AUDIT OF FACTS AP: Trump's rhetoric on electoral fraud is misleading

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump faces deceptive rhetoric over election fraud.

He says that votes are suspicious "out of the desert" in Arizona after polling day to strengthen the Democratic candidate for the Senate race. In fact, it is typical that the state takes extra days after an election to complete the vote tabulation in the mail.

Trump also suggests that Florida's highly Democratic counties could unduly seek to inflate the Democratic vote in the Senate and state governor races. There is no evidence of that. Florida state agencies charged with investigating potential frauds claim that no credible allegations exist.

At the same time, Trump said that US economic growth was unprecedented economically. In fact, it was surpbaded just four years ago under the Obama administration. He also downplayed China's trade threat and claimed a rebirth of the US steel industry that does not really occur.

A look at his claims, also covering health care and veterans:

ELECTIONS IN FLORIDA

TRUMP: "You mean that they just found votes in Florida and Georgia – but the elections were held on Tuesday – blaming the Russians and demanding an immediate apology from President Putin!" – tweet Friday.

TRUMP: "Trying to FLY two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!" – tweet saturday.

IN FACT: He is laying unfounded accusations of "stealing" elections in Florida's Senate and Governor elections, which have been recited because of extremely thin tracks held by Republicans Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, respectively.

It is not uncommon for voting accounts to change in the days following the election, while local authorities process postal and provisional ballots. In Florida, Scott and DeSantis both saw their lead in the last few days as the Democratic strongholds of Palm Beach and Broward counties continued counting votes. The countdown of votes ended on Saturday, resulting in a recounting order from the Florida State Secretary after the unofficial results of both races fell into the margin that, under the law, triggers a review.

In the last two elections, in 2016 and 2014, Florida counted for more than 99% of the vote on polling day and in the early hours of the following day. In Broward, the election officers updated the total votes for the days following polling day.

In alleging potential fraud, Scott, as outgoing governor, had said late Thursday that he was asking the Florida Law Enforcement Department to open an investigation into the election offices in Florida. Palm Beach and Broward. However, the agency said Friday that there was no credible allegation of fraud and that no investigation was therefore ongoing.

Scott's campaign also brought a lawsuit demanding that the Broward County election supervisor be required to submit several records detailing the counting and collection of ballots cast. A judge on Friday sided Scott's side and ordered Broward's election supervisor to disclose this information to the elector; the decision did not deal with allegations of fraud.

The state's electoral division, which Scott directs, said Saturday that his observers at Broward had seen "no evidence of criminal activity".

Election fraud in Florida and across the country is extremely rare. Trump often baderts that electoral fraud is a significant problem, but has not provided evidence of substantial fraud.

After the 2016 election, Trump convened a commission to investigate a possible vote fraud, after repeatedly baderting without proof that the fraud had cost him the popular vote. Trump won the electoral college. But he dissolved the panel in January, accusing more than a dozen states that refused to respond to the commission's request for extensive personal data on voters.

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ARIZONA SENATE RACE

TRUMP: "Now in Arizona, suddenly, out of the desert, they find a lot of votes, and she is – the other candidate is just winning by a hair." – remarks to journalists on Friday.

TRUMP: "In Arizona, SIGNATURES DO NOT CORRECTION Electoral Corruption – Call for a New Election We Must Protect Our Democracy!" – tweet Friday.

THE FACTS: There is no evidence of unusual in the count of votes in Arizona. Trump brought charges of "electoral corruption" and "out-of-the-desert" votes as Republican pessimism grew over Representative Martha McSally's prospects in the Senate race. However, Arizona normally takes more than a week to count its ballots and no elected Republican official has screamed at the scandal. It is possible that the opponent of Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, McSally, will regain the lead in the coming days. It would not be suspicious either.

Vote counting tends to take longer in Arizona as residents like to vote early, by mail, and a ballot sent by mail requires more work from the election officials.

State law requires that the envelope be sealed and signed, and that election officials badociate each signature with that contained in the voter registration record even before the election. Open the envelope. In this election, around 1.7 million individual signatures had to be confirmed, one by one. About 2.4 million votes were cast in Arizona.

