Sen. Bernie Sanders said he can take Donald Trump in the general election, criticizing Trump for his climate change claims Jan. 24 on "Meet the Press." (Screengrab)

PolitiFact fact-checks the Jan. 24 shows

Meet the Press host Chuck Todd grills Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders about their chances in the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1.

Rulings from PolitiFact National

"Fifty years ago, the average GM employee could pay for a year of a ... — Martin O'Malley
Says a Ted Cruz ad has "got me bull-dozing down a house. I never bulldozed ... — Donald Trump
Says Donald Trump "thinks that climate change is a hoax, invented by the Chinese." — Bernie Sanders
China has "total control, just about, of North Korea." — Donald Trump
"I have a D-minus voting record from the NRA." — Bernie Sanders
The United States has a "record number of abortions year after year after year." — Carly Fiorina
"Every piece of legislation, just about, that I ever introduced (in the U.S. Senate) ... — Hillary Clinton
"Today, if you were raised poor, you’re just as likely to stay poor as ... — Paul Ryan
"Very little of (the defense) budget — less than 10 percent — actually goes ... — Bernie Sanders
"I helped write" the Affordable Care Act. — Bernie Sanders
"We now have driven (health care) costs down to the lowest they've been in ... — Hillary Clinton
Says Bernie Sanders "voted for what we call the 'Charleston Loophole.'" — Hillary Clinton
Says Bernie Sanders "has reversed his position on immunity" for gun manufacturers and sellers. — Hillary Clinton
Hostages were released as soon as Ronald Reagan took office because Iran perceived that ... — Marco Rubio
Says Hillary Clinton called Barack Obama "naive" for saying he was would "sit down ... — Bernie Sanders

The Latest from PunditFact

Pants on Fire!

Surveys say, this one goes down in flames

Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

"Donald Trump is appealing as much to Democrats as he is to Republicans."

False

Polls agree that statistic holds

Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham

"The 90 percent statistic of supporting background checks, that's been debunked."

True

A component, but an awfully small one

Stephen Hayes

Stephen Hayes

Guantanamo has "never been a key component of ISIS or al-Qaida propaganda."

Pants on Fire!

A fake quote from a satirical news site

Viral image

Viral image

Says U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho said "African Americans should only be given three-fifths of a vote."

— PolitiFact Florida

False

Only Trump's accountant knows for sure

Occupy Democrats

Occupy Democrats

"If Trump had just put his father’s money in a mutual fund ... he’d have $8 billion."

False

The White House explicitly addressed the threat

Joe Scarborough

Joe Scarborough

In the weekend after the terrorist attacks in Paris, the White House said "this couldn't happen in the United States. ISIS couldn't reach us here."

Mostly True

Carpooling down, SUVs and crossovers popular

George Will

George Will

Despite attention on global warming, "fewer Americans carpool today to work than carpooled in 1980" and "SUVs have never been a larger proportion of the vehicles being sold in this country."

— PolitiFact Wisconsin

Mostly True

Up and up

Bill Maher

Bill Maher

"15 years ago, cancer drugs cost an average of $10,000 a year. Now it’s $10,000 a month."

False

The figure is close for base Republicans, but not all Americans

Arsalan Iftikhar

Arsalan Iftikhar

"59 percent of Americans today believe that Barack Obama is still a Muslim."

Mostly False

67 percent of less than 1 percent of refugees

Michael Needham

Michael Needham

In 2013, the United States "accepted 67 percent of the world’s refugees."

Mostly False

Simple math, but slippery numbers

Neil Cavuto

Neil Cavuto

Taking all the money of the top 1 percent wouldn’t keep Medicare going for three years.

Mostly False

An exaggeration of what happened

Juan Williams

Juan Williams

Says a car driving former University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe "ran through the students, hit one of them" at the MU Homecoming Parade.

— PolitiFact Missouri

Half-True

Sometimes the best-known story lines are wrong

Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly

"In a period of roughly 72 hours, a small group of angry black students managed to force the resignation of the two highest ranking officials at that school."

Pants on Fire!

Caffeine overdose?

Joshua Feuerstein

Joshua Feuerstein

Says that Starbucks took "Christmas off of their brand new cups."

Half-True

Most of the failed co-ops didn't last five years.

Ezekiel Emanuel

Ezekiel Emanuel

Obamacare insurance cooperative failures "should be expected" because they're like any business, and "when you start businesses in America, at the fifth year, half of the businesses have closed."

Half-True

Remember, there are 3 tickets out of Iowa

Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah

"Iowa's Republican caucus stopped mattering years ago. It in no way determines the party nominee."

Pants on Fire!

Hannity responds

Sean Hannity

Sean Hannity

"The president said he’s going to bring in 250,000 (Syrian and Iraqi) refugees into this country."

Mostly True

Though he has voted for the exception

Jennifer Granholm

Jennifer Granholm

Says Marco Rubio opposes abortion "even in the case of rape and incest."

False

A cigar mag interview that's full of smoke

Jon Voight

Jon Voight

"The word progressive ... was created as a substitute for ‘communist’."

Pants on Fire!

Graphic debunks itself

Viral image

Viral image

"CNN's Crap Polling" is so bad that it shows that "no one under the age of 50 has an opinion of Hillary Clinton."

What is PunditFact?

PunditFact is a project of the Tampa Bay Times and the Poynter Institute, dedicated to checking the accuracy of claims by pundits, columnists, bloggers, political analysts, the hosts and guests of talk shows, and other members of the media.

We define a pundit as someone who offers analysis or opinions on the news, particularly politics and public policy. One can engage in punditry by writing, blogging or appearing on radio or TV. A pundit is not an elected official, not a declared candidate nor anyone in an official capacity with a political party, campaign or government.

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About PolitiFact.com

Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by pundits and rate them on PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter:

TRUE – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing.

MOSTLY TRUE – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.

HALF TRUE – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.

MOSTLY FALSE – The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.

FALSE – The statement is not accurate.

PANTS ON FIRE – The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.

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