Republicans have no problem lying to the American people and since the age of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” it seems the deception has only gotten worse. During a White House event called the “Made in America product showcase,” Trump made some very inaccurate claims (to put it mildly).
… you know, in Pennsylvania, two weeks ago they opened the mine -- the first mine that was opened in decades. Opened a mine.
And you know all the people that were saying the mining jobs? Well, we picked up 45,000 mining jobs in a very short period of time. And everybody was saying, well, you won’t get any mining jobs. We picked up 45,000 mining jobs, and the miners are very happy with Trump and with Pence. And we're very proud of that.
If you think 45,000 mining jobs in two weeks is a bit suspect, you are correct. In fact, NBC News did some fact checking and found the real numbers are nowhere nearly as impressive. In fact, they’re downright embarrassing.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates there are roughly 50,800 coal mining jobs nationwide, 800 of which have been added since Trump took office. (The six months before that, under President Barack Obama’s administration, 1,300 coal jobs were added.)
This isn't the first time we've heard Trump's numbers. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt made a similar claim speaking about all mining and logging jobs earlier this year, earning a PolitiFact ruling of "mostly false."
BLS data estimates the nation has added roughly 41,500 new mining and logging jobs in the first six months of 2017, but just 1,000 of them are mining (not including oil and gas mining jobs, which account for another couple thousand.)
To make it even worse, the more accurate job creation number for the aforementioned Pennsylvania mine is about 70. Unsurprisingly, the White House didn’t respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
