The Whoppers of 2023

Summary Another year of fact-checking is nearly done, which means it’s time for our review of the biggest whoppers we’ve written about over the last 12 months. Which false and misleading claims made our annual roundup? President Joe Biden expanded on a past whopper about reducing the federal deficit. Former President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that countries are sending inmates and people with mental illness to the U.S. illegally. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a presidential candidate and well-known vaccine critic, wrongly said that vaccines are not tested for safety in clinical trials. And there was more notable misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war, Hunter Biden, the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and other subjects. Read on for our full list, which is in no particular order. Analysis Emptied prisons and “insane asylums.” In his speech announcing his candidacy for president in June 2015, Donald Trump famously said of Mexican immigrants, “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume are good people.” For his 2024 campaign, Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric, demonizing immigrants even further with unsubstantiated claims that a surge in unauthorized border crossings under Biden is the result of countries around the world...