Below is the condensed version of some claims the candidates made in Tuesday’s Seventh Democratic Primary Debate.
First off, here is the latest, average of Democratic Iowa Caucus polling:
And…the National Average:
Bernie Sanders:
- Claim: NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China have cost the US “some 4 million jobs.”
- Fact: Likely an overestimate– “It’s difficult to measure the overall economic impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement since trade and investment trends can be affected by a number of factors, including economic growth, inflation and even a weakening dollar, according to the Congressional Research Service.“
- Claim: Environmental groups opposed the USMCA trade deal.
- Fact: Environmental groups began voicing opposition to the renegotiated North American trade deal as early as May 2018, because they felt it didn’t make sufficient environmental protections or address climate change.
- Claim: Bernie Sanders claimed that “Medicare for all … will cost substantially less than the status quo.”
- Fact: No one knows for sure. “The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report last year that total spending under a single-payer system like Sanders is calling for “might be higher or lower than under the current system depending on the key features of the new system.”
Joe Biden:
- Claim: Repeated his false claim that he opposed the war in Iraq from the moment the war began.
- Fact: Biden did not oppose the war in Iraq from the point it started in March 2003. He did begin calling his 2002 vote a “mistake” in 2005, two years into the war, but he was a vocal public supporter of the war in 2003 and 2004.
- Claim: Biden said that President Donald Trump “flat-out lied” when he claimed the US killed Iran’s top military general because he was targeting four US embassies.
- Fact: Trump has yet to provide on shred of evidence “that Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani was actively planning new attacks against four US embassies”
- Claim : He was “asked to bring 156,000 troops home from that war, which I did. I led that effort.”
- Fact: Biden is roughly right about bringing troops home, but he didn’t mention that the U.S. had to send some back.
Elizabeth Warren:
- Claim: Senator Lindsey Graham “talks about leaving troops in the Middle East] for 100 years.”
- Fact: This claim is false. Graham has not said he wants to leave troops for hundreds of years.
- Claim: Women on the stage are undefeated in their elections.
- Fact: True-neither Liz nor Amy have lost an election.
Amy Klobuchar:
- Claim: The Affordable Care Act is 10 points more popular than the President of the United States.
- Fact: According to some polls, it is true but not all.
More Fact Checking found here:
