PHILADELPHIA –
Of their first and maybe solely debate, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris described the state of the nation in starkly totally different phrases. As the 2 traded jabs, some previous false and deceptive claims emerged together with some new ones.
Right here’s a have a look at false and deceptive claims made by the candidates.
Trump falsely touts his financial system
TRUMP: “I created one of many biggest economies within the historical past of our nation. … They’ve destroyed the financial system.”
THE FACTS: That is an exaggeration. The financial system grew a lot quicker beneath Presidents Invoice Clinton and Ronald Reagan than it did beneath Trump. The broadest measure of financial development, gross home product, rose 4 per cent a 12 months for 4 straight years beneath Clinton. The quickest development beneath Trump was three per cent in 2018. The financial system shrank 2.2 per cent in 2020, on the finish of Trump’s presidency. And a better proportion of American adults had jobs beneath Clinton than beneath Trump. Through the Biden-Harris administration, the financial system expanded 5.8 per cent in 2021, although a lot of that mirrored a bounce-back from COVID.
Inflation has trekked down
TRUMP: “They’d the very best inflation maybe within the historical past of our nation, as a result of I’ve by no means seen a worse time frame.”
THE FACTS: Whereas praising the energy of the financial system beneath his presidency, Donald Trump misstated the inflation price beneath Biden. Inflation peaked at 9.1 per cent in June 2022 after rising steadily within the first 17 months of Biden’s presidency from a low of 0.1 per cent in Could 2020. It’s now seeing a downward development. The latest knowledge exhibits that as of July it had fallen to 2.9 per cent. Different historic intervals have seen larger inflation, which hit greater than 14 p.c in 1980, based on the Federal Reserve.
Trump has distanced himself from Challenge 2025
HARRIS: “What you’re going to listen to tonight is an in depth and harmful plan referred to as Challenge 2025 that the previous president intends on implementing if he have been elected once more.”
THE FACTS: Trump has mentioned he doesn’t find out about Challenge 2025, a controversial blueprint for one more Republican presidential administration.
The plan was written up by lots of his former aides and allies, however Trump has by no means mentioned he’ll implement the roughly 900-page information if he’s elected once more. Quite the opposite, he has mentioned it’s not associated to his marketing campaign.
Trump’s taxing and spending plan examined
HARRIS: “What the Wharton College has mentioned is Donald Trump’s plan would truly explode the deficit.”
THE TRUTH: The Penn-Wharton Finances Mannequin did discover that Trump’s tax and spending plans would considerably increase the deficit by $5.8 trillion over ten years. However it additionally discovered that Harris’ plans would improve the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the identical interval.
A presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is seen from the spin room, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Matt Slocum/AP Picture)
Harris’ file on fracking examined
TRUMP: “If she gained the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will finish on Day 1.”
THE FACTS: Trump’s assertion ignores the truth that and not using a regulation authorized by Congress, a president can solely ban fracking on federal lands.
The federal authorities owns about two per cent of Pennsylvania’s complete land, and it isn’t clear how a lot of that’s appropriate for oil or gasoline drilling.
Republicans have criticized Harris for “flip-flopping” on the problem, noting that Harris mentioned within the 2020 marketing campaign that she opposed fracking, a drilling approach that’s extensively utilized in Pennsylvania and different states.
Harris has since mentioned repeatedly that she gained’t ban fracking if elected, and she or he reiterated that in Tuesday’s debate.
Trump misrepresents crime statistics
TRUMP, criticizing the Biden administration: “Crime is thru the roof.”
THE FACTS: The truth is, FBI knowledge has proven a downward development in violent crime since a coronavirus pandemic spike. Violent crime surged through the pandemic, with homicides growing almost 30 per cent between in 2020 over the earlier 12 months — the biggest one-year soar because the FBI started maintaining information
Violent crime was down six per cent within the final three months of 2023 in contrast with the identical interval the 12 months earlier than, based on FBI knowledge launched in March. Murders have been down 13 per cent. New FBI statistics launched in June present the general violent crime price declined 15 per cent within the first three months of 2024 in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months. One knowledgeable has cautioned, nonetheless, that these 2024 figures are preliminary and will overstate the precise discount in crime.
Trump endorses false rumor about immigrants consuming pets
TRUMP: “In Springfield, they’re consuming the canines, the those who got here in, they’re consuming the cats… They’re consuming the pets of the those who dwell there.”
THE FACTS: There’s no proof to help the declare, which Trump and his marketing campaign have used to argue immigrants are committing crimes at a better price than others.
Authorities in Ohio have mentioned there are not any credible or detailed experiences to help Trump’s declare.
Jobs created beneath the Biden administration
“TRUMP: “Similar to their variety of 818,000 jobs that they mentioned they created turned out to be a fraud.”
THE FACTS: This can be a mischaracterization of the federal government’s technique of counting jobs. Yearly the Labor Division points a revision of the variety of jobs added in a 12-month interval from April by March within the earlier 12 months. The adjustment is made as a result of the federal government’s preliminary job counts are based mostly on surveys of companies. The revision is then based mostly on precise job counts from unemployment insurance coverage information which are compiled later. The revision is compiled by profession authorities staff with little involvement by politically appointed officers.
Trump repeats false claims immigrants that noncitizens are being sought to vote
TRUMP: “Plenty of these unlawful immigrants coming in, they’re making an attempt to get them to vote. They will’t even converse English. They don’t even know what nation they’re in virtually and these persons are making an attempt to get them to vote, and that’s why they’re permitting them to return into our nation.”
THE FACTS: In current months, Trump and different Republicans have been repeating the baseless declare that Democrats need migrants to return into the nation illegally so they are going to vote.
There’s no proof for this, neither is there any proof that noncitizens illegally vote in important numbers on this nation.
Voting by people who find themselves not U.S. residents already is unlawful in federal elections. It may be punishable by fines, jail time and even deportation. Whereas noncitizens have forged ballots, research present it’s extremely uncommon, and states frequently audit their voter lists to take away ineligible voters from the rolls.
Trump’s feedback counsel that not talking English is by some means prohibitive for voting within the U.S. — and that’s additionally not the case. The truth is, the Voting Rights Act requires sure states to offer election supplies in different languages relying on the voting-age inhabitants’s wants.
Related Press writers Melissa Goldin, David Klepper, Ali Swenson, Matthew Daly and Chris Rugaber contributed to this story
