» PolitiFact: Fact-checking the whoppers and the wisdom,
Here’s a roundup of PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter ratings from statements made by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during Monday’s debate. Read more details on these fact checks and others at PolitiFact. com.
Trump: “I did not support the war in Iraq . ... The record shows that I’m right.”
This oft-repeated claim is False. The record does not support Trump’s repeated assertions that he opposed the war prior to the 2003 invasion. Around the time of the invasion, Trump’s comments were few and far between, not to mention vague. In 2002, asked if America should go to war, he said, “I guess so.”
Clinton: “The only years that anybody’s ever seen” of Trump’s tax returns “showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax.”
Trump has not released his tax returns, but a 1981 report that analyzed Trump’s finances as part of his efforts to get a casino license detailed his income and federal tax payments for 1975 through 1979. The report states that Trump paid federal taxes for three of those five years, totaling $71,932 on reported income of $219,334. In the final two years he did not pay federal income taxes because he reported losing money each year — more than $3.8 million.
Clinton’s statement is Mostly False.
Trump: Says Clinton called the Trans-Pacific Partnership “the gold standard of trade deals. You said it’s the finest deal you’ve ever seen.”
In 2012, while the agreement was still being negotiated, then Secretary of State Clinton said, “This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field.” In 2014, she wrote in her memoir that she was reserving judgment on the deal until it was finalized.
Trump’s statement is Mostly True.
Clinton: “You even at one time suggested that you would try to negotiate down the national debt of the United States.”
In two interviews in May, Trump suggested that he could do something to negotiate federal debt through “discounting” and that he would “refinance debt” and “buy back debt on — at a discount.” But he backtracked after criticism, saying his words had been misinterpreted. Clinton’s claim is Mostly True.
Trump: “I did not — I did not — I do not say that. I do not say that” climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.
He did say it — in a tweet four years ago. He has since described that remark as a “joke,” and he hasn’t pushed this exact theory about China in recent years. But Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax” in speeches, tweets and media appearances. His denial is Mostly False. Clinton: “Donald was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis. He said, back in 2006, ‘Gee, I hope it does collapse, because then I can go in and buy some and make some money.’ Well, it did collapse.”
This is Mostly True. Trump was speaking from the perspective of an investor and wasn’t necessarily welcoming the tragedy of foreclosures for millions of American. But he did speak optimistically about the opportunities created for an investor such as himself.
Trump: Says top Clinton advisers “were pressing” birther movement stories “very hard.”
Trump added that this account was confirmed by Clinton campaign aide Patti Solis Doyle in a recent CNN interview. But Doyle said only that a volunteer coordinator for the campaign in Iowa in 2007 had forwarded an email raising questions about Obama’s background; Doyle told CNN that she fired that campaign worker.
Trump also pointed to Clinton friend Sydney Blumenthal reportedly urging a Washington bureau chief to have a reporter in Kenya look into rumors about Obama’s birthplace. But Blumenthal denies that he questioned Obama’s birthplace, and an email that he sent at the time shows that he urged the reporter in Kenya to look into “the impact there of Obama’s public comments about his father. I’m told by State Dept officials that Obama publicly derided his father on his visit there and that was regarded as embarrassing.”
Trump’s claim is False.