Work accumulates during the last days before the elections, when the ballots pour in. Voters can also post sealed ballots on polling day, which adds to the pile. Secretary of State Republican Michele Reagan added another reason: election security. To avoid electoral fraud, the ballot papers posted on polling day – 320,000 people – are re-verified with the votes cast to confirm that no one has voted twice.

The GOP filed a lawsuit to prevent Maricopa and Pima counties from contacting voters after polling day over signature issues on their ballots. But they, democrats and state-run countries settled the lawsuit Friday to allow the rest of the state to follow the less stringent standards of Maricopa and Pima. These standards are what Trump seemed to complain about in his tweet "signatures do not match".

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INTERMEDIATE ELECTIONS

TRUMP, about the message from Tuesday's elections: "I think the results I've learned, and maybe even confirm, I think people like me better." I think people like it. work that I do, frankly, because if you look at all I went to a rally … and it was very difficult to do it with members of Congress, because there are too many … but I l & # 39; I did it with the Senate, I did it with (Kentucky Rep.) Andy Barr as you know, and he won. "- Wednesday press conference.

IN FACT: Trump is wrong to suggest that the candidates to the Congress won all the votes in which he organized a rally.

Two Republicans who have tightly engaged Trump in their Senate races – Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey – were beaten by Democrats Sens , Jon Tester and Joe Manchin, respectively. Trump had visited Montana four times and West Virginia three times to rally voters. Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, defeated by Democratic representative Jacky Rosen, and Leah Vukmir, a GOP legislator in Wisconsin who lost his Senate race against Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, also lost Tuesday. Trump campaigned for Heller in Nevada on October 20 and for Vukmir in Wisconsin on October 24.

In the House, Republican Representative Jason Lewis lost his run to Minnesota in favor of Democrat Angie Craig, whom he had beaten by 2 percentage points in 2016. Trump had been campaigning in Minnesota on Oct. 4 after Lewis invited him to come to his side.

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TRUMP: "Fifty-five is the largest number of Republican senators in the last 100 years." – press conference Wednesday.

THE FACTS: His party did not win 55 seats in the Senate on Tuesday. Republicans occupied 55 seats in the Senate in 2005-2006, as well as in 1997-2000, according to the office of the Senate historian.

After the elections on Tuesday, Republicans will have a 51-46 advantage, with races in Florida and Arizona too close to be followed. Special elections in Mississippi were held on November 27 between Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy. That means 54 Republican seats if these three races break the GOP.

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ECONOMY

TRUMP: "America is booming like never before … In terms of GDP, we are doing incredibly well." – press conference Wednesday.

TRUMP, in a telephone conversation Tuesday night with Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the House of Commons: "We have not talked about dismissal, we have not talked about what you are doing. one because it has created the greatest economic success in the history of our country? "

THE FACTS: The economy is healthy, but it is neither incredible nor unprecedented. Nor does he clearly understand what he means by claiming the nation's "greatest economic success" so far.

The economy grew 4.2% annually during the April to June quarters, and then increased 3.5% in the July to September quarters. These are the two best quarters in just four years. Growth reached 5.1% in the second quarter of 2014, followed by 4.9% in the third quarter.

The economy has much more strongly exploded in the past. In the late 1990s, growth exceeded 4% for four consecutive years. It reached 7.2% in 1984. The unemployment rate is now an impressive minimum of 3.7% in 50 years. But it remained below 4% for almost four years in the late 1960s.

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TRUMP: "And our iron and steel industry is back, our aluminum industry is really starting to grow, industries are dead, our miners are working again." – press conference Wednesday.

THE FACTS: He exaggerates.

The steel industry has created jobs at a faster pace than the entire economy since the inauguration of Trump, although all gains were made before the administration did. imposes tariffs on steel imports in March. Nevertheless, the rebound has hardly made steel its former glory.

