JD Vance refuses to say Trump lost in 2020, downplays events of Jan. 6
(NEW YORK) — In one of the most notable exchanges of the vice presidential debate, Republican candidate JD Vance refused to say former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and downplayed the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the ceremonial certification of the results.
The Ohio senator also declined to rule out challenging the outcome of the 2024 race, even if votes were certified by every state leader as legitimate.
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, expressed exasperation and disbelief. He said such denialism had to stop because it was “tearing our country apart.”
The topic of democracy, a top issue for many voters this cycle, came up near the end of the 90-minute debate hosted by CBS News in New York City.
Moderator Norah O’Donnell, noting there were no findings of widespread fraud in 2020, asked Vance about his past comment that he would not have certified the election if he had been vice president and instead would have asked states to submit alternate slate of electors.
“That has been called unconstitutional and illegal,” O’Donnell said. “Would you, again, seek to challenge this year’s election results, even if every governor certifies the results?”
Vance first sidestepped the question by saying he was “focused on the future” and criticized Harris, who he later claimed was the real “threat to democracy” as he accused her of censorship.
When he did address the question, he said: “Look, what President Trump has said is that there were problems in 2020, and my own belief is that we should fight about those issues, debate those issues peacefully in the public square.”
“And that’s all I’ve said, and that’s all that Donald Trump has said,” Vance continued, even though Trump is criminally accused of trying to overturn the election. “Remember, he said that on Jan. 6, the protesters ought to protest peacefully, and on Jan. 20 what happened? Joe Biden became the president, Donald Trump left the White House and now, of course, unfortunately, we have all of the negative policies that have come from the Harris-Biden administration.”
Walz called those comments “troubling” and said he was concerned about Trump’s recent threats to jail political opponents and his efforts to cast doubt on this year’s outcome.
“Here we are, four years later, in the same boat,” Walz said. “I will tell you, that when this is over, we need to shake hands, this election, and the winner needs to be the winner. This has got to stop. It’s tearing our country apart.”
The two, in a departure from the civil tone of the night, got into a tense back-and-forth on the issue.
Vance tried to cast election denialism as an issue for both parties, trying to equate Trump’s actions to Hillary Clinton’s complaints about the 2016 election (but only after she conceded).
“Hillary Clinton, in 2016, said that Donald Trump had the election stolen by Vladimir Putin because the Russians bought, like, $500,000 worth of Facebook ads,” Vance said.
“January 6 was not Facebook ads,” Walz said, hammering him for casting Jan. 6 as “peaceful” given the violence and deaths.
That day, which began with a speech by Trump at the Ellipse in which he told attendees to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol, culminated in approximately 140 law enforcement officers being injured, more than a thousand people being charged and cost millions of dollars damage.
In the months leading up to Jan. 6, Trump spread falsehoods about the 2020 election being “rigged” and “stolen” by Democrats. At the Ellipse, he continued the incendiary language and proclaimed, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Toward the end of Tuesday’s debate, Walz turned toward Vance and pressed him directly: “Did he lose the 2020 election?”
“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance responded.
“That is a damning non-answer,” Walz shot back.
He also invoked former Vice President Mike Pence, saying the reason he wasn’t on the debate stage was because of his decision to carry out the certification of the 2020 results against Trump’s wishes.
“America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice,” Walz said, “of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”
Trump also refused to accept that he lost the 2020 election during the ABC News presidential debate on Sept. 10.
When confronted with own recent remarks that he “lost by a whisker,” Trump doubled down. “I said that?” he responded.
“Are you now acknowledging that you lost in 2020?” ABC News moderator David Muir asked.
“No, I don’t acknowledge that at all,” he said. “That was said sarcastically.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing as he faces federal and state charges for his efforts to overturn his election.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met for the first time Tuesday in their first presidential debate of the 2024 election, hosted by ABC News.
The high-stakes, 90-minute debate is being held at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, with Trump and Harris arguing their case for the White House.
As the Democratic and Republican nominees debate the most pressing topics facing the nation, ABC News is live fact-checking their statements for answers that are exaggerated, need more context or are false.
Please check back for ongoing updates.
HARRIS CLAIM: 16 Nobel laureates say Trump’s plan would increase inflation and land us in a recession
FACT-CHECK: Mostly true
Harris correctly describes what the Nobel laureates said about inflation during a Trump presidency: “There is rightly a worry that Donald Trump will reignite this inflation.” But while the group describes Harris’ agenda as “vastly superior” to Trump’s, their letter doesn’t specifically predict a recession by the middle of 2025. Rather, the group wrote: “We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the U.S.’s economic standing in the world and a destabilizing effect on the U.S.’s domestic economy.”
