“For the record”: Rachel Maddow fact-checks Trump's address to Congress
MSNBC's Maddow: “The president flat-out lied”
Published
Citation
From the March 4, 2025, edition of MSNBC's Joint Address to Congress
RACHEL MADDOW (MSNBC HOST): The president did repeatedly seem to be ad-libbing as he was remarking on the expected impact of the economic decisions he's already made six weeks in, saying that the American people would have to bear with him, that there would be a little disturbance, that there would be an adjustment period. Again, he said a little disturbance, essentially suggesting that the roiling that we saw in the markets is something he knows he caused, but he hopes people will not mind.
For the record, the worst inflation in this country was in 1980. For the record, the economy that he was left by President Biden was not a catastrophe, it was literally the best economy in the world and was described by The Economist magazine as "the envy of the world." That was the economy that was left to Donald Trump by Joe Biden.
For the record, social security is not paying benefits in large numbers to 300-year-old people or 250-year-old people, or 200-year-old people, or 150-year-old people. In fact, the idea of social security as a bastion of massive fraud and overpayment is completely false.
For the record, U.S. auto company CEOs are not psyched and delighted and so excited about President Trump's economic policies, including his tariffs. Take, for example, the CEO of Ford, Jim Farley, who said that Trump's tariff policies would "blow a hole" in the U.S. auto industry that "we've never seen."
The president flat-out lied about U.S. versus European spending to support what used to be our allies in Ukraine. U.S. has committed about $125 billion to Ukraine's defense. Europe has committed about $259 billion. The president radically, radically misstating the character and quantity of our relative support for what used to be our ally, now appears to be only Europe's ally and no longer ours.
For the record, Joe Biden did not close over 100 power plants. There were more utility sized power plants up and running in the United States when Joe Biden left office than when he achieved office. For the record, there is no EV mandate. For the record, oil and gas production in the United States hit all time records under President Joe Biden.
For the record, even DOGE has never claimed that they have saved hundreds of billions of dollars in savings. The largest items they have claimed to achieve as savings in the U.S. budget have been debunked and they've been taken down, but even they don't falsely claim hundreds of billions of dollars worth of savings.
For the record, and this is disgusting, the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if the president had something to do with that. This was in the midst of him praising DOGE. The DOGE cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer.
For the record, I will note that Donald Trump did admit in his remarks today explicitly that Elon Musk is the head of DOGE. And while that comes as no surprise to anybody who's been following the facts of this matter, that will end up in court because that is directly contrary to what the administration has overtly sworn to a federal judge about the leadership of DOGE.