued to grow under this president, it has essentially carried on the trajectory it started under President Barack Obama.
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- He also claimed that the United States’ economy is the “hottest economy anywhere in the world.â€
FACT: The U.S. economy is not the “hottest†and many other countries’ economies have been growing much faster than the United States’ economy.
- He said that under his administration, the country has “added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs.â€
FACT: This is a flat out lie, as shown by journalist Daniel Dale, who tweeted;
There have not been 600,000 manufacturing jobs added during Trump’s presidency: 12,822,000 as of Jan. 2019, 12,368,000 as of Jan. 2017, an increase of 454.000 jobs
There have not been 600,000 manufacturing jobs added during Trump's presidency: 12,822,000 as of Jan. 2019, 12,368,000 as of Jan. 2017, an increase of 454.000 jobs. https://t.co/t8HU3Sw2Xq pic.twitter.com/AiE0KGsXkm
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 6, 2019
- He said that during his administration the economy has added 5.3 million jobs.
FACT: The economy has added 4.9 million jobs in the past two years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- He said there is an “urgent national crisis†of illegal crossings at the border.
FACT: In the past few years border crossings have actually been at the lowest levels in decades.
- He falsely claimed that, after having an extremely high crime rate, El Paso became “one of the safest cities†because of a border wall.
FACT: According to Dale: “That is a straight-up lie about El Paso, which was one of America’s safest large cities for violent crime before the fencing was erected and did not immediately see crime fall after the fence was built.â€
El Paso leaders for years have been defensive about false claims that the city is violent or dangerous. After @realdonaldtrump's pre-debunked #SOTU comments Tuesday night, they're switching over to pissed off. My latest story for @TexasMonthly. https://t.co/zTxw7Il5SI
— Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) February 6, 2019
- He laughably claimed: “I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally.â€
FACT: Trump has also come out strong against all immigrants, legal or not. He has supported the RAISE Act, which would cut legal immigration rates in half. He has also criticized “chain migration†— immigration based on family ties— and the visa lottery. He has ordered his administration to put in policies to reduce both of these programs which allow legal immigration.
Donald Trump’s speech last night was another low point of his presidency. He is a pathological liar, and he showed this by packing his address with lies that he told in front of tens of millions of Americans who look to him for leadership. But Donald Trump is not a leader. He cannot be trusted. He should not even be president, and he should leave office immediately.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
