The Poynter Institute

English Español

Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

I would like to contribute

stated on December 31, 2019 in a tweet:

"About a third of Texas has seen a 20-25% population loss in the last 5 years."

true

false

State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, at the Texas Capitol during a hearing of the House Transportation Committee (KEN HERMAN / American-Statesman).

Madlin Mekelburg

By Madlin Mekelburg January 10, 2020

Has one-third of Texas seen a 25% population loss?

None

Read About Our Process

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

Twitter, Gene Wu, Dec. 31, 2019

NPR, U.S. Population Growth In 2019 Is Slowest In A Century, Dec. 31, 2019

Texas Demographics Center, 2018 Estimated Population of Texas, Its Counties, and Places, December 2019

Texas Demographics Center, Total Population By County 2013, accessed Jan. 2, 2020

Texas Demographics Center, Total Population By County 2018, accessed Jan. 2, 2020

Email interview with Wu, Jan. 2, 2020

Email interview with Lila Valencia, Jan 7, 2019

stated on April 7, 2020 in an interview:

Says a powder has been developed that, when mixed with water, “is being used in Germany as a mist. Health care workers go through a misting tent going into the hospital and it kills the coronavirus completely dead not only right then, but any time in the next 14 days that the virus touches anything that’s been sprayed, it is killed.”

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on March 31, 2020 in a briefing:

Says for the coronavirus, “the death rate in Texas, per capita of 29 million people, we're one of the lowest in the country."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on March 18, 2020 in a press conference:

“China is to blame because the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that's why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine Flu and now the coronavirus.”

false

false

Michael Burgess

stated on September 19, 2020 in a tweet:

“In the last 10 years less than half of adults in the U.S. received a flu shot.”

true

true

stated on August 18, 2020 in a press conference:

Says crime is on the rise in Austin and a new study showed that it “is the No. 1 city in America in the year-to-year percentage increase in murders, with a percentage increase of more than 64% for the first half of this year.”

half-true

half-true

stated on August 13, 2020 in a tweet:

Says a video shared to his social media shows vehicles with broken windows in a parking garage used by state agencies in Texas on “the same night the City of Austin voted to cut $150 million” from the police department.”

false

false

stated on August 7, 2020 in an interview:

Says in Texas the “average age of the Republican voter is like 20 years older than the average Democrat.”

false

false

stated on July 22, 2020 in a speech:

Says 1 in 5 Texans did not have health insurance coverage before the pandemic, and now “nearly 1 in 3 Texans under the age of 65 don’t have access to health care insurance.”

true

true

stated on July 9, 2020 in an interview:

Says “no one under the age of 20 has died of the coronavirus. We still don’t know whether children can get it and transmit it to others.”

false

false

stated on June 22, 2020 in a tweet:

Hays County in Central Texas has seen an “incredible 845% increase in (COVID-19) cases since June 7.”

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on May 24, 2020 in an interview:

Says a new law adopted in Texas means property tax bills “are no longer really dependent on your values, it is on (local government) revenue growth.”

barely-true

barely-true

stated on May 31, 2020 in a tweet:

Says police officers in Austin, Texas, have been “authorized to use LIVE ROUNDS, and lethal force” against protesters.

half-true

half-true

stated on May 6, 2020 in an interview:

Says Wisconsin has not had a spike in coronavirus cases that was “statistically significant related to the fact that they had voting.”

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on May 3, 2020 in a tweet:

“Texas ranks 3rd highest among states for the number of people who have recovered from” the coronavirus.

half-true

half-true

Veronica Escobar

stated on April 22, 2020 in an interview:

Says Texas “either is near the bottom or at the very bottom when it comes to testing per capita.”

true

true

stated on April 7, 2020 in an interview:

Says a powder has been developed that, when mixed with water, “is being used in Germany as a mist. Health care workers go through a misting tent going into the hospital and it kills the coronavirus completely dead not only right then, but any time in the next 14 days that the virus touches anything that’s been sprayed, it is killed.”

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on March 31, 2020 in a briefing:

Says for the coronavirus, “the death rate in Texas, per capita of 29 million people, we're one of the lowest in the country."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on March 18, 2020 in a press conference:

“China is to blame because the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that's why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine Flu and now the coronavirus.”

false

false

Michael Burgess

stated on September 19, 2020 in a tweet:

“In the last 10 years less than half of adults in the U.S. received a flu shot.”

true

true

stated on August 18, 2020 in a press conference:

Says crime is on the rise in Austin and a new study showed that it “is the No. 1 city in America in the year-to-year percentage increase in murders, with a percentage increase of more than 64% for the first half of this year.”

half-true

half-true

stated on August 13, 2020 in a tweet:

Says a video shared to his social media shows vehicles with broken windows in a parking garage used by state agencies in Texas on “the same night the City of Austin voted to cut $150 million” from the police department.”

false

false

Instagram posts
stated on August 27, 2024 in an Instagram post:

California S.B. 1174 eliminates the requirement for voter ID at polling places.

By Sofia Ahmed • August 30, 2024
X posts
stated on August 29, 2024 in X posts:

President Joe Biden “did a campaign ad at the graves in Arlington in 2020.”

By Loreben Tuquero • August 30, 2024
X posts
stated on August 16, 2024 in a video:

Video shows “Kamala Harris describing how she can ruin lives with the 'swipe of a pen.’"

By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 30, 2024
Facebook posts
stated on August 25, 2024 in a post:

Kamala Harris’ “plan to tax unrecognized Capital Gains mean(s) if your house goes up in value you will have to pay that Tax Even if you don’t sell your House!”

By Sara Swann • August 30, 2024
Facebook posts
stated on August 25, 2024 in a Facebook post:

“There’s no such thing as menopause.”

By Madison Czopek • August 30, 2024
Instagram posts
stated on August 27, 2024 in an Instagram post:

“Hollywood actor Kurt Russell just said: ‘It is now proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden CHEATED in the 2020 election with mail-in ballots.’”

By Caleb McCullough • August 30, 2024
Kamala Harris
stated on August 22, 2024 in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention:

Former President Donald Trump "intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax ... that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year."

By Louis Jacobson • August 30, 2024
Viral image
stated on August 27, 2024 in a Facebook post:

“Kurt Russell forms a new non-woke actors alliance with Roseanne Barr and Tim Allen.”

By Ciara O'Rourke • August 30, 2024
Viral image
stated on August 23, 2024 in an X post:

Photo of former President Donald Trump after an assassination attempt was generated by artificial intelligence.

By Ciara O'Rourke • August 30, 2024
X posts
stated on August 28, 2024 in an X post:

C-SPAN captions for a JD Vance speech said, “Single person clapping.”

By Ciara O'Rourke • August 30, 2024

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

✕