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Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R.-Wis., became Speaker of the House in 2015 and served until his retirement in January 2019. Ryan was elected to represent southern Wisconsin in Congress in 1998 and for part of his tenure chaired the House Budget Committee. He was Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate in the 2012 presidential election. He did not seek re-election in 2018.

Paul Ryan Website

Scorecard

true
0% 11 Checks
mostly true
0% 16 Checks
half true
0% 24 Checks
mostly false
0% 23 Checks
false
0% 7 Checks
Pants on Fire
0% 5 Checks
For more details, see the Principles of PolitiFact

Latest Fact-Checks By Paul Ryan

Clear
Paul Ryan
stated on February 23, 2023 in TV interview:
“WOW county swing suburban voters (in Wisconsin) don’t vote for Donald Trump.”
True
By D.L. Davis • April 18, 2023
Paul Ryan
stated on April 17, 2018 in a news conference:
Says that on the tax reform law, Democratic leaders “are promising to take it all away.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • May 2, 2018
Paul Ryan
stated on February 15, 2018 in a briefing with reporters:
We “have laws on the books designed to prevent people with mental illnesses from getting firearms.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • February 26, 2018
Paul Ryan
stated on December 13, 2017 in an interview:
The 1986 tax reform approved under Ronald Reagan “was polling at about 18 percent right before they passed it.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • December 18, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on December 1, 2017 in an interview:
Under the House Republican tax plan, in Wisconsin, “the median household of four gets about a $2,000 tax cut, on average.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • December 8, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on November 3, 2017 in a speech:
“With this plan, the typical family of four will save $1,182 a year on their taxes.”
Half-True
By Louis Jacobson • November 3, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on September 27, 2017 in an interview:
The Republican tax reform proposal is focused on tax breaks for the middle class “and not about people who are really high-income earners getting a tax break.”  
Mostly False
By Tom Kertscher • October 13, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on September 1, 2017 in an interview:
“We’ve got about $3 trillion in trapped cash overseas that basically can’t come back in this country because of our tax laws.”  
Mostly True
By Tom Kertscher • September 15, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on August 21, 2017 in a town hall:
Says Aaron Rodgers “is not the highest tax rate payer” in Wisconsin, it’s “the single mom getting 24 grand in benefits with two kids who will lose 80 cents on the dollar if she goes and takes a job.”  
Mostly False
By Tom Kertscher • September 1, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on August 21, 2017 in a CNN town hall broadcast:
“We’ve got dozens of counties around America that have zero insurers left.”
Pants on Fire!
By Jon Greenberg • August 24, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on June 27, 2017 in an interview with Fox News:
Says the CBO said “it’s not that people are getting pushed off a plan; it’s that people will choose not to buy something they don’t like or want.”  
Mostly False
By Jon Greenberg • June 28, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on May 7, 2017 in an interview:
Before Obamacare, Wisconsin’s “high-risk pool” for health insurance “had eight or nine” plans to choose from, people “could go to any doctor or any hospital they wanted, and their premiums and co-pays were cheaper than they are under Obamacare today.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • May 19, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on May 2, 2017 in a news conference:
“We got to a point that our Air Force pilots were going to museums to find spare parts over the last eight years” under Barack Obama.
Pants on Fire!
By Tom Kertscher • May 11, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on May 4, 2017 in remarks in 2009 and actions in 2017:
On voting for a health care bill without an up-to-date Congressional Budget Office score
Full Flop
By Louis Jacobson • May 4, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on March 13, 2017 in a news release:
A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office “confirms that the American Health Care Act will lower premiums.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • March 14, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on January 25, 2017 in an interview:
In the United States, “we tax our exports and don’t tax our imports.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • February 9, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on January 5, 2017 in a news conference:
Obamacare is “hurting people right now” with premium increases of up to 116 percent.
Mostly True
By Eric Litke • February 3, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on January 5, 2017 in a press briefing:
“Obamacare has failed.”
Mostly False
By Tom Kertscher • February 1, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on January 12, 2017 in a media briefing:
Obamacare “is in what the actuaries call a death spiral.”
False
By Eric Litke • January 18, 2017
Paul Ryan
stated on November 10, 2016 in an interview:
“Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke.”
Pants on Fire!
By Tom Kertscher • December 23, 2016
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Latest Fact-Checks About Paul Ryan