The 16 economists are George Akerlof, Angus Deaton, Claudia Goldin, Oliver Hart, Eric S. Maskin, Daniel L. McFadden, Paul R. Milgrom, Roger B. Myerson, Edmund S. Phelps, Paul M. Romer, Alvin E. Roth, William F. Sharp, Robert J. Shiller, Christopher A. Sims, Joseph Stiglitz and Robert B. Wilson.
-PolitiFact’s Louis Jacobson
HARRIS CLAIM: Trump wants “20% tax on everyday goods” that would cost families “about $4000 more a year”
FACT-CHECK: True, but needs context
Trump has proposed a universal “10-20%” tariff on all U.S. imports, from cars and electronics to wine, food products and many other goods. He has also proposed a 60% tariff on imports from China. Vice President Harris called the plan “Trump’s sales tax,” though the former president has not explicitly proposed such a tax. Independent economists, however, say the proposed import tariffs would unquestionably result in higher prices for American consumers across the board.
The precise financial impact on families is hard to predict and estimates vary widely — from additional annual costs per household of $1,700 to nearly $4,000, depending on the study. Trump has not called for any tax hikes for American families.
He has proposed exempting Social Security benefits and tips from taxation, as well as extending individual tax cuts enacted in 2017.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump says “We have inflation like very few people have ever seen before. Probably the worst in our nation’s history.”
FACT-CHECK: False, but it was very high
It’s true that early in Joe Biden’s presidency the annual inflation rate peaked at roughly 9 percent (June of 2022), but that’s not the highest it’s ever been. There are several examples of the inflation rate being much higher than 9 percent in the U.S, including in the immediate aftermath of WWII and during the oil embargo and shortages of the late 70’s and early 1980s.
But, there are several examples of the inflation rate being much higher than 9 percent in the U.S., including in the immediate aftermath of WWII and during the oil embargo of the late 70’s and early 1980s when the inflation rate peaked at 14.5 percent. The inflation rate as of July 2024 is at 2.9 percent annual inflation, the lowest it has been in 3 years. It should also be noted that President Biden has falsely claimed that he inherited a high rate from his predecessor. In fact, inflation was at 1.4 percent when he took office.
*Data for this fact check was gathered from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, or St. Louis Fed
HARRIS CLAIM: Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression
FACT-CHECK: Needs context
The unemployment rate peaked at 14.8% in April 2020 when Trump was in office – that was indeed the highest level since the Great Depression, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But unemployment rapidly declined to 6.4% in January 2021 by the time Trump left office, as the economy started to rebalance. And that 6.4% unemployment rate is still better than the 10% peak during the Great Recession in October 2009.
If you eliminate pandemic statistics, the lowest unemployment rate under Trump was just slightly higher than the lowest point under Biden. Both were good: 3.5% under Trump and 3.4% under Biden at their lowest respectively, according to data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
HARRIS CLAIM: Trump “killed” bill that would have secured border
FACT-CHECK: True
Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a $20 billion plan to substantially bolster security along the U.S.-Mexico border. It would have added hundreds of border patrol and ICE agents and asylum officers; funded construction of new border wall; expanded detention facilities; ended “catch and release;” effectively closed the border entirely when illegal crossings surge; and raised the bar for asylum claims, according to the bill.
The influential Border Patrol union, which has previously endorsed Trump, publicly backed the bill. But hours after the draft legislation was unveiled on Feb. 5, Trump urged his party to oppose the bill, even as many Republicans have spent years lobbying for some of the security measures included in the deal.
“I’ll fight it all the way,” Trump told supporters at a Las Vegas rally Feb. 8. “A lot of the senators are trying to say, respectfully, they’re blaming it on me. I say, that’s okay. Please blame it on me.” Trump openly invoked election-year politics as a motivation for his position: “This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party. It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans,” Trump wrote on social media. The bill failed a key Senate procedural vote in May, with all but one Republican voting against it, including all those involved in crafting the deal.
TRUMP CLAIM: Haitian migrants eating pets in Ohio
FACT-CHECK: False
According to the city of Springfield, Ohio, these claims are false. A city spokesperson tells ABC News there have been “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”
Rumors that migrants from Haiti are stealing and eating animals there have run rampant after a series of claims spread widely online, amplified by social media posts from leading political figures in recent days.
“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic,” the spokesperson added.
