FactChecking Trump on 'Meet the Press'

Former President Donald Trump had a rare interview with a mainstream media outlet on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with its new moderator, Kristen Welker.

The interview, which aired Sept. 17, went pretty much as expected, with the former president continuing to make false allegations about the 2020 election that we have repeatedly debunked.

In their article, Deputy Managing Editor Robert Farley and Staff Writer D’Angelo Gore focused on the former president’s legal problems, the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, abortion and the war in Ukraine.

Trump, who has been indicted twice by a federal grand jury and once each by state grand juries in New York and Georgia, claimed that he could have pardoned himself before he left office and “that would’ve saved me all of these lawyers, and all of these fake charges." 

But, as Rob and D’Angelo write, it’s unclear if a president can pardon himself, and even if he could have, it would not have saved him from the state indictments or the federal classified documents case, which pertains mostly to actions Trump took after he left office.

Trump also said that, if reelected, he “certainly might” pardon some of those convicted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol because, he said, “some of them never even went into the building, and they’re being given sentences of, you know, many years.”

However, those people who got lengthy prison sentences even though they never entered the Capitol were charged with helping to plan the attack or committing violent acts outside the Capitol in furtherance of the assault on the Capitol.

Read the full story, “FactChecking Trump on ‘Meet the Press.’” 

Reader: What is really the cause of the government shutdown? Is it caused [by] the GOP?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: The government hasn’t shut down yet. There is still time to avert it. But Congress has until the end of the month to pass 12 annual appropriations bills, or approve a continuing resolution that will allow the government to temporarily remain open at current funding levels. The Congressional Research Service keeps track of the 12 appropriations bills and none of them have passed for the fiscal year 2024, which starts Oct. 1. 

Spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and, at the moment, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is seeking to pass a continuing resolution, or CR, to give Congress more time to resolve its differences. But he will not bring a bill to the floor without the support of a majority of his caucus, and House Republicans cannot agree among themselves on legislation to fund the government.

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned House Republicans that they need to pass a bill and prevent a partial government shutdown. He said, “I’ve seen a few of them over the years. They never have produced a policy change and they’ve always been a loser for Republicans politically.”

The Brookings Institution has a good primer on government shutdowns here.

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Launching Impeachment Inquiries: Reviewing What Happened in 2019 and 2023": House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reneged on his promise not to move forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden without having a full vote by the House of Representatives. When defending his reversal, McCarthy blamed his predecessor, Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi. We sort out their conflicting statements. 
• "Posts Push Unproven ‘Spike Protein Detoxification’ Regimen": Serious side effects after COVID-19 vaccination are rare, and there isn’t evidence people need to undergo a “spike protein detoxification” regimen after getting vaccinated, contrary to claims made online. Nor has such a regimen been shown to help people recover from long COVID, or long-term health problems after having COVID-19.
• "Another Ad Attacking Beshear’s Pandemic Commutations in Kentucky Distorts Facts": In its latest TV ad attacking Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, the conservative super PAC School Freedom Fund falsely claims that Beshear’s decision to release some prisoners early during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed a man convicted of sodomizing a child to “roam free.”
• "Ramaswamy’s Climate Change Spin": Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a self-professed “unapologetic proponent of greater use of fossil fuels,” has repeatedly cited false or misleading statistics to downplay the risks of climate change. 
• "WHO Director-General Is Vaccinated Against COVID-19, Contrary to Online Post": Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, is an advocate for equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines in countries around the globe. But a social media post misleadingly claims, “Tedros says he isnt vaccinated.” Tedros shared a tweet on May 12, 2021, showing himself receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. 
• "Flu Shots, MMR Vaccines Have Saved Millions of Lives, Contrary to Online Claim": Flu shots and vaccines that protect children against measles, mumps and rubella have been effective in preventing illness, serious disease and death. But a meme has been circulating with the false suggestion that those vaccines are ineffective. Actually, they’ve saved millions of lives and have eliminated both measles and rubella in the U.S. 
• "Post Makes False Claim About Children Missing After Maui Wildfires": The wildfires in Maui caused widespread destruction on the island and claimed the lives of 97 people. The Maui Police Department and the FBI have released the list of 31 individuals still unaccounted for following the fire. Yet an Instagram post falsely claims “over 1,000 children are missing.”
• "Missouri State Senators in Video Were Burning Boxes, Not Books": Two Missouri state senators participated in a fundraising event that included a demonstration of flamethrowers that were up for auction. Videos shared on Instagram falsely claimed to show the senators engaged in a “book burning.” But only empty boxes, not books, were being torched.

• "Preguntas y respuestas sobre las vacunas contra el COVID-19 actualizadas": En Estados Unidos se están implementando vacunas contra el COVID-19 actualizadas, con el objetivo de proteger contra las variantes más recientes y prevalentes de la enfermedad. Aquí contestamos algunas preguntas comunes sobre estas últimas vacunas.
• "El director general de la OMS sí está vacunado contra el COVID-19, contrariamente a lo que se dice en las redes sociales": El doctor Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, ha luchado por la distribución equitativa de las vacunas contra el COVID-19 en todo el mundo. Pero una publicación en las redes sociales afirma engañosamente que “Tedros dice que no está vacunado”. Tedros compartió un tuit el 12 de mayo de 2021 mostrando como recibía la vacuna contra el COVID-19. 
• "La engañosa retórica de Ramaswamy sobre el cambio climático": El candidato republicano a la presidencia Vivek Ramaswamy, que se declara “defensor a ultranza de un mayor uso de combustibles fósiles”, cita repetidamente estadísticas falsas o engañosas para restar importancia a los riesgos del cambio climático.