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PolitiFact: Fact-checking Hillary Clinton's acceptance speech

 
Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic nomination for president Thursday in Philadelphia.
Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic nomination for president Thursday in Philadelphia.
Published July 29, 2016

The Democratic Party has a new presidential nominee, and for the first time for either major political party, she is a woman.

Hillary Clinton's address was Thursday night's biggest moment at the Democratic National Convention. Let's see how accurate it was.

Clinton critiqued Trump's address at the Republican National Convention a week earlier, saying "he spoke for 70-odd minutes — and I do mean odd," and should not be trusted.

"And most of all, don't believe anyone who says: 'I alone can fix it,' " Clinton said. "Those were actually Donald Trump's words in Cleveland."

We looked back at his speech, and Trump really did say this.

"Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it," Trump said.

However, Trump did allude to working with others in different parts of his speech. He said he would work with law enforcement and added this tidbit about working with allied countries:

"We must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror," he said. "This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel."

With that extra context, we rated Clinton's claim Mostly True.

Military views

Clinton also attacked Trump's view of the military, again using his own words.

"Now Donald Trump says, and this is a quote, 'I know more about ISIS than the generals do.' No, Donald, you don't," Clinton said. "He thinks that he knows more than our military because he claimed our armed forces are 'a disaster.' "

Did Trump characterize the military that way?

We checked the context. Trump used the line during a Fox Business Network debate in a response to a question from Maria Bartiromo, who asked about South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's reference to Trump as one of "the angriest voices."

"I'm very angry because our country is being run horribly and I will gladly accept the mantle of anger," Trump said. "Our military is a disaster."

We couldn't find any other comments from Trump characterizing the military as a disaster, but he repeatedly has said it is "depleted."

His comments have been slightly unclear, but recent ones have not been as broadly critical. So we rate Clinton's claim Mostly True.

Trump merchandise

Clinton also attacked Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again," by claiming his merchandise was primarily made overseas.

"He also talks a big game about putting 'America First,' " Clinton said. "Please explain to me what part of 'America First' leads him to make Trump ties in China, not Colorado. Trump suits in Mexico, not Michigan. Trump furniture in Turkey, not Ohio. Trump picture frames in India, not Wisconsin. Donald Trump says he wants to make America great again. Well, he could start by actually making things in America again."

We found examples of Trump ties made in China, suits in Mexico and furniture in Turkey. We did not find a clear example of a Trump picture frame made in India.

It's worth noting we also came across suits listed as made in the United States, as well as other Trump-brand, U.S.-made products that Clinton did not name, including the "Make America Great Again" baseball caps.

This statement rated Mostly True.

On the economy

Clinton said that the economy has improved significantly under President Barack Obama's leadership, and said she would continue to build on his progress.

"Now, I don't think President Obama and Vice President (Joe) Biden get the credit they deserve for saving us from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes," she said. "Our economy is so much stronger than when they took office. Nearly 15 million new private-sector jobs. Twenty million more Americans with health insurance. And an auto industry that just had its best year ever."

We checked her claim on 15 million new private-sector jobs, and found it needed qualification.

That number is accurate, but only if you start from February 2010, a year after Obama took office. Experts told us it made sense to use that figure, however, because Obama could not be held responsible for the recession's effects early in his administration.

Starting from when Obama took office in February 2009, the increase is more modest — 10.6 million jobs.

We rated this statement Half True.

Clinton's claim that the auto industry had its best year ever is a holdover from a couple of months ago.

This is true by one big measure: Americans bought more cars and trucks in 2015 than ever before. In 2015, Americans bought more than 17.5 million cars. The last peak was 17.3 million in 2000, followed by a collapse to 10.4 million at the height of the recession in 2009.

One caveat, however, is that Clinton's claim masks the long-term issues with American manufacturers, especially given foreign manufacturers' growing market share. Still, experts we asked said sales figures are a good measure of the auto industry's success.

We rated this statement Mostly True.

The 1 percenters

Clinton also paid homage to former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, using one of his favorite talking points to describe how she would pay for reforms.

"And here's how: Wall Street, corporations and the super-rich are going to start paying their fair share of taxes," Clinton said. "Not because we resent success. Because when more than 90 percent of the gains have gone to the top 1 percent, that's where the money is."

Those numbers were once true in 2012. More recent data from 2015, however, shows that the top 1 percent took in only 52 percent of all income that year.

An oft-cited economist on income inequality explained the diminished flow to the nation's tip-top.

"In 2014 and especially in 2015, the incomes of the bottom 99 percent families have finally started recovering in earnest from the losses of the Great Recession," said University of California Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez.

We rate Clinton's statement Half True.

Dallas shootings

Clinton said she was inspired by the Dallas community for its response to a tragic shooting that killed five police officers.

"Chief David Brown asked the community to support his force, maybe even join them," Clinton said. "And you know how the community responded? Nearly 500 people applied in just 12 days."

Between July 8, the day after the shooting, and July 20, there were 467 new applications, according to Dallas Police Department data.

That's close to 500. We rate Clinton's statement True.

Read more rulings from the Democratic National Convention at PolitiFact.com.