The Poynter Institute

English Español

Get PolitiFact in your inbox.

Joni Ernst's 2015 State of the Union rebuttal: annotated

National

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, gave the 2015 GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union.

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 “Joni Ernst's 2015 State of the Union rebuttal: annotated” by PolitiFact on Genius

Sources are in the individual annotations.

stated on June 22, 2017 in 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 in 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 in 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 in 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 in "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 in 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 in 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 in 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 in 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 in blog headlines:

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

barely-true

barely-true

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

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

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on April 30, 2017 in an interview on CBS:

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

true

true

stated on April 28, 2017 in 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 in 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 in a tweet:

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

half-true

half-true

Donald Trump
stated on December 1, 2025 in una publicación en Truth Social:

Video muestra noticia de “última hora” en el que el presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro se “rindió públicamente” ante el presidente Donald Trump.

By Maria Briceño • December 4, 2025
Donald Trump
stated on December 2, 2025 in a Truth Social post:

Any pardon signed with an autopen is now "fully and completely terminated, and is of no legal effect."

By Louis Jacobson • December 4, 2025
Facebook posts
stated on December 1, 2025 in a Facebook post:

A new North Carolina law “prohibits the use of wireless communication devices while driving.”

By Paul Specht • December 4, 2025
Donald Trump
stated on December 1, 2025 in a Truth Social post:

Video shows “breaking” news that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro "publicly surrendered" to President Donald Trump.

By Maria Briceño • December 3, 2025
Richard Hudson
stated on November 24, 2025 in a newsletter:

“This Thanksgiving, turkey prices are at their lowest point since 2000.”

By Paul Specht • November 26, 2025
Social Media
stated on November 20, 2025 in social media posts:

The Trump administration removed nursing from the list of professional degree programs, affecting aspiring nurses’ student loan access.

By Madison Czopek • November 26, 2025
Donald Trump
stated on November 22, 2025 in a Truth Social post:

“I have just gotten the highest poll numbers of my ‘political career.’”

By Louis Jacobson • November 24, 2025
Tricia McLaughlin
stated on November 17, 2025 in an interview posted to X:

“There’s about 1,400 criminal illegal aliens that, right now, are in North Carolina and Charlotte’s jails that they refuse to turn over to ICE law enforcement.”

By Paul Specht • November 24, 2025
Kayla Young
stated on November 5, 2025 in an X post:

West Virginia is “the only state losing population.”

By Trent Ao • November 21, 2025
X posts
stated on November 15, 2025 in an X post:

A pro-Donald Trump Montana town planned a “pedophile bonfire” in a park for burning Trump flags and MAGA hats.

By Maria Briceño • November 21, 2025