Latest Stories By Louis Jacobson

Showing 145-156 of 1255 items
Antislavery cartoon

A primer on Civil War history and what Donald Trump and Nikki Haley got wrong

William Faulkner famously wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” That could describe some of the recent historical discourse on the presidential campaign trail.  First came Republican candidate Nikki Haley, who answered a question at a Dec. 27 event in Berlin, New Hampshire, about the Civil War’s cause. Haley’s answer didn’t refer […]
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Iowa CO2 pipeline, expressed by road sign in Bismark, N.D.

Vivek Ramaswamy says Iowa can’t use eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines. That remains to be seen.

In campaign stops, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been railing against the government using eminent domain to build carbon capture pipelines on private land.    Ramaswamy incorporated the topic into his stump speech in Iowa, an agricultural state and the first to vote in the primary season, and at the fourth Republican presidential debate in […]
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Donald Trump’s rally spotlighted the Biden, Trump economies. We fact-checked the graphics

Before former President Donald Trump spoke for 90 minutes in Durham, New Hampshire, his team compared Trump’s record with President Joe Biden’s record by projecting a series of statistics on the wall. The images shown Dec. 16 had the tagline “Better off with Trump” and covered mortgage payments, mortgage rates and inflation. Here’s a fact-check […]
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Divisions in Cyprus amplify fact-checking challenges

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus, an ethnically divided island in the Mediterranean, is like any other nation: It’s been hit by a wave of misinformation, and residents are trying to keep up. The former British colony — smaller in area than Puerto Rico — is split by a United Nations buffer zone that separates the predominantly […]
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With Biden impeachment probe now authorized, what’s next?

The U.S House of Representatives voted Dec. 13 to formally authorize an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden. On party lines, with all Republican and no Democratic support, the measure passed, 221-212.  The vote did not address the merits of whether Biden should be impeached. Instead, it formalized the House’s decision to undertake an investigation […]
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In context: What the White House has said about sending troops to fight Russia

With Congress divided over allocating more funding to Ukraine for its fight against Russia, President Joe Biden’s critics recently said the administration is using the threat of sending American troops to fight Russia as a bargaining chip. Accusations that the White House is leveraging American service members’ lives to fund the Ukraine war have garnered […]
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George Santos expelled, leaves the Capitol in Washington, 12-1-2023

The facts on George Santos’ House expulsion: What happens next?

The U.S. House of Representatives expelled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., just a year into his first term. Expulsion required a two-thirds majority, which was reached when 73% of those present and voting supported Santos’ heave-ho.  In a highly polarized era, the Dec. 1 expulsion was bipartisan (105 Republicans and 206 Democrats voted to oust him) […]
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Fact-checking Newsom-DeSantis debate: Immigration, abortion, book bans and a poop map

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom challenged each other’s records on immigration, crime, COVID-19 lockdowns, the economy and social issues in a rowdy Fox News matchup billed as “The Great Red versus Blue State Debate.” DeSantis is among the Republicans running behind former President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. Newsom, a Democrat, […]
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The Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom economies, in 8 charts

As California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis prepare to debate on Fox News, many factors separate their two states, including their ideological leanings and their voting patterns.  The Nov. 30 debate between Newsom, a Democrat, and DeSantis, a Republican, is being billed as a blue state versus red state battle in an […]
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PolitiFact road-tests Donald Trump’s claim about driving an electric vehicle in New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, N.H. — On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has criticized the shift to electric vehicles, an effort that has been encouraged by his potential 2024 opponent, President Joe Biden. Trump told a Nov. 11 crowd in Claremont that electric vehicles “don’t go far,” using their state of New Hampshire as an example. […]
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George Santos for ethics report, 10-20-2023

In final report, House Ethics Committee targets George Santos’ falsehoods

Despite widespread attention to dubious claims about his personal story, Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., remains a member of Congress. But with the Nov. 16 release of a scathing House Ethics Committee report, Santos’ days in the House may be numbered. The committee report found “overwhelming evidence of his misconduct,” including several matters it referred to […]
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Top 5 fact-checks: Republican candidates take aim at Biden’s foreign policy in Miami debate

MIAMI — President Joe Biden wasn’t among the presidential candidates debating Nov. 8, but his foreign policy took center stage among the Republicans vying for their party’s nomination. Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., called Biden’s evacuation efforts for Americans in Israel “atrocious.” U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said there was “blood dripping” from Biden and former […]
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Showing 145-156 of 1255 items