Trump says he ‘again’ received ‘Bay of Pigs award.’ But is it real?
Donald Trump again claimed he received the non-existent “Bay of Pigs award,” this time making what fact-checkers have dubbed a false claim during an event in Miami with Latino supporters.
The president told the group he won the alleged prize “again” as many in attendance at one of his golf resorts applauded as he patted himself on the back and took shots at his general election foe, former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Biden betrayed Hispanic-Americans,” Mr Trump said as the crowd booed. He contended Mr Biden, as a senator then as perhaps former President Barack Obama’s closest adviser, sent jobs that had been done by Hispanic-Americans to places like China.
He and Mr Biden are locked in a virtual dead heat in the Sunshine State, and Mr Trump is making a hard push to attract any undecided voters within the group.
But on the “Bay of Pigs award” claim, Mr Trump continues to unabashedly drop the line.
“Remember, Miami Cubans gave me the highly honored Bay of Pigs Award for all I have done for our great Cuban Population!” Mr Trump wrote in a tweet earlier this month.
The same day, speaking to another group of Latino supporters in Las Vegas, he said this: “As you know, a little while ago I received the Bay of Pigs Award from the Cuban Americans in Miami. That’s a big honor and they don’t give it out easily.”
Then he made the claim on Friday morning as he started a busy day of campaigning that will include an economic speech in Georgia, a fundraiser at his hotel in downtown Washington, and a late-night political rally in Newport News, Virginia.
But fact-checkers have called the claim false.
“He got an endorsement in 2016 from the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association. It’s not an award. He has a long history of turning endorsements and other non-awards into awards,” one CNN fact-checker wrote on Twitter.
The Miami Herald called what Mr Trump received in 2016 as a “golden-framed shield of the Cuban flag draped over a white cross.” But the newspaper concluded it was not an award.
The Washington Post’s “Fact Checker” staff has concluded Mr Trump has uttered or tweeted over 20,000 false or misleading statements since taking office.
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