The 2024 FactCheck.org Awards

We have a tradition on Election Day of publishing an article about the wackiest political ads that we've seen during the election cycle. It's the one time when we take a break from the serious work of fact-checking.

We call it the FactCheck.org Awards, which we first featured in 2006.

Staff Writer D'Angelo Gore, who has been the sole author on every awards article since 2014, has a dry sense of humor that is on full display in this year's article. 

For example, the "Cheekiest Ad About Health Care Reform" went to Nadia Milleron, a candidate for U.S. House in Massachusetts, who aired a TV ad that, as D'Angelo writes, "helps voters visualize how bad it is for the uninsured or underinsured." As the narrator talks about "suffering from poor coverage," D'Angelo writes that viewers see people walking around doing their daily chores "wearing those unflattering hospital gowns that leave them exposed. There are blurred buttocks everywhere you turn."

Another ad was about Bigfoot looking for a man who didn’t want to be found -- a theme that the same candidate used in his 2018 congressional race. This year's version won the "Achievement in Ad Upcycling" award.

Elections are serious. They have consequences. No one knows that better than us. But, hey, we also need a good laugh now and then.

For more, read "The 2024 FactCheck.org Awards."

Reader: Did [President-elect Donald] Trump say that women who have abortions should be punished?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: During the 2016 presidential race, then-MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked Donald Trump about abortion at a March 30, 2016, televised town hall. Matthews asked: “Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle?” Trump responded, “The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.” Matthews asked, “For the woman?” And Trump said, “Yeah, there has to be some form.”

But, as we have written several times, Trump retracted his remarks the same day. In a statement posted to his campaign website, Trump said "the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman." 

This year, Trump has said it would be up to states to decide if women should be prosecuted for violating state abortion laws.

For more information, you can read “Trump Walked Back Abortion Statement Misleadingly Used in Biden-Harris Ad.” 

Wrapping Up

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

• "Trump’s New York Case: What Happens Now?"
  Q: What will happen in Donald Trump’s New York state criminal case now that he is president-elect?
  A: Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, but the judge could decide that sentencing is no longer appropriate. If Trump does receive a sentence, it could be appealed, or the judgment could be deferred until 2029, when Trump would be out of office.
• "Raskin Didn’t Say He ‘Won’t Be Certifying the Election’": Social media users have spread a quote attributed to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, claiming he said “we won’t be certifying the election” if former President Donald Trump wins. Raskin responded, saying the quote is “100% fabricated” and that “America is having a free and fair election and Congress will certify the winner.” The origin of the posts appears to be a misleading account of Raskin’s comments in February.
• "Posts Spread Unfounded Claim of Race-Based Threat of Violence in Georgia": Posts shared on Facebook make an unfounded claim of racially motivated threats of violence in Gwinnett County, Georgia, “from now until the Inauguration.” The county sheriff’s office said it had “not received any information indicating threats to any group(s) on or after election day.”
• "Google’s ‘Where to Vote’ Search Result Reflects Quirk of Candidate Surname, Not Bias": Social media users alleged bias against former President Donald Trump when a Google search on Election Day for “where to vote” returned an interactive map to find a person’s polling station when including the word “Harris” but not “Trump.” The reason is because “Harris” is a county in Texas, whereas “Trump” is not a location.
• "Trump Embraces RFK Jr.’s Views on Vaccines, Fluoride": In the waning days of his campaign, former President Donald Trump has further embraced some of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s incorrect or controversial views on health, including vaccines and fluoride. 
• "Election Night Expectations": It is possible, even likely, that we will not have a projected winner of the presidential race on Nov. 5 – Election Day. And that doesn’t mean there’s something nefarious going on with the vote-counting. 
• "Video Shows ‘Voter Error,’ Not ‘Election Interference’ in Kentucky": A video showing a Laurel County, Kentucky, voter having difficulty marking a ballot for former President Donald Trump was investigated and found to be an “isolated incident” of “voter error,” a spokesperson for the secretary of state said. Social media posts baselessly claimed it was an example of “election interference.” 
• "Trump’s ‘Like It or Not’ Comment and Harris’ Response": Vice President Kamala Harris wrongly claimed that former President Donald Trump was talking about “reproductive freedom” when he said that he will “protect” women “whether the women like it or not.” Trump was talking about illegal immigration — but, in doing so, he made his own unsupported claims about criminals from prisons and “insane asylums” being “imported” into the country.
• "Harris vs. Trump on Climate Change": Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have starkly different track records on climate change. To shed light on the two candidates’ climate agendas, we sorted through their campaign materials and recent statements on the campaign trail. 
• "Misleading Digital Campaign Created by Conservative Group Distorts Harris’ Positions": A conservative dark money group has fabricated a website and digital ad campaign that purport to share — but often distort — policies supported by Vice President Kamala Harris. As the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has not proposed a gun buyback program or Medicare coverage for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, contrary to the conservative group’s ads. 
• "Another Deceptive Trump Ad Attacks Harris Using Partial Quotes from News Outlets": Less than a month after we wrote about a misleading ad that used out-of-context quotes to attack Vice President Kamala Harris on taxes, former President Donald Trump’s campaign has released another anti-Harris ad drawing from the same deceptive political playbook. This time, the campaign used distorted quotes from news outlets to criticize Harris on taxes, illegal immigration and other issues. 
• "Typo in Trump’s Name on Ballot Review Screen Is Not ‘Election Fraud’": A misspelling of former President Donald Trump’s name occurred on an optional ballot review screen in Virginia, prompting an unfounded claim on social media of “election fraud.” The error was a typo that appeared only on the ballot review screen, not on actual ballots, and would not affect any votes, election officials said. 
• "Trump Makes Unsupported Claim About ‘Massive CHEATING’ in Philadelphia": Former President Donald Trump posted to social media an unsupported claim about “massive CHEATING” in Philadelphia, which he claimed had drawn the attention of law enforcement. The Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia district attorney, a Republican city council member and the Pennsylvania Department of State all refuted the claim.

• "Expectativas para la noche de las elecciones": Es posible, incluso probable, que el 5 de noviembre, el día de las elecciones, no tengamos un ganador proyectado para la carrera presidencial. Y eso no significa que algo nefasto esté ocurriendo en el recuento de votos.
• "Harris versus Trump respecto al cambio climático": La vicepresidenta Kamala Harris y el expresidente Donald Trump tienen un historial marcadamente diferente en materia de cambio climático. Para destacar las agendas climáticas de los dos candidatos, analizamos sus materiales de campaña y sus declaraciones recientes. 
• "Otro anuncio engañoso de Trump ataca a Harris utilizando citas incompletas de medios de comunicación": A menos de un mes de que escribiéramos sobre un anuncio engañoso que utilizaba citas fuera de contexto para atacar a la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris sobre los impuestos, la campaña del expresidente Donald Trump lanzó otro anuncio contra Harris basado en el mismo manual político fraudulento. Esta vez, la campaña distorsiona citas de medios de noticias para criticar a Harris sobre su postura en impuestos, inmigración ilegal y otros temas. 
• "El video muestra un ‘error del votante’, no una ‘interferencia electoral’ en Kentucky": Un video que muestra a un votante del condado de Laurel, Kentucky, teniendo dificultades para marcar una papeleta para el expresidente Donald Trump fue investigado y se determinó que fue un “incidente aislado” de “error del votante”, dijo un portavoz del secretario de estado. Las publicaciones en redes sociales afirmaron sin fundamento que era un ejemplo de “interferencia electoral”.