PolitiFact | Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address: annotated

The Poynter Institute

Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

I would like to contribute

Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address: annotated

National

President Barack Obama delivers the 2015 State of the Union address.

Lauren Carroll

By Lauren Carroll January 20, 2015

Steve Contorno

By Steve Contorno January 20, 2015

Joshua Gillin

By Joshua Gillin January 20, 2015

Jon Greenberg

By Jon Greenberg January 20, 2015

Angie Drobnic Holan

By Angie Drobnic Holan January 20, 2015

Louis Jacobson

By Louis Jacobson January 20, 2015

Katie Sanders

By Katie Sanders January 20, 2015

Read “Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address: annotated” by PolitiFact on Genius

Sources are noted in the annotations.

Read About Our Process

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

stated on June 22, 2017 a meeting with small business owners:

Says of Georgia, "for four years in a row, we are the No. 1 state to do business in."

half-true

half-true

stated on July 6, 2017 a press conference in Poland:

Says Barack Obama found out about Russia "in August. Now, the election was in November. That's a lot of time. He did nothing about it."

barely-true

barely-true

stated on July 2, 2017 an episode of "Fox News Sunday":

7 million people the Congressional Budget Office says won't have health insurance coverage under the Senate health care bill "don't exist."

half-true

half-true

stated on June 13, 2017 a congressional hearing:

"It's a longstanding policy of the Department of Justice not to comment on conversations that the attorney general has had with the president of the United States."

half-true

half-true

Kimberley Strassel

stated on May 28, 2017 "Meet the Press" on NBC:

In 2008, "candidate Obama, he's not even president-elect, sends William Miller over to Iran to establish a back channel and let the Iranians know that should he win the election, they will have friendlier terms."

false

false

stated on May 23, 2017 an online article:

"Rubio: ‘Rape victims should be in custody if there is suspicion that they’re planning abortion.’ "

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on May 21, 2017 an episode of "Fox and Friends":

Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich "apparently was assassinated at 4 in the morning, having given WikiLeaks something like 53,000 emails and 17,000 attachments. ... It turns out, it wasn’t the Russians."

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on May 17, 2017 an episode of the "Rush Limbaugh Show":

"What Trump is alleged to have done is actually no different than what Barack Obama did in April last year when he made it known that he didn’t want Hillary prosecuted."

barely-true

barely-true

Richard Blumenthal

stated on May 9, 2017 a press conference:

"What does Trumpcare do? Yank tax credits away from veterans unlike any other American."

half-true

half-true

stated on May 4, 2017 blog headlines:

Under the House Republican health plan, sexual assault is a pre-existing condition.

barely-true

barely-true

stated on May 2, 2017 her book "Women Who Work":

"40 percent of American households have female primary breadwinners."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on April 30, 2017 an interview on CBS:

"General Flynn got his clearance from the Obama administration."

true

true

stated on April 28, 2017 the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting:

"For the first time in the modern political era, we have confirmed a new justice in the first 100 days."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on April 25, 2017 the daily White House press briefing:

Trump has "worked with Congress to pass more legislation in his first 100 days than any president since Truman."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on April 26, 2017 a tweet:

The Ninth Circuit has an overturned record "close to 80%."

half-true

half-true

Facebook posts
stated on November 30, 2021 in a post:

“On the first day of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, the CEO of Twitter resigned, the CEO of Walmart resigned, the CEO of CNBC resigned”

By Monique Curet • December 3, 2021
Instagram posts
stated on December 2, 2021 in an Instagram post:

COVID-19 vaccines are gene therapy and a recent Forbes article proves that.

By Tom Kertscher • December 3, 2021
Joe Biden
stated on November 30, 2021 in a conversation at a technical college in Minnesota:

“I used to drive a tractor trailer … I only did it for part of a summer.”

By Jon Greenberg • December 3, 2021
Kevin McCarthy
stated on November 18, 2021 in a speech:

The House-passed Build Back Better bill is a “government takeover of child care.”

By Louis Jacobson • December 3, 2021
Sean Hannity
stated on December 1, 2021 in a TV segment:

"If you look pre-COVID" under President Donald Trump, "we didn't import a single barrel of oil from Saudi Arabia.”

By Bill McCarthy • December 2, 2021
Joe Biden
stated on December 1, 2021 in remarks at the White House:

"The number of small businesses is up 30% compared to before the pandemic."

By Louis Jacobson • December 2, 2021
The Gateway Pundit
stated on November 26, 2021 in an article:

Because of omicron, “the Biden administration has decided to leave the U.S. southern border completely open.”

By Tom Kertscher • December 2, 2021
Facebook posts
stated on December 1, 2021 in a post:

“Federal magistrate approves $110 million defamation suit against LeBron James by Kyle Rittenhouse.”

By Monique Curet • December 2, 2021
Facebook posts
stated on October 28, 2021 in Facebook posts:

A chart shows China and India are leading in per capita carbon dioxide emissions.

By Becca Schimmel • December 2, 2021
Bloggers
stated on November 28, 2021 in a blog post:

Heart complications are one symptom “listed” for the omicron variant and are being “used to cover up effects” of COVID-19 vaccines.

By Tom Kertscher • December 2, 2021