HEALTHCARE/ROBERT MUELLER/PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “At a rally in Michigan, President Trump misstated the findings of the special counsel investigation, misleadingly promised to protect patients with pre-existing conditions and falsely described funding for a restoration program for the Great Lakes. WHAT MR. TRUMP SAID: ‘By the way, we’re bringing a lot of those car companies back.’ This is exaggerated. Mr. Trump’s claims of a ‘decimated’ automobile industry before he took office and its revitalization since are not rooted in fact. Employment in the auto industry declined during the Great Recession, but has been steadily increasing since mid-2009. Similarly, domestic auto production increased during the economic recovery before declining in mid-2016, while domestic new car sales grew for seven straight years until 2017. His examples of the auto companies ‘pouring’ into Michigan and other Midwestern states were a $4.5 billion investment in Detroit by Fiat Chrysler, a $1 billion investment by Ford in Chicago, and a $300 million investment in Michigan by General Motors. Chrysler’s plans would reopen a car plant, while Ford and G.M. are increasing production capacity at existing plants.”
–Linda Qiu, “Trump’s Inaccurate Claims on Mueller, Health Care and the Great Lakes,” The New York Times online, March 29, 2019