Our latest fact-checks | PolitiFact Texas

This is highly unlikely

Says the late Lady Bird Johnson sicced the CIA on actress and singer Eartha Kitt after Kitt spoke out against the Vietnam War during a White House luncheon in January 1968.

— PolitiFact Texas on Thursday, August 15th, 2019

There's more to consider here

John Cornyn

Says Royce West stood with Wendy Davis "to support painful late-term abortions."

— PolitiFact Texas on Thursday, August 8th, 2019

Crime data supports this

Beto O'Rourke

Says of El Paso that some years, "in a city of almost 700,000, we had five murders the entire year. Our average over the last 10 years is 18 (murders per year). We exceeded that average just on one day" after a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in the city.

— PolitiFact Texas on Monday, August 5th, 2019

O'Rourke didn't limit to high-income countries

Beto O'Rourke

Says "we lose nearly 40,000 people in this country to gun violence, a number that no other country comes even close to."

— PolitiFact Texas on Friday, August 2nd, 2019

It's true across the Texas border

Steve McCraw

Since 2014, there has been a 25% reduction in crime in communities at the Texas-Mexico border.

— PolitiFact Texas on Thursday, July 25th, 2019

This study doesn't seem to exist

Donna Campbell

"A study was done, a post-mortem, so a retrospective study done, looking at autopsies and drug levels, what drugs were in the blood of veterans that committed suicide, and 70 percent had THC."

— PolitiFact Texas on Monday, July 15th, 2019

The law evolved over time

Julián Castro

Says Section 1325 of U.S. immigration law was "put into place in 1929, by a segregationist."

— PolitiFact Texas on Friday, July 12th, 2019

Police called if they leave

Michael Burgess

Of shelters for immigrant children: "You know what? There's not a lock on the door. Any child is free to leave at anytime, but they don't. You know why? Because they are well taken care of."

— PolitiFact Texas on Wednesday, July 10th, 2019

City only regulates public land

Travis County Republican Party

Says recent changes to Austin city policy give homeless people more rights than property owners and allow for "homeless camps on private property, business frontage, and even public sidewalks."

— PolitiFact Texas on Friday, July 5th, 2019

Confuses key details

Beto O'Rourke

"The Census is predicting a 6% undercount that will be targeted against nonwhites in this country — so Hispanics, African Americans, communities of color" if a citizenship question is asked.

— PolitiFact Texas on Monday, July 1st, 2019

Cruz needs to consider more variables

Ted Cruz

"As you know, we apprehended over 144,000 people in a single month. That is a pace, which if it continues for 12 months, would put us on a pace for nearly 2 million apprehensions on the border."

— PolitiFact Texas on Thursday, June 27th, 2019

First Texas Democrat to top 4 million

Beto O'Rourke

In 2018, when he ran for senator, "young voter turnout in early voting was up 500%. We won more votes than any Democrat has in the history of the state of Texas."

— PolitiFact Texas on Monday, June 24th, 2019

Context is key, so is population size

John Cornyn

"Texas remains one of the most severely impacted states from drug trafficking. Nearly 3,000 Texans died from drug related deaths in 2017 – with half being overdoses involving opioids."

— PolitiFact Texas on Friday, June 21st, 2019

Errors in state data were the problem

Greg Abbott

"Turns out the critics of the Texas maternal mortality rate were just lying. It’s less than half of what the critics said. It’s about 1/10 of 1%."

— PolitiFact Texas on Tuesday, June 11th, 2019

Personal support is not the same thing

Beto O'Rourke

"For more than a year, I have been saying that it’s time for Congress to act and begin impeachment proceedings."

— PolitiFact Texas on Monday, June 10th, 2019

No data supports this claim

Dan Patrick

"We will have more people enter our country illegally than were born in this country in one year."

— PolitiFact Texas on Wednesday, June 5th, 2019

Hurricane Harvey played a role

Ben Carson

More than 100,000 people are waiting for public housing in Houston and people who are in the country illegally are taking their spaces.

— PolitiFact Texas on Thursday, May 30th, 2019

It depends which debt you consider

Donna Campbell

"Local Government debt in Texas has increased nearly 40% in the past 5 years."

— PolitiFact Texas on Friday, May 24th, 2019

Just 29% of claims he was discussing were denied

Dan Crenshaw

Says about 80% to 90% of people seeking asylum do not have a valid claim.

— PolitiFact Texas on Friday, May 17th, 2019

Stronger predictor than income, education

Beto O'Rourke

"Race is the No. 1 indicator for where toxic and polluting facilities are today."

— PolitiFact Texas on Tuesday, May 14th, 2019