Tim Walz and J.D. Vance faced off in the first and only vice presidential debate of this campaign, clashing over issues such as abortion, childcare, the cost of living and Trump’s 2020 campaign claims.
Below are the facts regarding some of the false or misleading claims presented at Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.
Vance goes on record as Harris’ ‘border czar’
Vance attacked Harris’ record on the border. “When she became vice president and was appointed border czar, the only thing she did was undo President Donald Trump’s executive action that opened the border,” he said.
This contains inaccuracies.
First, Harris was never a “border czar.” This is a term coined by her critics. She was responsible for the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration to the United States, including security and economic turmoil in Central American countries.
Second, she did not “undo President Donald Trump’s actions.” The president signs executive orders, but she wasn’t the president. Joe Biden has rescinded some of Trump’s executive orders on the border. He initially maintained, but eventually lifted, Trump-era restrictions known as Title 42 that allowed the U.S. to turn back migrants at the border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Vance talks about President Trump’s role on January 6th
Mr. Vance defended Mr. Trump’s role on the day of the riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Ohio senator lifted a line from the vice presidential candidate’s speech on January 6, 2021, before the riot.
Vance said Trump “said on January 6th that demonstrators should protest peacefully.”
But President Trump repeatedly urged his supporters to “fight.”
“We’re fighting like hell, and if we don’t fight like hell, we won’t have a country anymore,” Trump said in 2021.
Vance on Trump and the Affordable Care Act
Vance claimed that Donald Trump strengthened or rescued the Affordable Care Act.
That’s not true.
The former president cut millions of dollars in funding to help people buy health care, repeatedly supported efforts in Congress to repeal the law, and asked the Supreme Court to overturn it.
Conflict between immigration and housing prices
Mr. Vance twice suggested that immigrants were responsible for soaring home prices, but when pressed, he agreed that immigration was not the “only” factor.
A bipartisan analysis found that President Trump’s promise of mass deportations could lead to higher prices in several sectors and impact labor availability. The Peterson Institute for International Economics predicts that the policy would have a “major shock to the U.S. economy, causing significant disruption to all sectors, especially agriculture, mining, and manufacturing.”
Vance defends President Trump’s position on abortion
Vance said President Donald Trump supports states enacting their own abortion laws.
Vance claimed that President Trump said, “The proper way to deal with this…is to let the voters decide and let the states decide their abortion policy.”
That’s not correct. During the last debate, Donald Trump declined to say whether he would sign a national abortion ban.
Talking about the ambitions of Project 2025
Minnesota’s governor has insisted that Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s ambitious blueprint to rebuild the federal government under Trump’s second term, will require Americans to register their pregnancies.
“Their Project 2025 is going to have pregnancy registration,” Walz said.
That claim is false. Project 2025 calls for many restrictive policies regarding abortion, including revoking the FDA’s approval of abortion drugs, removing privacy protections for abortion patients, and increasing oversight of abortion by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but not all pregnant women. I’m not asking for it. Register.
The CDC already collects information on abortion from most parts of the country, but its reports are incomplete because some states do not provide data. Project 2025 states that if the CDC “does not tell the mother’s state exactly how many abortions are being performed within its borders, at which gestational age of the child, and for what reason, the CDC will We should go so far as to cut funding from the Where and how to live.”
Advocating for immigrants in Springfield, Ohio
Vance referred to immigrants with legal status as “illegal,” referring to Springfield, Ohio, where many Haitian immigrants have recently settled.
“We brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans, so our schools are overwhelmed, our hospitals are overwhelmed, and housing is completely unaffordable,” he said.
As CBS host Margaret Brennan pointed out, Springfield’s Haitian immigrants have legal status. Local residents and leaders said their arrival helped revitalize the town, which has lost a quarter of its population since the 1960s.
Talking about the climate crisis and manufacturing
The Ohio senator has repeatedly expressed skepticism about the reality that carbon emissions are causing global warming.
Tonight, he said something a little more subtle. “One of the things I’ve noticed that our Democratic friends talk about a lot is their concern about carbon emissions. The idea that carbon emissions are causing all climate change… It’s just that it’s true. Let me tell you,” just for discussion. ”
Despite Vance’s skepticism, that’s certainly true. 100% of global warming since 1950 is due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation.
Vance also took viewers on a circuitous journey to suggest that if Harris really cared about the climate crisis, she would bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
Carbon emissions contribute to global warming, whether manufactured in the United States or abroad. The Controlling Inflation Act of 2022, the Biden administration’s landmark climate bill, is primarily aimed at encouraging domestic manufacturing.
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