Jon Huntsman Archives - FactCheck.org

New Hampshire Debates, Take 2

January 8, 2012

Less than 12 hours after the ABC News/Yahoo! debate in Manchester ended, the Republican presidential candidates were at it again — debating on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” As they did the night before, the candidates at times distorted the truth on a variety of topics, including Medicare, job creation, gasoline prices and environmental regulations.
Gingrich vs. Romney on Attack Ads
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich claimed The Washington Post had found “virtually nothing accurate”

A Guide to the New Hampshire Debates

January 6, 2012

The remaining Republican presidential candidates meet Jan. 7 for a prime-time ABC News/Yahoo!/WMUR-TV debate at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. Less than 12 hours later, they meet again for an NBC News/Facebook debate on “Meet the Press.”
Here are some possible lines of attack to expect, based on what the candidates, their campaigns and their surrogates have been saying lately.
‘Timid vs. Bold’
A major storyline heading into New Hampshire has been former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s stepped-up attacks on former Massachusetts Gov.

The Final Iowa Debate

December 16, 2011

The final Republican presidential debate in advance of the Jan. 3 first-in-the-nation Iowa party caucuses produced a few claims we found worthy of quibbling over. Gingrich challenged Bachmann’s factual accuracy regarding the former speaker’s record on abortion — but we found Bachmann was mostly correct. On the other hand, Bachmann used an inflated jobs figure when she criticized Obama’s decision to delay approval of a Canadian oil pipeline through the U.S.
Seven Republican presidential candidates debated Dec.

Super PAC Polishes Huntsman’s Resume

November 15, 2011

A super PAC backing Jon Huntsman for president makes three misleading or false claims in a TV ad now running in New Hampshire:

The group, which calls itself Our Destiny, suggests President Obama is to blame for a volatile stock market — saying “the stock market is a wreck,” even though the Dow Jones is up more than 50 percent since Obama took office in January 2009.
The ad boasts that Huntsman is “consistently conservative,” citing an op-ed in the Boston Globe.

Huntsman’s Blackout

November 8, 2011

Jon Huntsman falsely claimed that the Obama administration’s proposed regulations to cut pollution from coal-fired electric plants will “likely” cause blackouts “this summer.” That’s not true. Huntsman’s claim is contradicted by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission letter cited by his own campaign, and by independent assessments as well.
No Blackouts ‘This Summer’
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued or is in the process of finalizing several regulations that would significantly affect coal-fired power plants.

Friends Lumped with Foes in Foreign Oil Debate

November 4, 2011

Republican presidential candidates Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman this week both exaggerated the extent to which the U.S. relies on imported oil from countries “hostile” or “unfriendly” to the U.S.
Warning about over-reliance on foreign oil from countries that “don’t like us very much” is a bipartisan refrain. And it is true that some of the oil imported by the U.S. comes from countries that are arguably (and in some cases undeniably) unfriendly to the U.S.

Tales From New Hampshire

October 12, 2011

Our research has turned up some more dubious and misleading claims from the economic debate among Republican candidates in Hanover, N.H. Cain claims his 9-9-9 proposal to overhaul the tax code is “simple, transparent, efficient, fair, and neutral.” But his campaign …

Recycled Spin at New Hampshire GOP Debate

October 11, 2011

At the latest debate, the Republican presidential candidates repeated several claims they’ve made before. The candidates participated in a roundtable-style discussion at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where they reiterated false and misleading lines about the federal health care law, the debt ceiling debate, job creation and more:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney repeated his talking point that the health care law in his state only affected 8 percent of the population — or just the uninsured —

CNN/Tea Party Debate

September 13, 2011

The GOP presidential candidates debated for the second time in six days — tossing out a variety of false and misleading claims on everything from Social Security to vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases. …

Spinning Job Growth: By the Numbers

September 8, 2011

Romney, Perry and Huntsman each cherry-picked facts about job growth in their states when they were governor. Here we offer a broader look at the numbers, which sometimes tell a different story than the candidates.
During the GOP presidential candidates' debate on Sept. 7:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney boasted that Massachusetts was losing jobs when he took office and gaining jobs when he left. That's true, but the entire country was experiencing job growth during that period,