The House Judiciary GOP X account used AI tools to show Trump holding cats and ducks, portraying him as a savior of animals.
One of the main images circulating online, showing a man holding a dead goose, was taken not in Springfield but in Columbus, Ohio, two months ago. The resident who captured the image told ABC News he was surprised to see his image used to ” push false narratives.”
According to the Springfield News-Sun, the Springfield Police Department has not received any reports of pets being stolen and eaten. The city even created a webpage debunking some claims.
Migrants have been drawn to the region because of low cost of living and work opportunities, the city says on its site. The city estimates there are around 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants living in the county, and that the rapid rise in population has strained housing, health care, and school resources. But the city also says that the migrants are in the country legally and that many are recipients of Temporary Protected Status from the federal government.
HARRIS CLAIM: Trump ‘intends on implementing’ Project 2025
FACT-CHECK: Needs context
Conservative allies and former advisors to Donald Trump published a 900-page policy blueprint in April 2023 to help a new Republican administration transition to power. The effort – dubbed Project 2025 – was organized by the Heritage Foundation, a prominent right-wing think tank. It details proposals for staffing the government and restructuring federal agencies, writing regulations, managing the economy and ensuring national security.
Harris claims Trump “intends on implementing” the “detailed and dangerous” plan if he wins a second term. But Trump denies any association with Project 2025, saying on social media in July: “I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it,” and also publicly denounced its substance as “seriously extreme” and developed by the “severe right.”
“I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” Trump posted on social media. Many of the document’s priorities, however, are broadly championed by Trump, including construction of a border wall, mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, among other things.
Dozens of former members of his administration were involved in the project, including former cabinet secretaries and West Wing aides. Many of the same people helped craft the Republican Party platform, ABC News has reported. Speaking at a Heritage Foundation event in April 2022, Trump said: “This is a great group and they’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do… when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America.”
HARRIS CLAIM: ‘If Donald Trump were to be reelected, he will sign a national abortion ban.’
FACT-CHECK: False
Trump has said he has “no regrets” in selecting the Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. But he also repeatedly has promised that if elected, he will not sign a federal abortion ban into law and will leave the issue up to the states. One open question this year had been whether he would enforce the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that prohibits mailing materials used in abortions.
Among other things, the law would make it illegal to ship the drug mifepristone, which is used to terminate early pregnancies. The Biden administration has said the law is unenforceable because the drug has medical uses other than abortion, and it would be impossible to know how the drug was being used. Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, and other conservatives have called for the enforcement of the law.
In an August interview with CBS News, Trump said that while “we will be discussing specifics of it,” he will not enforce the Comstock Act.
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump said ‘they didn’t fire anybody having to do with Afghanistan.’
FACT-CHECK: True, but needs context.
It is accurate that no one with a direct role in the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021 has been held publicly accountable.
Trump appears to be specifically referring to a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members. U.S. Central Command ultimately concluded that the bombing was not preventable and that members of a Marine sniper team were mistaken when they told others they had the suicide bomber in their sights.
Trump, congressional Republicans and several Gold Star families say they believe these investigations have not gone far enough.
TRUMP CLAIM: Kamala Harris wants to ban fracking
FACT-CHECK: Needs context
It’s true that Harris once called to ban fracking altogether, but she has since said she changed her policy view. During a CNN town hall on climate change in 2019 when she was still a Senator, Harris said, “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.” Fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing,” and it’s a technique used in the extraction of oil and natural gas from underground rock formations.
Harris also said she backed California’s efforts to stop the practice in her home state when she was the state’s attorney general. However, she eventually changed her view on fracking when she became Biden’s running mate in 2020. During an October 2020 segment on ABC’s The View, Harris said neither she nor Biden would ban fracking. Harris reiterated that she would not ban fracking during the ABC News Presidential Debate.
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump said ‘I’d like to give you 10,000 National Guard soldiers. They rejected me. Nancy [Pelosi] rejected me.’
FACT-CHECK: False
The final report by the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol determined there was “no evidence” to support the claim that Trump gave an order “to have 10,000 troops ready for January 6th.”
The report quoted President Trump’s Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who directly refuted this claim under oath, saying, “There was no direct order from the President” to put 10,000 troops to be on the ready for January 6th.
Instead, the report noted that when Trump referenced that number of troops, it was not to protect the Capitol but that he had “floated the idea of having 10,000 National Guardsmen deployed to protect him and his supporters from any supposed threats by left-wing counter-protesters.”
