Michigan Fact Squad

President Trump and his supporters continue to spread falsehoods. What you need to know about voting equipment, software glitches, ballot dumps and whether there are more voters than residents in Detroit (not by a long-shot)

Michigan Republicans want to investigate “imbalanced” precincts in Wayne County. But those precincts likely involve fewer than 500 votes in a state Donald Trump lost by 154,000. Waiting for an audit can only serve to delay, not alter the outcome.

A new ad from the Paul Junge campaign attacks U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s record on stimulus and payroll tax. It’s built on two indisputable facts but could give viewers the false impression the Holly Democrat did little to help the state during the COVID-19 crisis.

A new TV ad claims Hillary Scholten’s work as an immigrations attorney made west Michigan unsafe. The ad twists some facts to reach reckless conclusions.

The Democratic nominee touted accomplishments on health care while critiquing Trump’s policies on the economy and COVID-19.

A new ad is mostly accurate, pointing out that John James has taken $650K from the oil and gas industry and groups tied to the conservatives whose company polluted southwest Detroit with pet coke. But the ad doesn’t tell the whole story.

Michigan never closed churches and schools are open, contrary to President Trump’s tweet to Whitmer on Wednesday. But Trump didn’t get everything wrong: Auto manufacturers are expanding.

A Republican super PAC is using a speech from the first-term representative to claim she is ‘just embarrassing.’ Stevens made national news for the speech about the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid all the shouting and interrupting, there were a few factual claims about Michigan and the auto industry during the first debate between Trump and Biden. Spoiler alert: The pursuit of truth was not a debate winner.

In a new TV ad, Peter Meijer says hospitals will close with Hillary Scholten’s health care plan. Studies suggest that may be true. But Meijer also fudges his own stance.

In the 3rd Congressional District, a Peter Meijer ad links Hillary Scholten to riot sympathizers. A mix of thin facts and insinuation, it’s inflammatory and misleading.

Gary Peters points to near-perfect attendance on votes and record of passing bills to rebut arguments from John James that he skips work. The claims are true but fail to mention most senators have sterling attendance records.

One day after Joe Biden touted his Made in America plan, President Trump notes that the Democrat’s son teamed with a Chinese defense contractor to buy a Michigan firm that created jobs overseas.

Progressives are taking a cue from conservatives and founding ‘news’ sites like Courier Newsroom, which spends big money on election-year social media ads to benefit Democratic in swing districts such as U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly.

Despite fears that absentee ballots would be delayed and uncounted, few are complaining about local mail delivery, officials say. In fact, the U.S. Postal Service acquitted itself fairly well in a test set by Bridge to mimic mail-in ballots.

A Democratic super PAC targeting Senate hopeful John James gets the math right, but uses a hypothetical argument to come to faulty conclusions. But the Republican also is vague about exactly what he’d do about health care.

The latest TV attack ad from Republican challenger John James blends a few facts (some of which are quite old) to reach a questionable conclusion that Sen. Gary Peters has done little but double his wealth while in Washington, D.C.

A new TV attack ad from a Republican group accuses Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of blocking emergency aid for small businesses in the United States and praising China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. But the commercial misleads on several fronts.

A new campaign ad from Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters highlights his work alongside Michigan cherry farmers fighting a flood of cheap Turkish imports. The ad is factual but glosses over that the fight hasn’t been successful.

An attack ad from Republican challenger John James uses a 2-second clip and old attendance records to argue Sen. Gary Peters should have done a better job safeguarding against the coronavirus. In making the case, the ad omits some key facts.