Our latest fact-checks

"In 2014 ... in McDowell County, W.Va., one of the poorest counties in the nation, life expectancy for men was 64 years. In Fairfax County, Va., a wealthy county, just 350 miles away, life expectancy was nearly 82 years, an 18 year differential. The life expectancy gap for women in the two counties was 12 years."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Thursday, July 18th, 2019

"When you pull up to the gas pump to fill up your car, get your cell phone and search for Bluetooth devices. If a sequence of letters and numbers show up don’t pay at the pump. One of the pumps has a credit card skimmer inside of it. All of these skimmers run on bluetooth."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Friday, May 17th, 2019

"Black women make only around 63 cents while Native American women earn 58 cents, and Hispanic women make just 54 cents in comparison to every dollar a man makes."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Thursday, May 16th, 2019

"19% of WVians rely on SNAP," or food stamps.

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Friday, May 10th, 2019

"Nearly 20 million Americans ... have gained health insurance since (the Affordable Care Act) passed in 2010."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Friday, May 10th, 2019

"West Virginia spends more tax dollars on public education than all but 13 other states and the District of Columbia."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Friday, May 10th, 2019

"I was the only member of the Senate – Republican or Democrat – who has consistently voted against efforts to use the so called ‘nuclear option’ to change the rules of the Senate."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

"West Virginia’s exports increased for the second year in a row in 2018, reaching $8.1 billion. Additionally, West Virginia’s export growth rate was 14.2%, nearly double the national average of 7.6%."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

"Our state has fewer science, technology, engineering and math graduates than any neighboring state."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

Small businesses in West Virginia make up "99 percent of the total number of businesses in the state" and employ "nearly 50 percent of the state’s workforce."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

"It is estimated that more than 20 veterans die by suicide every day."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

The Affordable Care Act "provided over 200,000 West Virginians with health care coverage."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

"The states that have passed (campus carry laws) have seen enrollment drop significantly."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

"Beginning in the early 1990s, we built barriers in 4 sectors at our southern border. Since each was built, those sectors have seen massive drops in apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally," including 90 percent to 95 percent decreases in the Tucson, Yuma, San Diego and El Paso sectors. ​

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Monday, April 8th, 2019

In the state rankings for ACT test scores, West Virginia "is 30th. Which states are listed in the bottom? 15 states with charter schools."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Thursday, April 4th, 2019

In West Virginia, "our students enter in at fourth grade the first time they’re tested, 37th or 38th in the nation—which is not good, but it’s not horrible. By the time they’re in the 8th grade, they’re 46th or 47th, and then upon 11th grade testing they’re near last."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019

"We have had an increase of 67 percent (in) the number of children taken into state custody since 2014."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019

"We have more women in the workforce than ever before."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, March 27th, 2019

"The catalytic converter used in automobiles was invented in West Virginia."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, March 27th, 2019

"Right here (in West Virginia), they are building new houses … so that 321 Syrian Muslims can move down into this neighborhood in two months. … (A funeral home) is to be torn down in two months, and a mosque is going to built there."

— PolitiFact West Virginia on Wednesday, March 27th, 2019