HARRIS CLAIM: If elected, Trump would be immune from criminal prosecution
FACT-CHECK: Partly true
Vice President Harris claimed Trump would be “immune from any misconduct” and have “no guard rails” after a landmark Supreme Court decision in June.
The court did rule the core powers, which include the ability to make treaties, veto bills, nominate cabinet members, appoint ambassadors, act as Commander-in-Chief of the military, and grant pardons.) The court also said that presidents enjoy “at least presumptive immunity” for other “official acts” – defined broadly as actions within the “outer perimeter” of official responsibilities but not “manifestly or palpably beyond his authority.”
While the decision is widely construed as granting broad protection for a president, the court said presidents are “not above the law” and enjoy no “absolute” immunity, leaving room for a narrow set of cases where a current or former president could face criminal prosecution. There is also no immunity for “unofficial” acts, the court said.
Trump faces a pair of active federal criminal cases against him brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. The Supreme Court decision does not mean those prosecutions cannot move forward, but it has significantly delayed proceedings and made it more difficult to convict Trump. If he were to win a second term, Trump’s Justice Department could dismiss the Special Counsel and effectively end the cases against him.
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump said he ended the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and ‘Biden put it back on day one.’
FACT-CHECK: Mostly false
The Nord Stream 2 is an undersea pipeline that would have allowed Russia to increase natural gas exports to Western Europe while bypassing Ukraine and depriving Kyiv billions of dollars in access fees. It’s true that in 2019, Trump announced sanctions that halted the pipeline’s construction. But by that point, the pipeline was nearly complete with a majority of the project occurring under Trump’s presidency, according to a 2020 analysis by the Congressional Research Service.
Biden later waived sanctions against the pipeline’s builder at the request of Germany in 2021, but reimposed penalties the following year as Russia invaded Ukraine.
HARRIS CLAIM: Trump’s deal with the Taliban is to blame for the chaotic withdrawal in Afghanistan.
FACT-CHECK: Needs context
The top government watchdog on the Afghanistan war blames Trump’s 2020 deal with the Taliban as “the single most important factor” in the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s forces a year later. But the same office also says Biden’s decision to stick with a firm withdrawal date of U.S. troops was a factor as well.
Trump’s deal with the Taliban called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces by May 2021 and release 5,000 of its fighters from Afghan prisons so long as they agreed not to attack U.S. forces. According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the agreement was seen by Afghan forces as a “signal that the U.S. was handing over Afghanistan to the enemy as it rushed to exit the country.” Trump also had reduced U.S. troop levels to the lowest point in the 20-year war, and Afghan forces weren’t prepared to take over, according to the inspector general.
Biden aides say the poor security situation when he took office in January 2021 put the newly elected president in an almost impossible position. Biden could have surged U.S. troops to the country to try to bolster the weakened Afghan government. But doing so would have extended what was already the nation’s longest war and put American forces at risk of renewed attacks by the Taliban. According to the inspector general, Biden’s announcement that he would stick with a 2021 withdrawal date contributed to the poor morale among Afghan troops, paving the way for a government collapse and subsequent Taliban takeover.
TRUMP CLAIM: Harris and Walz support abortion ‘in the seventh month, the eighth month, the ninth month… And probably after birth.’
FACT-CHECK: False
Trump has claimed that Democrats in some states allow for the killing of an infant after birth. This is false.
There is no state that allows the killing of a baby after birth. Infanticide is illegal in all 50 states. His false claim stems from a refusal by many Democrats to support any legal restrictions on abortion, and he specifically references comments by former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a physician, who once said that in rare, late-pregnancy cases when fetuses are nonviable, doctors deliver the baby, resuscitate it if the mother wishes, and then have a “discussion” with the mother.
While most states that allow abortion do so only up until fetal viability, there are several states – including Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Gov. Tim Walz’s home state of Minnesota — that do not impose a legal limit on abortion procedures. Advocates for abortion rights say the absence of legal consequences after fetal liability doesn’t mean doctors will try to terminate full-term, healthy pregnancies.
In fact, access to late term procedures is limited, costly and medically complex — typically done only when a woman’s life is threatened or the fetus isn’t expected to survive. Many Democrats say they want to pass legislation that would codify the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which protects abortion rights up until viability.
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump said he lost the 2020 election on a ‘technicality’ because judges determined he lacked standing in election lawsuits.
FACT-CHECK: False
Trump lost the 2020 election after Biden won 306 electoral votes, compared to Trump’s 232 electoral votes.
