In a rare departure from his usual defense of Democratic politicians, CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale was forced to correct Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over an inaccurate claim about job losses during Donald Trump’s presidency. Walz, who appeared on ABC’s “The View,” falsely asserted that Trump presided over the largest loss of manufacturing jobs in U.S. history. The claim, which Walz presented as “simply factual,” turned out to be far from the truth.
During his appearance on The View, Walz attempted to paint Trump’s economic record in a negative light, especially concerning the manufacturing sector. “We know [Donald Trump] lost more manufacturing jobs than any president in American history. That’s simply factual,” Walz stated confidently. Given that the 2024 election is fast approaching, and with both parties emphasizing the importance of job creation and economic recovery, this statement had significant political weight.
However, Walz’s bold assertion was soon debunked by CNN’s Daniel Dale. Known for his typically left-leaning fact-checking, Dale couldn’t let this claim go without correction. In a broadcast on “CNN News Central,” Dale explained that Walz’s statement was not based on facts, but rather a gross exaggeration of the data.
Dale began his fact-check by emphasizing that if a statement is presented as “simply factual,” it needs to be accurate. In Walz’s case, it was not. According to Dale, the claim that Trump lost more manufacturing jobs than any other president is simply incorrect.
He pointed out that under Trump’s presidency, the U.S. lost approximately 178,000 manufacturing jobs by the time he left office. While this loss was significant, it paled in comparison to other presidencies. For example, under George W. Bush, a staggering 4.5 million manufacturing jobs were lost. Additionally, other presidents like Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan also saw greater losses in manufacturing jobs than Trump.
“So, Trump does not have the record,” Dale stated plainly, reinforcing that the data Walz cited was inaccurate. He provided further historical context, showing that Trump’s job losses in the manufacturing sector were far from unprecedented.
Dale also took the opportunity to address an important factor often overlooked in critiques of Trump’s economic record: the COVID-19 pandemic. While Walz and others attempt to blame Trump for the decline in manufacturing jobs, they fail to account for the unprecedented global health crisis that caused massive disruptions across all sectors of the economy.
Pre-pandemic, Trump’s manufacturing job numbers actually reflected growth. Dale noted that during the first three years of Trump’s presidency, the U.S. economy gained around 414,000 manufacturing jobs. However, when COVID-19 struck in early 2020, the ensuing economic crash wiped out much of that progress.
Dale emphasized that the majority of the job losses under Trump were directly related to the pandemic, which threw economies worldwide into disarray. “Again, he ended [his presidency with] negative 178,000 jobs, but that was largely because we had a pandemic-related crash,” Dale added. In other words, Trump’s record on manufacturing jobs cannot be accurately assessed without acknowledging the devastating impact of the pandemic.
Tim Walz’s inaccurate claim isn’t the first time a prominent Democrat has been caught exaggerating Trump’s economic record. With the upcoming election and economic issues playing a central role in political debates, many Democratic figures have seized on the narrative that Trump’s presidency was an economic disaster. Walz’s statement on manufacturing jobs is just the latest in a series of misleading claims meant to undermine Trump’s economic achievements.
Walz’s fudging of the facts about manufacturing jobs mirrors a broader tactic seen in the political sphere: using out-of-context or exaggerated statistics to score political points. While manufacturing job losses under Trump were significant, the broader context of the pandemic is essential for an honest discussion about the economic challenges of his presidency.
Walz’s claim being fact-checked by CNN’s own Daniel Dale, a known critic of Trump, adds an ironic twist to the narrative. Dale, often perceived as a fact-checker sympathetic to Democratic causes, has fact-checked Trump and his allies numerous times. His decision to call out Walz signals that the Minnesota governor’s claim was too egregious to overlook.
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Walz’s comments were part of a broader effort by the Democratic Party to sway public opinion in the run-up to the 2024 election. Economic recovery and job creation are crucial battlegrounds for both Democrats and Republicans, and each party is eager to shape the narrative around their candidate’s competence in these areas. In attempting to tarnish Trump’s economic record, Walz likely hoped to bolster Kamala Harris’s platform, but his misleading claim backfired.
As the fact-check from CNN’s Daniel Dale demonstrated, Tim Walz’s assertion that Donald Trump presided over the largest loss of manufacturing jobs in U.S. history was incorrect. While Trump did see a decline in manufacturing jobs during his presidency, the losses were far less severe than during previous administrations, and much of the decline was driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Walz’s attempt to mislead viewers with inaccurate data not only drew a rare rebuke from CNN but also showcased the dangers of bending the truth for political gain.
