Latest Stories By Chris Nichols

Showing 85-96 of 125 items

Do only a fraction of California’s Latino and black students go to four-year colleges?

Candidate for governor Antonio Villaraigosa claimed only 13 percent of California’s Latino and black students go to four-year colleges. We found his claim gives the wrong impression for both groups.

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The most outlandish, Pants On Fire! claims we fact-checked in 2017

President Trump’s repeated and unsubstantiated claims on California voter fraud during the 2016 election plus a series of intentionally false stories about the state’s deadly wildfires all earned a Pants On Fire in 2017.

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PolitiFact California’s Top 10 Most Popular Fact Checks of 2017

Eye-opening claims that California has the sixth largest economy on the planet, the highest poverty rate in the nation and that President Trump’s border wall will cost one and a half times as much as an aircraft carrier all made PolitiFact California’s Top 10 most popular fact checks of 2017.

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Claims abound on California’s ‘highest-in-the-nation’ costs. Not all are factual.

Politicians often claim California has some of the 'highest-in-the-nation' costs. There's some truth to these statements, but others, including some by candidate for governor John Cox, exaggerate the Golden State's expenses. 

 

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California gas tax

George Runner was right: California now has the highest gas prices in the nation

Republican George Runner predicted in April that California’s gas tax increase would catapult the state’s already high fuel prices to the "highest in the nation." The tax hike went into effect this week. And it appears his prediction was spot on.

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Hillary Clinton at UC Davis

Fact-checker’s guide to Hillary Clinton’s UC Davis speech

Following Hillary Clinton's expansive speech at UC Davis this week, PolitiFact California created a 'fact-checker's guide' examining her claims on everything from abortion to mass shootings to child health care. We found most of her claims were generally accurate, with one large exception.

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Hillary Clinton AP file photo

Fact-checking Hillary Clinton as she returns to California

Former Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is set to speak Monday in Davis, California at the Mondavi Center. The event is part of Clinton's book tour. She'll discuss What Happened, her memoir about the 2016 presidential election. Hear something you think we should fact-check? Email PolitiFact California at politifactca@capradio.org, or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.

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How is a ‘mass shooting’ defined?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recently claimed there's been one mass shooting per day in 2017. PolitiFact California found Pelosi picked a very broad definition of mass shooting but also found the debate about what exactly defines a mass shooting remains greatly unsettled. We did not rate the claim on our Truth-O-Meter. 

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Claims mislead about California forcing jail time for using wrong transgender pronoun

California's LGBT Senior Bill of Rights has sparked misleading claims by conservative news outlets since early this year. The bill, which would prohibit discrimination of LGBT seniors at long-term care centers, is now on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. PolitiFact California examined the persistent and out-of-context claim that this legislation would send people to jail for using the wrong pronoun on transgender patients at nursing homes.

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Bernie Sanders back in California

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is headed back to California to tout his ‘single payer Medicare-for-all’ proposal. As he returns, we examined his health care pitch and his record with the truth.

 

 

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Who carries out more terror attacks on U.S. soil: Right wing or Islamic extremists?

California State Senate Leader Kevin de León’s made some bold claims about the rise of radical right wing terrorism following a deadly white supremacist attack in Charlottesville. PolitiFact California investigated the senator’s statements and found there’s evidence backing some of his statements though it’s not as clear-cut as de León suggests.

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Fact-checking Kamala Harris’ claim about cost of Trump’s border wall

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., recently claimed President Trump’s border wall ‘could cost taxpayers about $70 billion.’ PolitiFact California found cost estimates vary greatly for the wall and that Harris picked the highest price tag from a partisan study.

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Showing 85-96 of 125 items