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Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address: annotated

National

President Barack Obama delivers the 2015 State of the Union address.

Lauren Carroll

By Lauren Carroll January 21, 2015

Steve Contorno

By Steve Contorno January 21, 2015

Joshua Gillin

By Joshua Gillin January 21, 2015

Jon Greenberg

By Jon Greenberg January 21, 2015

Angie Drobnic Holan

By Angie Drobnic Holan January 21, 2015

Louis Jacobson

By Louis Jacobson January 21, 2015

Katie Sanders

By Katie Sanders January 21, 2015

Read “Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address: annotated” by PolitiFact on Genius

Sources are noted in the annotations.

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

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

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

Brian Tyler Cohen
stated on April 12, 2025 in an X post:

Trump “just denied North Carolina’s request for FEMA relief from Hurricane Helene.”

By Paul Specht • April 24, 2025
Donald Trump
stated on April 22, 2025 in remarks at the White House:

“We had a couple of states where gasoline was at $1.98 a gallon.”

By Louis Jacobson • April 24, 2025
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense In America
stated on April 17, 2025 in a Threads post:

“Gun violence is the leading killer of college-aged people in the U.S.”

By Loreben Tuquero • April 22, 2025
Michael Lawler
stated on March 21, 2025 in a television interview:

“If we don’t pass the tax bill by the end of the year, we will have the largest tax increase in American history.”

By Jill Terreri Ramos • April 22, 2025
TikTok posts
stated on April 21, 2025 in TikTok posts:

“The Simpsons” predicted Pope Francis’ 2025 death.

By Claire Cranford • April 22, 2025
X posts
stated on April 13, 2025 in a post on X:

Arizona Democrats “needed a lawsuit to force them to remove 50,000 noncitizens from voter rolls.”

By Madison Czopek • April 18, 2025
Facebook posts
stated on April 16, 2025 in Facebook posts:

Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney wrote a viral letter to Democrats suggesting steps to take against the Trump administration.

By Loreben Tuquero • April 18, 2025
Byron Donalds
stated on April 10, 2025 in a NewsNation interview:

Under the SAVE Act, “as long as you have a Real ID … it should be easy for you to register to vote.”

By Grace Abels • April 18, 2025
Tim Walz
stated on April 6, 2025 in an interview:

“Less than half of Americans have $1,000 in savings.”

By Claire Cranford • April 16, 2025
X posts
stated on April 13, 2025 in a post on X:

Cody Balmer, the person charged with setting fire to Pennsylvania governor’s residence, posted a photo that said “F--- Trump.”

By Madison Czopek • April 14, 2025

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