Out of context: from Indiana to the national stage

Indiana's 2026 race for secretary of state, the office that oversees the state's elections, offers one misleading-ad charge against each candidate.

• Against Democrat Beau Bayh. An ad for Republican Max Engling says Bayh “voted in Indiana elections 14 times. Had his ballot mailed to his parents' D.C. mansion. Sounds like voter fraud.”¹ What the record shows: The voting is real. Bayh registered in 2014, while a high school student in Washington, at his father's Indianapolis condo, and voted in Indiana through college and Marine Corps service, often by mail; his military records list the condo as his home of record and his father's Washington house as his mailing address. He has never been charged with voter fraud, and the Indiana Supreme Court held in 1988, in a case about his father, that residency turns on intent, not physical presence alone.^1,2
• Against Republican Max Engling. A Bayh ad features a sheriff's deputy saying Engling “has been convicted and investigated at least eight times for reckless driving and reckless behavior.”¹ What the record shows: Court records show eight speeding tickets from 2006 to 2010, all traffic infractions, a 2023 speeding ticket and an expunged 2007 misdemeanor case for throwing eggs at passing cars. They show no reckless-driving charge. Bayh himself was charged in 2018 with misdemeanor reckless driving, reduced to an equipment infraction with a fine. Engling says he is suing for defamation.^1,3

In each case the underlying facts are real; the dispute is over the label put on them: “voter fraud” in one ad, “reckless driving” in the other.

Fact-checkers have found the same pattern in national campaigns, aimed at both parties. In each case below the words were real; what was cut changed their meaning.

• Barack Obama, 2012: “If you've got a business — you didn't build that.” Mitt Romney's campaign said Obama meant success comes from government, not hard work.⁵ In context: the sentence before was “Somebody invested in roads and bridges,” and Obama went on to credit “individual initiative.” PolitiFact rated Romney's claim False.
• Mitt Romney, 2012: “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.” Rival Republican Jon Huntsman said it showed Romney likes firing people.⁶ In context: Romney was talking about health insurance: “if you don't like what they do, you can fire them.” PolitiFact rated Huntsman's claim Mostly False.
• Hillary Clinton, 2016: “We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” The line was quoted against her across coal country.⁷ In context: her next words were “And we're going to make it clear that we don't want to forget those people,” in an answer about bringing new jobs to coal areas. She later called the line a misstatement. A gray case: the words were hers, the intent was disputed.
• Joe Biden, 2020: “We have put together... the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.” President Trump and his allies spread the clip as a confession.⁸ In context: Biden was describing his campaign's effort to protect voters from intimidation and false fraud claims. Snopes found the clip unaltered but stripped of context, and rated the confession claim false.
• Donald Trump, 2024: “It's going to be a bloodbath for the country.” Biden's campaign said Trump was fomenting political violence.⁹ In context: Trump was talking about U.S. auto jobs and tariffs. FactCheck.org found an economic meaning “the most plausible.”
• Donald Trump, 2017: “Very fine people on both sides.” Opponents said for years that he called neo-Nazis “very fine people.”¹⁰ In context: in the same statement he said he was not talking about neo-Nazis and white nationalists, who should be “condemned totally.” Snopes rated the claim False in 2024, noting it checked what he said, not whether there were fine people on both sides.