The United States has created 5,500 jobs in the steel sector since Trump entered the White House, for a total of 86,500 jobs. Before the Great Recession, there were about 100,000 jobs in the steel sector. The aluminum plants have created 2,600 jobs since the inauguration for a total of 60,100 jobs. These are minor changes in an economy that employs nearly 150 million people.

Meanwhile, few miners are working again. Jobs in coal mines have only increased from 1,900 to 52,600 since the inauguration of Trump. This is also much less than the 70,000 or so jobs in the coal mines that existed until 2014.

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TRUMP: "China got rid of its" China "25 because I found it very insulting.I told them that.I said:" China "was very insulting, because" China "meant that in 2025, they're going to conquer, economically, the world." I said: "It's not what's going on." – Press conference Wednesday.

THE FACTS: There is no evidence that China has abandoned its economic plan. Trump refers to the Chinese "Made in China 2025" plan, in which the government of this country wants to develop leading companies in the world in robotics, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and more. other advanced technologies. This is a sore point between the two countries, because the United States and other countries claim that China uses unfair tactics to achieve these goals, for example by forcing US companies to share technology and providing subsidies. government.

The Chinese authorities have downplayed the plan in recent months because of international criticism. But there are few signs that they have "gotten rid of" the plan. Because China views the plan as a key step in the development of its economy, many observers worry about the impossibility of reducing it, suggesting that trade disputes between the United States and the United States China will not go away any time soon.

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VETERANS

TRUMP: "I have done more for veterinarians than any president, certainly for several decades, with Choice and other things, as you know. … If you look at Choice – Choice alone – I mean, take a look at what we did with Choice. "- Wednesday press conference.

THE FACTS: He takes a premature credit for improvements that will take years before the Veterans Choice program is successful.

Trump signed in June a law to expand the private sector Choice program, which had been approved for the first time in 2014 under the Obama administration following a scandal at the Phoenix Phoenix Medical Center, in which veterans died while waiting for appointments. The current Choice program allows veterans to see doctors outside the VA system if they have to wait more than 30 days for an appointment or they have to travel more than 40 km to get to a hospital. VA establishment.

The extent to which Choice will be expanded will, however, depend on the regulations being developed that will determine the eligibility of veterans and the funds available for the program. The Department of Veterans Affairs has not yet solved long-term funding because of congressional budget ceilings that could expose funding for the AV or other national programs to shortages in the future. next year.

Another important element of the program's success is a complete overhaul of the VA's electronic medical records to enable seamless sharing of medical records with private physicians, a process that is expected to take up to 10 years. VA Secretary General Robert Wilkie said the full implementation of the expanded Choice program would be "in years".

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HEALTH CARE

TRUMP, on reducing health insurance premiums and coverage for people with pre-existing health problems: "What we do, if you look at the Ministry of Labor – Secretary (Alex) Azar, at Health Services and social services, which he has done, they have come up with incredible health care plans, which is driving strong competition and driving down prices. "- Wednesday press conference.

THE FACTS: He ignores the new health care options in his administration, which offer lower premiums than full plans, such as the Affordable Care Act, but also cover less. The availability of Trump's short-term health plans is also not going to "bring down" the prices for the overhaul or complete plans of the Obama era, but may increase premiums for solid coverage if fewer people in good health take it as well.

Strictly speaking, short-term and badociative health plans are not new. The Trump administration has expanded their potential reach, although some states may push back with restrictions.

Short-term plans do not require taking people with health problems or offering benefits such as maternity, mental health, prescription drugs and addiction treatment. Association plans must obligatorily accept people with pre-existing health problems, but they do not have to cover the whole menu of the 10 types of "essential" services required by Obamacare.

Gary Claxton, a non-partisan member of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said that short-term plans could prove more expensive than suggested by Trump administration officials. Plans now cover up to 90 days, but if insurers develop them to offer coverage of up to 36 months, companies will take more risks.

"You will have to pay more in advance because there is a longer period during which you can get sick," Claxton said.

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Associated Press Editors Nicholas Riccardi, Calvin Woodward, Alan Fram and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.

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EDITOR'S NOTE _ Look at the veracity of statements by political figures