Opinion polls suggest Joe Biden
has a steady single-digit lead over Donald Trump. However, with 34 days until
Election Day, surveys from several important states show a closer contest.
Polls also suggest one in 10 Americans have yet to make up their mind how to
vote. Nevertheless, analysts said Tuesday night's debate (the first of three)
probably makes a small difference. Overall, the key 90-minute debate in
Cleveland, Ohio, was light on serious policy discussion. Both candidates talked
over each other but Mr Trump cut in some 73 times, according to a count by
Shadow Woka News. During the US presidential debate, Republican candidate Trump
and Democratic candidate Biden made a number of claims that raised questions.
Here is our fact checking:
TRUMP FACT CHECK:
1.
TRUMP STATEMENT: Look at West Virginia — mailmen
selling the ballots. They are being sold. They are being dumped in rivers. This
is a horrible thing for our country.
ü CLAIM: Mailmen in West Virginia are selling the
ballots.
ü FACT
CHECK: False.
ü DETAILS: A
West Virginia mail carrier pleaded guilty to attempted election fraud and
"injury to the mail" after admitting he had altered the mail-in
request forms for absentee ballots from eight voters in April 2020, according
to a statement by the Department of Justice. The West Virginia
secretary of state's office investigated and found that party affiliations on
five ballot request forms had been altered from "Democrat" to
"Republican." The three other ballot request forms had been altered,
though the party affiliation had not been changed. There were no charges of
selling ballots brought against the mail carrier.
2.
TRUMP STATEMENT: “They are
losing 30 and 40 per cent. It is a fraud. It is a fraud and it is a shame.”
ü
CLAIM: They’re"
(an unknown entity) "losing 30 and 40 per cent" of ballots.
ü FACT
CHECK: False.
ü
DETAILS: Trump
says, "They are" — an unknown entity that is presumably the U.S.
Postal Service or possibly election stations — losing "30 and 40 per cent" of mail-in ballots. There seems to be no source or basis for this
claim. The president has mentioned this "30 and 40 per cent" figure
in a recent interview with Fox News. However, he has
previously used different percentages when talking about lost ballots. He said in August that the post office loses “20%” of
ballots, and later in that same speech said, it was "20 to
30%." He may be alluding to the recent ballot problems in Paterson,
New Jersey, where election officials ended up throwing out 19% of submitted
ballots. However, that was the percentage of ballots that were deemed invalid,
not the percentage lost in the mail. Several states have previously — even
recently — reported problems with incorrect or incomplete ballots, but there
seems to be no evidence of any state ever reporting that 30 to 40% of ballots
being "lost."
3.
TRUMP STATEMENT: "If
you look at New York, where it's going up like nobody's ever seen anything, the
numbers are going up 100, 150, and 200% of crime."
ü
CLAIM: Trump
says crime has increased 100-200% in New York.
ü FACT
CHECK: Misleading.
ü
DETAILS: The
New York Police Department released citywide crime statistics on September 3,
2020 for the month of August:
·
There has been a 0.7% increase in total crime
(including murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand
larceny autos) between August 2019 and August 2020.
·
Shooting incidents in New York City have
increased 165.9% between August 2019 and August 2020 (242 vs. 91).
·
Murders have increased by 47% compared to August
2019.
·
Year-to-date, through August 31, there has been
an 87% increase in citywide shooting incidents.
4.
TRUMP STATEMENT: "They
(The Obama administration) had the slowest recovery — economic recovery — since
1929. It was the slowest recovery. Also, they took over something that was
downhill."
ü
CLAIM: President
Obama and Vice President Biden presided over the slowest economic recovery
since 1929.
ü
FACT CHECK: False.
ü
THE DETAILS: While
economists have pointed out that the economy was unusually slow to snap back
after the downturn of 2008-2009, Mr Trump is wrong when he says it was the
slowest recovery since the Great Depression of 1929. In fact, 2001
the recession brought on by the dotcom boom that popped around March of 2001, was
slower than the 2008-2009 recovery under Mr Obama. Six years after 2001
the recession ended, the number of jobs had grown by just 6%, compared with 8% six
years after the economic collapse of the Great Recession. The recovery that
started during Mr Obama's presidency was also longer than the 2001 recovery as
well. The U.S. economy added 2.3 million jobs in the last year of the Obama administration. Mr Trump said that the corporate tax cuts that were passed in late 2017
created a huge uptick in jobs. In fact, 2.3 million jobs were created in the
year following the tax cuts, roughly the same as during the last year of Mr.
Obama's presidency, and only 200,000 more than the year before the tax cuts. In
the second year after the tax, cuts passed by Republicans and signed by Mr.
