WASHINGTON: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris clashed Tuesday in the pair’s first and so far only scheduled presidential debate of the 2024 election campaign. Harris and Trump traded claims about each other’s record in office, as well as their plans if they won election.
AFP fact-checked the accuracy of what they said on key issues:
The Economy
Asked if the people of the US were better off than they were four years ago, Kamila Harris did not give a direct reply. She blamed Trump of leaving Democrats “the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.” This claim is misleading. Unemployment spiked at 14.8 percent in April 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the United States. By the time Donald Trump left office joblessness was 6.4 percent.
Harris claimed she would offer families a tax credit of up to $6,000 for each eligible kid, as well as a $50,000 tax reduction for small businesses, if elected. Haris said Trump would favor billionaires over anyone else, and claimed he also planned a sales tax that would hit ordinary citizens.
Inflation
Trump countered by claiming Biden’s administration ushered in the highest inflation in the history of the US, citing figures of 21 percent and as high as 60 percent on some items. According to AFP, this is false claim. Inflation stands at 2.9 percent in the US. Inflation did hit a high of 9.1 percent under Biden’s administration in 2022. This was also well below a historic high of 23.7 percent in 1920. Trump also refused that he would implement a sales tax.
Immigration and migrant crime
Donald Trump falsely claimed that “millions and millions” of people from nations such as Venezuela are entering the US and carrying out crimes. He re-aired a false viral claim that migrants are eating animals in Ohio. However, police rejected the claims of Trump. A June 2023 study found a decrease in incarceration rates among immigrants from all regions since 1960. Research has also found migrants commit fewer violent crimes than Americans. FBI statistics from the first three months of 2024 suggest a 15 percent decline in violent crime year-over-year.
