GOP taps distortions to heap praise on president
WASHINGTON — Eric Trump echoed falsehoods of his father, Melania Trump credited her husband with a dubious religious first, and the president’s economic adviser wholly distorted the conditions Donald Trump inherited as Republicans stepped up to praise him at their national convention Tuesday.
Crucial context was missing at various parts of the evening, as when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed Trump’s jousting with China and North Korea and others weighed in on Trump’s judgment in world affairs.
A look at rhetoric from the second night of the virtual Republican National Convention:
RELIGION
MELANIA TRUMP: “He’s the first president to address a special session of the United Nations General Assembly to call upon countries across the world to end religious persecution and honor the right of every person to worship as they choose.”
CISSIE GRAHAM LYNCH, evangelist and granddaughter of Billy Graham: “On the world stage, President Trump became the first president to talk about the importance of religious freedom at the United Nations, giving hope to people of faith around the world.”
THE FACTS: No, Trump is certainly not the first U.S. president to address the United Nations General Assembly about religious freedom. President Barack Obama did so, discussing religious tolerance and liberty during a speech to the assembly Sept. 25, 2012. Several predecessors did so as well.
ECONOMY
LARRY KUDLOW, Trump economic adviser: Trump was “inheriting a stagnant economy on the front end of recession,” and under the president, “the economy was rebuilt in three years.”
THE FACTS: This is false. The economy was healthy when Trump arrived at the White House.
Even if the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis was agonizingly slow, Trump took office with unemployment at a low 4.7%, steady job growth and a falling federal budget deficit. The longest expansion in U.S. history began in the middle of 2009 and continued until the start of the year, spanning both the Barack Obama and Trump presidencies.
The U.S. economy did benefit from Trump’s 2017 tax cuts with a jump in growth in 2018, but the budget deficit began to climb as a result of the tax breaks that favored companies and the wealthy in hopes of permanently expanding the economy.
MILITARY
ERIC TRUMP, on his father: “He increased wages for our incredible men and women in uniform.”
THE FACTS: Yes, but military pay has been raised every year for decades, and the raises under Trump have been smaller compared with past years.
POLICE
ERIC TRUMP: “Biden has pledged to defund the police.”
THE FACTS: False. Biden has made no such pledge.
He’s rejected calls from some on the left to defund the police, proposing more money for departments to improve their practices. His agenda includes federal money for training to “avert tragic, unjustifiable deaths” and hiring more officers to ensure police departments reflect the populations they serve. He’s proposed $300 million in federal community policing grants.
ISLAMIC STATE
POMPEO: “Today, because of the president’s determination and leadership, the ISIS caliphate is wiped out.”
THE FACTS: His claim of a 100% defeat is misleading as the Islamic State group still poses a threat.
IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017, then lost the last of its land holdings in Syria in March 2019, marking the end of the extremists’ self-declared caliphate. Still, extremist sleeper cells have continued to launch attacks in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks and are believed to be responsible for targeted killings against local officials and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces.