2 Democrats fare poorly in weekend claims checked against the Truth-O-Meter

Democrats didn’t do well against the Truth-O-Meter this weekend.

In case you missed it, the Truth-O-Meter on Sunday handed down a Mostly False to state Sen. Barbara Buono for a claim about Gov. Chris Christie’s "Jersey Comeback" and a Pants on Fire on Monday to U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman for an attack ad against fellow Congressman Bill Pascrell.

Buono claim

Buono, often mentioned as a possible gubernatorial contender in 2013, blasted Christie’s "Jersey Comeback" mantra during a May 7 interview on 1210 WPHT-AM’s Dom Giordano Show. She claimed that New Jersey was one of eight states to lose jobs in March, the most in the nation. But PolitiFact New Jersey found that Buono’s numbers were off by quite a bit. First, 20 states lost jobs in March, not eight. Secondly, although New Jersey ranked among the worst for jobs lost that month, the state has actually gained jobs during the past year.

Rothman claim

Attacks are heating up as the June 5 Democratic primary draws near for Rothman and Pascrell, who are vying to run for a newly drawn congressional district in north Jersey. In Rothman’s case, his campaign posted an ad May 8 on YouTube that suggests Pascrell wants tax cuts for the wealthy. The problem here is that the comments made by Pascrell during a January 2010 interview on MSNBC’s "Hardball with Chris Matthews," had nothing to do with tax cuts. Pascrell and Matthews were discussing healthcare reform when Pascrell said, in reference to bipartisan meetings, "Republicans had great ideas. I liked some of their ideas." Read a complete transcript of the eight-minute "Hardball" interview here.

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