copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-26): These Photos Show How Troops In Iraq Reacted To Donald & Melania Trump’s Surprise Visit On Wednesday, the president and first lady made a surprise holiday visit to see troops stationed overseas. Photos of Donald and Melania Trump in Iraq captured the first family in a combat zone for the very first time. [...] On Wednesday, the president also tweeted out a video montage of his visit, with clips featuring him greeting service members alongside Melania. "@FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq," Trump captioned the video. "GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.!"
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-26): Trump Just Made His First Visit To A War Zone & He Brought Melania With Him According to the New York Post, Donald Trump visited troops in a war zone for the first time as president on Wednesday when, in a surprise trip, he and Melania Trump went to Iraq. The whereabouts of the president came into question after he didn't tweet for more than 17 hours, the Post reports, and his surprise visit to Iraq comes amidst a partial shutdown of the U.S. government. Donald and Melania Trump met with troops at the Al Asad Air Base west of Baghdad, Reuters reports, accompanied by a handful of aides, reporters and Secret Service agents. It was the first time Trump has visited troops in a conflict zone since taking office nearly two years earlier; according to Reuters, he was "looking for some positive headlines" after the stock market suffered its worst Christmas Eve trading day in U.S. history.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-26): President Donald Trump and the first lady quietly swept into Iraq Wednesday to pay a holiday visit to US troops, at last making good on the President’s promise to travel to one of the war zones he has derided as costly blunders. [...] Trump’s visit comes at a fraught moment for the President and the military. Trump’s defense secretary resigned last week after the Syria troop decision, writing in a departure letter the President deserved a military chief more aligned with his worldview. His replacement, a former Boeing executive, has scant foreign policy or military experience. Trump had faced scrutiny for putting off a visit to the troops. Privately, he wondered whether such a trip would only serve to highlight wars he does not support and wants to end. But in November, after facing criticism for canceled a visit to a military cemetery in France because of rain, Trump announced he would soon travel to a war zone.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2017-02-01): And when a solemn scene unfolded Wednesday afternoon as Trump boarded Marine One to pay his respects to a fallen service member’s family in Delaware, he was accompanied by first daughter, Ivanka – a reminder that she is his closest family in Washington. [...] "That report is not true," the spokeswoman said. [...] Melania Trump has been actively been conducting interviews for staffing posts over the past several weeks, though, and some names have been floated.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-26): President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday – his first trip to a combat zone as Commander in Chief. [...] Trump had also been criticized for not yet visiting troops in a combat zone as president. President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush had already visited combat zones by this point in their presidencies. In November, Trump told Fox News that he has been planning to go, but said he has had an "unbelievably busy schedule" since taking office. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced Trump’s visit, with First Lady Melania Trump, Wednesday afternoon with a photo of the President and First Lady posing with troops.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2020-08-27): This is false. At least two former first ladies — Michelle Obama and Laura Bush — have visited U.S. troops in designated combat zones since first lady Pat Nixon went to South Vietnam in 1969. [...] A Facebook post claims that Melania Trump is the first president’s wife to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969. [...] Associated Press, Melania Trump not first FLOTUS to visit combat zone since 1969, May 30, 2019
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-25): Editor's note: On Wednesday, NBC News compiled a list of every Christmastime visit to active troops by a president since 2001. That list, as detailed in the article below, showed that former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama visited troops on or before Christmas every year since 2003, and President Donald Trump did so in 2017. As of the end of Christmas Day 2018, Trump had not visited troops during the holiday season, and had announced no plans to do so. The article was correct, but on Dec. 26, the situation changed. Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, made an unannounced visit to troops in Iraq. As a result, the thrust of this article is no longer correct, even if it was at the time. In the interest of transparency, we are keeping the article on NBCNews.com so that the record will reflect the situation on the day the article was published, and are directing readers to the article about Trump’s Iraq visit here. [...] In recent months, Trump has taken heat from critics for not visiting troops in an active combat zone, after canceling a trip to an American military burial ground outside of Paris last month due to weather and skipping the traditional Veterans Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery just two days later. [...] Trump made the trip to Arlington several weeks later to lay a wreath as part of Wreaths Across America, but still has yet to visit an active combat zone.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-26): President Trump and first lady Melania Trump have made a surprise trip to Iraq to visit U.S. troops. The trip marked Mr. Trump's first visit to Iraq, as well as his first visit to a combat zone as commander-in-chief. "@FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.!," Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday afternoon. He posted a short video clip that shows him greeting the troops, shaking hands and signing autographs. The president and first lady met with service members at the Al Asad Airbase on the outskirts of Baghdad. They were on the ground in Iraq for about three and a half hours. Mr. Trump had been criticized for not visiting troops during the holidays — a long-held tradition for American presidents.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-26): President Donald Trump's unannounced visit to Iraq was no surprise to airplane buffs. [...] That led to speculation online that Trump was going to visit troops in Afghanistan, or to pay his respects to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who reportedly recently told the president that Turkey would take responsibility for finishing off the Islamic State if the U.S. pulled out of Syria. [...] Asked if he'd had any concerns about making the trip, Trump said, "Absolutely."
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-11-21): President Trump sent troops to the border even though they’re prohibited by law from stopping immigrants. He still hasn’t visited U.S. troops in a combat zone. [...] Nearly two years into his term as president, Donald Trump has yet to visit American troops in a combat zone, though the president is reportedly now considering a visit as public pressure intensifies. Trump’s vexed relationship with the military exemplifies and amplifies the vexed relationship that Fallows described: Trump never served, but he is more than happy to use the military as a tool—both to solve real problems, and as a political prop for bogus ones. He frequently speaks about the need to keep the military strong. But he is unwilling to actually visit soldiers who are in the field, and often takes shots at those who have served honorably. Trump is the perfect chickenhawk president for a chickenhawk nation. [...] The argument that visiting combat zones would validate wars Trump doesn’t support doesn’t hold up—Obama ran for president against the war in Iraq but still visited the troops and still pushed hard for them to (mostly) leave. Insofar as Obama turned out not to be the anti-war president he campaigned to be, it wasn’t because he visited deployed soldiers or marines.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-27): President Donald Trump used a lightning visit to Iraq -- his first with US troops in a conflict zone since being elected -- to defend the withdrawal from Syria and to declare an end to America's role as the global "policeman." [...] Morale-boosting presidential visits to US troops in war zones have been a longstanding tradition in the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. .@FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.! pic.twitter.com/rDlhITDvm1
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2021-04-30): AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. At least three first ladies have visited combat zones since 1969. THE FACTS: A post circulating on Facebook wrongly states that Melania Trump is the only presidential wife to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969. Trump traveled with her husband, President Donald Trump, to visit troops at a base in western Iraq on Dec. 26. Three former first ladies _ Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Pat Nixon _ traveled to greet troops in combat zones, as defined by federal regulations, since 1969.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2024-10-05): UPDATED: Burgum, Dohrmann visit National Guard soldiers supporting efforts to secure southwest border [...] Burgum, Dohrmann visit North Dakota National Guard soldiers supporting CBP at U.S.-Mexico border [...] Burgum to visit ND National Guard soldiers supporting CBP at U.S.-Mexico border
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2016-01-04): From the Press Office
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2024-03-25): She would retain her concern for people even as she traveled abroad. During her tenure as First Lady, Pat Nixon logged more international miles than even the globe-trotting Eleanor Roosevelt. On a trip with the President to Guam, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, England, and South Vietnam, Pat toured a training center for the mentally retarded and entered the combat zone in Vietnam, where she toured an orphanage, and visited a military hospital where she talked with American soldiers. Pat seemed to be a hit wherever she went. She accompanied the President to the Soviet Union, and while Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev hammered out detente, Pat Nixon toured the U.S.S.R. arm-in-arm with Victoria Brezhnev. In China, she donned a red coat and charmed foreign minister Chou En-lai, who expressed his appreciation by giving her two rare giant pandas as a personal gift. She became the first First Lady to travel to Africa, doing so without her husband. Wearing native dress and making no racial distinction between those she greeted and those with whom she was photographed, Pat earned the respect and admiration of thousands.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-04-10): Claudia Taylor Johnson (1963-1969) [...] Thelma Patricia Ryan Nixon (1969-1974) Thelma Patricia Ryan Nixon, or Pat, dedicated herself to social issues including education and volunteering. She became the first president’s wife to visit a combat zone when she went to South Vietnam in 1969. She also sought to make the White House more accessible, opening up the property for tours and creating brochures in languages other than English.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2023-02-20): President Richard Nixon greets troops in South Vietnam in July 1969.David Turnley/Corbis/Getty Images [...] President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet members of the military as they arrive for a hangar rally at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in December 2018.Andrew Harnik/AP Trump serves food to US troops during a surprise visit to Afghanistan in November 2019.Tom Brenner/Reuters
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2022-05-08): In Pics | Jill Biden latest high-profile American to visit Ukraine amid war, meets first lady With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also travelled to war or conflict zones.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-28): That said, by the standards of contemporaneous reporting, Melania Trump was not the first First Lady to make such a trip. Although our list may not be comprehensive, we found that first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Pat Nixon, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush were all reported during their tenures as having ventured into "war zones" and other potentially dangerous territories as they visited troops stationed overseas. [...] While neither of Pat Nixon’s sons-in-law saw active duty in South Vietnam, the First Lady herself came close to witnessing it herself. Joining the President on a dangerous visit to the embattled nation, she was the first First Lady to enter an active combat zone since Eleanor Roosevelt. [...] Since 1969, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush have all traveled to military bases overseas to meet with U.S. troops. First Lady Barbara Bush visited Saudi Arabia over Thanksgiving in 1990, in the midst of Operation Desert Shield (the build-up of troops and the defenses of Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the Gulf War):
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2022-05-08): With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones. Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies’ Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents. Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Four years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, Laura Bush went to Kabul in 2005 and Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018. By — Darlene Superville, Associated Press Darlene Superville, Associated Press
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2019-01-12): CLAIM: "Melania is first FLOTUS to visit a combat zone since 1969" - statement circulating on social media with photo of President Donald Trump and Melania visiting troops in Iraq on Dec. 26. THE FACTS: At least three first ladies have visited combat zones, as defined by federal regulations, since 1969. According to reporting by The Associated Press, Michelle Obama visited troops at al-Udeid air base in Qatar, in 2015, while first lady. The Arabian Peninsula, including Qatar, was designated as a combat zone in January 1991. Laura Bush visited Afghanistan, which was designated a combat zone in 2001, twice as first lady in 2005 and 2008. Michelle Gullion, archives director and curator for the National First Ladies’ Library, told the AP that former first lady Pat Nixon went to a combat zone in 1969. She accompanied then-President Richard Nixon on a visit to South Vietnam. Gullion said the first first lady to visit a combat zone was Eleanor Roosevelt, during World War II. Barbara Bush visited troops in Saudi Arabia in 1990, but the area was not officially designated as a combat zone. Hillary Clinton visited Bosnia in 1996, when it was considered a "hostile area." [...] Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2018-12-27): President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to American troops in Iraq on Wednesday, his first journey to an active combat zone since he took office. The president, who was joined by first lady Melania Trump, spent three hours on the ground with U.S. forces and met with the U.S. ambassador and commanders on the ground. [...] In October, Trump told The Associated Press that he did not think it was "overly necessary" to visit a military base in a combat zone, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Claim: Says Melania Trump is the “first FLOTUS to visit troops in a combat zone since 1969.” (Facebook posts, 2020-08-27)
Evidence (2023-06-01): Protection was extended to the widow and minor children of a former President until March 1, 1969 (Mrs. Kennedy and children). (Public Law 90-145) [...] Congress authorized Secret Service protection for visiting heads of a foreign state or government, or other officials as directed by the President.
Claim: “Joe Biden’s margin of the less than 21,000 votes in Wisconsin was the tightest of any state in 2020.” (Rebecca Kleefisch, 2022-06-08)
Evidence (2022-06-08): Two other states – Georgia and Arizona – actually had smaller margins during the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. That is true both by raw numbers and percentages.
Claim: “Joe Biden’s margin of the less than 21,000 votes in Wisconsin was the tightest of any state in 2020.” (Rebecca Kleefisch, 2022-06-08)
Evidence (2022-06-08): "Joe Biden’s margin of the less than 21,000 votes in Wisconsin was the tightest of any state in 2020," former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch noted in a June 8, 2022 email. "Make no mistake, the Left knows exactly what’s on the line in the Badger State this year." [...] "But in 2020 Wisconsin was not the tightest in terms of either the raw number of votes or percentage of the vote separating the top two presidential candidates," he said in an email. "By both measures Wisconsin was the third most competitive state in 2020. The margins between Biden and Trump – in terms of both raw votes and the percentage difference between them – were actually tighter in Arizona and Georgia than in Wisconsin." Kleefisch’s campaign claimed in a fundraising email that Wisconsin’s 2020 margin was the tightest of any state in the country.
Claim: “Joe Biden’s margin of the less than 21,000 votes in Wisconsin was the tightest of any state in 2020.” (Rebecca Kleefisch, 2022-06-08)
Evidence (2020-11-13): But one of the paradoxes of our electoral college system is that, while the popular vote margin of more than five million may seem like a landslide win, the vote margins that gave Biden the presidency are razor-thin. Flipping just a little more than 81,139 votes in four states would have changed the winner of this election. That is just over the margins that gave Trump the presidency in 2016. The vote count has not yet been completed and those margins could change, but they are unlikely to shift dramatically. The ballots counted on Election Day set the candidates up for a tight race, and some early battleground state calls sent signals that an expected "blue wave" would not materialize, meaning the race could drag on for days as votes were counted. Trump over-performed polling averages in Florida, winning by a margin of 372,000 votes, despite Biden’s focus on in-person rallies there in the final few weeks of the campaign. [...] Winning vote margins in non-battleground states
Claim: “Joe Biden’s margin of the less than 21,000 votes in Wisconsin was the tightest of any state in 2020.” (Rebecca Kleefisch, 2022-06-08)
Evidence (2020-11-13): Collectively, the margins in 2020 were wider than any of the other three elections, and they could grow as ballots continue to be counted. (The seven closest states we looked at for 2020 were, in descending order, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, North Carolina, Maine, and Pennsylvania. We excluded non-competitive states such as Delaware and Wyoming.) [...] By contrast, the seven closest states in 2020 currently have a collective margin of 311,654 — almost seven times wider than in 2000. And while Michigan was one of the three close states from 2016 that enabled Trump’s victory, it didn’t even rank among the seven closest this year. Biden won it by almost 157,000 votes. Biden’s margins in 2020 were bigger than Trump’s in 2016 in Michigan and Pennsylvania — by a lot — and the margins for both candidates were roughly equivalent in Wisconsin.
Claim: “Joe Biden’s margin of the less than 21,000 votes in Wisconsin was the tightest of any state in 2020.” (Rebecca Kleefisch, 2022-06-08)
Evidence (2024-10-04): Polish Americans, rural African Americans, and Latino evangelicals—groups often with distinct concerns and voting patterns—could tip the balance in closely contested battleground states. Polish Americans represent approximately three percent of the U.S. population, numbering around 9 million, with significant concentrations in key swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In Wisconsin alone, Polish Americans account for more than eight percent of the population, a crucial margin in a state that President Joe Biden won by just under 21,000 votes in 2020, and Trump won in 2016.