“Your favorite Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, created your favorite committee, the sham January 6th Committee, which asked me to violate executive privilege. What did I do? I refused.”
— Peter Navarro, former White House Director Department of Trade and Manufacturing Policy
Navarro spoke at the convention the same day he finished serving a four-month prison sentence for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena. The committee on January 6 subpoenaed Navarro to testify about his involvement in efforts to delay the certification of the electoral votes of the 2020 election. However, Navarro did not show up to testify or submit documents. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives recommended charges of contempt of Congress.
Navarro argued that his testimony was protected by executive privilege, but a federal court ruled that there was no evidence that former President Donald Trump had formally invoked executive privilege (which is intended to keep a president’s discussions with his aides private). Navarro did not provide any written evidence from Trump, who did not publicly corroborate Navarro’s testimony. Even if executive privilege applied, Navarro was charged for refusing to appear in court, not for refusing to answer questions.
By contrast, U.S. attorneys chose not to take action against two other Trump administration officials charged with contempt, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and communications director Dan Scavino, who had received letters from the former president’s lawyers instructing them not to comply with the committee’s subpoenas, citing executive privilege. The judge in that case said the record would be different if Navarro had been able to provide a similar letter.
“Jack Smith has charged me with contempt of Congress and prosecuted me.”
Mr. Navarro was not indicted by special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two criminal cases against Mr. Trump. The cases were brought by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves in Washington.
“President Trump has entrusted Biden with a strong economy and a strong nation. All Joe has to do is leave it alone and take a nap.”
— Kimberly Guilfoyle, fiancee of Donald Trump Jr.
The economy was not doing well in January 2021. When Biden took office, the United States was in the midst of an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment was at 6.4% and the administration pushed through an economic recovery plan in its first months in office.
The Trump administration helped expedite the development of a coronavirus vaccine but left it with little in the way of a national strategy beyond inoculating health care workers and long-term care facility residents in fixed locations where vaccinations were available. Trump made more than two dozen promises to deliver 100 million vaccine doses by the end of 2020, a goal the administration botched.
The Biden administration has devised ways to provide states with funds to distribute the vaccine and prevent them from hoarding doses, something President Trump resisted.
Biden’s job performance in his first three years in office has also surpassed Trump’s. About 6.5 million jobs were created in the Trump administration’s first three years, less than half the number of jobs created in the same period under Biden. Jobs are now 6.2 million higher than the peak under Trump in February 2020, before the pandemic hit the economy.
“He held Russia back. Do you know what he told Putin? If you try anything, I’ll rip the roof off the Kremlin.”
— Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL)
Waltz is repeating unconfirmed reports from President Trump himself of a recorded speakerphone conversation in March 2022 with golf pro John Daly.
Trump told Daly that Russian President Putin was “my friend” and that he “got along very well.”
But he claimed Putin said “we’re going to attack Moscow” if he invaded Ukraine. “He believed me maybe 5 or 10 percent,” Trump said, adding, “And that’s enough. He’s never done that in my entire time in office, John, you know… He didn’t do that for the last four years because he knew he couldn’t do it.”
Trump has a long history of misrepresenting conversations: The day before Putin’s invasion in February 2022, he called Putin a “genius” and “very wise.”
“I have to say, this is a pretty smart move,” Trump said on a conservative radio talk show about Putin’s decision to declare some breakaway regions of Ukraine independent. “Do you know how Biden responded? They had no reaction. They had no reaction to this. No, it’s very sad. It’s very sad.” “This is genius,” Trump said. “For Putin to declare most of Ukraine independent…For Putin to declare it independent. Oh, that’s brilliant.”
Trump also supported Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies at a 2018 press conference in Helsinki, saying he did not believe Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election. Trump has often resisted congressional efforts to impose sanctions on Russia and has led efforts to weaken NATO and the European Union, two key Putin targets. Trump has suggested he might withdraw the United States from NATO if elected to a second term.
“Joe Biden has recommended against the operation to kill Osama bin Laden.”
— Former Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York
The main evidence for this claim is a newspaper headline that fact-checkers concluded was based on a misinterpretation of a statement by Barack Obama: “Obama Says Biden Opposed Bin Laden Raid,” read the headline of a short 2012 USA Today article.
