True or false?: A fact-check of what was said at the Harris-Trump debate
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US Vice-President Kamala Harris (right) and Donald Trump traded claims about each other’s record in office.
PHOTO: AFP
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Washington - Ms Kamala Harris and Donald Trump clashed on Sept 10
Ms Harris, the US Vice-President and Democratic Party candidate, and Trump, the Republican nominee, traded claims about each other’s record in office, as well as their plans if they emerged victorious after the Nov 5 election.
AFP fact-checked the accuracy of what both contenders said on key issues:
The economy
Asked if Americans were better off than they were four years ago, Ms Harris did not give a direct answer.
She accused Trump of leaving Democrats with “the worst unemployment since the Great Depression”. This is misleading.
Joblessness spiked at 14.8 per cent in April 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic shut down the US. By the time Trump left office, unemployment was 6.4 per cent.
Ms Harris said that, if elected president, she would offer families tax credit of up to US$6,000 (S$7,800) for each eligible child, as well as a US$50,000 tax deduction for small businesses. She claimed Trump would favour billionaires and corporations over anyone else, and said the former president planned a sales tax that would hurt ordinary Americans.
Trump countered by saying President Joe Biden’s administration ushered in the highest inflation in US history, quoting figures of 21 per cent and as high as 60 per cent on some goods.
This is false.
Inflation currently stands at 2.9 per cent. Inflation did hit a high of 9.1 per cent under Mr Biden in 2022. This was well below the historic high of 23.7 per cent in 1920.
Trump denied he would impose a sales tax but conceded that other countries would face trade tariffs at a minimum of 10 per cent. Experts say tariffs amount to a tax on consumers, who end up paying extra as the costs are passed on to them.
Immigration and ‘migrant crime’
Trump falsely claimed that “millions and millions” of people from countries such as Venezuela “from mental institutions and insane asylums” are entering the US and committing crimes. He also re-aired a baseless viral claim that migrants are eating pets in places including Springfield, Ohio.
“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. And this is what’s happening in our country.”
Police and local authorities say there are no credible reports of such animal killings.
Violent and property crimes in the US are near their lowest levels in decades, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data from 2022, the most recent year for which figures are available.
A June 2023 study found a decline in incarceration rates among immigrants from all regions since 1960. Other research has found migrants commit fewer violent crimes than US citizens.
FBI statistics from the first three months of 2024 also show a 15 per cent decrease in violent and property crime year over year.
Illegal immigration during Trump’s administration was higher than under President Barack Obama’s two terms. Earlier in 2024, during the Biden administration, illegal immigration reached a historic high. It has fallen since an executive order was signed in July.
Ms Harris said Trump put politics above policy by ordering Republican lawmakers in the summer to kill a bipartisan Bill that would have toughened policies at the southern US border.
Abortion
Trump – who appointed three conservative judges to a Supreme Court that overturned Roe v Wade, the precedent that guaranteed abortion access – called Democrats “radical” on the issue. He claimed that Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz supports “execution after birth – it’s execution, no longer abortion – because the baby is born is okay, and that’s not okay with me”.
This is false.
No state allows a baby to be killed after it is born. This is infanticide, which is illegal across the US.
Debate moderator Linsey Davis corrected Trump, saying: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
Ms Harris added: “Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not happening.”
She claimed: “If Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban.” But the former president immediately replied that “I’m not signing a ban”, saying that the issue is with the states. AFP
