The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up # Fact-checking Donald Trump’s Fox News town hall in Scranton ![\\"President](\\" ![\\"President](\\" President Donald Trump speaks during a FOX News Channel town hall at the Scranton Cultural Center, March 5, 2020, in Scranton, Pa. (AP/Evan Vucci) ![\\"Amy](\\" By Amy Sherman March 6, 2020 ![\\"Miriam](\\" By Miriam Valverde March 6, 2020 #### If Your Time is short * Trump made exaggerated and false claims about his record on immigration, health care, and the opening of liquified natural gas plants in Louisiana. * Trump misled on what polls say about his administration’s response to the coronavirus. * Trump falsely claimed Sen. Bernie Sanders is a communist. His attacks on Hunter Biden were misleading or lacked evidence. President Donald Trump’s first town hall of 2020 was in Scranton, Pa. — birthplace of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and a state that was key to Trump’s 2016 victory. Trump directed much of his criticism at Biden at the Fox News event, poking fun at his gaffes and rehashing the fact that his son Hunter Biden served on the board of an energy company in Ukraine. Trump said he had been \"all set\" to take on Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom he falsely called a \"communist,\" but that the matchup was looking less likely. Fox News will host a town hall with Sanders on March 9 in Detroit, Mich. The town hall included some critical questions by audience members. One undecided voter told Trump at the \"outset of the coronavirus, your administration’s response seemed to some as being confusing or minimizing.\" Another asked Trump if his message could be delivered without \"controversial rhetoric.\" Trump presented himself as a leader who inherited a heap of problems from Barack Obama and delivered on his campaign promises anyway. We fact-checked several of his misleading or inaccurate claims. Coronavirus > Says the administration has been \"given tremendous marks\" for its > coronavirus response. \"You look at Gallup poll, you look at other polls, > for the way we have handled it.\" This is misleading. The Gallup poll is from the first half of February, before any American died within the United States, and before major news reports about flaws in early CDC test kits. A Gallup poll conducted Feb. 3-16 found that three in four Americans said they were very confident (31%) or somewhat confident (46%) in the federal government\'s ability to handle an outbreak of the coronavirus. The poll included a random sample of 1,028 adults and a margin of error of 4 percentage points. The poll started days after the Trump administration announced it would suspend entry of foreign nationals into the U.S. among those who had traveled to China in the prior two weeks. The poll took place before any deaths within the U.S., although one American died in China in the middle of the polling period. According to the CDC as of March 5, there were a total of 99 cases in the U.S., 10 deaths and cases in 13 states. A more recent poll, done by MorningConsult, shows that approval of Trump’s response has been dropping. The Feb. 28-March 1 survey showed that 49% of voters approved of Trump’s response to the outbreak, down from 56% in a Feb. 24-26 survey — a decline fueled by drops among independents and Democrats. The new Morning Consult poll surveyed 1,997 registered voters and carries a margin of error of two percentage points. There is some good news for the federal government in the most recent poll: a majority of voters approve of the CDC’s handling the spread of coronavirus, Trump declaring a public health emergency and seeking emergency funding, and appointing Pence to coordinate U.S. efforts ![](\\" President Donald Trump speaks during a FOX News Channel town hall at the Scranton Cultural Center, March 5, 2020, in Scranton, Pa. (AP/Evan Vucci) Attacks on Democrats > Says Hunter Biden \"didn\'t have a job, was unfortunately, sadly, the > military was a very sad experience for him. He goes out, he gets $3 million > plus $183,000 a month to be a board member of a company that a lot of people > said was corrupt.\" Trump misleads when he portrays Hunter Biden as unemployed when he joined the board of a natural gas company, Burisma Holdings, in 2014. At the time, Hunter Biden was a counsel to Boies, Schiller and Flexner, a national law firm based in New York, according to a statement from Burisma. He was also chairman of the board of Rosemont Seneca Advisors and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s master’s program in the school of foreign service. Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy Reserve in 2014 following a failed drug test for cocaine. The details of how much Hunter Biden was paid by Burisma have been part of the mystery surrounding what he did on the board. Experts have said that Hunter’s position on the board presented a serious conflict of interest for his father when he was vice president and engaging in Ukraine. However, there has been no finding of wrongdoing by his father and no charge of specific wrongdoing against Hunter Biden. > Hunter Biden \"walks out of China with a $1.5 billion for a fund.\" This lacks evidence. We have looked at Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China and found no evidence that he actually obtained $1.5 billion. A Wall Street Journal article in July 2014 reported that Hunter Biden’s firm was \"aiming to raise about $1.5 billion.\" This means that, a full six months after Hunter Biden left China, the $1.5 billion figure was aspirational, not confirmed. This undermines Trump’s version of events, which is that Biden quickly pocketed $1.5 billion after a meeting while the elder Biden was vice president. > \"So mentally I\'m all set for Bernie — communist, I had everything down.\" This is False. Sanders is not a communist. Experts said there are clear differences between Sanders’ democratic socialism — which focuses on democratically achieved expansion of social welfare programs — and any commonly accepted definition of communism. Sanders isn’t pushing for authoritarian rule, government ownership of all private property or an end to capitalism. Instead, he wants \"Medicare for All\" and free access to public colleges and universities. > Says Joe Biden \"said 150 million people were killed with guns.