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: Iran
Video: FactChecking Trump’s Iran Address
In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper examines several claims from President Donald Trump’s remarks after an Iranian missile attack on military bases in Iraq housing U.S. coalition forces.
Pelosi Did Not ‘Defend’ Soleimani
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani as “provocative and disproportionate.” But, contrary to the president’s contention, she did not “defend” Soleimani.
Video of Clinton on Iran Taken Out of Context
An out-of-context clip from a 2008 interview with then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is circulating on Facebook. It shows her saying the U.S. “will attack Iran” if she becomes president. But she was responding to a question about a hypothetical nuclear attack by Iran on Israel.
Posts Spread Fake Omar Tweet Calling for ‘Violence’
A fictitious tweet attributed to Rep. Ilhan Omar is circulating on social media. The congresswoman didn’t write that the “time for violence is now” over her disagreement with President Donald Trump’s actions on Iran.
FactChecking Trump’s Iran Address
In an address to the nation a day after an Iranian attack on military bases housing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, President Donald Trump made some dubious, misleading and inaccurate claims.
Pence Links Iran’s Soleimani to 9/11 Attacks
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani “[a]ssisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan” of some of the terrorists who executed the 9/11 terrorist attacks. However, that doesn’t mean that Iran, or Soleimani, knowingly aided al Qaeda in carrying out the attacks, which may be the impression some got from Pence’s tweet.
Conway, Pompeo on Iranian Cultural Sites
President Trump twice threatened to target cultural sites in Iran if Iranian leaders retaliate for the killing of Qasem Soleimani. Even so, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway falsely claimed that Trump never made such a threat.
Fake Tlaib Tweet Resurfaces Amid Iran News
An old tweet from an account impersonating Rep. Rashida Tlaib resurfaced on social media — this time with an erroneous claim that the tweet was her response to the recent attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Obama Didn’t Give Iran ‘150 Billion in Cash’
A viral meme distorts the facts about the Iran nuclear agreement. The deal, approved by six countries and the European Union, gave Iran access to its own frozen assets.