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Donald Trump surprised the political world by seizing Republican nomination—an achievement formally recognized at the Republican National Convention a little more than a year after he entered the race. PolitiFact reporters checked the facts behind the rhetoric at the convention from on the ground in Cleveland. Summaries and links to the dozens of fact-checks and stories they produced can be found below.
Day 4
Fact-checking Donald Trump on the final night of the Republican convention
We looked at more than a dozen facts from Trump’s, law-and-order oriented convention speech, which closed the Republican National Convention. We checked Trump’s portrait of rising crime and a failing economy, as well as claims on immigration, trade and terrorism.
Donald Trump’s GOP acceptance speech, annotated
A full accounting of Trump’s convention speech.
Day 3
The third night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, fact-checked
Mike Pence made his debut as the Republican vice-presidential nominee with a speech introducing himself and warning against a "third Obama term." Newt Gingrich, Ted Cruz and Florida governor Rick Scott all also appeared on the podium and the Truth-O-Meter dial.
Did Ted Cruz pledge to back the Republican nominee?
Ted Cruz attracted boos from the crowd when he dramatically failed to endorse Donald Trump, who he sparred with on the campaign trail. We looked at whether Cruz had committed to support the eventual nominee
Day 2
Fact-checking the second night of the Republican National Convention
Day 2 of the Republican convention focused on Clinton’s truthfulness, record and plans for the presidency, including Chris Christie’s mock prosecution and Ben Carson’s meditation on her early influences.
What Ben Carson said about Hillary Clinton, Saul Alinsky and Lucifer
Ben Carson encouraged his listeners to consider Clinton’s background—specifically, her link to Chicago-based leftist Saul Alinsky and, through him, to Lucifer. We looked into what was behind his statement.
Day 1
Fact-checking the opening night of the 2016 Republican National Convention
Our fact-checks from the first day of the Republican National Convention reflect the speaker's focus on immigration and Benghazi.
Obama is not ‘absolutely’ a Muslim, as RNC speaker claims
When one convention speaker insisted that Barack Obama was a Muslim we assigned another Pants on Fire! In a string related to the issue of the president’s religion.
Checking Patricia Smith’s claims about Clinton and Benghazi
Patricia Smith, whose son was killed in Benghazi, repeated her claim that Clinton had lied to her about the reason for the attack. Her claim is disputed by other family members of people killed in Benghazi, and we ran through their different accounts.
In context: Comparing the Melania Trump, Michelle Obama convention speeches
Trump’s wife Melania Trump gave a well-received speech in which she talked about her upbringing in Slovenia and her respect for her husband. Soon after the speech, however, some pointed out striking similarities with a speech from Michelle Obama. We compared the passages. A speech writer later admitted an error.
Other Coverage
Donald Trump’s top 10 campaign promises
We took the 10 most important promises in Trump’s campaign and ran them by experts in related fields.
Compare the candidates: Clinton vs. Trump on the economy
Our issue by issue run-down of the two candidates stances on the economy.
Live blog: Fact-checking the 2016 RNC
You can follow our fact-checking as it happened by referring back to our live-blog.
How Trump plans to build, and pay for, a wall along the the U.S.-Mexico border
A look at the facts behind one of Trump’s signature campaign promises.
Donald Trump on the Truth-O-Meter
Donald Trump debuted on the Truth-O-Meter with a Pants on Fire! claim casting doubt on Barack Obama’s life story—part of his promotion of skepticism about Barack Obama’s citizenship. Since then, Trump has registered on the Truth-O-Meter nearly 200 times. We examined his record.
Facts we looked for in Trump’s speech
Before both Trump and Clinton’s acceptance speeches we speculated about what facts from their file might pop up again. Check our guesses, check the speech, and see how we did.
Chris Christie on the Truth-O-Meter
Our fact-checkers have tracked Christie from his time as governor of New Jersey to his new role as most pro-Trump casualty of the huge GOP presidential field. Before his RNC speech, his PolitiFact file had exactly 100 fact-checks. We looked at his record and highlighted some stand-out statements.
Melania could be the first non-U.S. first lady since...
Melania Trump, who introduced herself to the American public on the first night of the Republican National Convention, would be only the second first lady to be born outside the United States or the thirteen colonies. Any guess about who was the first? Think "Amistad." Think "corrupt bargain." Nothing? Check our story for the answer.
Our Sources
See individual stories and fact-checks.
