In the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, there were fewer candidates — only six — but more than a few false, misleading and exaggerated claims.
FactChecking the January Democratic Debate
Issues: health care
Bloomberg, Trump Spar on Preexisting Conditions
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg charged in a TV ad that President Trump had “broken” a “promise” to protect those with preexisting conditions. Trump fired back that he “saved Pre-Existing Conditions.” In fact, Trump backed plans that would have weakened current protections.
FactChecking the November Democratic Debate
Several candidates twisted the facts on health care, student loan debt, President Trump and more.
Sanders Misleads on Family Health Care Costs
Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to make the misleading claim that “the average family of four spends $28,000 a year on health care.” That’s the projected average cost for employer-sponsored health insurance for “typical” families of that size, but the employer paid 56% of the total amount in 2018.
Video: FactChecking October Debate Claims
In this video, we highlight several claims made by some of the candidates in the Oct.15 Democratic presidential debate.
FactChecking the October Democratic Debate
The spin focused mainly on the economy and health care.
Is Right to Try Saving a ‘Lot of People’?
President Donald Trump last year signed a bill — the Right to Try Act — that provided another avenue for terminally ill patients to gain access to unapproved medications still in development. But there’s no evidence that the new law is saving “a lot of people,” as the president claims.
FactChecking the September Democratic Debate
A narrowed field of 10 Democratic candidates debated health care, immigration and gun control, but not all of their claims squared with the facts.
What Republicans Did on Mental Health, Guns
A social media post misleadingly claims that Republicans “voted to allow people with pre-existing mental illness to buy firearms.” The measure blocked the Social Security Administration from reporting to the U.S. background check system some disability beneficiaries who are unable to manage their finances. Federal law still prohibits people with certain conditions from buying guns.
Video: FactChecking Round Two of July Debate
This video covers some of the claims the candidates made on July 31 during round two of the second Democratic debate in Detroit.