The New York Times’ inevitable “fact check” of President Trump’s first address to Congress at least dropped the phony three-color precision from the presidential debates, but it still came off as lame and pedantic, with rushes to provide “context” and a plethora of “True, but...” and "True but misleading" formulations.
A few examples follow of Trump's claims last night, plus the paper's slanted verdict, both parts in italics. The paper is so in favor of illegal immigrants that it even went after the Democratic response from the left, and in emotional terms unusual for a fact-check: "Unless the current immigration laws are changed, enforcing them fully would tear those families apart."
"The murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest single-year increase in nearly half a century."
True, but somewhat misleading.
F.B.I. crime statistics estimate that there were 15,696 murders in 2015, up 10 percent from 2014. (Last year's figures are not available yet.) The increase was largely driven by street crime in a handful of large cities, like Chicago and Baltimore.
But one reason for such a large uptick was that crime had been falling for a generation. In 1991, the F.B.I. estimated that there were 24,703 murders.-- Charlie Savage
An Obamacare claim got the "True, but..." treatment:
"Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits."
True, but cherry-picked.
A claim about "undocumented" (i.e. illegal) immigration:
Families of people killed by undocumented immigrants have been "ignored by our media."
They have received coverage.
Coverage, but apparently only local coverage, as Ron Nixon perhaps unwittingly revealed in his explainer paragraph:
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The individuals killed by undocumented immigrants mentioned by President Trump in his speech received widespread coverage in local newspapers and on television. For example, the death of Jamiel Shaw Jr., who was shot and killed in 2008 in Los Angeles, was widely covered by The Los Angeles Times and local television stations.-- Ron Nixon
Obamacare was defended again:
"Obamacare is collapsing."
This is an exaggeration.
Premiums for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act increased substantially this year. Deductibles are often high. The number of insurance companies offering coverage has shrunk in many states. Big insurers, losing money in the public marketplaces, have curtailed their participation.
But millions of people with modest incomes have obtained coverage, with federal subsidies that reduce their premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Republican efforts to repeal the health care law have created greater uncertainty, which threatens to destabilize the markets even more.-- Robert Pear
And a couple more Trump claims on immigration were dismissed with the evasion of "needs context."
A National Academy of Sciences report found that immigrants cost the country billions.
This needs context
The 2016 National Academy of Sciences report found that the net cost of immigrants varies drastically by region, but that their average cost to the United States economy between 2011 and 2013 was $57.4 billion. However, the same report found that the children of immigrants make up much of that cost, adding a net benefit of $30.5 billion. Third-generation immigrants far exceeded the cost of their grandparents, adding a $223.8 billion benefit. -- Caitlin Dickerson
....
"We've defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to cross."
Open in parts, but heavily patrolled as well.
Individuals cannot just walk across the borders without fear of interception. Some do sneak across, but the borders are guarded by 21,000 Border Patrol agents along with a similar number of Customs and Border Protection officers at the 325 official ports of entry, which include airports, seaports and land border crossings.-- Ron Nixon
This was perhaps the most inventive rebuttal by the NYT:
President Trump said he ended a regulation that threatened "the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners."
This is partly true but misleading.
The Times finally, reluctantly conceded that Trump may have half a point on immigrants lowering wages for U.S. citizens.
Enforcing immigration laws will raise wages.
Maybe a little.
Economists are deeply divided about the effect of immigration on the wages of native-born workers. Some see evidence that increased competition has modestly reduced the wages for some kinds of work, particularly low-skilled labor. But the effects are relatively small -- perhaps a few percentage points -- and the overall effect on the economy is most likely positive.-- Binyamin Appelbaum
The Times also briefly fact-checked the Democratic response to Trump’s address by former Kentucky Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, and hit the Democrat from the left on immigration using a tone unusual for a supposedly by-the-book fact-check piece.
We can enforce our immigration laws without tearing apart families.
False, unless the laws change.
Hundreds of thousands of American citizens are born each year to parents who are in the country illegally. The Pew Research Center found that in 2012, 4.5 million American children were living with undocumented parents. Unless the current immigration laws are changed, enforcing them fully would tear those families apart.-- Caitlin Dickerson
