Trump's avalanche of falsehoods: Harris missteps minimal in debate
According to CNN's preliminary summary, former U.S. President Donald Trump made at least 33 false claims during the debate. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris made only one false claim.
CNN reports that during the presidential debate, Trump once again made a large number of various false claims, with his statements on topics such as abortion, immigration, and the economy being labelled as "blatant lies."
Harris was much more accurate than Trump – CNN's preliminary calculations found only one false statement from the current vice president. However, several of her other statements could be described as misleading or lacking context.
Trump’s false statements include his assertion about the alleged lack of inflation during his term. Even though inflation was indeed low at the end of his term, his claim is not accurate.
Trump's false statements about migrants during the debate
The topic of migrants was repeatedly mentioned. Trump stated that migrants coming to the U.S. were escaping from prisons or psychiatric hospitals.
- We have millions of people pouring into our country, from prisons and jails, from psychiatric facilities, and insane asylums - claimed Trump, which does not reflect reality.
The former U.S. president also made a widely commented claim that Haitian immigrants in the city of Springfield, Ohio, were stealing people's dogs and cats and then eating them.
- In Springfield, they’re 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 - he said.
According to CNN, both the city of Springfield and local police stated there is no evidence for this claim, and Trump's assertion might be based on a Facebook post in which someone claiming to be a local resident relayed such a story.
Trump also claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris met with Vladimir Putin days before Russia invaded Ukraine but failed to dissuade him from attacking.
- They sent her to negotiate peace before the war started - said Trump. - Three days later (Putin) started the war because everything they said was meaningless and stupid.
Harris never participated in peace negotiations and never met with Putin. In reality, she met with U.S. allies, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022, days before Russia invaded Ukraine. Putin did not attend the conference.