Presidential Debate Fact Check: Analyzing Trump and Harris on Abortion, Immigration, and More
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took the stage in Philadelphia tonight for their first presidential debate of the Nov. 5 election season.
The USA TODAY Fact Check Team looked into the claims from both candidates and added context where it was missing on issues like abortion, immigration, guns, and inflation.
Read on for our analysis of statements that exaggerated, misled, misrepresented, or otherwise strayed from reality. Our team uses reliable documents, nonpartisan sources, data, and other research tools to check the accuracy of these claims.
Donald Trump Claim: 2020 Election Lawsuits Failed Only on ‘Technicality’
“They said we didn’t have standing. That’s the other thing. They said we didn’t have standing. A technicality.”
Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden was “rigged.” He continued this line during tonight’s debate, claiming his lawsuits failed on the technicality of not having “standing,” a legal term for the right to bring a lawsuit based on one’s connection to the issue at hand.
But that isn’t true. Trump and his allies filed dozens of lawsuits, many of which went before judges in hearings, including 30 that were heard on the merits. Every case but one failed.
Eight conservative legal experts published a report in 2022 reviewing 64 cases in six swing states, finding no evidence of widespread election fraud. The report concluded these efforts failed due to lack of evidence, not due to erroneous rulings or unfair judges.
Kamala Harris Claim: Number of New Manufacturing Jobs Under Biden Surpasses 800,000
“We have created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs.”
This claim—echoing one Biden made in 2023—is not quite accurate anymore. Since Biden took office in January 2021, the U.S. added about 739,000 manufacturing jobs, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Labor Department lowered its previous estimates during a revision of its data, estimating 115,000 fewer manufacturing jobs were created. A final revision is expected in February 2025.
Harris Claim: SCOTUS Ruled Trump Would Be Immune from Misconduct While President
“The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that the former president would essentially be immune from any misconduct if he were to enter the White House again.”
This overstates the ruling. Harris refers to a Supreme Court decision that concluded presidents, including Trump, are partially immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. The decision isn’t as clear-cut as Harris implies; it protects “official” acts by presidents but leaves room for prosecution for unofficial acts.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the president does is official. The president is not above the law.” Trump is the first president, former or current, to be criminally charged.
Donald Trump Claim: Migrants Eating Cats, Dogs in Ohio
“In Springfield, (migrants are) eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating… they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
This claim echoes Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, who accused Haitian immigrants of eating pets in his home state of Ohio. Springfield city officials, including the city manager, say there’s no evidence of any cats or other pets being harmed or eaten by Haitian immigrants.
There was an incident in Canton, Ohio, involving a woman arrested on suspicion of killing and eating a cat, but she was not a Haitian immigrant.
Donald Trump Claim: Biden Took $3.5 Million from Moscow Mayor’s Wife
“Between (Joe Biden) and his son, they get all this money from Ukraine, from all of these countries, and then you wonder why he’s so loyal to this one, that one, Ukraine, China, why did he get $3.5 million from the mayor of Moscow’s wife? Why did she pay him $3.5 million?”
