55 days before the US presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off in a TV debate. Who is telling the truth, who is exaggerating, who is lying?
Around two months before the US election, the two US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump engaged in a heated exchange in their first TV debate. In Philadelphia, they accused each other of having run the country into the ground, of having no plan for the pressing problems and of spreading lies.
A closer look at the statements:
Trump’s claim: He said he had “virtually no inflation” during his term in office. President Biden and Kamala Harris, on the other hand, have the highest inflation in US history.
Evaluation: That is wrong.
Facts: In the period since the introduction of the consumer price index, the highest inflation rate was 20.49 percent in 1917.
Inflation was lower during Trump’s term than it is today, but it existed: about eight percent cumulatively for his presidency (compared to 19 percent under President Biden so far) and 1.4 percent year-on-year in the last month of his term compared to the current 2.9 percent.
Trump’s claim: The former president said that Democrats’ policies allow the life of a baby to be taken in the ninth month.
Evaluation: That is wrong.
Facts: The deliberate killing of a newborn is considered infanticide and is illegal throughout the USA. Abortion law is currently regulated by the states. While in some states abortions are almost impossible, some allow abortions until the fetus is viable, which is usually up to around the 24th week of pregnancy. After that, abortions are only permitted in cases where the life or health of the mother is in danger. Harris promised that if she wins the election, she would have the right to abortion enshrined in law.
Harris’ claim: She said Trump was claiming that climate change was made up.
Evaluation: That’s right.
Facts: Since his candidacy, Donald Trump has not been an advocate of climate change and regularly casts doubt on the existence of man-made climate change. In 2012, he claimed that the concept of global warming was invented by the Chinese to harm the competitiveness of American industry. During the election campaign, he promised to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
Are Donald Trump and Kamala Harris right?
Trump’s claim: “I had more votes than any Republican in history. By far more than any president.”
Evaluation: That is wrong.
Facts: Although Trump won the 2016 presidential election against Hilary Clinton, his Democratic rival was ahead of Trump nationwide by more than 2.8 million of those votes. He ultimately won with the deciding votes of the Electoral College.
The President and Vice President of the USA are elected by a so-called Electoral College, the composition of which is determined by the election results in the states. To put it very simply, the person who wins the most (most populous) states becomes the US head of state.
Harris’ claim: Trump has left behind the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.
Evaluation: Missing context.
Facts: Harris lamented that she had to clean up Trump’s mess because he had left the country in a disastrous state in 2021: the highest unemployment since the “Great Depression,” the worst health care epidemic, the worst attack on American democracy.
In April 2020, when Trump was still in office, the unemployment rate peaked at 14.8 percent – in fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this was the highest level since the Great Depression.
However, when Trump left office in January 2021, unemployment fell to 6.4 percent as the economy began to recover.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
