A Bottomless Pinocchio for Biden — and other recent gaffes

President Biden is a self-described “gaffe machine.” That’s no excuse, of course, for a president making false or misleading statements. Readers have asked for fact checks of a variety of recent Biden statements, but none of them seemed big enough for a stand-alone fact check. So here’s a roundup of some of the president’s recent errors of fact, made as he has barnstormed the country boosting Democrats and raising contributions in advance of the midterm elections. We generally do not award Pinocchios for roundups like this — but for reasons that will become clear, we need to make an exception for the first one.

A Bottomless Pinocchio for Biden — and other recent gaffes (archived)

Ukraine Passes 2023 Budget in Secret, Expects US To Cover Deficit

Ukraine Passes 2023 Budget in Secret, Expects US To Cover Deficit

Last month, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted the government expected a $38 billion deficit. He said the US would provide $18 billion and the European Union and International Monetary Fund would combine to give $12 billion.

Over the past seven months, the White House has spent nearly $70 billion on the war in Ukraine. The US spending on the war includes direct assistance to fund the government in Kiev and weapons transfers.

Western aid to Ukraine is announced almost daily. On Thursday, USAID announced $55 million in assistance for Kiev. On Friday, The IMF approved $1.3 billion in additional emergency funding for Ukraine.