Fact Check: Political claims
From campaign commercials to stump speeches to news conferences, political talk is rife with hyperbole. We endeavor to cut through the clutter to show where the truth gets stretched and who can back up their claims.
How do we make the call? Look for the stoplights on our revised fact checking scale.
A "green light" means, "Go ahead, run with it." Yellow light indicates reservations about important factual errors or missing context. If you see a red light, stop because our fact check found a serious error. And if you see blue lights in the rear view, somebody wasn't even trying to get it right – we're issuing them a moving violation.
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Fact check: George Holding and special-interest money
Did Republican 2nd District Congressman George Holding break a promise not to accept special-interest PAC money? -
Fact check: Barringer says video with Searcy vodka encourages domestic violence
Does a 2017 music video mean Democratic legislative candidate Sam Searcy disrespects women? -
Fact Check: Linda Coleman and sanctuary cities
Does Triangle congressional candidate Linda Coleman support sanctuary cities? -
Fact Check: Were 'tens of thousands' of 2016 voters not verified?
Civitas President Francis De Luca says data suggests there are questions about "tens of thousands" of those who voted in the 2016 election. -
Fact Check: Do NC prisons use student reading scores to predict future growth?
When North Carolina public schools release their annual reading scores, parents, teachers and the public are no doubt interested to see how students are performing. But are prison officials also paying attention to that information? -
Fact Check: Gubernatorial debate
The final gubernatorial debate for 2016 proved to to be a hot one, but what's true and what's exaggerated? -
Fact Check: Is it true that Rep. Pendleton 'gave us HB2'?
A direct mail ad from a N.C. Families First claims Rep. Gary Pendleton, R-Wake, gave us House Bill 2. But the Wake County lawmaker didn't vote on the bill, so how does the group support that claim? -
Fact Check: Have 13 GOP-backed laws been struck down?
A candidate in the attorney general's race says his opponent has backed 13 laws struck down by the courts. Is that number right? -
Fact Check: McCrory says Cooper 'fought cleanup' of coal ash
A campaign ad by Gov. Pat McCrory claims that Attorney General Roy Cooper "fought" efforts to clean up coal ash. -
Fact Check: Was Cooper 'stripped of his responsibility' over crime lab?
A Republican Governors Association ad suggests that Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper was "stripped" of his control of the state's crime lab. But his agency still oversees the lab. -
Fact Check: Is it true Cooper 'fixed the problems' at the crime lab?
Attorney General Roy Cooper says his administration "cleared the backlog" at the North Carolina State Crime Lab. But the crime lab has continued to struggle with caseloads throughout his tenure. -
Fact Check: Does average NC teacher really make $50,000?
Legislative candidates and Gov. Pat McCrory have been touting teacher salary increases in their campaign ads. But is it true that the average North Carolina teacher makes $50,000? -
Fact Check: Does HB2 threaten federal education funding?
Does the newly enacted law setting statewide limits on public sector nondiscrimination policies threaten federal education funding? The answer rests with a federal appeals court. -
Fact Check: McCrory's "Myths vs Facts" email on HB2
Gov. Pat McCrory says the media is missing the boat on HB2. But does he have all his facts straights on the law crafted to respond to Charlotte's transgender nondiscrimination ordinance? -
Fact Check: Do IRS agents really outnumber G-men and spies?
A presidential candidate and a state lawmaker have claimed there are more IRS agents than there are FBI and CIA agents combined. It doesn't take too much cloak-and-dagger work to find this claim questionable. -
Fact Check: NC GOP makes claims about union backing for 'Moral Monday'
North Carolina Republican Party leaders used a news conference outside a voting rights trial in Winston-Salem Monday morning to point to documents they say show national union groups are bankrolling the "Moral Monday" groups. -
Fact Check: Senators debate education spending, constant dollars, fairy tales
Do "total dollars spent in education" really tell all, or should state leaders look at per-pupil spending and constant dollars when debating the budget. -
Fact Check: Talking about Medicaid 'On the Record'
Reps. Skip Stam and Grier Martin debated the proposals from Gov. Pat McCrory's State of the State speech in this week's "On the Record." We fact check a couple claims. -
McCrory's workers compensation claim questioned
Gov. Pat McCrory said that 40 percent of the money North Carolina spends on workers compensation claims for state employees is related to fraud and abuse. Lawyers, union officials and academics question that figure. -
Fact Check: Are other states following NC's lead on unemployment?
Gov. Pat McCrory told an annual economic forecast forum that "all the other states now have followed our lead" on cutting unemployment benefits. Have they?
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