Donald Trump

Fact-Checking Donald Trump's Republican National Convention Speech

Donald Trump touched on a range of hot-button issues, from public safety to the economy, during his speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night.

The Republican nominee for president began by telling the crowd he would present them with facts.

“We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore,” Trump said. “At our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth and nothing else.”

So did he live up to that promise?

Trump’s math was on point during an attack on President Obama, who Trump says, “almost doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing.”

When the president entered the White House, the national debt stood at about $10.6 trillion. Nearly eight years later, that number has grown to $19.4 trillion — or almost double.

But Trump missed the mark on some other claims, including those centered around sensitive topics, like the recent wave of police officers gunned down in cities like Dallas and Baton Rouge.

“The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent compared with this point last year,” he said.

Trump doesn’t cite a source, but the FBI’s count of officer deaths hasn't been updated for 2016. In fact, even the FBI’s 2015 numbers are still preliminary.

However, the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund provides statistics. The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit was formed to “honor and remember” law enforcement. Its website shows 67 police officers were killed through July 2016 compared to 63 deaths for the same time period the year before. That's an increase of 6 percent, not 50.

Trump also spoke about poverty in America.

“Two million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the president took his oath of office less than eight years ago,” he said.

According to the U.S. Census, that claim is mostly false.

Hispanics living at or below the poverty line rose from 12.4 million in 2009 to 13.1 million in 2014. The raw total rose by 700,000, but the rate of poverty for the group actually dipped from 25.3 percent to 23.6 percent.

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