The article was about a 2012 debate between President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney. The article said Obama was discussing the 2011 raid on the bin Laden compound. However, the transcript makes it clear that Obama was talking about the criticism he received from Romney and Biden (then both candidates) during the 2008 presidential campaign for saying he would go after bin Laden even if the Pakistani government was not willing to cooperate.
To be sure, Biden was certainly among the skeptics, based on recollections of other participants in the White House debate about the bin Laden raid. Most reports suggest that Biden wanted more work, such as a second look with drones, before launching the raid. That’s not the same as opposing the mission.
Biden has offered various accounts of what he claims was a private conversation he had with Obama after their advisers met during the attack, in which he said he told Obama to “follow your gut” or “go with your instincts.”
Obama’s memoir describes the Situation Room debate, as do others, and says he appreciated Biden’s willingness to disagree, but makes no mention of the conversation with Biden afterward.
“Pro-crime district attorneys have turned our cities into giant crime zones.”
Violent crime rates, particularly murder rates in major cities, which soared during the pandemic, have fallen significantly under Biden’s presidency, and violent crime rates are now believed to be near their lowest levels in 50 years.
“A career politician named Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to Mexico.”
— Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service concluded in 2017 that “the overall impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on the U.S. economy appears to have been relatively modest, primarily due to the small share of U.S. GDP that trade with Canada and Mexico accounts for,” but noted that “there were adjustment costs for workers and businesses as the three countries adjusted to freer trade and investment between their economies.”
Vance has criticized Biden for his support of NAFTA, which was negotiated by President George H.W. Bush and had the support of more Republicans than Democrats.
“When I was a senior in high school, that same Joe Biden supported the disastrous invasion of Iraq. … Somehow, New York City real estate developer Donald J. Trump was right. [on the war].”
Biden supported the Iraq War, but Vance, who served in Iraq as a Marine, repeats Trump’s usual lie that he didn’t. We, like other reporters, have thoroughly investigated and found no evidence that Trump was, or even vocally, opposed the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. In fact, Trump has offered only half-hearted support. Asked by Howard Stern if he supported the invasion of Iraq, Trump replied, “Yeah, I guess. I wish it had been done right the first time.” Two months before the invasion, in another Fox News interview, Trump said Bush had to make the decision to “attack or not.” Shortly after the invasion, Trump again told Fox News, “It was a great success from a military standpoint.” Trump’s first public opposition to the war was in an August 2004 interview with Esquire magazine. By that time, 17 months after the invasion, many Americans were opposed to the war, so Trump’s position was not particularly surprising.
“We will ensure that our allies share the burden of ensuring world peace. There will no longer be a free ride for nations that betray the generosity of American taxpayers.”
The remarks were broad, but appeared to refer to two issues Trump has complained about: burden-sharing in the Ukraine war and funding for NATO.
According to the Kiel Institute for World Economy, as of April 30, European aid to Ukraine far exceeds that of the United States. European countries have allocated $111 billion, compared with $81 billion to the United States. Europe has also pledged an additional $83 billion in unallocated contributions, compared with $27 billion to the United States. As a percentage of the economy, Kiel estimates that the United States is contributing significantly less than the other 21 countries.
It should also be remembered that foreign military aid benefits the American people. The cost of the aid package passed by Congress this year (not included in the figures above) is estimated at $95.25 billion, including $60 billion for Ukraine. However, according to information provided by the White House Budget Office and a detailed review of the bill, about 80 percent of it went to U.S. arms manufacturers to replenish stocks and supply weapons, or to support the Department of Defense’s activities in the U.S. and abroad (including training Ukrainian soldiers). About $57 billion (about 60 percent) never left the U.S.; instead, these funds are invested in arms manufacturers in dozens of states. Of this amount, only about $8 billion is set aside to support the Ukrainian government, including $50 million to address food shortages.
So far, manufacturers from all but 11 countries have been awarded Ukraine-related arms contracts, according to the Pentagon.
As for NATO, member states have committed to spending at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense since 2014. According to NATO, 23 member states are on track to meet or exceed that goal by 2024, but in 2014 only three member states met the target.
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