Trump's Latest Auto Industry Claims 

Michigan is a key swing state that former President Donald Trump likely needs to get back to the White House. He won the state -- and the presidency -- in 2016. He lost the state -- and the presidency -- in 2020.

So, it is not surprising that Trump has spent a lot of time in Michigan during the 2024 campaign. 

It is also not surprising that we have written numerous fact-checking articles over the years on Trump's false and misleading claims about the state's best-known industry -- the auto industry.

Managing Editor Lori Robertson added to our growing volume of articles on Trump's auto industry claims with a story this week about the former president's remarks at a Sept. 17 town hall in Flint, Michigan, and at an Aug. 29 event at Alro Steel in Potterville, Michigan.

At these venues, as Lori writes, Trump made false and unsupported claims about Chinese auto plants in Mexico and auto industry growth under his administration:

• He claimed that Chinese companies didn’t build auto plants in Mexico when he was in office because he threatened them with high tariffs, “but right now they’re building some of the largest auto plants anywhere in the world ever built” and they will “wipe you out.” There is only one, small Chinese car manufacturing plant in Mexico right now, experts say, and it was announced in 2017, during Trump’s term. 
• Trump promised “to get the autoworkers’ jobs back like it was 30 years ago and 40 years ago before everybody left,” saying “we were all set to” bring back the industry “and then we had the COVID disaster come in.” We can’t predict the future, but auto industry jobs declined between 2019 and 2020, before the pandemic, showing no evidence of a pending boom, as Trump said.

For more, read Lori's article, "Trump’s Problematic Claims on the Auto Industry."

Trump is scheduled to be back in Michigan tonight with a town hall in Warren at 6 p.m. 

Reader: Are wind turbines planet friendly? 

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: The short answer is: Like all energy sources, wind farms have some negative environmental impacts. But over its entire life cycle, a wind turbine produces among the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of the main electricity sources in the U.S. 

As our story on this topic explains: 

Researchers often calculate greenhouse gas emissions associated with methods of electricity generation using a technique called life cycle assessment. In the case of wind energy, this includes emissions generated in the course of “extraction and processing of materials, fabrication of components, transportation, installation, operations and maintenance … decommissioning, and disposal or recycling,” Aubryn Cooperman, an engineering analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, told us via email.

“Each of these processes may have emissions associated with the equipment used, such as trucks, cranes, ships, etc.,” she said. “Petroleum-based fuels are used for most types of transportation and portable equipment, and the related emissions are accounted for in the wind energy lifecycle assessment.” 

In the case of fossil fuels, a life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions also includes emissions caused by burning the fuel, such as coal or natural gas.

A report from NREL reviewed studies of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions for various sources of electricity. The median published estimates of emissions associated with wind were more than 37 times lower than those from natural gas and 77 times lower than those from coal. 

Over their lifetimes, wind farms also are associated with very little generation of air pollutants such as particulate matter and ground-level ozone.

For more read our Ask SciCheck "Wind Energy’s Key Environmental Advantage? Low Emissions."

Wrapping Up

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

• "Trump’s Latest Bogus Claim About Mail-In Vote Fraud in Pennsylvania": Former President Donald Trump cited the dubious results of a poll commissioned by a conservative group as the foundation for his latest claim of rampant voter fraud among mail-in voters.
• "Vance’s Misleading Claim About Immigrants and Murders in Springfield, Ohio": Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, circulated a baseless rumor on social media that the residents of Springfield, Ohio, “have had their pets abducted and eaten by” immigrants. Now, Vance has cherry-picked data to make the unfounded claim that immigrants are responsible for an 81% increase in the city’s murders. 
• "Posts Misrepresent Vance’s Comments About His Pet Dog": Sen. JD Vance introduced his dog during a recent interview with Tucker Carlson in an effort to debunk rumors that the family pet was rented to enhance the Republican vice presidential nominee’s image. But social media posts are highlighting a brief clip of the interview to falsely claim Vance "admits he has a ‘rent-a-dog.'" 
• "What We Know About Ryan Routh’s Political Affiliations": Rumors about Ryan Wesley Routh, who staked out Trump International Golf Club in Florida on Sept. 15, have been flying on social media. Some claim he “is a registered democrat.” Others claim he “is a Republican.” Routh was once registered as a Democrat, but said he voted for Donald Trump in 2016. He is not currently registered with any party. 
• "Ad Misleads on Harris’ Fracking Position, Uses Debatable Figure for Fracking-Reliant Jobs in PA": Vice President Kamala Harris has said that she will not attempt to ban fracking if elected president, a reversal of a position that she took during her 2020 presidential campaign. But a TV ad from Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick claims that Harris “will make” hundreds of thousands of fracking-dependent jobs in Pennsylvania “disappear.” 
• "Posts Misrepresent Police Reports Preceding Trump Rally in New York": Former President Donald Trump has been the target of two assassination attempts over the past three months. Viral posts are now spreading the false claim that police discovered explosives in a vehicle near a Trump campaign rally in New York on Sept. 18. Police said the claim is “unfounded.” 
• "NRA Posts Misrepresent Harris’ Position on Gun Ownership": Vice President Kamala Harris supports a ban on the sale of so-called assault weapons, but no longer supports a mandatory buyback program for such guns. The National Rifle Association misleadingly claims that Harris will “ban law-abiding Americans from owning” guns and “seize your legally owned guns.” Her proposal would not ban all guns or seize any guns. 
• "Apparent Assassination Attempt on Trump Sparks Unfounded Claims of ‘Inside Job’": The arrest of Ryan Wesley Routh in an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has sparked unfounded claims online that Routh had “inside” knowledge of Trump’s plans. Public reports about Trump’s schedule indicated his likely whereabouts, and evidence shows Routh staked out the site for about 12 hours. 
• "Posts Spread Digitally Altered Image of Harris with Sean Combs": Following the arrest of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs for sex trafficking and other charges, social media users — including former President Donald Trump — shared a digitally altered photo that purports to show Combs with Vice President Kamala Harris. The original image actually shows Harris with then-talk show host Montel Williams in 2001. 
• "False Claims of Backlash to Taylor Swift’s Endorsement of Harris": Pop star Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president on Sept. 10. Social media posts falsely claim that, as a result, Swift’s ticket sales have plummeted and some of her concerts and a major endorsement deal have been canceled. The remaining U.S. shows on Swift’s Eras tour are all sold out, and she has not lost her partnership with Coca-Cola. 
• "United Democracy Project": United Democracy Project is a super PAC launched by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. We profile the super PAC as part of our "Players Guide" feature on groups seeking to influence the 2024 election. 
• "Glitch in Montana’s Electronic Absentee System Temporarily Omitted Harris, Walz": Montana temporarily took down its online system used by citizens and military personnel voting abroad to fix a technical glitch that omitted the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates. Social media posts baselessly claimed that the Republican secretary of state purposely and illegally omitted the Democrats.