Trump’s debate claims fact-checked: Separating truth from the lies

After much anticipation, Americans were pretty disappointed by the first presidential debate of this electoral season.

President Biden finished last, as all the concerns over his age grew among people, even in his party.

However, many analysts have also pointed out that former President Trump lied too many times during his answers. Fact-checkers from The New York Times and AP News debunked them.

During the economy portion of the debate, Mr. Trump referred to President Biden's tax proposal. He said: "He wants to raise your taxes by four times."

President Biden's proposal will replace Mr. Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which expire in 2025. Under the project, the overall increase will be 1.9%, but people who earn less than $400,000 a year will see cuts, not raises.

During the abortion portion, the moderators asked Mr. Trump about the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. He said: "Every legal scholar wanted it that way."

Both media outlets explained that three Supreme Court Justices dissented from the ruling, and the decision is very unpopular among voters and scholars. That has become a problem for the Republican campaign.

Immigration is the strong point for Republicans. However, Mr. Trump has relied on false information while campaigning. The debate was no exception: "It's not only the 18 million people that I believe is even low because they don't even talk about getaways."

According to the Border Patrol, agents have had about 9.6 million encounters with immigrants since 2021—however, the number counts interactions, not offenders. CBP says a quarter to half of those encounters were with repeat offenders.

He also mentioned immigration when discussing Social Security: "But Social Security, he's destroying it because millions of people are pouring into our country, and they are putting them onto Social Security."

According to a document from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, quoted by The New York Times, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Social Security despite paying taxes to support it.

Mr. Trump also jumped to immigration when discussing the job market: "The only jobs he created are for illegal immigrants," he said, referring to the jobs created during the Biden administration.

According to The New York Times, US employers have created over 15 million jobs since 2021. The newspaper said the number of immigrants has grown to 2.5 million, but not enough to take on all those jobs.

On another jab on immigration, Mr. Trump said: "He (Biden) is the one that killed people with a bad border and flooding hundreds of thousands of people dying and also killing our citizens when they come in."

Despite high-profile violent crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants against Americans, the number of violent crimes in the country is down. According to AP News, many studies have concluded that immigrants commit fewer crimes than natives.

Regarding Biden's foreign policy, the former president said, "We're no longer respected as a country. They don't respect our leadership. They don't respect the United States anymore."

A Pew Research poll by The New York Times shows that President Biden is 15% more popular and inspires more confidence among foreign citizens than Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump's exaggerations and lies referred not only to President Biden's policies but also to his plans. He said his proposed tariffs on China and the EU are "not going to drive (prices) higher."

According to The New York Times, tariffs tend to increase some prices. Consumers, not companies, primarily paid those imposed on China by Donald Trump during his first term.

Former President Trump also said of his term: "We had the greatest economy in history."

AP News analyzed debt, growth, unemployment, and inflation during Trump's term. Although development and unemployment were excellent, the Clinton administration and even Biden's had better numbers in some cases.

Never miss a story! Click here to follow The Daily Digest.