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Even in these divisive times, facts matter

Last night, President Trump delivered his third State of the Union speech to Congress.

Voice
Photo via Flickr

Trump discussed socialism, the U.S. health care system, the economy and more. He made a lot of pronouncements, which is not out of the ordinary for him. A lot of these, however, stretched the truth. This is also not out of the ordinary.

Here are just a few of Trump’s claims, which news outlets such as USA Today and NPR gracefully fact-checked for us.

Trump claimed last night that the “the years of economic decay are over” and in just three years, the Trump administration has “shattered the mentality of American decline.” In truth, the economy grew around 2.2% a year during Obama’s terms, and about 2.5% a year during Trump’s time in office. This steady incline has marked the longest period of economic expansion in the U.S. in history, according to Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

Trump also claimed last night that the average household income is “now at the highest level ever recorded.” Gould and Census Bureau figures point out that in truth, the inflation-adjusted median household income was $63,179 in 2018. This is just below the all-time high of $63,476 in 1999.

When speaking on U.S. factories, Trump claimed that the United States “gained 12,000 new factories” under his administration. Census Bureau data shows that the U.S. lost 600 factories in 2017 alone, and no public data is available for the last two years, according to EPI Senior Economist Robert Scott.

The list goes on.

My point here is that facts matter, even in times such as these. Everyone knows we’re living in the time of great tension between alternate viewpoints, parties and lifestyles. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of President Trump, but facts are facts, and there’s no denying that the president tends to toy with this notion quite a bit.

Remember, just because you like someone, doesn’t mean you can ignore the red flags.

The Voice is intended to best represent the collective opinion of The Editorial Board. It is written by The Setonian’s Editor-in-Chief.

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