Fact Checker: Eddie Mauro claims workers worse off under Joni Ernst. Are they?

One of the five Iowa Democrats vying for the chance to run against U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican first elected in 2014, says on his website that he “will protect American workers.”

But other claims about Ernst and President Donald Trump from the candidate, Eddie Mauro, a small-business owner from Des Moines, were what got the attention of the Fact Checker:

“During Joni Ernst’s time in the United States Senate protections for Iowa workers on the job have been gutted, OSHA enforcement budgets slashed, and workplace deaths have increased.”

Mauro continues: “In 2017, the first year of the Trump administration for which full data is available, Latino workplace deaths increased from 879 deaths in 2016 to 927 deaths in 2017, with foreign-born immigrant Latino workers constituting 63 percent of those deaths.”

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at factchecker@thegazette.com.

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan of The Gazette. The episode is hosted by Erin Jordan; co-hosted by Molly Duffy, Michaela Ramm, and B.A. Morelli, and produced by Stephen Colbert. Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/