The Washington Post Monday slapped Democrat nominee for Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe with its worst rating for repeated claims that Republicans are to blame for the budget deficit he inherited when he previously served.
Giving the former governor "four Pinocchios," the Post pointed out three examples where McAuliffe made the false assertion.
In a June 10 tweet, he wrote, "I inherited the largest budget deficit in the history of the state from the Republicans. In just four years, I turned it around and created a record number of jobs. I’ve led Virginia out of crisis before and I’m ready to do it again."
On the same day in an interview with WTOP, he claimed the "biggest debt became the biggest surplus" in his term, the Post reported. And in remarks on MSNBC, he asserted again "I inherited the largest deficit from the Republicans."
The Post’s Glenn Kessler pointed out Politifact knocked McAuliffe for making similar claims in 2015 and 2019 — and also called him out for saying it was the biggest budget deficit ever in 2015.
"Let’s divide this in two parts," Kessler wrote. "First, did McAuliffe inherit a budget deficit left behind by Republicans? The short answer is no. Virginia requires a balanced budget, so that’s what former governor Bob McDonnell (R) left behind."
"McAuliffe is basing his claim on the fact that the revenue projections in December began to be affected in 2014 by two factors," Kessler wrote. "First, federal spending cuts under the budget deal reached between President Barack Obama and the GOP-led Congress began to pinch businesses in Northern Virginia."
"Second, there had been a flood of tax revenue in late 2013 because the expiration of certain tax cuts that year led investors to cash in capital gains. That resulted in an unanticipated plunge in state tax revenue in 2014."
"Instead, he inherited a balanced budget — and then faced a deteriorating financial picture that got worse over time," Kessler wrote.
"McAuliffe could have touted how he handled a budget gap he faced early in his tenure without pinning the blame on Republicans or making grandiose claims about its size," Kessler concluded.
"Instead, he chose to double down on claims already fact-checked as false. McAuliffe even repeats a false claim that a previous McAuliffe spokesman had acknowledged was wrong but explained that McAuliffe simply misspoke. So McAuliffe has little excuse to repeat it over and over again."
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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