Soros Not Funding Kasich PAC

A TV ad financed by a super PAC supporting Sen. Ted Cruz falsely claimed that Democratic donor George Soros gave “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich. 

The ad was pulled from the air and has been revised. The ad now uses guilt by association to link Kasich to Soros, claiming instead that Kasich got “hundreds of thousands of dollar from George Soros cronies” because two former employees of Soros have contributed to New Day for America, the super PAC backing Kasich for president. 

For more about the ad and the former Soros executives who contributed to the pro-Kasich super PAC, please see our item “Soros Not Funding Kasich PAC.”

FactCheck.org Week in Review

FactChecking the 12th GOP Debate
March 11, 2016
The candidates’ factual stumbles touched on ISIS, ethanol, climate change and more.

FactChecking the Eighth Democratic Debate
March 10, 2016
Clinton and Sanders stretch the facts on immigration, the environment and other issues.

Polar Bears Far from ‘Strong and Healthy’
March 8, 2016
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the “latest research” shows “polar bear numbers are strong and healthy” in her state. Polar bears are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Of the two populations in Alaska, one is declining, and the status of the other is unknown.

Trump University’s D- Rating
March 8, 2016
Donald Trump gets an ‘F’ for a video he posted to YouTube purporting to tell the “truth” about Trump University, the real-estate program that has been the subject of three ongoing lawsuits alleging fraud.

Clinton-Sanders Bailout Brawl
March 7, 2016
This time Bernie Sanders cherry-picks the facts about the auto bailout of 2008 and 2009 — which has become a point of contention between Sanders and Hillary Clinton in the final days before the Michigan presidential primary.

FactChecking the Seventh Democratic Debate
March 7, 2016
Clinton and Sanders stretched the facts on the auto bailout, fracking, trade deals and more.

New to Players Guide 2016

Our Principles PAC
March 8, 2016
A super PAC formed by Republicans in January 2016 to thwart Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

FactChecking the 12th GOP Debate

The four GOP presidential candidates debated in Miami and stretched the facts:

• Businessman Donald Trump wrongly claimed that the Obama administration isn’t “knocking out the oil” controlled by the Islamic State in Syria, because of climate change concerns. The administration, which stepped up attacks on oil facilities, hasn’t cited climate change. Instead, it has cited concern about long-term economic harm and local environmental damage.
• Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz disagreed over whether Cruz had waffled on his opposition to ethanol mandates. Trump was wrong, and Cruz was right.
• Cruz claimed that President Obama sent a bust of Winston Churchill back to the United Kingdom when he took office. The bust had been loaned to President George W. Bush, and a replica is still at the White House.
• Sen. Marco Rubio dismissed a question about man-made climate change, saying, “The climate has always been changing.” But scientists say there is ample evidence that humans are contributing to climate change. Rubio also falsely claimed that passing policies like the Clean Power Act would have “zero” impact on the environment.
• Trump incorrectly referred to Common Core as “education through Washington, D.C.” and claimed Common Core has been “taken over by the federal government.” The education standards were developed by the states, and the curriculum will continue to be managed at the state and local level.
• Trump wrongly said the U.S. gross domestic product was at “zero, essentially.” Real GDP grew at a rate of 2 percent in the third quarter of 2015 and 1 percent in the fourth quarter.
• Trump, Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich repeated several claims we’ve checked before — including Trump’s claim to be self-funding his campaign (he’s taken $7.5 million in donations); Kasich’s boast on job creation (Ohio’s growth trails the national rate); Cruz’s claim about welfare benefits for immigrants in the country illegally (they’re already barred from most government benefits); and more.
• Trump also said that the 1,237 delegate count needed to secure the party’s nomination was “a very random number.” It’s actually a simple majority of the total available delegates, 2,472.

FactCheck.org Week in Review

FactChecking the 11th GOP Debate
March 4, 2016
Claims by and about Donald Trump dominate our report.

Cruz’s Record Before the Supreme Court
March 3, 2016
An ad from a pro-Ted Cruz super PAC says, “Ted Cruz argued nine cases in front of the Supreme Court, and won.” He did not win all nine cases, as the ad implies.

Pro-Kasich Ad’s Misplaced Job Boast
March 2, 2016
A new TV ad boasts that Ohio Gov. John Kasich has created 400,000 jobs in his state and will do the same for Michigan as president. But Michigan actually has gained more jobs than Ohio during Kasich’s time in office, both in raw numbers and in the rate of job growth.

Repeat Debate Claims: Dems Version
March 2, 2016
This video from FlackCheck.org addresses some of the claims that the Democrats have repeatedly made during debates.

Trump’s Defense of His ‘University’
March 1, 2016
Businessman Donald Trump has made false and misleading claims in response to attacks on “Trump University,” a now defunct program that offered tips on real estate to paying customers.

Trump’s David Duke Amnesia
March 1, 2016
Asked if he would publicly reject the support of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said, “I just don’t know anything about him.” The record proves him wrong.

Rubio Oversimplifies FBI-Apple Battle
February 29, 2016
Sen. Marco Rubio said the FBI has asked Apple to disable “the auto-erase mode on one phone in the entire world.” But the FBI, which is seeking access to the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, has asked Apple to write software that could do more than that.

Trump vs. Veteran Vendors
February 29, 2016
An ad from a pro-Marco Rubio super PAC claims Donald Trump “bans disabled veterans from his high rise.” But the ad may leave a misleading impression.

New to Players Guide 2016

Keep the Promise
March 3, 2016
Keep the Promise is a network of five independent super PACs supporting Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz.

