Donald Trump in Snopes.com


On Principles & Values: FactCheck: 46M watched SOTU; 98M watched Super Bowl

CLAIM: "More people watched President Trump's 2019 State of the Union address on television than watched Super Bowl Super Bowl LIII."

FACT-CHECK: FALSE. The size of the crowds attending his public events has always been supremely important to President Donald Trump, so much so that he has been known to inflate attendance numbers on more than one occasion. The tendency for exaggeration seems to have rubbed off on some of Trump's supporters, who posted on social media after his 5 February 2019 State of the Union (SOTU) address that more people had watched the president's speech on TV than had watched the 2019 Super Bowl (which is typically the most-watched television broadcast in any given year).

2019's Patriots vs. Rams match-up drew a total viewing audience of 98.2 million watchers--more than twice the viewership of any State of the Union address (including Trump's previous outing) from the past decade. [Post-SOTU reports pegged viewership of SOTU 2019 at 46 million].

Source: Snopes.com Fact-Check on 2019 State of the Union address Feb 6, 2019

On Abortion: 1998: I hate abortion yet I'm totally for choice

[Reviewing Trump's stances from 1998]: Q: Abortion?

TRUMP: I hate the concept of abortion. I hate anything about abortion, and yet, I'm totally for choice. I think you have no alternative.

Source: Snopes.com Fact-Check on 2016 Presidential Hopefuls Oct 16, 2015

On Gun Control: 1998: Against gun laws; only bad guys would have guns

[Reviewing Trump's stances from 1998]: Q: Gun control? Where do you stand on that?

TRUMP: If you could tell me that the bad guys, the criminals, wouldn't have guns, I'd be a hundred percent for gun control. But the fact is, if you have gun control, the only people that are going to obey the laws, are going to be the good guys. So the bad guys are going to have the guns, the good guys aren't going to have the guns, and what good does that do us? So, I'm not in favor of it.

Source: Snopes.com Fact-Check on 2016 Presidential Hopefuls Oct 16, 2015

On Health Care: 1998: For universal coverage; have to take care of people

[Reviewing Trump's stances from 1998]: Q: Health care?

TRUMP: [I'm] liberal on health care, we have to take care of people that are sick.

Q: Universal health coverage?

TRUMP: I like universal, we have to take care, there's nothing else. What's the country all about if we're not going to take care of our sick?

Source: Snopes.com Fact-Check on 2016 Presidential Hopefuls Oct 16, 2015

On Tax Reform: 1998: I'd like to see major tax cuts, 800 billion or more

[Reviewing Trump's stances from 1998]: Q: [On tax cuts]:

TRUMP: I'd like to see major tax cuts.

Q: For what the Republicans are talking about--$800 billion or so--would you go that far?

TRUMP: Along the lines of that number, yes, approximately at that number, and could even be more.

Source: Snopes.com Fact-Check on 2016 Presidential Hopefuls Oct 16, 2015

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Page last updated: Mar 16, 2021