Paul Ryan's speech doesn't satisfy fact-checkers

While shooting bullets into President Barack Obama's track record during his keynote speech Wednesday night, it seems Wisconsin congressman and vice-presidential nominee failed to plug a few factual holes of his own.

NPR breaks down what the fact-checkers had to say about the speech. Even Fox News' Sally Kohn took a hard stance on Ryan's fibbing.

In one example, PolitiFact nails Ryan for fudging the story of a General Motors auto plant that closed down in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. This is what Ryan said Wednesday, referring to a 2008 campaign address Obama made in Wisconsin:

"My home state voted for President Obama," he said. "When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory.

"A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: 'I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.' That’s what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight."

As it turns out, the GM plant closed before Obama took office.

 

Comments

[Merenie Crosby]

So... where is the lie? Obama promised change and should have made GM reopen the plant? Ryan never lied nor said that Obama closed the plant, he simply told us the truth ... that the change Obama promised never ever came... yet all his rich crony buddies got lots of stimulus money.

[George]

never let the truth stand in the way of a good story, or tearing someone's reputation down, or ..........................

[Lindy]

Merenie Crosby....what, you can't read. Where is the lie you say....well, it says Obama stood right in the plant and said it will stay open. Now, if the plant was already closed, he couldn't have stood in it now could he....there is a big fat lie. How do you open up an empty plant after all the machinery has been removed and the people gone? geesh.