By Lily Bourne
In the current political climate, the Republican playbook seems to flood Americans with an overwhelming load of information in hopes of creating fear, partisanship, and trust in the new presidency. However, many of the claims made by Republican lawmakers, especially Donald Trump and Elon Musk, are over-exaggerations or even straight-up lies. This column will focus on simply and efficiently debunking a select few of these mistruths each issue in hopes of providing more transparency in politics. This issue’s article will tackle claims made by Donald Trump during his joint address of Congress.
Claim: “We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud”
That’s Not Quite Right! The DOGE website claims to have saved $105 billion dollars, but has only provided evidence for a small portion of that amount. In fact, researchers have found that many of the canceled contracts Musk claims to be saving money on are actually contracts that have already been paid or contracts that have already been canceled by the Biden administration. Also, DOGE has made mistakes such as listing a contract for 8 billion instead of 8 million in attempts to artificially inflate their savings.
Claim: “3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149. And money is being paid to them”
That’s Not Quite Right! Firstly, it is important to note that there are around 18.9 million people registered in the Social Security database that are over 100. The Social Security Administration has chosen not to address this issue since 2015 due to the fact that it would be costly and would little benefit the agency. The truth is that out of those 18.9 million, only 89,106 receive actual benefits – nowhere near 3.5 million.
Claim: “We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years, but perhaps even in the history of our country. They’re not sure”
That’s Not Quite Right! They actually are sure. Biden’s highest annual inflation rate of 9.1% in June 2022 was the “largest 12-month increase since the 12-month period ending November 1981”. Much of this high inflation is contributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. Trump also blamed Biden for the spike in egg prices, but the average price of eggs peaked in January 2025 when Trump shared office with Biden–a product of bird flu among chickens.
Claim: “Entire towns like Aurora, Colorado and Springfield, Ohio buckled under the weight of migrant occupation and corruption:
That’s Not Quite RIght! Trump has repeatedly referenced false claims of immigrant violence in Springfield, specifically in his infamous quote from the debate last year. The alleged case of an immigrant attacking a cat occurred over 160 miles away and the defendant that was charged was neither an immigrant nor Haitian as Trump claimed. He also mentioned Aurora during his campaign, claiming a Venezuelan prison gang had taken over the city, while police said there was no evidence and Republican Mike Coffman called Trump’s descriptions “not accurate.” Mayors in both cities have urged Trump to focus on real problems, such as crime, housing, and education resources rather than spread false claims about their people.
Claim: “Not long ago, 1 in 10,000 children had autism. 1 in 10,000 and now it’s 1 in 36”
That’s Not Quite Right! Trump’s claim is partially true in that this ratio is correct – the CDC does report that 1 in 36 children today have autism. However, the change in ratio doesn’t come from higher rates of autism, rather it comes from increasing awareness and screening, and changing definitions that include much milder forms of autism on the spectrum. While Trump’s Head of Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claims that autism can be linked to childhood vaccines, scientists have thoroughly debunked this.