\" This is correct. Biden’s campaign said he misspoke during the South Carolina debate. Biden meant to say 150,000, the number of firearm homicides. That number checks out with the CDC data. ![](\\" President Donald Trump speaks during a FOX News Channel Town Hall, co- moderated by FNC\'s chief political anchor Bret Baier of Special Report and The Story anchor Martha MacCallum, in Scranton, Pa., March 5, 2020. (AP/Matt Rourke) On his own record > Speaking of illegal immigration, \"And we have the best numbers that we’ve > had in many, many months. ... I guess it\'s now nine or 10 months where the > numbers are way down.\" It is true that apprehensions at the southwest border are down compared with May 2019, as Trump’s re-election campaign pointed out. However, May apprehensions were the highest month in fiscal year 2019. There were 132,856 apprehensions in May 2019 compared with 30,068 in February 2020. Apprehensions have generally been decreasing since May (though there were 862 more apprehensions in February than in January). An immigration expert told PolitiFact that at least two factors had likely influenced a decline in border apprehensions: the U.S. implementation of the \"Remain in Mexico\" policy, known as Migrant Protection Protocols, and Mexico\'s increased enforcement actions at its own southern border. > \"The wall is way under construction, we\'re up to 129 miles already. ... We > will have by early next year almost 500 miles of wall.\" Nearly all of the construction at the southwest border has been to replace existing barriers, not to create a wall that wasn’t there before. The nearly 2,000-mile southwest border had 654 miles of primary barriers before Trump was elected. Three years into Trump’s presidency, that has increased by 1 mile, to 655. U.S. Customs and Border Protection told PolitiFact that as of Feb. 28, the Trump administration had worked on: * A total 131 miles of primary and secondary barriers. * Primary barriers: 119 miles involve replacements, 1 mile where none existed. * Secondary barriers: 10 miles involve replacements, 1 mile where none existed. Whether the administration can complete around 400 more miles in one year is uncertain. CBP awarded a series of construction contracts in 2019 and February, but the agency did not provide expected completion dates for all projects. > \"Pre-existing conditions, 100%, we take care of.\" Trump’s assurances about maintaining coverage for pre-existing conditions have previously rated Pants on Fire. As president, his administration has sought in court to repeal Obamacare without offering any replacement that might maintain its core protections. That includes protections for pre-existing conditions. > \"We have many health care plans now, where it\'s 60%, even 65% less > expensive than Obamacare. It\'s better than Obamacare.\" This is a repeated Mostly False claim. The short-term, limited-duration plans he’s talking about are not new. They have been around for decades in various forms and are generally considered a stopgap solution for people between jobs or attending school. These plans offer fewer benefits than what’s covered in plans under Obamacare and can bar people with health conditions from enrolling. It’s difficult to make an apples-to-apples price comparison between the short- term plans and Obamacare plans since they don’t have the same coverage or protections. Health policy experts say that the coverage short-term plans provide is not better than that of Obamacare plans. > \"I opened up LNG plants in Louisiana where they were for years, for 10, 12, > 14 years and longer trying to get permits.\" Trump continues to falsely take credit for large industrial projects in Louisiana and Pennsylvania. The Cameron LNG project has three plants that chill down natural gas until it becomes a liquid to be shipped worldwide. According to the company website, in 2014 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the final environmental impact statement to construct and operate the liquefaction facility. The company got its first federal approval in 2012. In 2016, Washington gave permission to add another two liquefaction lines, although the company hasn’t decided to move ahead on those. > \"But (Obama) said, the biggest problem we have is North Korea. That\'s what > you\'re alluding to. And I have a good relationship with him. I said, did > you ever call him? The answer is, yes, he did. But I will tell you, I don\'t > think they admit that. Maybe they do, but called many times. And Kim Jong Un > did not want to talk to him.\" We previously rated Trump’s story of Kim Jong Un rejecting calls from the Obama administration as False for lack of evidence. The public record shows the Obama administration rejected the idea of meetings of any sort until North Korea promised to back off of its nuclear program and accept international inspections. While the administration held out hope of North Korea meeting those preconditions during Obama’s first term, in the second, it took a harder line. There is no evidence that Obama begged for a meeting. Susan Rice, a former Obama security advisor, tweeted in 2019 that Trump’s statement about Obama trying to call Kim Jong Un was a \"total fabrication.\" Reporting by Jon Greenberg, Julie Appleby and Eric Litke contributed to this story. Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter ### Our Sources Factba.se, Donald Trump’s Fox News March 5, 2020 town hall Gallup, High Confidence in Government to Handle Coronavirus, Feb. 20, 2020 Morning Consult, The U.S. Is Struggling to Contain Coronavirus. Voters Have Taken Notice, March 2, 2020 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U.S. March 5, 2020 Real Clear Politics, President Trump Job Approval, Feb. 17-March 5, 2020 Email interview, Jennifer Donnegan, Gallup spokeswoman, March 6, 2020 Email interview, U.S. Customs and Border Protection press office, March 6, 2020 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Southwest border migration FY 2020 data, FY 2019 data Fox News, Press release about U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders town hall, March 6, 2020 Daily Mail, Donald Trump takes campaign fight to Joe Biden\'s home town with stop in Scranton as former vice president takes lead in Democratic primary, March 5, 2020 New Yorker, Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father’s Campaign? July 2019 USA Today, Biden\'s son fails drug test, is discharged from Navy, Oct. 17, 2014 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Amy Sherman ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a speech in Las Vegas: “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 28, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 14, 2024 in a speech in California: Former President Donald Trump “cut overtime benefits for millions of workers.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on August 11, 2024 in an interview on CNN State of the Union: Gov. Tim Walz delivered paid family leave in Minnesota but “Republicans are blocking” a Biden-Harris proposal. ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 16, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 2, 2024 in a video: In Pompano Beach, Florida, Somali immigrants illegally in the U.S. were in line to get driver’s licenses and “all you need to vote is a driver\'s license.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 27, 2024 in a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota: During the 2020 Minnesota riots after George Floyd’s murder, Gov. Tim Walz didn’t call in the National Guard, “so, I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 3, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Kamala Harris “supports mandatory gun confiscation.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “wants to defund the police.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “supported abolishing ICE.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 29, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 22, 2024 in an Instagram post: There are nine states “where Biden’s name can’t be removed and no one can be added. That’s over 130 electoral votes in the toilet.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ranjan Jindal • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 17, 2024 in a campaign video: \"Unlike Mike Pence, (JD) Vance said he would have carried out Trump\'s plan to overturn the 2020 election.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kari Lake stated on July 16, 2024 in in a speech at RNC in Milwaukee: “Just last week, Ruben Gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 17, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on July 13, 2024 in a statement to the media: “The idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 15, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tom Cotton stated on June 16, 2024 in an interview on CNN\'s State of the Union: “The weapons that Ukraine used in the early days of this war to fend off the Russian invasion are the weapons that Donald Trump sent, that Barack Obama and Joe Biden had refused to send.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 2, 2024 ### Fact-checking Donald Trump’s Fox News town hall in Scranton * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 2, 2024 in a photo: Image claims Tiger Woods said “Kamala\'s fake black accent is embarrassing and extremely offensive.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • September 4, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Bernie Moreno stated on August 20, 2024 in a campaign ad: U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown voted to “give illegals taxpayer funded stimulus checks, health care, even Social Security.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Seth A. Richardson • September 3, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on August 26, 2024 in a post: Four government agencies donated nearly $900,000 of taxpayer money to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 3, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on August 29, 2024 in an X post: Nine Americans died from a listeria outbreak after Boar’s Head brand meat prioritized hiring “refugees” in Virginia. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 3, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Mike Rogers stated on September 27, 2024 in a campaign rally: Rep. Elissa Slotkin “voted recently to let illegals vote in U.S. elections.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 3, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on August 27, 2024 in an Instagram post: California S.B. 1174 eliminates the requirement for voter ID at polling places. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on August 29, 2024 in X posts: President Joe Biden “did a campaign ad at the graves in Arlington in 2020.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Loreben Tuquero • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on August 16, 2024 in a video: Video shows “Kamala Harris describing how she can ruin lives with the \'swipe of a pen.’\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2024 in a post: Kamala Harris’ “plan to tax unrecognized Capital Gains mean(s) if your house goes up in value you will have to pay that Tax Even if you don’t sell your House!” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Sara Swann • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2024 in a Facebook post: “There’s no such thing as menopause.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 30, 2024 Load more #### Offices District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis #### State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin #### About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters #### RSS Feeds * Recent Articles and Fact-checks * Recent Fact-checks Suggest a Fact-check #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Copyright ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![\\"\\"](\\" ✕ * * *
Preexisting conditions 100 we take care of