PolitiFact | Pennsylvania

The Poynter Institute

Stand up for facts and support PolitiFact.

Now is your chance to go on the record as supporting trusted, factual information by joining PolitiFact’s Truth Squad. Contributions or gifts to PolitiFact, which is part of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Poynter Institute, are tax deductible.

I would like to contribute

The Philadelphia Inquirer is partnering with PolitiFact, to fact-check Pennsylvania politicians. Through the work of an Inquirer reporter dedicated to this effort, and collaborating with other reporters and editors from both The Inquirer and PolitiFact, we will assess the accuracy of statements by elected officials, political candidates, and other public figures. This work is more important now than ever.

In Partnership With

The Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.inquirer.com">

True

0%

Mostly True

15%

Half True

0%

Mostly False

0%

False

0%

Pants on Fire

0%

All Fact-checks for Pennsylvania

stated on July 21, 2020 in an interview

Federal agents in Portland have been “kidnapping and holding citizens without charges.”

true

mostly-true

stated on July 22, 2020 in a speech

“Murders this year have spiked 27% in Philadelphia.”

true

true

stated on July 14, 2020 in a campaign call

Says Joe Biden proposed “killing over 600,000 jobs supported by fracking.”

true

false

stated on July 9, 2020 in a speech

On COVID-19, Donald Trump said that “maybe if you drank bleach you may be okay.”

true

barely-true

stated on July 9, 2020 in a speech in Dunmore, Pa.

"Three hundred sixty thousand Pennsylvanians fought on the side of the Union to defeat the flag, that Confederate flag, including more Black soldiers coming from Pennsylvania than any other state in the nation."

true

mostly-true

stated on June 12, 2020 in a press release

U.S. Rep. Matt “Cartwright proposes to defund the Wilkes-Barre police.”

true

false

stated on June 19, 2020 in a viral image

NFL player “stood alone" while his whole team stayed in the locker room during the national anthem, “a real American patriot!”

true

half-true

Brian Fitzpatrick

stated on May 5, 2020 in a radio interview

“For the World Health Organization, the international entity whose sole responsibility it is to alert the world of global pandemics like this, to miss this, is a huge problem.”

true

barely-true

stated on May 25, 2020 in a tweet

“[U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb] said he would NOT vote for [Nancy Pelosi] for Speaker, and did.”

true

pants-fire

stated on May 11, 2020 in a Facebook post

“Gov. Wolf is not allowing companies that distribute U.S. flags to ship out orders to be placed at veteran’s graves for Memorial Day.”

true

mostly-true

stated on May 14, 2020 in a speech

“You have areas of Pennsylvania that are barely affected and [the governor wants] to keep them closed.”

true

half-true

stated on May 9, 2020 in a video

“Guess what, [children are] not at risk unless they have an underlying medical issue.”

true

false

stated on May 2, 2020 in a Facebook post

Gas is under $1 in 13 states, but $2.27 in Pennsylvania, because of the governor.

true

barely-true

stated on March 18, 2020 in a Facebook post

“The poor are, ironically, the most likely to be employed in the industries deemed ‘essential’ while their upper-class peers are freed to bunker down for weeks until the first death wave passes.”

true

true

stated on April 15, 2020 in a Politico interview

“In a matter of days, and in some cases the moment may even have passed, that we’ve reached the peak of the rate of infections.”

true

half-true

stated on April 13, 2020 in on CNN

"The president looks like he was ahead of the curve – as you know, he talks about this all the time – on shutting down travel from China."

true

barely-true

stated on March 16, 2020 in a Facebook post

The government is closing businesses to stop the spread of coronavirus even though "the numbers are nothing compared to H1N1 or Ebola. Everyone needs to realize our government is up to something ...”

true

pants-fire

Brian Fitzpatrick

stated on March 23, 2020 in comments he made on the radio

“We’ve got to give the American public a rough estimate of how long we think this is going to take, based mostly on the South Korean model, which seems to be the trajectory that we are on, thankfully, and not the Italian model.”

true

half-true

stated on March 28, 2020 in a video on Twitter

“My mask will keep someone else safe and their mask will keep me safe.”

true

true

stated on February 28, 2020 in a news article

“Swing State Hit With 2020 Voting Lawsuit - Accused Of Registering Over 1,500 Deceased People In Pennsylvania.”

true

barely-true

Fact-checking Mike Pence’s attacks against Joe Biden in his latest Pennsylvania campaign visit

Fact-checking Mike Pence’s attacks against Joe Biden in his latest Pennsylvania campaign visit

By Jessica Calefati • July 31, 2020

Pennsylvania’s coronavirus data is less reliable, robust than other states

Pennsylvania’s coronavirus data is less reliable, robust than other states

By Jessica Calefati • May 11, 2020

Ad watch: Biden attacks Trump on China and coronavirus

Ad watch: Biden attacks Trump on China and coronavirus

By Jon Greenberg • April 20, 2020

Fact-checking Philly’s new distinction as a coronavirus hot spot

Fact-checking Philly’s new distinction as a coronavirus hot spot

By Jessica Calefati • April 13, 2020

How the coronavirus pandemic is shaping the Democratic primary calendar

How the coronavirus pandemic is shaping the Democratic primary calendar

By Louis Jacobson • March 26, 2020

Fact-checking coronavirus claims by Pennsylvania politicians

Fact-checking coronavirus claims by Pennsylvania politicians

By Jessica Calefati • March 25, 2020

Are Pennsylvania Democrats fleeing the party to become Republicans?

Are Pennsylvania Democrats fleeing the party to become Republicans?

By Colin Deppen • October 5, 2018

Does Conor Lamb support mice more than Medicare?

Does Conor Lamb support mice more than Medicare?

By Colin Deppen • September 26, 2018

Fact checking Pa. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's Facebook meltdown

Fact checking Pa. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's Facebook meltdown

By Colin Deppen • April 23, 2018

Why Wolf and the Senate GOP are fighting over unemployment center layoffs

Why Wolf and the Senate GOP are fighting over unemployment center layoffs

By Cassie Owens • November 23, 2016

Pat Toomey's bank and fact vs. fiction in this noisy US Senate race

Pat Toomey's bank and fact vs. fiction in this noisy US Senate race

By Anna Orso • October 28, 2016

Sin taxes and Pennsylvania’s poor: New cigarette levy fits a pattern

Sin taxes and Pennsylvania’s poor: New cigarette levy fits a pattern

By Cassie Owens • August 2, 2016

What causes most gun violence in Philly

What causes most gun violence in Philly

By Cassie Owens • April 4, 2016

Impossible to check: John Fetterman’s claim that sanctuary cities are safer

Impossible to check: John Fetterman’s claim that sanctuary cities are safer

By Cassie Owens • February 29, 2016