After losing the 2020 election, Trump and his allies filed more than 60 lawsuits to challenge the outcome of the election — the overwhelming majority of which were dismissed or dropped. Many of the cases were dismissed because the plaintiffs in the cases could not prove a strong enough connection to the action they were challenging. Not having “standing” is a common and legally justifiable reason for a case to be dismissed.
TRUMP CLAIM: The Biden administration left $85 billion worth of ‘brand new beautiful military equipment behind’ in Afghanistan that was seized by the Taliban.
FACT-CHECK: False
This is not accurate, as $83 billion is an estimate of the entire amount spent by the US in security assistance in Afghanistan since 2001.
Still, the Defense Department’s Inspector General estimates $7.12 billion worth of U.S.-funded equipment was seized by the Taliban when the U.S. withdrew. According to the government watchdog, that amount includes 78 aircraft, some 9,500 air-to-ground munitions, 40,000 vehicles, 300,000 weapons and nearly all night-vision, surveillance, communications and biometric equipment provided to Afghanistan forces.
HARRIS CLAIM: ‘Trump took out a full page ad calling for their execution’
FACT-CHECK: True
Not long after the Central Park Five were arrested, Trump placed full-page ads in New York newspapers urging New York to bring back the death penalty. “These muggers and murderers” should be “forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes,” said the ad, above Trump’s signature.
-PolitiFact’s Aaron Sharockman
HARRIS CLAIM: Trump exchanged love letters with Kim Jong Un
FACT-CHECK: False
Trump did exchange letters with Kim Jong Un in August 2018 after the two leaders held a summit together in Singapore in June 2018. Trump tweeted thanking the North Korean leader “for your nice letter – I look forward to seeing you soon.” The White House at the time said Trump sent a reply to the North Korean leader, but the White House did not provide details about what was in Kim Jong Un’s letter or what was in Trump’s reply.
In August 2019, Trump said he received a “very beautiful letter” from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when speaking to reporters.
In September 2018, Trump told a crowd at a campaign rally that there was once tough talk between the two leaders, “and then we fell in love.”
“And then we fell in love, okay? No, really – he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters,” Trump said at the rally. Trump did often speak favorably of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during and after his presidency.
HARRIS CLAIM: Biden-Harris made historic investments in clean energy
FACT-CHECK: Needs context
The U.S. budget for clean energy investments (over $559 billion as of August 2023) is the largest in the world, according to the World Economic Forum. About a third of that investment is going toward low-carbon electricity projects, and about a quarter is aimed at developing low-carbon, efficient transportation, according to WEF. In the first quarter of 2024, the U.S. “continued its record-setting growth” with a new high of $71 billion invested in clean energy and transportation, according to Clean Investment Monitor.
At the same time, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in March that the U.S. is now producing more crude oil than any country ever has — and has been for the past six years in a row. In December 2023 the U.S. reached a new monthly record high of more than 13.3 million barrels per day, according to the EIA.
The Harris-Walz campaign told ABC News that the trillion-dollar amount cited by the vice president is based on the total spending of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In a statement, they told us “Vice President Harris was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote on the largest ever investment to address the climate crisis and under the Biden-Harris Administration, America is more energy secure than ever before with the highest domestic energy production on record.”
Even if you take the lowest estimate for federal spending under the IRA, 780-800 billion dollars, adding the funds allocated in the CHIPS and BIL laws does exceed the $1 trillion figures that Harris has cited in her campaign speeches. All three laws include provisions that address climate change.
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump suggested he ‘probably took a bullet to the head’ because of Harris.
FACT-CHECK: False
Trump suggested that the July 13 assassination attempt may have been because of Harris. The FBI has not established a motive that explains why Thomas Matthew Crooks fired on Trump.
Trump said, “This is the one that weaponized, not me. She weaponized. I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me. They talk about democracy, I’m a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy.”
During the most recent update on the investigation in a briefing with reporters on Aug. 28, FBI Executive Director Robert Wells said, “At this time, the FBI has not identified a motive nor any co-conspirators or associates of Crooks with advanced knowledge of the attack.”
“We continue to see through our analysis a mixture of ideologies. So I would say that we see no definitive ideology associated with our subject, either left-leaning or right-leaning. It’s really been a mixture and something that we’re still attempting to analyze and draw conclusions on,” FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office Kevin Rojek said at the same briefing.
While they do not know what motivated Crooks, the FBI does believe he had a mindset to carry out some kind of attack and looked at Trump’s Butler rally, about an hour from his home, as a “target of opportunity.”
