President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump exchanged criticisms and presented numerous instances of false and misleading information during their first debate of the 2024 election.
Trump has been known for a significant volume of false and misleading claims throughout his campaigns and presidency, contrasting with Biden, who often exaggerates or embellishes rather than outright lying. Here's an overview of the misleading statements made by both candidates.
1. 'Greatest Economy' Claims
Trump: "We had the greatest economy in history.”
Fact Check
The reality, however, is more complex. The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a severe recession during his tenure, prompting a $3.1 trillion government intervention to stabilize the economy. According to AP, by the end of his term, Trump left office with fewer jobs than when he started.
Despite discounting pandemic-related disruptions, Trump's economic growth averaged 2.67% over his first three years, a solid figure but significantly lower than the 4% achieved during Bill Clinton's presidency from 1993 to 2001, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Interestingly, economic growth has shown more strength under Biden's administration compared to Trump's.
Trump did achieve a low unemployment rate of 3.5% before the pandemic hit. However, when examining the core U.S. working population aged 25 to 54, the labor force participation rate was higher under Clinton and has also been higher under Biden than Trump.
Trump often highlights low inflation rates during his presidency, citing examples like gasoline prices dropping to $1.77 per gallon. Yet, these price drops occurred during pandemic lockdowns when travel was significantly reduced—a result of global health crisis conditions rather than effective economic policy.
Similarly, average 30-year mortgage rates fell to 2.65% during the pandemic, largely due to Federal Reserve measures aimed at bolstering a weakened economy, rather than being a reflection of economic strength as Trump implies.
2. 'After Birth' Abortion Claim
Trump: “The problem they have is they’re radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth, after birth.”
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Trump falsely made claims about abortions after birth. In reality, infanticide is universally condemned and illegal in every state. No state allows for the killing of a baby after birth.
Terms like "late-term abortions" are often used to stigmatize abortions performed later in pregnancy, which are extremely rare. In 2020, less than 1% of abortions in the United States occurred at or after 21 weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Medical experts clarify that abortions later in pregnancy typically occur due to severe complications such as fetal anomalies that endanger the life of the woman or fetus. It's important to note that in most cases, these pregnancies are also wanted, according to experts.
3. Covid-19 Misinformation
Biden: Trump advised Americans to “inject bleach” into their arms as a treatment to COVID-19.
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In reality, Trump's comments were different. During an April 2020 press conference, Trump speculated about the potential for using disinfectants or light inside the body to combat the virus.
He stated, “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful.”
4. Migrants Issue
Trump, referring to Biden: “He’s 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.”
Fact Check
Trump's claims often include misinformation. For example, he frequently asserts that other countries are releasing prisoners and individuals from mental institutions who then come to the U.S., but there is no evidence to support these allegations.
Trump has also argued that increased immigration contributes to rising crime rates in the U.S., despite statistics showing a decrease in violent crime.
While there have been notable crimes allegedly committed by individuals in the country illegally, FBI data does not distinguish crimes by the immigration status of the perpetrator. Studies have consistently shown that immigrants, including those without legal status, are less likely than native-born Americans to be arrested for violent, drug-related, or property crimes.
Texas is the only state that tracks crimes by immigration status, and a 2020 study published by the National Academy of Sciences found lower felony arrest rates among undocumented immigrants compared to legal immigrants or native-born individuals.
It's important to note that with an estimated 10.5 million undocumented individuals in the U.S. as of 2021, according to Pew Research Center, some level of crime is statistically expected among such a large population.
