HELENA — On Friday night, former President Donald Trump delivered a speech that lasted over 90 minutes in front of a crowd at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman. Staff from the national project PolitiFact attended the rally, and on Saturday, they issued their fact-checking report on five claims he made during his speech.
As the presidential campaign intensifies, PolitiFact editor-in-chief Katie Sanders mentioned that they have been scrutinizing claims from both the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as some of their key supporters. Many statements made by Trump on Friday were reiterated ones they had previously fact-checked.
“Since it was our first time fact-checking Trump’s appearance in that state and collaborating with Montana news outlets, we wanted to emphasize some of those recurring claims for those hearing it for the first time,” she explained.
Three of the claims examined by PolitiFact revolved around Trump’s focus on border security.
“Illegal aliens are stampeding into America,” he asserted on Friday. “By the millions and millions, they’re coming from prisons, they’re coming from jails.”
Sanders pointed out that Trump has made the assertion multiple times that millions of migrants are arriving in the U.S. from jails or mental institutions. PolitiFact rated this claim as “Pants on Fire,” indicating it was inaccurate and “a ludicrous assertion.”
According to PolitiFact, data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reveals that immigration officials have apprehended just over 110,000 non-citizens with criminal records since 2021. They noted that this number only represents individuals known to the federal government and may not be exhaustive. Of the 110,000, some were intercepted at ports of entry, and not all of them were admitted into the country.
Furthermore, there have been around 8 million encounters at the border since Biden took office, although this could include repeat crossers and does not indicate how many individuals remained in the country.
“While there are migrants who have managed to cross the border with criminal backgrounds, they do not number in the millions and millions,” Sanders clarified.
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Trump also highlighted his economic achievements during his presidency.
“I handed Kamala and Crooked Joe a surging economy with no inflation,” he claimed. “We had no inflation, we had nothing.”
Sanders noted that inflation was lower during Trump’s tenure compared to Biden’s, but it never reached zero. It fluctuated between 1.5% and 3% for most of his term, reaching its lowest point of 0.1% in May 2020 during the economic challenges from the COVID pandemic.
“We’ve observed in our coverage of economic claims over the years from both sides that there’s a lot of cherry-picking involved,” she remarked.
PolitiFact also deemed a statement regarding Kamala Harris’ gun policy as “Mostly False.”
“She wants to have all of your guns taken away,” Trump declared. “She wants your guns taken away; you can count on it.”
Harris did support a mandatory buyback program for assault weapons during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, but it did not encompass all firearms. Sanders mentioned that Harris has distanced herself from supporting a buyback program in this campaign.
“This showcases when a politician has a kernel of truth to build on, but then exaggerates it,” she added.
Gloria Gregg
Randyn Gregg, a business owner and Republican legislative candidate from White Sulphur Springs, reflected on his positive experience attending the rally with family members. He acknowledged the importance of fact-checking but urged people to conduct their own research and consult diverse sources.
“I take a lot of these fact-checkers with a grain of salt,” he expressed. “People need to be discerning because there may be factual information alongside rhetoric used in the claims.”
For instance, Gregg believed that Trump’s point on inflation was valid, illustrating that it remained within the range desired by federal regulators during his tenure. He highlighted real disparities in Republican and Democratic gun policies that Trump’s statements emphasized.
“It’s challenging in a large group setting to delve into the intricacies of certain policies,” Gregg remarked. “You need to speak broadly for everyone to comprehend, and I think that’s what President Trump is doing.”
Sanders mentioned that while PolitiFact acknowledges these viewpoints, they value the precision of language in their assessments.
“People have the freedom to support any candidate they choose on Election Day; PolitiFact does not dictate who to vote for,” she clarified. “Our aim is to provide answers on the accuracy of what politicians state. It matters when Harris or Trump make claims about each other’s positions that are not backed by facts, and we strive to bridge that gap and offer those answers since we understand that voters may not have the time to conduct extensive research independently.”
During the rally, Trump referenced the criticisms he receives from fact-checkers as he discussed the pronunciation of Harris’ name.
“She’s got about nine different ways of pronouncing the name,” he remarked. “And since the press is so dishonest, they’ll say, ‘You were wrong, you were wrong,’ no matter how you say it. I don’t care if I get it right. Actually, I couldn’t care less.”
You can access all of PolitiFact’s recent fact-checks – on both parties – on their website.