“Regarding the subject’s mindset, so we saw, through our analysis of all his – particularly his online searches – a sustained detailed effort to plan an attack on some events, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets. And then when this event was announced, the Trump rally was announced early in July, he became hyper-focused on that specific event and looked at it as a target of opportunity,” Rojek said. “Again, I want to stress that we continue to analyze all the evidence associated with his accounts, with his online search activity. And we have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time.”
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump said ‘Ashley Babbitt was shot by an out-of-control police officer that should have never, ever shot her. It’s a disgrace.’
FACT-CHECK: Misleading
The U.S. Capitol Police Office of Professional Responsibility in August 2021 cleared the officer involved in the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, saying that officer would “not be facing internal discipline.”
An internal investigation found the actions of the officer were “lawful and within Department policy,” it said.
Babbitt was seen on video on Jan. 6 attempting to kick through a window near the House Speaker’s Lobby, shortly after Babbitt entered the Capitol. She was subsequently shot and killed by the officer.
The agency said they’d reviewed all available evidence in connection with the shooting including video and radio calls, and Capitol Police stood by the officer and said his actions saved the lives of lawmakers and family members.
HARRIS CLAIM: Harris said, ‘As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is an active duty in a combat zone, in any war zone around the world, the first time this century.’
FACT-CHECK: False
Harris appears to be using a narrow definition of what constitutes a combat zone, because there are U.S. military troops in the Middle East who have come under deadly fire over the last year.
There are currently 2,500 U.S. military troops in Iraq and more than 900 U.S. military personnel in Syria who are on a mission to support local forces to prevent a resurgence by ISIS. While the troops in both countries are mostly involved in an advisory role some of them are also engaged in risky counterterrorism missions against ISIS. But the real threat to these troops over the past year were the repeated attacks against U.S. bases in both countries by Iranian-backed militia groups that launched more than 170 rocket and drone attacks.
But it was an attack on a U.S. base in neighboring Jordan this past January that has proven to be the most costly. Three U.S. Soldiers were killed and 34 others were wounded when a drone launched by those militia groups made it past air defense systems. That attack led the Biden administration to order large-scale retaliatory airstrikes against the Iranian-backed militia groups.
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump said, ‘Iran was broke under Donald Trump. Now Iran has $300 billion because they took off all the sanctions that I had.’
FACT-CHECK: Mostly false, needs context
Trump claimed that if he was in office, Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel never would have happened because the terror group’s chief sponsor, Iran, “had no money for terror.” However, Iran has been Hamas’ principal backer for decades, including through the Trump presidency. Records retrieved from inside Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces and verified by independent news outlets indicate Tehran funneled tens of millions of dollars during the Trump administration.
Two of Trump’s top advisers for Middle Eastern affairs also claimed that Iran was supplying Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups with $100 million each year in an op-ed published in 2019. Trump also said that Iran gained $300 billion because the Biden-Harris administration “took off all the sanctions I had” on Iran.
The current administration has maintained and even levied new sanctions against Iran, but during its attempt to renegotiate an Obama-era nuclear deal that Trump exited in 2018, the U.S. did ease the enforcement of some sanctions and restore a U.N waiver that allowed companies from other countries to conduct non-proliferation work at Iranian nuclear sites.
According to shipping data, Iran’s oil exports — its chief source of revenue — have climbed during the last four years. But experts estimate than Tehran has been able to accrue around $100 billion at most during President Biden’s term, which is substantially less than Trump’s figure of $300 billion.
HARRIS CLAIM: Harris said, ‘The former president said climate change is a hoax’
FACT-CHECK: True
Trump certainly has a lengthy record of using the word “hoax” to describe climate change — mostly before and during his first run for president.
On Dec. 30, 2015, Trump told the crowd at a rally in Hilton Head, South Carolina, “Obama’s talking about all of this with the global warming and… a lot of it’s a hoax. It’s a hoax. I mean, it’s a money-making industry, okay? It’s a hoax, a lot of it.” On Jan. 25, 2014, Trump tweeted, “NBC News just called it the great freeze — coldest weather in years. Is our country still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX?”
On Jan. 29, 2014, Trump tweeted: “Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!” That same day, he tweeted, “Give me clean, beautiful and healthy air – not the same old climate change (global warming) b——-! I am tired of hearing this nonsense.”
Trump also called climate change a “hoax” on the Jan. 6, 2014, edition of Fox & Friends. In addition, he said on the Sept. 24, 2015, edition of CNN’s New Day, “I don’t believe in climate change.” And on Jan. 18, 2016, Trump said that climate change “is done for the benefit of China, because China does not do anything to help climate change.”
