Former President Donald Trump used his first campaign rally since being named this year's Republican presidential nominee to repeat the apparently false claim that he was once named Michigan's "man of the year."
During a Saturday appearance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump claimed he received the award "years ago" when "they gave me, in Michigan, the man of the year."
"That was long before I was a politician. I was a business guy. I did well. I liked the state, but I don't know," he said. "I heard, 'Man of the year, Michigan.' I said, 'That's cool. That's good. I'm going to make that trip.'"
Trump added, "I didn't know why they were giving it to me, nothing, but they were giving it to me for, I guess, the fact that I employed a lot of people, I did real well."
Following Trump's remarks, CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale said, "The answer is that they, whoever they are, did not do that."
"There is no sign that this award actually exists, let alone that Donald Trump actually got it," he said.
Dale also said this year's campaign marked the "third consecutive presidential election in which Donald Trump has claimed to have been named the man of the year in Michigan."
"We've asked a series of three consecutive Trump campaigns — no evidence provided whatsoever. It just did not happen," he added.
In 2019, CNN said Trump had made the claim at least six times since the launch of his 2016 campaign.
Also in 2019 former Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Trott of Michigan said he believes that Trump was mistakenly referring to a 2013 event when he gave the keynote address at the Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner and was given a plaque.
Photos show that Trott, who chaired the event, handed Trump a tie, a statuette of Abraham Lincoln and a large, framed copy of the Gettysburg address, according to the MLive news website.
"There was no Michigan man of the year award," Trott told Crain's Detroit Business in 2019. "There was certainly nothing like that bestowed upon him."
Trott was also present during a 2017 roundtable discussion in Ypsilanti, Michigan, when then-President Trump claimed to have been given Michigan's man of the year award "about five or six years ago" before asking Trott, "Is that right?" Crain's said.
Trott replied, "Great speech," according to Crain's.
Trott, who left Congress the following year, told Crain's he didn't feel comfortable correcting Trump, saying: "You see what happens to people who do that."
