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President Donald Trump, campaigning for Gov. Scott Walker and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir, spoke at a rally in Mosinee, Wis. (Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
President Donald Trump held a rally in Wisconsin on Oct. 24, 2018, hoping to boost the prospects of fellow Republicans in the Nov. 6, 2018 elections.
GOP Gov. Scott Walker, who faces Democrat Tony Evers in the governor’s race (fact checks in that race here), appeared with Trump at the airport in Mosinee.
So did Leah Vukmir, the Republican challenging Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin in the U.S. Senate race (those fact checks here).
Here’s a quick fact-checking look at remarks made by the president that we’ve fact checked before:
‘Millions of jobs’ were lost because of NAFTA
Not based on our most recent check.
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That statement was similar to one Trump made in September 2018, when he said that under the North American Free Trade Agreement, "we lost millions of jobs."
PolitiFact National’s rating was False.
Our colleagues did not find any study that estimates that NAFTA alone cost "millions" of jobs. The largest estimate is about 800,000, and other studies show smaller negative, and sometimes positive, impacts.
African-American, Hispanic unemployment at all-time lows
This reference was unclear.
If the president did mean to say unemployment, PolitiFact National rated as Mostly True a similar claim he made in January 2018. At that time, Trump said: "African American unemployment is the lowest ever recorded in our country. The Hispanic unemployment rate dropped a full point in the last year and is close to the lowest in recorded history. Dems did nothing for you but get your vote!"
Our colleagues found Trump was right about the low unemployment rates for both blacks and Hispanics. But his slam that the Democrats "did nothing" in this regard was an exaggeration. Under Trump's predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, the unemployment rate for both groups fell by more than half.
Perhaps Trump meant to say poverty, as he did when he said a month ago: "The poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans -- it’s been incredible, they’ve all reached their lowest levels in the history of our country." PolitiFact National's rating was True.
We 'got veterans choice, it took 44 years'
That was nearly the same as Trump's October 2018 claim that Republicans "just passed" the Veterans Choice program after 44 years of trying.
PolitiFact National’s rating was False.
Trump described the program as one that allowed veterans to get private care at government expense. The program to do exactly that has been around for four years. And it’s always been referred to as Choice.
‘I don’t know if she liked me at the beginning, but she likes me now’
Trump was referring to Vukmir and her change on supporting him.
When Vukmir said in July 2018, "I have always been there with" Trump, our rating was False.
Vukmir prominently supported Trump for president in 2016 after he won the Republican nomination. But before that, she supported other GOP contenders for the nomination and was sharply critical of him.
Our Sources
PolitiFact items as noted