TRUMP CLAIM: Trump claims Europe giving billions less to Ukraine than the U.S.
FACT-CHECK: False
Trump said the U.S. has committed “250 billion or more” in aid to Ukraine, claiming that European countries meanwhile have paid $150 billion less, despite being more directly affected by the war.
“You take a look at what’s happening, we’re in for 250 to 275 billion. They’re into 100 to 150,” Trump said.
In reality, while the U.S. is easily the largest single donor to Ukraine, European countries collectively have given significantly more and their share recently has increased.
According to Kiel Institute’s Ukraine aid tracker, the U.S. has so far committed nearly $109 billion to Ukraine in military and humanitarian aid, with roughly $25.7 billion still to be allocated.
European countries have committed more than $196 billion — that is $87 billion more than the U.S., according to the Kiel Institute tracker. However, $85 billion of that also remains to be allocated.
Media reporting often says the U.S. has committed $175 billion to Ukraine through Congressional approvals. But in reality, much of those funds are not destined for Ukraine, but instead goes to the Department of Defense for procurement, operations and maintenance, as well as other programs, according to the Kiel Institute.
The U.S. remains the crucial supporter of Ukraine and is irreplaceable in terms of military equipment and ammunition, which other NATO allies lack in sufficient amounts. When hard-right pro-Trump Republicans in Congress delayed a new aid bill for months, Ukraine began to suffer severe ammunition shortages.
(WASHINGTON) — When former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in July, he made an initial pitch for unity. It didn’t last long.
And he’s taken a decidedly different tack after a second apparent assassination attempt Sunday at his Florida golf club.
Less than 24 hours later, Trump laid blame for the political violence on Democrats, telling Fox News Digital the rhetoric of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was “causing me to be shot at” while also asserting they are “destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
Harris, he posted on social media, “has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust. Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!”
He also claimed, without evidence, that the suspects in both cases were “radical left” despite their motives not having been publicly determined. (Investigators are currently examining Florida suspect Ryan Wesley Routh’s frustration with Trump’s position on Ukraine, sources told ABC News. In the Pennsylvania rally shooting, the suspected gunman, Thomas Mathew Crooks, was a registered Republican but had also made a small donation to a progressive group in 2021.)
Regardless, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, doubled down on the “blame Democrats” strategy at a campaign stop in Michigan on Tuesday.
“I think that it’s time to say to the Democrats, to the media, to everybody that has been attacking this man and trying to censor this man for going on 10 years, cut it out or you’re going to get somebody killed,” Vance said.
Susan Benesch, founding director of the Dangerous Speech Project, said Trump’s statements are “impossible not to put it in the context of his relentless use of violent rhetoric.”
“So, he’s a pot calling the kettle black,” Benesch said. “At the same time, that doesn’t mean that it is false when he says his political opponents are describing him as a threat to democracy.”
Harris and Biden condemned Sunday’s incident and shared their relief that Trump was safe. Biden called Trump and they had a “nice” conversation, the former president told ABC News. Harris said she also checked in with Trump and “told him what I have said publicly, I said there is no place for political violence in our country.”
“We can and should have healthy debates and discussion and disagreements, but not resort to violence to resolve those issues,” Harris said.
Still, Trump’s campaign has shared a list of over 50 quotes from Democrats they suggested lead to the second assassination attempt. Most of them include language from Biden, Harris and other party leaders that cast Trump as a “threat to democracy.”
The statements were often made when the lawmakers were discussing Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, what unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, or Trump’s pledges to take political retribution if elected in November.
Republican leaders are also pointing to a 2023 comment from Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in which he said Trump was “destructive to democracy” and should be “eliminated” — which Goldman apologized for, saying while he believed Trump should be defeated in the election he “certainly wish no harm to him and do not condone political violence.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked on Tuesday if President Biden would stop calling Trump a “threat to democracy” given recent developments. Jean-Pierre suggested he would not, saying he had a responsibility to “be honest with the American people” about the possible dangers posed by the former president.
Others have also noted a contrast between Democrats’ criticism of Trump and Trump’s more inflammatory — and sometimes patently false — statements on everything from election integrity to immigration to his targeting of perceived political enemies.
In one more extreme example, Trump appeared to defend the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters who were chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” telling ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl “the people were very angry.” Though Trump has adamantly denied claims from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson that she heard Trump say “hang” repeatedly while watching the attack unfold on television, and she did not provide further evidence for the assertion.