Trump, job growth dropped by 180,000.
5.
TRUMP STATEMENT: “A fixing of
the VA —, which was a mess under [Obama] — 308,000 people died because they did
not have proper health care. It was a mess. Moreover, we now got a 91% approval
rating at the VA, our vets. We take care of our vets.”
ü
CLAIM:
308,000 veterans died because they "didn't have proper health care"
at VA.
ü
FACT CHECK: Misleading.
ü
TRUTH: President
Trump's number was off, and his details were wrong. He appears to be
referencing a report issued in 2015 that found that some 307,000 records
stalled in the VA healthcare system. These were for veterans who were deceased.
Some framed this as evidence these veterans may have died waiting for VA health
care, but the report specifically says the data was so poor that it cannot verify
how many of those records were for veterans "who applied for health care
benefits or when they may have applied. The report also analysed records going
back many years and found that more than 250,000 of the veterans later
identified as deceased had died before 2010.
ü
DETAILS: Here
are the VA inspector general's report and two quotes relevant to this claim.
"ES" refers to the Enrolment System of the Veterans Health
Administration (VHA): As of September 2014, more than 307,000 pending ES
records, or about 35 per cent of all pending records, were for individuals
reported as deceased by the Social Security Administration, the report said.
Adding that because of "data limitations," "we could not
determine specifically how many pending ES records represent veterans who
applied for health care benefits. The enrolment program "did not
effectively define, collect, and manage enrolment data," and VHA
"lacked adequate procedures to identify the date of death information and
implement necessary updates to the individual's status. Later, the report is
more specific. "[P]ending ES records included entries for individuals
reported to be deceased," it said. "As of September 30, 2014, over
307,000 pending ES records were for individuals reported as deceased by the
Social Security Administration (SSA). However, due to the data weaknesses
identified in Allegation 1, we cannot determine specifically how many pending
ES records represent veterans who applied for health care benefits or when they
may have applied. Citing one record for a veteran who died in 1993, the report
notes when the individuals whose records were stalled had been recorded as
deceased in the Social Security Administration's database:
·
Individuals who died in the last 2 years: 30,706
(10%)
·
Individuals who died between 2 and 4 years ago:
18,100 (6%)
·
Individuals who died more than 4 years ago:
258,367 (84%)
It appears that a number of deaths did take place
during the Obama administration, perhaps as many as 50,000 or more.
Nevertheless, this report clearly states that the vast majority occurred before
Obama took office. On President Trump's claim of a "91% approval
rating at the VA," a 2019 survey released by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the
U.S. found that 90% of veterans would recommend VA care to fellow veterans.
Here's the relevant quote from the VA press release: "The survey,
which asked Veterans about their experience with VA health care since the MISSION Act was implemented, found that more than 80% were
satisfied with their VA health care. Nearly 75% of Veteran respondents reported
improvements at their local VA, and more than 90% would recommend VA care to
fellow Veterans." But a similar survey released under President Obama in 2013, found
similarly high ratings over the previous decade: "One signature finding
for 2013 is the continuing high degree of loyalty to VA among Veterans, with a
score of 93 per cent favourable. This score has remained high (above 90 per cent)
for the past ten years."
6.
TRUMP STATEMENT: “You
(to Biden) do not think we should have closed our country because you thought
it was too-- it was terrible. You would not have closed it for another two
months.”
ü
CLAIM:
President Trump says that he banned travellers from China early on during the
pandemic and that Biden called that ban "xenophobic" and
"racist.
ü
FACT CHECK: Inconclusive: Mr Trump's decision to "close our country" was not as strict as he
claims, and while Biden criticized it, he did not use the terms Trump accused
him of using.
ü THE
DETAILS: President Trump's "ban" on travellers
from China was not a full ban — it allowed travel from China's Hong Kong and
Macao territories. Largely in line with restrictions, other countries around the
world were implementing at the time, the limitations on travel took effect
February 2, after the virus was already widely prevalent in China, according to
the Associated
Press. After Mr Trump's restrictions took effect, the New
York Times reported that 40,000 Americans and other authorized travellers
made the trip from China to the U.S. The
AP reported that more than 8,000 Chinese and foreign nationals also entered
the country after the restrictions were put in place. While scientists and
experts have praised the travel restrictions, there is little evidence to
support the claim that it saved a large number of lives Trump has repeatedly
stated. As for Mr Trump's claim about Biden, during an Iowa campaign appearance
on the same day the travel restrictions were announced, Biden criticized the
Trump administration's handling of the pandemic. "This is no time for
Donald Trump's record of hysteria and xenophobia — hysterical xenophobia — and
fearmongering to lead the way instead of science," Biden said. He did not
directly tie this statement to the president's recently announced travel
restrictions, and the campaign claims he was not directly referring to the
China travel ban. Biden also repeatedly accused the president of xenophobia on
Twitter. Eventually, in April 2020, the campaign said Biden supported the
ban. "Science supported this ban, therefore he did too," said deputy
campaign manager Kate Bedingfield.
7.
TRUMP STATEMENT: “We
did not know anything about the disease. Now, we found that elderly people with
heart problems and diabetes and different problems are very, very vulnerable.
We learned a lot. Young children are not — even younger people are not. We learned
a lot.”
ü
CLAIM: Young
children are not "vulnerable" to COVID.
ü FACT
CHECK: Misleading.
ü
THE DETAILS: While
data does show that young children are less likely to contract COVID-19 than
adults are, it is not true that children have not been affected. It is also not
true that children are incapable of spreading the virus. Data from the
American Academy of Paediatrics reports that as of September 24, children
represented only 10.5% of all cases in states reporting cases by age. The
AAP also says, "Available data indicated that COVID-19-associated
hospitalization and death are uncommon in children" and that "it appears
that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children." However, the
AAP also reports that over 624,000 children have tested positive for COVID-19
since the onset of the pandemic. Recent
Centres for Disease Control data show that children younger than 10 are
capable of transmitting COVID but specifies that teenagers have been twice
as likely to contract the virus as elementary school-age children have.
Although Mr Trump regularly asserts that children are largely unaffected by
COVID-19, he told journalist Bob Woodward in March that "plenty of young
people" were affected by the pandemic. It is not clear exactly what age
group Trump was referring to, however.
ü
Bottom line:
The CDC and most experts acknowledge that the effect of COVID on young children
is still unclear, and that initial data shows relatively low infection rates,
but to say young children "aren't" vulnerable to the disease is
false.
BIDEN FACT CHECK:
1.
BIDEN-TRUMP EXCHANGE: BIDEN: "You
know his own former spokesperson said, you know, riots and chaos and violence
help his cause. That is what this is about. TRUMP: "I
don't know who said that." BIDEN: "I do." TRUMP:
"Who?" BIDEN: "Kelly Anne Conway." TRUMP:
"I don't think she said that."
ü
CLAIM: Trump's
"own former spokesperson," said "riots and chaos and violence
help his cause"
ü
FACT CHECK: True.
ü
DETAILS: In
defending President Trump, Conway cited polling that suggested that people want
more law enforcement in their cities, specifically African American and
Hispanic citizens. She made these comments in an interview
on "Fox & Friends." She began by quoting an unnamed businessperson
from Wisconsin. "I was thinking of a very specific small
businesswoman," Conway said. "She got her store ready all over again
for the post-COVID lockdown lifting and then had to do it all over again after
she was vandalized and looted. Moreover, this just cannot stand. I also noticed
there was a quote today from a restaurateur in Wisconsin saying, 'Are you
protesters trying to get Donald Trump re-elected?'" "He knows, full
stop, and I guess Mayor Pete knows, full stop, that the more chaos and anarchy
and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice
on whose best on public safety and law and order."
ü
2.
BIDEN STATEMENT: “Because of
what [Trump] did — even before COVID, manufacturing went in the hole. Manufacturing
went in the hole.”
ü
CLAIM:
Biden says under President Trump, even before the coronavirus pandemic,
manufacturing was suffering, "went into a hole.
ü
FACT CHECK: Misleading.
ü
DETAILS: From
the beginning of the Trump administration in January 2017 through February
2020, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, the U.S. added about 443,000
manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. As Politick noted in July 2020, "manufacturing
employment did increase from mid-2017 to early 2019, but at roughly the same
pace as it did for most of Obama's tenure." From February 2020 through
August 2020, around 720,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost. Politick also
noted in July 2020 that by another measure — gross manufacturing output by
a quarter — there was a rise in output in the first year and a half of Mr.
Trump's presidency, but this also was not much faster than under the Obama
administration. In addition, hourly earnings for manufacturing workers have
continued to rise under Mr Trump "much as they did under Obama."
3.
BIDEN
CLAIM: There are a hundred million people that have pre-existing
conditions and they will be taken away as well, those pre-existing condition —
those insurance companies are going to love this. That is not appropriate to do
this before this election.
ü
FACT CHECK: Mostly true
ü
THE DETAILS:
In 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services released a study, which
found that 23% to 51% of non-elderly Americans (those under age 65) — or 61
million to 133 million people — have pre-existing health conditions.
First published on
September 30, 2020 / 9:41 AM
© 2020 Shadow Woka
News. All Rights Reserved.
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