Fact-checking former President Donald Trump at the RNC

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona’s Family is committed to holding all politicians accountable during and after elections, regardless of party. Our Investigates team fact-checks statements as candidates and elected officials make public appearances.

Claim: Hundreds of thousands of deaths are caused by undocumented migrants

Fact Check: False ❌

Trump focused a lot of his time on border issues. Mainly on how much illegal immigration the country has seen in the past three years and the effects of that immigration.

The former president argues that illegal immigration has surged to record numbers, which was true in the past year or so. However, it has dropped recently.

Each year, somewhere between 18,000 and 21,000 people are murdered across the country. U.S. citizens conduct an overwhelming majority of those crimes.

Fentanyl deaths account for about 74,000 deaths each year.

Even if you blamed every murder and every fentanyl death on immigrants, you still don’t get to hundreds of thousands of death each year.

Claim: Millions of migrants are coming from prisons and mental institutions

Fact Check: False ❌

According to PolitiFact, about 103,700 noncitizens were arrested by immigration officials from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2024. That number is far lower than millions.

“Millions would mean one-in-eight was someone released from a jail or a mental institution, a claim too ridiculous to dignify,” border security expert Adam Isacson told the website.

Claim: There’s an electric vehicle “mandate” that Trump would end as as president

Fact Check: Misleading ⚠️

According to Politifact, “The Biden administration has introduced new regulations on gas-powered cars but those policies do not ban gas-powered cars. They can continue to be sold, even after 2030.”

Claim: Inflation rates are skyrocketing

Fact Check: True, but exaggerated ⚠️

PolitiFact reported that the price of groceries has risen by 21.5% in the more than three and a half years since Biden was inaugurated in January 2021.

Gasoline prices are up 55% over the same period. Mortgage rates haven’t quadrupled. But they have more than doubled, because of rate increases by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation.

Claim: U.S. was energy independent under Trump

Fact-check: True ✅

During Trump’s presidency, the U.S. became a net energy exporter, PolitiFact reported.

It means the country began producing more energy than it consumes.

That has continued under the Biden administration.

Claim: Historic tax cuts under the Trump administration

Fact Check: False ❌

According to analysis by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the tax cuts did not come close to paying for themselves like Trump said they would.

Researchers found instead the tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cost the federal government more than $100 billion per year in lost revenues.

Claim: Crime is down significantly in Venezuela

Fact Check: False ❌

Politifact reported that from 2022 to 2023, violent deaths dropped by 25%, according to the independent Venezuelan Observatory of Violence.

Arizona’s Family has previously fact-checked this during the presidential debate, which found Venezuela’s government hasn’t published the numbers of murders or robberies in 10 years.

Claim: U.S. left billions of dollars worth of equipment in Afghanistan

Fact Check: False ❌

A 2022 report by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General said that about $7 billion in U.S. equipment remained in Afghanistan. Additionally, “the U.S. military removed or destroyed nearly all major equipment used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan throughout the drawdown period in 2021.”

Claim: Biden wants to raise your taxes by 4 times

Fact Check: False ❌

Biden has pledged not to raise taxes on households making under $400,000, but there are exceptions. Biden’s new budget has called for an increased top tax rate from 37% to 39.6%. He has also called for a minimum tax of 25% for the highest-earners.

Nothing suggests that anyone would endure a 400% tax hike. Trump has made similar claims since 2020, per PolitiFact.

The Associated Press & Politifact contributed to this report.

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