Fact-checks | PolitiFact

The Poynter Institute

English Español

Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

I would like to contribute

Eric Hovde
stated on October 8, 2024 in Public appearance:

“Milwaukee is one of the sex trafficking capitals in our country.”

By Ricardo Torres • October 29, 2024
Taylor Swift
stated on June 1, 2019 in an Instagram post:

"The majority of Americans across ALL parties favor these nondiscrimination policies for LGBTQ people (liberals at 81%, moderates at 76% and conservatives at 55%)."

By Tom Kertscher • June 5, 2019
Greg Abbott
stated on June 27, 2018 in a fundraising conference call with supporters:

"In Houston, Texas, there are more brothels than there are Starbucks."

By W. Gardner Selby • July 13, 2018
Colin Jost
stated on October 7, 2017 in a Weekend Update report on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live":

"There is a real law in Texas that says it’s illegal to own more than six dildos."

By W. Gardner Selby • October 13, 2017
Chris Sgro
stated on March 17, 2016 in a speech urging Charlotte's anti-discrimination ordinance be left intact:

"There have not been any public safety issues" in cities that allow transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as.

By Will Doran • April 1, 2016
John Bel Edwards
stated on November 11, 2015 in a campaign ad:

Says David Vitter "answered a prostitute’s call minutes after he skipped a vote honoring 28 soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our freedom."

By Charles Maldonado • November 19, 2015
Barack Obama
stated on February 8, 2015 in a public-service video during the Grammys:

"Nearly one in five women in America has been a victim of rape or attempted rape."

By Louis Jacobson • February 16, 2015
Arianna Huffington
stated on September 9, 2014 in a tweet:

A poll found that "20% of young adults use (smartphones) during sex."

By Jon Greenberg • September 10, 2014
Ilyse Hogue
stated on March 12, 2014 in an interview on "The Daily Show":

"Medicare has spent $172 million on penis pumps in the last five years at $360 a pop."

By Katie Sanders • March 24, 2014
Cecile Richards
stated on December 6, 2013 in an interview with Texas Monthly:

The "U.S. has the highest unintended pregnancy rate of any Western industrialized country."

By W. Gardner Selby • February 10, 2014
X posts
stated on March 20, 2013 in tweets:

While the sequester is in effect, the federal government is still funding a study on duck penises.

By Molly Moorhead • March 22, 2013
Christopher Plante
stated on January 13, 2013 in an interview:

"The governor does not have any power to veto a referendum [on same-sex marriage] that would be a constitutional amendment."

By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • January 23, 2013
Mark Neumann
stated on January 26, 2012 in a news release:

Says the federal government could save $175,587 by eliminating a study of the "connection between cocaine and risky sex habits of the Japanese quail."

By Tom Kertscher • February 20, 2012