As President-elect Donald Trump stocks his Cabinet with some of his most loyal followers, we’ve already checked some of their surprising and dubious claims.
Here’s a look at a few of them:
No, 40% of children in the U.S. are not taking antidepressants.
Robert Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick for health and human services secretary, made that claim while campaigning for Trump in Milwaukee.
The latest evidence we found was for 2022:
Two million adolescents ages 12-17 filled at least one antidepressant prescription, according to a 2024 University of Michigan-led study. That’s 7.9%.
Antidepressants were obtained for 2.7% of children 17 and under, according to a federal agency.
Check out our video version of this fact brief here and please share!
No, Obamacare did not cause health insurance premiums to increase 100%.
Kennedy, who still needs Senate confirmation, made that claim at a forum sponsored by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
Average annual health insurance premiums have increased 67% to 75% since Obamacare became law in 2010 — less than what they increased before the law.
No, deportations under Trump were not “the highest ever”.
That statement was made at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee by Thomas Homan, former head of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He is Trump’s pick for border czar and does not require Senate confirmation.
Such removals were highest during Bill Clinton’s second term as president, averaging 1.7 million annually from 1997 through 2000.
Trump’s highest was 600,000 in 2020.
Check out the video version of this fact brief here.
Yes, Kamala Harris supported taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgery for inmates and detainees
The vice president has supported the rare occurrence of taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgery for prison inmates and detained undocumented immigrants.
That supports a claim made on Wisconsin radio by former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who was Trump’s pick for attorney general. Last week Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration amid reports he had paid women for sex and also had sex with an underage teen. Trump has since announced he plans to nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer instead.
Wisconsin Watch and its partners have also fact-checked claims about (but so far not by) Elon Musk, Trump’s selection to co-lead a government efficiency effort.
We found that Musk was not the founder of Tesla (it was founded by two other entrepreneurs); and that, as of 2022, he was not the richest person in history.
Go here to see all of our fact briefs.
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