A narrowed field of 10 Democratic candidates debated health care, immigration and gun control, but not all of their claims squared with the facts.
FactChecking the September Democratic Debate
Stories by Jessica McDonald
SciCheck Editor
Buttigieg Wrong About Climate Change’s Effect on Oceans
In making his case for taking swift action on climate change, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg inaccurately said that “we could lose half the world’s oxygen because of what’s going on in the oceans.” Scientists say that’s a misreading of the evidence.
Trump’s False ‘Facts’ on the Environment
Just as CNN was beginning its climate town hall event, President Donald Trump tweeted a list of “8 facts” boasting of the nation’s air quality and carbon emissions reductions. Several of his “facts,” however, are inaccurate or misleading.
Amazon Doesn’t Produce 20% of Earth’s Oxygen
Q: Does the Amazon produce 20% of the world’s oxygen?
A: No. Scientists estimate the percentage is closer to 6 to 9%, and the Amazon ultimately consumes nearly all of that oxygen itself.
Trump’s False Auto Industry Tweets
President Donald Trump inaccurately tweeted that his fuel efficiency plan would reduce the cost of cars “by more than $3000” and make them “substantially safer.” Even going by his administration’s analysis — which many experts doubt — he inflated the savings and is wrong about car safety.
Williamson Misleads on Children’s Health, Vaccines
In a July 31 television interview, Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson inaccurately implied there might be a connection between vaccines and higher reported rates of childhood chronic diseases. She is correct that reported rates of chronic conditions in kids have increased over the last several decades, but there is no scientific evidence to suggest vaccines are the cause.
Politics of Gun Violence
In the aftermath of two deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, U.S. political leaders made a series of statements on gun violence that were unsubstantiated, lacked context or were seemingly contradictory. Here we look at some of those statements and present the facts.
FactChecking July’s Round Two Debate
Several of the factual distortions concerned what the candidates had to say about one another.
FactChecking the Second Democratic Debate
The first of the back-to-back Democratic debates in July included spin from the candidates on gun violence, Republican tax cuts, climate change, manufacturing jobs and more.
When Are Heartbeats Audible During Pregnancy?
Q: When is the human heart fully developed, and when are heartbeats audible during pregnancy?
A: A developing heart has all of its primary structures after about nine weeks of pregnancy. Some forms of ultrasound can detect cardiac activity in an embryo in the sixth week, but a heartbeat wouldn’t be audible until about 10 weeks on a Doppler fetal monitor.