Below is the condensed version of some claims the candidates made that are a bit suspect. I have also included links to several sites where you can find out what is and isn’t factual.
Tulsi Gabbard:
- Claim: Called Syria a “regime change war;” it isn’t.
- Facts: The United States has supported some anti-Assad forces — but they were never able to depose Assad — and other fighters on the ground who battled the Islamic State terrorist group.
- Vice President Joe Biden later used an answer to defend the Obama administration’s intentions in Syria and also make clear that regime change was not the goal of the conflict, although the administration did state that it hoped Assad would step down.
Elizabeth Warren:
- Claim: “The data show that we’ve had a lot of problems with losing jobs, but the principal reason has been bad trade policy. The principal reason has been a bunch of corporations, giant multinational corporations who’ve been calling the shots on trade.”
- Facts: Economists mostly blame those job losses on automation and robots, not trade deals.
- Claim: Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s Medicare buy-in option is “Medicare for all who can afford it.”
- Fact: Warren ignored the fact that Buttigieg would provide subsidies to help people pay premiums for the plan.
Julian Castro:
- Claim: “Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania actually in the latest jobs data have lost jobs, not gained them.”
- Facts: Nope.
- Figures from the Labor Department show that the former Housing and Urban Development secretary is wrong.
- Ohio added jobs in August. So did Michigan . Same with Pennsylvania .
- However, these states still have economic struggles. Pennsylvania has lost factory jobs since the end of 2018. So has Michigan . And Ohio has shed 100 factory jobs so far this year.
Candidates on the Great State of Ohio:
Amy Klobuchar:
- Claim: “The state of Ohio has been hit by the opioid epidemic. We need to take on these pharmaceutical companies and make them pay.”
- Fact: Ohio has one of the highest rates of fatal drug overdoses in the nation. Opioids, heroin and fentanyl have ravaged the state for years.
Read more fact checking articles from the links below:
