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Trump is speaking shortly in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. Quotes and fact-checks in this thread.
Trump accurately says that Pennsylvania has hit an all-time low in the unemployment rate, misleadingly says America is "now" the world's top producer of oil and natural gas. That was also the case in the Obama era. It's crude in particular in which the US recently became #1.
Trump criticizes the lights, saying he likes the sun better than "artificial nonsense."
Trump uses accurate figures in touting the job growth, then notes how many cameras are present and says it's like the Academy Awards used to be until they it became "political," then falsely says the Obama administration says there wouldn't be manufacturing jobs created.
Trump's boasts about Asian, Hispanic and Black unemployment hitting all-time lows are all currently correct (if you go by the current data sets, which began in the 1970s, and ignore earlier in Trump's presidency). One caveat: it was lower for Black people in mid- and late 2018.
Trump is lying about polls being "fake" "suppression polls" designed to depress his voters. He mentions hgw Hillary Clinton was favoured in Pennsylvania. There is a vigorous "Lock Her Up" chant, for which he pauses.
Trump is making his usual false claims about his current progress in building the wall and offering his usual promises about how many miles will be built by 2020, which seem dubious but which I will not fact-check.
For the 24th time, Trump lies that California and San Diego were begging him for a wall and then hypocritically started criticizing him after he built it. There was no begging. San Diego opposes the wall. Even San Diego's Republican mayor opposes the wall.
Part of Trump's explanation for his presence here campaigning for the heavily favoured Republican candidate in the PA12 special election: "Who the hell wants to sit around doing nothing on Monday night?"
Trump repeats his promise that "we will always protect pre-existing conditions." His administration is trying to get Obamacare's protections for people with pre-existing conditions deemed unconstitutional, and it has not presented any real plan to replace them.
Trump says that the PA12 special election is "a little bit of a referendum" on him. He says he doesn't know if there are other races tomorrow, then says, "Who the hell cares."
Warning people they need to vote tomorrow, Trump acts out a reporter saying that Trump went to Pennsylvania and went home a loser. "I never want to be called loser," he says.
Trump is now at the part where he polls the crowd about whether he should keep "the most successful slogan," Make America Great Again, or make the "very risky" move of adopting the slogan Keep America Great.
Trump is now lying that the Green New Deal will require buildings to be rebuilt "with no windows."
The crowd in Montoursville, Pennsylvania prefers Keep America Great to Make America Great Again. "I like it, because we'll sell many, many more hats that way," Trump says.
There is a medical issue with someone in the crowd. Trump takes the opportunity to claim that people might be struggling because they've been waiting outside for "two days." A small number camped out last night.
Trump is criticizing Hillary Clinton for calling some of his supporters "deplorable" and "irredeemable."
Trump says that Biden didn't have 600 people at his first public event, it was 150, he knows because he's good at crowd estimates. It was 600. Trump is likely America's single worst crowd estimator.
Trump says China wants Biden so that it can continue to "make" $500 billion or more per year. Ignoring that trade surpluses aren't the same as "making" money, China has never had a $500 billion trade surplus with the US. It was $379 billion in 2018, $337 billion in 2017.
Trump continues to falsely suggest that China is paying his tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese products, though he doesn't say it explicitly this time. U.S. importers pay the tariffs.
Trump mocks Biden for saying that China is not a competitor of the United States (washingtonpost.com/politics/biden…). Trump says, "What they've done to us is indescribable, economically."
Another medical problem in the crowd. Trump says during the pause: "There's a lot of excitement to these rallies...a lot of excitement...We have a lot of low-energy people out there that we're competing against, low-energy, but vicious, but vicious, but they're low-energy."
Trump boasts of eradicating ISIS's caliphate, but he says you can't say we have "won" because ISIS members are "craaazy" and might "blow up a store."
A fair chunk of Trump's scripted rhetoric seems aimed at Biden even when he's not naming him. He's criticizing politicians who supported NAFTA and supported admitting China to the WTO.
Trump repeats his usual lie that Democrats support "open borders," describing this as the worst "betrayal" of all.
Trump continues to claim that "our country is full," which it is not by any objective measure. He says, "We want Mexico to stop. We want all of 'em to stop."
Trump is now criticizing Pete Buttigieg...and Fox News for hosting his town hall. "What's going on with Fox...what's going on there? They're putting more Democrats on than you have Republicans. It's something strange is going on at Fox, folks. Something very strange."
Trump says he didn't want to watch Buttigieg's town hall but did because you have to watch the competition, and he noticed that Buttigieg was knocking Fox while on Fox. He concludes, "Somebody is going to have to explain the whole Fox deal to me."
"They don't like to show the crowd." We're on Year 4 of this quote.
Trump: "The Republican Party is the party that America wants. That's what America wants."
Trump says he signed the Right to Try law "eight months ago." It was a year ago next week. He perpetually moves accomplishments closer to the present.
Trump continues to describe the Paris environmental accord as if it did not allow the U.S. to set its own voluntary targets and own voluntary plans. He portrays it as a kind of foreign menace.
Trump takes his usual lying credit for passing the Veterans Choice bill John McCain and Bernie Sanders led and Barack Obama signed.
There is another medical issue in the crowd. This time, Trump says, "I don't know what this does to television, but that's OK." "But that's OK" is one of the things he says when he isn't happy about something but knows he can't complain about it.
Trump is reciting his usual lines: no to "globalism," yes to "patriotism"; "strong borders, strong families, and a strong national defense"; "the dignity of work and the sanctity of life"; "the right to keep and bear arms"; "the rule of law"; "in God we trust."
Trump is now falsely accusing unspecified opponents of "treason." There is a Lock Them Up chant. Trump responds that there is a great new attorney general "who's gonna give it a very fair look."
Trump says he had a great life pre-presidency and didn't know his current life was going to be so difficult because of hoaxes and people who hate him, but he still loves it.
Trump: "Don't forget: Biden deserted you. He's not from Pennsylvania. I guess he was born here, but he left you, folks. He left you for another state. Remember that, please."
Trump continues: "I meant to say that. This guy talks about 'I know Scranton, I know' - well I know the places better. He LEFT YOU for another state, and he didn't take care of you."
Trump has concluded. Relatively newsless. Other than the incessant dishonesty, I'd say the most noteworthy features were the focus on Biden and the criticism of Fox News.
It is worth noting that Biden's family moved him from Pennsylvania to Delaware when he was 10 years old.
