CBS News is fact checking some of the statements made by speakers during the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On Thursday, the fourth and final night of the RNC, GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump is addressing the convention. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, Hulk Hogan and Trump’s son, Eric Trump, were among the other speakers.
CBS News is covering the RNC live.
Former President Donald Trump says he oversaw the “best economy in the history of our country, in the history of the world:” False
What we know: It is not true that Trump oversaw the best economy in the history of the U.S. by many of the metrics used to judge economic performance.
GDP
The claim struggles when looking at GDP. If the 2020 pandemic is excluded, growth after inflation under Trump averaged just over 2.5%, according to figures from the World Bank. Including the time period after COVID spread, that average drops by almost a percentage point. By comparison, Growth between 1962 to 1966 ranged from 4.4% to 6.6%. In 1950 and 1951, GDP ranged between 8.7% and 8%.
Under Mr. Biden, annual GDP growth is averaging 3.4%, according to the World Bank
Unemployment
Trump’s claim is also false when evaluating the unemployment rate. In February 2020, a month before the COVID pandemic affected the economy, the unemployment rate stood at 3.5%. That was the lowest since December 1969, but not the lowest ever. When Trump’s term ended, the unemployment rate was 6.3%.
In 1953, the unemployment rate fell as low as 2.5%. Under Mr. Biden, the unemployment rate is 4%, according to the most recent data from May 2024.
In January 2023 and again in April 2023, the unemployment rate was 3.4%, lower than the best month during Trump’s term.
Stock market performance
On Jan. 19, 2021, the S&P 500-stock average closed at 67.8% above where it had been the day before Trump was inaugurated in 2017.
According to Investopedia, at the end of President Barack Obama’s first term in office, the S&P closed 84.5% higher. Additionally the S&P gained 79% during President Bill Clinton’s first term, and 70% during President Dwight Eisenhower’s first term. So far, under President Biden, the S&P 500 has increased almost 40%, according to calculations on June 13.
However, it is true that during Trump’s presidency, inflation remained low and real wage growth was the best in recent history, according to federal data analyzed by Texas A&M University.
By Laura Doan
Trump claims he will finish the wall at the southern border, “most of which I’ve already built:” Misleading
What we Know: Around 450 miles of barriers were built at the U.S. southern border during Trump’s term, representing roughly 23% of the total length of the border–which is nearly 2,000 miles long according to estimates by the International Boundary and Water Commission.
Most of the 450 miles of barriers replaced old, outdated barriers, while 52 miles of new wall were built where no barriers previously existed, according to U.S Customs and Border Protection.
By Laura Doan
Trump claims the Biden administration wants to quadruple taxes: False
Trump: “By the way, they want to raise your taxes four times.”
What we Know: President Biden’s latest budget for fiscal year 2025 does not include plans to quadruple taxes. The Biden administration has proposed extending Trump-era tax cuts for families earning under $400,000 annually and said nobody earning under $400,000 would face higher taxes under his administration.
The White House budget shows Mr. Biden plans to raise tax revenues through policies that include bumping up the corporate tax rate and increasing taxes on high-income earners. An analysis by the Tax Policy Center of Biden’s FY24 budget, which is similar to the latest budget, shows the top 1% of earners would see a tax increase of 9.7%. However, this does not represent a quadrupling of taxes.
By Laura Doan
Trump claims “the biggest tax cuts ever” were enacted during his administration: False
Details: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does not rank as the largest tax cut in U.S. history when measured by two commonly used metrics. By percentage of GDP, the 2017 tax cuts rank as the eighth largest since 1918, according to a 2017 report by the independent Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the cuts were the fourth-largest since 1940, according to the same report.
By Laura Doan
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claims U.S. destroyed ISIS and caliphate: Misleading
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “We destroyed ISIS and its caliphate.”
Details: The rate at which coalition forces recaptured land from the Islamic State group increased under Trump and by spring of 2019, U.S.-backed forces declared the end of the group’s territorial “caliphate.” But the territorial losses do not mean a full defeat.
In August 2019, the Defense Department inspector general warned in a report that the group had “solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and was resurging in Syria.” The U.S. has around 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq as part of a mission to defeat the group, CBS News reported this year. More than 3,500 American forces are also in Jordan to support the mission, according to a White House statement.
Affiliates of the Islamic State group continue to operate in Afghanistan, Libya and Africa, a May 2024 report from the Congressional Research Service said.
By Laura Doan and James LaPorta
Pompeo claims “not a single Chinese spy balloon” flew across U.S. during Trump administration: False
Pompeo: “Not a single Chinese spy balloon flew across the United States of America. Four years.”
Details: Chinese surveillance balloons were flown over the U.S. at least three times during former President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a senior Biden administration official, as reported by CBS News.
Trump also previously told Fox News Chinese spy balloons “never happened under the Trump administration.”
By Emma Li