Giffords
stated on March 13, 2018 in an ad:
“Paul Ryan has blocked all action to strengthen our gun laws.”  
Mostly False
By Tom Kertscher • April 6, 2018
NARAL Pro-Choice America
stated on November 15, 2017 in an online popup ad:
Says Paul Ryan is leading the effort to “pass a tax bill with divisive conception language by disguising it as a college savings plan” in “another attempt to ban abortion and rob women of their reproductive rights.”
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • November 22, 2017
Brian Higgins
stated on November 3, 2017 in remarks at a House hearing:
“The elimination of income and sales taxes in New York is equal to 9 percent of taxable income, meaning that if you make $100,000 a year you lose $9,000”
False
By Dan Clark • November 20, 2017
X posts
stated on September 11, 2017 in tweets:
“Paul Ryan doesn’t know what the minimum wage is in Wisconsin.”  
Mostly False
By Tom Kertscher • September 11, 2017
Eric Schneiderman
stated on July 17, 2017 in a speech at Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine:
“We have been able to cut New York’s uninsured rate in half since 2013 from 10 percent to 5 percent of our population.”
True
By Dan Clark • July 24, 2017
Randy Bryce
stated on July 9, 2017 in a TV interview:
Says Paul Ryan “has not had a public town hall within the district for over 600 days.”
Mostly True
By Alan Hovorka • July 21, 2017
Barney Frank
stated on September 28, 2016 in a fundraising email supporting Illinois' 10th House District Democratic nominee Brad Schneider :
“Paul Ryan’s already spent millions to try and permanently derail Brad (Schneider)’s progressive, energized campaign.” 
Half-True
By Marc Filippino • October 27, 2016
Hillary Clinton
stated on October 10, 2016 in a tweet:
Says Paul Ryan “is still endorsing Trump.”
True
By Tom Kertscher • October 11, 2016
David Canon
stated on July 9, 2016 in a New York Times article:
“(Paul Ryan) has actually proposed three — total, three — bills that have become law in his entire career dating back to 1999.”
Mostly True
By Cara Lombardo • August 10, 2016
Stephen Colbert
stated on June 23, 2016 in a comedy sketch:
Says “Paul Ryan shut off the C-SPAN cameras when the Democrats started their sit-in.”
Mostly False
By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • June 27, 2016
Center for Individual Freedom
stated on April 13, 2016 in a TV ad:
Says Paul Ryan backs a proposal that would be a “bailout” of Puerto Rico.  
Half-True
By Tom Kertscher • May 6, 2016
Donald Trump
stated on February 17, 2016 in a speech:
When Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential running mate, “that was the end” of Romney’s chances to win.  
False
By Tom Kertscher • February 26, 2016
Constitutional Rights PAC
stated on October 14, 2015 in a news release:
Paul Ryan “is one of only six House Republicans who voted for Teddy Kennedy’s bill to force Christian employers to hire LGBT employees.”
False
By Tom Kertscher • October 28, 2015
Erick Erickson
stated on October 9, 2015 in a blog post:
“Paul Ryan is one of less than a dozen Republican congressmen to have voted for every bailout to come before Congress.”  
Mostly False
By Tom Kertscher • October 15, 2015
Federation for American Immigration Reform
stated on August 5, 2013 in a news release:
“Unemployment has been on the rise throughout Wisconsin” as Paul Ryan stepped up his advocacy of “immigration increases.”
Mostly False
By Dave Umhoefer • August 9, 2013
Rob Zerban
stated on October 4, 2012 in a TV ad:
Says Paul Ryan’s budget plan “ends Medicare.”
Pants on Fire!
By Tom Kertscher • October 17, 2012
Joe Biden
stated on October 11, 2012 in the vice presidential debate in Danville, Ky.:
Paul Ryan “cut embassy security in his budget by $300 million below what we asked for.”
Half-True
By Louis Jacobson • October 16, 2012
Joe Biden
stated on October 11, 2012 in a debate in Danville, Ky.:
“There’s not one Democrat who endorses” the Romney-Ryan Medicare plan.
True
By Molly Moorhead • October 12, 2012
Joe Biden
stated on October 11, 2012 in the vice presidential debate in Danville, Ky.:
Says Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would “eliminate the guarantee of Medicare.”
Half-True
By Louis Jacobson • October 12, 2012
Rob Zerban
stated on August 9, 2012 in an interview:
U.S. House opponent Paul Ryan supports “cutting funding for veterans by 24 percent.”
False
By Tom Kertscher • September 23, 2012
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