“He has used rhetoric to attack the peaceful transition of power. He has used rhetoric to attack his opposition. No president has ever done that before. It’s not normal and it’s not democratic,” said Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of political rhetoric at Texas A&M University.
“So, when Democrats point that out, those are true facts, right?” she told ABC News.
Benesch, whose independent research team working on rhetoric that inspires violence, agreed there “is no question that the bounds of mainstream American political discourse shifted” since Trump entered politics.
“I think it is really important to recognize that he and his supporters are not the only ones who now speak in ways that normalize or even encourage violence, but he and his supporters have been doing it and are doing it much more than anybody else on the American political scene,” Benesch said.
Former Trump White House aide Alyssa Farah Griffin, who is now a co-host of “The View,” wrote on X that everyone has “a duty to take the temperature down” but that it was “simply dishonest for Trump [and] his allies to say his opponents shouldn’t use the very language he regularly uses: fascist, enemy within, vermin, traitors, you won’t have a country.”
The Trump campaign, in response to experts who say his own history of inflammatory rhetoric plays a large role in what’s become a heightened threat environment, told ABC News: “Only one candidate in this election has been shot at twice, and it’s not Kamala Harris.”
“The violence is coming from the political left and it’s the responsibility of Kamala Harris, as the Democrat Party nominee, to condemn the false inflammatory lie that President Trump is an alleged threat to democracy,” said campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “He is not, and she knows it.”
Benesch said the solution to deescalate the current atmosphere would be for leaders or influencers to convincingly condemn their own party’s language. But she expressed little confidence that would happen before the election.
“Unfortunately, nobody has a political incentive to denounce such rhetoric on their own side or in their own group, but that’s what it’s going to take,” she said. “Or such severe violence that it frightens leaders and influencers into demanding that their own supporters tone it down.”
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., the chair of the bipartisan panel investigating the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July and the apparent one last week in Florida, called for more resources and reforms at the Secret Service during a tense time before Election Day.
Speaking to “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos along with Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the ranking member of the committee, Kelly cited an array of explanations for breakdowns in Secret Service protection in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first attempt on Trump, including lack of resources and overworked agents, and that it is crucial to remedy them.
“We can redeploy money, and we need to do that. Secret Service works under Homeland Security, but getting more people on the ground, people who are trained, people who are competent, and people who have a nose for all this,” Kelly said. “These guys are exhausted. They have been played out to the very end. Why don’t we look at where we’re spending money, redeploy it, try to get more people on board.”
“This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. This is an American issue. We have to protect those who we have up for election and those that are already serving,” Kelly added. “It’s a very dangerous time for us to be looking at this and thinking this is just the way the world is. It’s not and we cannot accept this as Americans.”
The remarks come as Congress and the Secret Service both scramble to plug any operational holes that allowed a gunman in Butler in July to get off shots at Trump. The urgency of protecting him and other top candidates this election cycle was put into stark relief again just a week ago when the Secret Service thwarted another apparent assassination attempt by a man armed with a rifle outside Trump’s golf course in Florida.
In a report on Butler released Friday, the Secret Service said it failed to secure the line of sight to the former president by not securing the roof on which the shooter had taken up a firing position. It also said law enforcement did not adequately communicate that there was a threat to Trump and cited a “lack of due diligence” in establishing a secure perimeter.
“It’s important that we hold ourselves accountable for the failures of July 13, and that we use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another failure like this,” acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said Friday.
In a joint interview with Stephanopoulos, both Kelly and Crow agreed the solution involved both resource redistribution and personnel adjustments.
“You can redeploy funds to where it is that you need them the most. I will say this. Our Secret Service now is trying to guard more people than they’ve ever had to guard in the past,” Kelly said.
“It takes years to create a Secret Service agent. So we have to rely on Department of Defense agents, other federal agencies to cover down and provide some relief to these folks, because one of the issues that we saw in Butler, Pennsylvania, was the over-reliance on local law enforcement. These are fantastic folks. They do really well, but they are not trained and equipped to provide presidential level security,” Crow added.
Both lawmakers also called on Americans to tone down rhetoric around politics amid concerns that the tense atmosphere around November’s election is playing a role in the heightened threat environment.
“Mike is a very conservative Republican. I’m a very proud Democrat,” Crow said. “And what we’re trying to show folks is we can go through an election cycle, we can have fierce and tough debates, and we can show people that we will settle our political differences and debate, but we’re going to come together on an issue that Americans expect us to come together on,” Crow said.
“There is no place in our American society, whether you’re Republican and Democrat for anybody ever to take actions into their own hands and resort to violence,” he said.