Trump Finally Says Something True – Still Gets Slammed

Donald Trump says outrageous things. But, most of what he says is not true.  In fact, according to Politifact, fully 75% of Trump’s statements are “Mostly False”, “False” or “Pants on Fire” false, while nothing is completely “True”: 

Source: Politifact.com

Some of the most memorable statements (with the Politifact rating where available): 

•    "The Mexican government ... they send the bad ones over." "The Mexican government forces many bad people into our country." (Pants on Fire)
•      The unemployment rate may be as high as "42 percent." (Pants on Fire)
•      "I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created." (Unrated)
•     "The birther movement was started by Hillary Clinton in 2008. She was all in!"  (False)
•      "Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the United States. There's never been a Secretary of State so bad as Hillary. The world blew up around us. We lost everything, including all relationships. There wasn't one good thing that came out of that administration or her being Secretary of State." (Unrated)
•      John McCain… "has done nothing to help the vets." (False)
•    "He's (John McCain) not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK, I hate to tell you." (Unrated) 

For the most part, Trump says whatever he thinks, sources like Politifact report on the veracity of the statements, and Trump’s poll numbers go up.

But here’s the thing: Trump said something the other day that was absolutely factually correct. And that factually correct statement created a firestorm.

What truth did Trump utter in this interview with Bloomberg’s Stephanie Ruhle that led to the controversy?

“When you talk about George Bush — I mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time.”

Since Trump said this only a day or so ago, Politifact hasn’t had a chance to chime in. But, based on my understanding of history, this statement is true – the World Trade Center was attacked while George W. Bush was president (Ironically, if the statement is evaluated by Politifact and holds up, it will be the only “True” Trump statement they’ve rated).

After his impolitic (for a Republican candidate) remark, here’s the interviewer's follow up:

Ruhle: “Hold on. You can't blame George Bush for that.”

Trump: “He was president, okay? Blame him, or don't blame him, but he was president. The World Trade Center came down during his reign.”

So what happened? The media headlines said Trump blamed Bush for 9/11, or at least suggested he blamed Bush. And there were the expected responses from Republicans: 

•      Jeb Bush: “How pathetic for @realdonaldtrump to criticize the president for 9/11. We were attacked & my brother kept us safe.”
•      George Pataki: “Another day, another outrageous outburst from @realDonaldTrump. I saw firsthand President Bush's leadership on 9/11; @realDonaldTrump Al-Qaeda is responsible for the attacks of 9/11- not President Bush”
•      Rudy Giuliani: “It also came down when I was mayor, I haven’t had anyone blame me.”
•     Representative Peter King:  “…to blame George Bush for what happened on September 11 shows a lack of knowledge and it’s too much of a cheap shot at the president.” 

Bottom line:  Despite all the pushback, Trump stated a fact -- George W. Bush was president on 9/11. He did not “blame” Bush (although that might have been his implication). The reporter brought up “blame” and Trump picked up on that ­­– but still didn’t specifically “blame” Bush.

By the way, Jeb's “he kept us safe” comment is not new; he used it in the last Republican debate (to a fair amount of Democratic derision). Of course, not really mentioned in any of the coverage or discussion was that little report from August 6, 2001 entitled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US”.  Never mind.