The Republican National Convention takes place this week following last week's Democratic National Convention. Many prominent Republican politicians and activists are set to take the stage for speeches following Monday's official renomination of President Donald Trump.
The VERIFY team is fact-checking each night of the RNC following last week's fact-checks of the DNC. Links to all VERIFY convention fact checks can be found at the bottom of this article.
Fisherman Jason Joyce claimed that “The Obama-Biden Administration used the Antiquities Act to order thousands of square miles of ocean off-limits to commercial fisherman.”
This claim is true.
A release from the Obama administration in 2014 confirms that President Barack Obama designated the “largest marine reserve in the world.” The report details that under the authority of the Antiquities Act, Obama expanded the “Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument” to 370,000 square nautical miles.
The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument is south of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Source: Obama White House Archives
- Jason Puckett
CLAIM: Director of the United States National Economic Council Larry Kudlow said the S&P 500 has risen 50% since its low in March.
This claim is true.
The S&P 500 bottomed out at 2,237.40 on March 23. On August 25 it was at 3,443.62. That's more than a 50% increase.
Source: MarketWatch
- TJ Spry
Eric Trump claimed "Biden has pledged to defund the police."
This claim is false.
Biden has publicly stated he does not support defunding the police multiple times. In an ABC News interview the day before the RNC, Biden was directly asked if he wants to defund the police.
“No I don’t,” Biden answered. He later added that “I don’t want to defund police departments. I think they need more help, they need more assistance.”
In an op-ed written by Biden in June, he wrote, “I don’t support defunding police.”
A similar claim was made Monday by a number of speakers including Steve Scalise.
- Jason Puckett
CLAIM: Eric Trump said that “My father on the other hand, delivered the largest tax cuts in American history.”
This claim is false.
President Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cut was enacted in December 2017. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget compared the tax cut to others in U.S. history and determined that it was “the 12th largest as a percent of GDP and 4th largest in real dollars.”
When adjusted as a “percent of the GDP,” Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cut ranks as the largest tax cut in American history.
- Jason Puckett
CLAIM: In a video played during the RNC, President Trump can be heard saying: “The women’s unemployment rate had plummeted to the lowest level in more than 65 years, and last year, over 70 percent of the new jobs went to women.”
This claim is true.
Trump originally said this statement on August 18 while signing a Proclamation on the 100th Anniversary of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment. Federal Reserve Economic Data shows that in 2019 and early 2020, women’s unemployment dropped to its lowest level since 1953 -- or about 65 years.
Data published by the White House and Bureau of Labor Statistics show that there were about 2.1 million new jobs in 2019. Women accounted for about 1.5 million of those jobs -- that’s slightly more than 70 percent.
Sources: Federal Reserve Economic Data, Bureau of Labor Statistics, White House 'Job creation' publication
- Jason Puckett
