President Donald Trump made a claim on live television Friday night that defied both logic and math.
Speaking at the White House during a press event on prescription drug prices, Trump told reporters that the cost of medicine in America would drop by “a thousand percent.”
He began by retelling one of his favorite stories about his first term. “And I tell the story, Glenn, that in my first term, I had the honor of being the first president in 28 years to lower drug prices during the course of the year,” he said.
He then praised himself for the small change he said he had made back then. “And we actually did. And I was so proud of myself. We called a news conference. I announced it. It was one-eighth of 1 percent. One-eighth of 1 percent.”
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Then came the bold claim. “Now drug prices are going to be going down 100 percent, 400 percent, 600 percent, a thousand percent in some cases,” he said.
Trump laughed a little as he repeated the number. “But for one-eighth of a cent, Bobby, think of that. I was so proud because for 28 years, nobody had done it. And now it’s, I think back to that, I said I shouldn’t have had that news conference. But it’s just true. I was the only one that did it, but it was not very much. And now we’re going to get, in some cases, a thousand percent reduction.”
The math in his claim is impossible. Prices cannot drop more than 100 percent, since that would mean drug companies would be paying people to take medicine.
Trump continued, “This is going to have a huge impact on everything from Social Security to Medicare to Medicaid,” he said. “Anything where they’re buying any prescription drugs, it’s going to have an incredible impact. It’s going to lower itself greatly.”
Analysts quickly pointed out that his statement was not only inaccurate but impossible. Still, it was not the first time he had made it.
In August, he told supporters that he had cut prices by “1,500 percent.” On other occasions, he has claimed “hundreds of percent” reductions without ever explaining the numbers.
Fact-checkers have repeatedly explained that his math makes no sense. A 100 percent drop means the price goes to zero. Anything beyond that is meaningless.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
