CNN's fact-checker says Trump 'serially lied' in his RNC speech. Other fact-checkers agree, more politely.

Daniel Dale fact-checks Trump
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twiter/CNN)

"For almost 10 hours this week, President Trump and his allies used the unfiltered platform of a national political convention to paint a portrait of two Americas that do not exist," White House reporter Toluse Olorunnipa writes in The Washington Post. "In one — a misrepresentation of life under Trump — the coronavirus has been conquered by presidential leadership, the economy is at its pre-pandemic levels, troops are returning home, and the president is an empathetic figure who supports immigration and would never stoke the nation's racial grievances." The other grossly "mischaracterizes" Democratic rival Joe Biden's proposals.

"While all political confabs involve some level of spin and revisionism," Olorunnipa adds, "the Republican National Convention this year has stood out for its brazen defiance of facts, ethical guidelines, and tradition, according to experts on propaganda and misinformation."

Trump himself "often exaggerated his own accomplishments and skated over his failures while portraying Democrats and Mr. Biden inaccurately," The New York Times said in its fact-check. "Trump claimed accomplishments he didn't earn on the pandemic, energy, and veterans," The Associated Press specified, and "baselessly accused" Black Lives Matter "of coordinating violent protests across the country."

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CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale was more direct Thursday night, telling Anderson Cooper: "This president is a serial liar, and he serially lied tonight. I counted, preliminarily, more than 20 false or misleading claims." And then he ran through them, marathon-style.

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You can read about the specific things Trump and his allies falsely claimed at the various fact-checks, but The New Yorker's John Cassidy found his (it turned out, recurring) whopper early on in the convention. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.