Combination image of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris at their presidential debate on Sept. 10.Alex Brandon/The Associated Press
In their first and perhaps only debate, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris described the state of the country in distinctly different ways. As the two traded jabs, some old false and misleading claims emerged along with some new ones.
Trump and Project 2025
Harris: “What you’re going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected again.”
Trump has said he doesn’t know about Project 2025, a controversial blueprint for another Republican presidential administration. The plan was written up by the conservative Heritage Foundation by some of his former aides and allies, but Trump has never said he’ll implement the roughly 900-page guide if he’s elected again.
Project 2025′s director stepped down after criticism from Democrats and the Trump campaign, which said the Heritage Foundation exaggerated their influence with Trump.
Trump on abortions ‘after birth’
Trump: “Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth, it’s execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born, is okay.”
Walz has said no such thing. Infanticide is criminalized in every state, and no state has passed a law that allows killing a baby after birth.
Abortion rights advocates say terms like “late-term abortions” attempt to stigmatize abortions later in pregnancy. Abortions later in pregnancy are exceedingly rare. In 2020, fewer than one per cent of abortions in the United States were performed at or after 21 weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump addressed abortion in their presidential debate, with Trump repeating a claim about infants being killed after birth, which an ABC News moderator fact-checked. Harris recounted cases of women denied medical care when doctors feared going to jail for treating a miscarriage or victim of incest.
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Harris’ record on fracking
Trump: “If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on Day 1.”
Trump’s statement ignores the fact that without a law approved by Congress, a president can only ban fracking on federal lands. The federal government owns about two per cent of Pennsylvania’s total land, and it is not clear how much of that is suitable for oil or gas drilling.
Republicans have criticized Harris for “flip-flopping” on the issue, noting that Harris said in the 2020 campaign that she opposed fracking, a drilling technique that is widely used in Pennsylvania and other states. Harris has since said repeatedly that she won’t ban fracking if elected, and she reiterated that in Tuesday’s debate.
Trump shares inflated numbers around migrants and crime
Trump: “When you look at these millions and millions of people that are pouring into our country monthly – whereas, I believe, 21 million people, not the 15 people say, and I think it’s a lot higher than the 21 – that’s bigger than New York State … and just look at what they’re doing to our country. They’re criminals, many of these people are criminals, and that’s bad for our economy too.”
Trump’s figures are wildly inflated. The Border Patrol made 56,408 arrests of people crossing the border illegally from Mexico in July, the latest monthly figure available. Since Biden took office, the Border Patrol made about 7.1 million border arrests, though the number of people is considerably lower because many of those arrests were repeat crossers.
The Biden administration also permitted legal entry for about 765,000 people on an online app called CBP One at land crossings in Mexico through July. It allowed another 520,000 from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come by air with financial sponsors. Additionally, an unknown number of people crossed the border illegally and eluded capture.
That doesn’t come close to “millions and millions of people” monthly. It is also unproven that “many of these people are criminals.”
There have been high-profile, heinous crimes committed by immigrants. But FBI statistics do not separate out crimes by the immigration status of the assailant, nor is there any evidence of a spike in crime perpetrated by migrants. In 1931, the Wickersham Commission did not find any evidence supporting a connection between immigration and increased crime, and many studies since then have reached similar conclusions.
Trump repeats false rumour about migrants eating pets
Trump: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats … They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
There’s no evidence to support the claim, which Trump and his campaign have used to argue migrants are committing crimes at a higher rate than others. Authorities in Ohio have said there are no credible or detailed reports to support Trump’s claim.
Donald Trump repeated a false claim that Haitian immigrants were eating pets during the presidential debate with Kamala Harris. The claim originated in anecdotes posted on social media that were fact-checked by an ABC News moderator, with other media reporting that local police called the claims baseless.
National Guard soldiers on Jan. 6
Trump, speaking about the Jan. 6 insurrection: “I said I’d like to give you 10,000 National Guard or soldiers. They rejected me. Nancy Pelosi rejected me.”
That’s false. Pelosi does not direct the National Guard. Further, as the Capitol came under attack, she and then-Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell called for military assistance, including from the National Guard.
The Capitol Police Board makes the decision on whether to call National Guard troops to the Capitol. It is made up of the House Sergeant at Arms, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Architect of the Capitol. The board decided not to call the guard ahead of the insurrection but did eventually request assistance after the rioting had already begun, and the troops arrived several hours later.
There is no evidence that either Pelosi or McConnell directed the security officials not to call the guard beforehand.
Trump falsely claims evidence shows he won in 2020
Trump: “There’s so much proof. All you have to do is look at it.”
The election was not stolen. The authorities who have reviewed the election – including Trump’s own attorney general – have concluded the election was fair.
Biden’s victory over Trump in 2020 was not particularly close. He won the Electoral College with 306 votes to Trump’s 232, and the popular vote by more than 7 million ballots. Recounts in key states affirmed Biden’s victory, and lawsuits challenging the results were unsuccessful.
Harris takes Trump’s ‘bloodbath’ comment out of context
Harris: “Donald Trump, the candidate, has said in this election there will be a bloodbath if this and the outcome of this election is not to his liking. Let’s turn the page on that.”
Trump delivered the line at a speech in March in Ohio in which he was talking about the impact of offshoring on the American auto industry and his plans to increase tariffs on foreign-made cars. It was in reference to the auto industry that he warned of a “bloodbath” if his proposals aren’t enacted.
“If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” Trump said.
Trump claims Putin endorsed Harris
Trump: “Putin endorsed her last week, said ‘I hope she wins.’”
Russian President Vladimir Putin did wryly claim last week that Harris was his preferred candidate, but intelligence officials have dismissed the comment as not serious.
U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russia favours Trump, who has openly praised Putin, suggested cutting funds to Ukraine and repeatedly criticized the NATO military alliance.
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This article is published as part of The Globe’s initiative to cover dis- and misinformation. E-mail us to share tips or feedback at disinfodesk@globeandmail.com.
Associated Press writers Melissa Goldin, David Klepper, Ali Swenson, Matthew Daly, Chris Rugaber and Tom Krisher contributed to this story.