FactCheck.org Week in Review 

Donald Trump and the Iraq War

Donald Trump has repeated throughout his presidential campaign that he opposed the Iraq war before the March 19, 2003 invasion. But there’s no evidence of that. Here’s a timeline of statements Trump made in 2002 and 2003 about the war.

Clinton’s ‘Charleston Loophole’ Claim

Hillary Clinton said the FBI needed “just one more day” to stop Dylann Roof from being able to purchase the handgun that he allegedly used to kill nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, last year. That’s false.

Kasich’s Post-Cold War Defense Cuts

A pro-Jeb Bush super PAC says John Kasich “voted with Nancy Pelosi to cut troop levels and military funding.” That’s true. But those votes came at a time when the debate was not whether to reduce troops or defense spending, but by how much.

Rubio’s Plan on ‘Sanctuary Cities’

An ad from a pro-Ted Cruz super PAC falsely claims that Sen. Marco Rubio’s plan for so-called sanctuary cities is to “ignore” them.

Cruz, Rubio Twist Court ‘Precedent’

Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz distort the history of Supreme Court appointments in arguing that President Obama should not be allowed to fill the vacancy left by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Cruz Distorts Rubio’s Stance on Gay Marriage

Sen. Ted Cruz goes too far when he claims Sen. Marco Rubio and Donald Trump are “repeating Barack Obama’s talking points” on the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling.

FactChecking the Ninth GOP Debate

Six remaining Republican candidates misrepresent the facts on the Supreme Court, immigration, abortion and other issues.

Stand for Truth

Profile of a super PAC supporting Sen. Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination for president.

FactChecking the Eighth GOP Debate

Days before the New Hampshire primary, the top seven Republican presidential candidates stretched some facts in the eighth GOP debate.

• Sen. Ted Cruz incorrectly claimed that waterboarding doesn’t meet the “generally recognized” definition of torture. The definition he gave reflects a controversial 2002 Bush administration memo.
• Businessman Donald Trump claimed that his campaign couldn’t get tickets to the debate and that the RNC told him there were “all donors in the audience.” The RNC told us each candidate received an equal allotment of tickets.
• Cruz said his Iowa staffers spread misinformation about Ben Carson suspending his campaign based on CNN’s reporting, claiming CNN “didn’t correct” its story for nearly three hours. That’s false. CNN only reported that Carson wasn’t heading directly to New Hampshire after the Iowa caucus.
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that Sen. Marco Rubio was incorrect in claiming that New Jersey’s credit rating had been downgraded nine times under Christie. The state’s debt rating has been lowered nine times all told by three different rating agencies.
• In referring to terrorists, Rubio claimed that “we’re not interrogating anybody right now.” Not true. What has changed is that the administration no longer subjects terrorism suspects to indefinite interrogation at Guantanamo Bay.
• Cruz said he would “end welfare benefits for those here illegally.” But immigrants in the U.S. illegally are already barred from receiving most government benefits, including food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
• Rubio said Hillary Clinton “believes that all abortion should be legal, even on the due date of that unborn child.” Clinton has said she’s “open” to restrictions on late-term abortions if there are exceptions for endangerment of the life and health of the mother.
• Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich argued over whether Ohio had a bigger government in terms of employees now than when Kasich took office. That depends on whether one counts state university employees.
• And we heard claims we’ve written about before — on the Iran hostage crisis, Planned Parenthood and deportations of immigrants.

Read the full analysis at FactCheck.org.

FactCheck.org This Week in Review 

FactChecking the Seventh GOP Debate

There was no Donald Trump, but plenty to fact-check in the last GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses.

Trump Retweets Bogus Fox Graphic

On the morning of the Fox News/Google debate that Donald Trump has vowed to boycott, the Republican front-runner retweeted a bogus graphic that shows Fox News host Megyn Kelly posing with Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and his wife. The image is fake.

Distorting Kasich’s Tax Plan

An ad from a conservative group attacks Ohio Gov. John Kasich as an “Obama Republican,” and misleadingly claims his budget “raised taxes by billions, hitting businesses hard and the middle class even harder.” The ad only tells half the story.

Cruz’s Misleading Ad on Military Cuts

A Ted Cruz TV ad in South Carolina blames President Obama for “threatening 3,000 jobs at Fort Jackson.” Actually, only 180 jobs were cut. The potential for deeper cuts was avoided by a bill signed last year by Obama — and opposed by Cruz.

Rubio, Cruz on Reagan and Hostages

Sens. Rubio and Cruz have implied that Iran released U.S. hostages in 1981 on the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated because Reagan ushered in a new foreign policy. But several experts on the crisis told us the timing was a final insult to President Jimmy Carter, whom the hostage-takers despised.

Trump Overstates Cruz Challenges

Donald Trump claims Illinois is “very seriously” looking at Sen. Ted Cruz’s eligibility to run for president and “may not even let him run.” That’s misleading.

Widow’s Home Wasn’t Bulldozed

A Ted Cruz TV ad says Donald Trump “colluded with Atlantic City insiders to bulldoze the home of an elderly widow” for a casino parking lot. The ad leaves the false impression that the widow lost her home, and she didn’t.

Players Guide 2016

We added profiles this week of three super PACs seeking to influence the 2016 elections:

Generation Forward

A Democratic super PAC supporting Martin O’Malley for president.

House Majority PAC

A super PAC that supports Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, aiming to put them back in the majority.

Senate Majority PAC

A Democratic super PAC devoted to regaining a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate.