copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2024-07-26): The statistics for the entirety of Donald Trump’s time in office are nearly all compiled. As we did for his predecessor four years ago, we present a final look at the numbers. [...] That small increase during Trump’s four years is a big departure from the past, when restrictions grew 12.3% during Bush’s eight years and by 12.5% during Obama’s eight years, according to annual figures from the QuantGov tracking project at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. [...] Rather, the amount the federal government has borrowed from the public went up by 50% during Trump’s time in office — from $14.4 trillion on the day he was inaugurated to $21.6 trillion the day his successor was sworn in.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-05-18): How US national debt grew to its $31.4 trillion high [...] A ticking clock in Washington to avert default by raising the nation's borrowing limit is drawing attention to the $31.4 trillion debt already accrued by the United States government. [...] How did it grow to $31.4 trillion?
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2024-01-03): WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America’s balance sheet in the coming years. [...] But the debt grew faster than expected because of a multi-year pandemic starting in 2020 that shut down much of the U.S. economy. The government borrowed heavily under then President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden to stabilize the economy and support a recovery. But the rebound came with a surge of inflation that pushed up interest rates and made it more expensive for the government to service its debts. [...] White House spokesman Michael Kikukawa put the blame on the GOP, saying in a statement that the steady accrual over years was "trickle-down debt — driven overwhelmingly by repeated Republican giveaways skewed to big corporations and the wealthy."
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-01-20): Joe Biden blames Donald Trump for one quarter of today’s debt, ignores context [...] As Democrats and Republicans gird for battle over the nation’s debt limit, President Joe Biden sought to tag his predecessor, Donald Trump, with a significant share of the blame for the nation’s $31.4 trillion federal debt. The U.S. debt has been collecting for over 200 years, and "one quarter of that debt was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor," Biden said during a Jan. 20 event with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Biden also touted actions on his watch to cut the yearly deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars, setting up a contrast with the debt on Trump's watch.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-12-31): Biden’s number is accurate — about one-fourth of the total debt incurred as of January 2023 came during Trump’s presidency. However, assigning debt to a particular president is tricky, because so much of the spending was approved by decades-old, bipartisan legislation that set the parameters for Social Security and Medicare. A different calculation shows more debt stemming from former President Barack Obama, with whom Biden served as vice president.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-02-08): "Nearly 25% of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone, the last one. They’re the facts. Check it out," Biden said. [...] Under Trump, the federal government added $7.3 trillion to the debt, about a quarter of the nation’s $31.4 trillion national debt. Some of that came from significant non-mandatory government spending during the coronavirus pandemic, by way of programs passed in Congress with bipartisan support, while the tax cut Republicans pushed through Congress before Covid also contributed to the increase. [...] He said no president added more to the national debt than his predecessor.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-08-25): 1 big thing: Checking in on Uncle Sam's checking account: Wall Street experts are paying closer attention to the disclosed financial data from the U.S. Treasury as they attempt to predict when the Federal government would run out of money if the debt ceiling isn't raised. The U.S. exceeded its $31.4 trillion statutory debt ceiling in January, which limited the Treasury's capacity to borrow. (Axios, Matt Philips & Emily Phillips) [...] If it is, Americans should worry. I wrote last week about the bad geopolitical habits Washington has developed because of its unrivaled unipolar status. That attitude is even more true economically. America’s politicians have gotten used to spending seemingly without any concerns about deficits — public debt has risen almost fivefold from roughly $6.5 trillion 20 years ago to $31.5 trillion today. The Fed has solved a series of financial crashes by massively expanding its balance sheet twelvefold, from around $730 billion 20 years ago to about $8.7 trillion today. All of this only works because of the dollar’s unique status. If that wanes, America will face a reckoning like none before." (Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria)
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2024-10-06): * At the close of 2022, the official debt of the United States government was $31.4 trillion ($31,419,689,421,558).[886] This amounted to: [...] CALCULATION: $31,419,689,421,557.90 debt / 131,202 households = $239,476 debt/household [889] Calculated with data from the report: "Financial Accounts of the United States: Flow of Funds, Balance Sheets, and Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts, Fourth Quarter 2022." Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 9, 2023. <www.federalreserve.gov>
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2024-05-10): Because the US government spends more than it takes in, lawmakers must periodically raise the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the legal limit on the total amount of federal debt the US government can accrue. The limit applies to almost all federal debt, including the debt held by the public and the debt the government owes itself as a result of borrowing from various government accounts, like the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. As a result, the debt continues to rise due to both annual budget deficits financed by borrowing from the public and from trust fund surpluses, which are invested in Treasury bills with the promise to be repaid later with interest. Since the end of World War II, Congress and the President have modified the debt ceiling more than 100 times. Lawmakers suspended the debt limit, rather than raising it by a specific dollar amount, seven times since 2012 and increased the debt limit twice in 2021. In early 2023, the US once again hit its debt ceiling, which was capped at $31.4 trillion. After months of using "extraordinary measures" to stave off default, lawmakers enacted legislation to suspend the debt limit through January 1, 2025.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2024-09-21): Joe Biden stated on January 20, 2023 in a speech at the White House: "One quarter" of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt "was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor," Donald Trump. Joe Biden stated on September 18, 2022 in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes": "This year, it's going to be over $1.5 trillion (that we’ve) reduced the debt." Glenn Grothman stated on May 21, 2022 in Newsletter: "Nearly 60% of all student loan debt is held by the rich and upper-middle class," so forgiveness would give the wealthy a "financial windfall" but not really help low-income people. Joe Biden stated on May 10, 2022 in remarks at the White House: "My Treasury Department is planning to pay down the national debt this quarter, which never happened under my predecessor." Abby Finkenauer stated on December 9, 2021 in a tweet: Chuck Grassley was "voting to slash Medicare" when voting against the debt ceiling bill. Joe Biden stated on October 4, 2021 in a speech: "Raising the debt limit is usually a bipartisan undertaking." Nikki Haley stated on June 28, 2021 in a Facebook post: "The national debt is now bigger than our economy. [...] Joe Biden stated on January 20, 2023 in a speech at the White House: "One quarter" of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt "was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor," Donald Trump.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-04-27): By the end of his term, the national debt had jumped to around a quarter of a trillion dollars, which equals about $4 trillion today. But how did the country go from that to $31.4 trillion in 2023? It’s quite the bipartisan effort. [...] President Donald Trump, R, FY 2018-2021 - Debt rose $8.18 trillion, up 40.43% in four years. [...] IN FOUR YEARS, DONALD TRUMP ADDED NEARLY AS MUCH DEBT AS OBAMA DID IN EIGHT. THE NATIONAL DEBT RISES ANOTHER 40%. TRUMP’S TAX CUTS AND DEFENSE SPENDING HAD FIGURES SOARING EVEN BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, WITH COSTLY COVID RELIEF ALSO ON HIS WATCH.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-04-25): For example, in a White House speech in January, Biden said "one quarter" of the $31.4 trillion federal debt "was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor." His number is accurate but omits important context about how the debt increased under Trump. Assigning debt to a particular president can be misleading because so much of it traces back to decades-old, bipartisan legislation that set the parameters for Social Security and Medicare.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-02-07): Biden was met with boos and jeers when he pointed out that 25% of the outstanding U.S. national debt was added under former President Donald Trump's tenure.
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-02-08): President Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last week as the two sides remain far apart over increasing the country’s borrowing power. The U.S. reached the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling last month, prompting the Treasury Department to start taking "extraordinary measures" to allow the country to continue paying its debts, which are expected to run out in June. [...] "My administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion — the largest deficit reduction in American history," Biden said. "Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row. Because of those record deficits, no president added more to the national debt in any four years than my predecessor." "Nearly 25% of the entire national debt, a debt that took 200 years to accumulate, was added by that administration alone," he continued, met by boos by the Republican side of the room. "How did Congress respond to all that debt? They lifted the debt ceiling three times without preconditions or crisis. They paid America’s bills to prevent economic disaster for our country. Tonight, I’m asking this Congress to follow suit."
Claim: “One quarter” of today’s $31.4 trillion federal debt “was accumulated in the four years of my predecessor,” Donald Trump. (Joe Biden, 2023-01-20)
Evidence (2023-02-06): There is also good reason to believe that the Republicans are not acting in good faith, as I have regularly suggested in weekly summaries. They painted the national debt as an existential threat to America’s future during the Obama administration, and then conveniently forgot about it for four years under Trump. Now that Democrats have the White House again, debt is back to the top of their agenda. [...] And that’s how the national debt arrived at the current debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion in January. [...] I’m sure that if we could go back to, say, 1990, and tell economists then that the national debt would be $31.4 trillion in 2023, (rather than the $4 trillion they owed then), many would refuse to believe us. Surely the sky would fall long before the debt reached that level. And if it hasn’t fallen yet, what makes us think it ever will?
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2023-12-14): About 65,300 soldiers died in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. About 127,000 Americans died from drug overdoses involving a synthetic opioid other than methadone in 2020 and 2021, federal data shows. These deaths are primarily because of fentanyl. War deaths are often used as a way to illustrate the scale of a public health crisis. U.S. health officials typically track opioid deaths alongside deaths from other public health causes like heart disease or cancer.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2022-11-03): Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller developed nearly 60 years ago, is at the center of the deadliest drug epidemic in American history. More people have died of synthetic-opioid overdoses than the number of U.S. military personnel killed during the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, according to a Washington Post analysis of death data for 2021 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Why is fentanyl so dangerous? [...] By Julie Hoban and One of the greatest dangers of fentanyl is its potency. Deaths attributed to the drug began to climb in 2013, when traffickers began mixing illicit fentanyl with other drugs including heroin, counterfeit pain pills and cocaine. In some instances, drug users have no idea that fentanyl has been added.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2024-09-30): The pipeline of deadly fentanyl into the U.S. may be drying up, experts say [...] Daskal acknowledged that drug deaths remain unacceptably high in the U.S. but said the Biden administration's fentanyl strategy is showing progress: "We're seeing the effects in terms of lives saved." [...] NPR previously reported that fentanyl overdose deaths dropped 20% from 2022 to 2023, citing data reported in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration National Drug Threat assessment published in May 2024. NPR now believes a more accurate figure is a roughly 10% drop as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2023-05-02): "The availability of dangerous substances like fentanyl on dark net marketplaces is helping to fuel the crisis that has claimed far too many American lives," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. "That's why we will continue to join forces with our law enforcement partners around the globe to attack this problem together. The FBI is proud to stand with our domestic and foreign partners as we continue to shine that light into the deepest corners of the dark net and hold those accountable who continue to peddle this poison around the world." "The Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels, and the global networks they operate are killing Americans by sending fentanyl into the United States. Their associates distribute this fentanyl into communities across America by every means possible, including the dark web," said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. "The DEA is committed to shutting down the fentanyl supply chain from beginning to end, and we will relentlessly pursue the associates of these cartels wherever they hide, even in the dark corners of the internet."
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2023-11-16): Fentanyl kills thousands every year in America. Will Europe be next?
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2024-10-02): The vast majority of fentanyl seized is brought into the United States by American citizens at the southern border, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. McCormick and other Republicans compare fentanyl deaths to combat losses in the Vietnam War: Roughly 110,000 drug overdose deaths each of the last two years in which fentanyl was the primary culprit two-thirds of the time, compared to 58,000 reported U.S. casualties in the war. [...] The question, then, may be whether the flow of fentanyl into the United States warrants military action, Corn said.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2024-06-06): In this Challenge, we are seeking the best ideas from U.S. youth, aged 14-18, on a community strategy to increase youth awareness, education, and prevention around the dangers of fentanyl, especially the hidden dangers of fake pills and other contaminants that can lead to drug overdose deaths. [...] - Deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyls increased 182%. - About 90% of these deaths involved opioids and 84% involved illicitly manufactured fentanyls.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2023-12-20): "We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam wars, combined," the former South Carolina governor said Dec. 14 at the Atkinson Resort and Country Club in Atkinson. [...] Federal data shows Haley’s math is accurate when measuring national fentanyl deaths against U.S. military deaths. About 127,000 Americans died from drug overdoses involving a synthetic opioid other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) in 2020 and 2021 alone compared with 65,278 U.S. military personnel who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. [...] Her numbers are right. About 127,000 Americans died from drug overdoses involving a synthetic opioid other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) in 2020 and 2021 compared with 65,278 U.S. military personnel who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2024-03-14): America’s fentanyl epidemic, explained in six charts [...] SOMETIMES A TREND does not need to be new to be shocking. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times more potent than heroin, has long been used as a powerful painkiller in hospitals. But in 2014 America’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raised the alarm about the spread of illicit supplies of the drug. A decade later fentanyl is responsible for 70% of annual overdose deaths. Every 14 months more Americans die from taking the drug than were killed in all of the country’s wars combined since 1945. Our six charts below show why this is the most lethal phase yet of an opioid epidemic that stretches back to the late 1990s.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2024-01-10): When the history of the fentanyl crisis is written, 2023 may be remembered as the year Americans woke up to an unprecedented threat scouring communities – and a deepening cultural divide over what to do about it. [...] "We do have fentanyl that’s dangerous, we have xylazine that’s poison," Vincent told NPR. "We’ve had an entire community swept away. I can’t even think of all the people I know who have died. My daughter died. Our mentors are dead. It is so dangerous right now." [...] "We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam wars, combined," said Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who is now seeking the GOP presidential nomination, speaking to voters in New Hampshire on Dec. 14.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2023-12-07): It is hard to overstate the impact of America’s fentanyl epidemic. The synthetic opioid and its close chemical relatives were involved in about 70% of the country’s 110,000 overdose deaths in 2022. They are now almost certainly the biggest killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 49. Every 14 months or so America loses more people to fentanyl than it has lost in all of its wars combined since the second world war, from Korea to Afghanistan.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2024-01-07): "We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars, combined," the former South Carolina governor said Dec. 14 at the Atkinson Resort and Country Club. [...] Federal data shows Haley’s math is accurate when measuring national fentanyl deaths against U.S. military deaths. About 127,000 Americans died from drug overdoses involving a synthetic opioid other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) in 2020 and 2021 alone, compared with 65,278 U.S. military personnel who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. [...] Her numbers are right. About 127,000 Americans died from drug overdoses involving a synthetic opioid other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) in 2020 and 2021, compared with 65,278 U.S. military personnel who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.
Claim: “We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars, combined.” (Nikki Haley, 2023-12-14)
Evidence (2023-12-14): Haley is correct that fentanyl deaths top casualties from 3 wars combined [...] "We’ve had more Americans die of fentanyl than the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam wars, combined," the former South Carolina governor said Dec. 14 at the Atkinson Resort and Country Club in Atkinson. [...] Federal data shows Haley’s math is accurate when measuring national fentanyl deaths against U.S. military deaths. About 127,000 Americans died from drug overdoses involving a synthetic opioid other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) in 2020 and 2021 alone compared with 65,278 U.S. military personnel who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.