Blowing Apart A Dozen Myths About President Trump

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

It's one thing to be mistaken about a candidate, or not to have the whole story. There's nothing reprehensible about that, and we all learn new things each day.

But to stubbornly refuse to learn the truth about a candidate, or to spread lies even after they have been refuted, is just wrong.

Below are a dozen lies that have been told repeatedly by President Trump's opponents, and the refutation of them. Please spread election honesty.

Lie #1: President Trump said COVID was a hoax, he had no plan to combat it, and he is responsible for over 200,000 deaths.

The President did not call the virus a hoax. He did call the Democrats' campaign of criticism a hoax. See

https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/oct/08/ask-politifact-are-you-sure-donald-trump-didnt-cal/

The President responded to the crisis immediately, and saved millions of lives by cutting off travel from China, an action that was his own idea, and that Joe Biden called “xenophobic.”

The President and his task force, working with tens of thousands of experts, came up with dozens of plans that were implemented. See the Congressional report at

https://www.priestsforlife.org/pdf/20-10-02-COVID19-National-Plan.pdf

This contains links to 145 distinct documents that outline specific plans for everything from national guidelines to slow the spread to plans for the economy, for testing, for vaccines, for protective equipment, plans for Churches, businesses, parks, travel, healthcare workers and facilities, schools, child care programs, for safely re-opening the country, and for protecting high-risk individuals, prisons, nursing homes, first responders, tribal communities, and the homeless

Lie #2: President Trump made disparaging comments about the military

John Bolton, who is no fan of the President, said that The Atlantic story, which asserts this, is “simply false,” as did multiple other people who were with him on the trip where he allegedly said it and who know him well and work with him closely.

Lie #3: The President instituted a “Muslim ban”

The President did not issue any ban on Muslims entering the nation. He initiated an executive order called “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, which grants the President authority to restrict entry to certain foreigners to protect the interests of the United States. The criterion was not religious, but rather banned travel from countries that sponsor terrorism or that lack the centralized authority to enable them to properly vet those coming here from their country. His order affected only about 12% of Muslims in the world. Forty nations that are considered “Muslim” nations were not included in the ban.

The Supreme Court upheld the president's action saying his ban was neutral to religion.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-enhancing-vetting-capabilities-processes-detecting-attempted-entry-united-states-terrorists-public-safety-threats/

Lie #4: The President Won't Denounce White Supremacy.

On the contrary, the President has denounced white supremacy publicly and frequently. His comments after the Charlottesville incident about “very fine people on both sides” referred to peaceful people, not the violent ones. Here are various links:

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nb-staff/2020/10/05/19-times-donald-trump-has-denounced-white-supremacy

https://youtu.be/ZekCxN_8KPA

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-mass-shootings-texas-ohio/

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/03/21/trump_didnt_call_neo-nazis_fine_people_heres_proof_139815.html

Lie #5: President Trump is a racist.

Just as he has denounced white supremacy , President Trump has explicitly denounced all forms of racism. He was never considered a racist during his career; the name-calling began only after he became a Republican presidential candidate. It is, in fact, a standard accusation from the left made regularly to previous Republican candidates. Pro-life people are regularly called “racist” with no basis by pro-abortion activists.

No president has done more for minorities in America, including for the Black Community in America, as Evangelist Alveda King attests, who is a strong supporter of President Trump and niece of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Still Not Racist Video

Lie #6: President Trump is against immigrants.

Our First Lady is a legal immigrant, and the President's constant refrain about immigration is that we want people to come to this country, but they need to do so legally.

The Catholic Catechism supports that position, pointing out that immigrants need to obey the laws of the country they seek to enter. Our country remains the most generous nation to immigrants in the world, still welcoming a million each year.

Lie #7: The President did not pay his Taxes

Contrary to media claims, President Trump paid the full amount of all that he owed the government in taxes.

But the tax code, which he understands very well, allows various ways of paying. In 2017, he spent $7,435,107 of his tax credit and $750 of cash. Both cash and the credit are government liabilities that the U.S. government accepts as payment for taxes. Paying the credit is not the equivalent of not paying taxes.

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/10/01/carney-new-york-times-is-wrong-trump-paid-millions-taxes-2017

https://www.newsmax.com/morris/refund-withheld-paychecks/2020/09/28/id/989227/

https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/28/new-york-times-trump-tax-return-bombshell-is-a-joke/

Lie #8: President Trump puts Kids in Cages

The AP Fact check describes this as “a frequent and distorted point made widely by Democrats.”

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-08-18/ap-fact-check-michelle-obama-and-the-kids-in-cages

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/sep/13/joe-biden/fact-checking-biden-use-cages-during-obama-adminis/

The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services utilize short-term facilities in order to process and temporarily hold migrants that have been apprehended. These short-term facilities do not employ the use of ‘cages' to house minors. For the 72 hours they are at the border, we can't just release them, unaccompanied, into the streets of the nearest city.

Certain facilities make use of barriers – fences like you would see around a school playground -- in order to separate minors of different genders and age groups – for the safety of those who are being held.

These were built under the Obama Administration in 2014, when there was a surge of unaccompanied minors coming across the border.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/baracks-ice-chief-cages-were-obamas-idea

Thomas Homan, who was Obama's executive associate director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for nearly four years, explained, “It's chain link dividers that keeps children separate from unrelated adults. It's about protecting children,” he said.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/09/27/former_ice_director_tom_homan_vs_rep_pramila_jayapal_.html

Lie #9: President Trump is not Christian.

President Trump is a non-denominational Christian (formerly Presbyterian) and has stated that he wants to be known as the President who prayed more than any other, as is related in Stephen Strang's book, God, Trump, and the 2020 Election. The pastors who have ministered to him have publicly made it clear that they have rarely seen someone as open to the ways of God as he is.

Lie #10: He's a tyrant and dictator.

The chants of “We love you” at the rallies President Trump has been holding recently tell a different story. “We are restoring power to you, the American people,” he declares in every rally speech. In his executive actions, he carefully respects the laws that are in place and does not change those laws, recognizing that it is only Congress that can do that. When he wants changes in the law, he appeals to Congress to send him a bill, as he has asked for in order to end late-term abortion.

President Trump has gotten rid of more regulations than any other; he is draining the swamp; his transparency on matters like whom he would choose for the Supreme Court actually gives more power to the people. He constantly declares that “Faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the American way”. That's not the language of a dictator.

Lie #11: He's a narcissist and a bad person

As our Lord said, a bad tree does not bear good fruit. His many acts of kindness, his exemplary and successful children, and his policies which favor the family and churches bear witness to his goodness. Moreover, he gives away large portions of his salary to government programs, and he avoids asking his friends for big campaign donations so that he can focus on doing what's right for the American people rather than having to return favors.

If you want an example of narcissism in government, check out how the Communist Chinese dictator ordered Christians to take down the crosses in their homes and put up his picture instead. That's narcissism, not President Trump.

Lie #12: President Trump Disrespects women

As Ralph Reed relates in his book For God and Country, when an attractive actress asked for a hug, Donald Trump said, “Melania says this is OK.” As those who know him attest, he is very respectful of women in his personal behavior. Moreover, his policies have advanced women's rights domestically and internationally, and he has given Ivanka Trump a leadership role there. He has taken unprecedented action to stop the human trafficking of women.

In his hiring practices, note the following:

Forty-eight percent of the overall White House staff are women: 216 to 234 men.
Three hundred fifteen are political appointees: 169 men, 146 women.
The staff of the president and first lady is 48% women: 181 women, 194 men.
Half of the national security council staff are women.

Back