Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are facing off in an epic political debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. The stakes are high as this is potentially the only presidential debate ahead of the election on November 5.
Here's a live fact check of the claims made in the debate:
Trump Said Putin Endorsed Kamala Harris – Likely False
Trump claimed at the debate that Puti endorsed Kamala Harris. Though Putin said on September 5 that he would support Harris over Trump. However, Putin's comment was sarcastic, according to reports by Al Jazeera, AP, HuffPost and also USA Today.
Trump Makes Several Misleading, False Claim About CriminalsCases Against Him
Trump falsely claimed a "complete and total victory" in his classified documents case, despite the judge dismissing it due to a technicality, not innocence.
The ruling is under appeal and could be overturned. Trump also wrongly claimed Biden was found "essentially guilty" in a similar case, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge Biden.
Trump Spoke About Terminating Constitution – True
Donald Trump has spoken about terminating the constitution in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, back in 2022.
"A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!" he had said.
Harris' Claim That Trump Left Biden-Harris The Worst Employment Rate – Misleading
The unemployment rate hit 14.8% in April 2020 during Trump's term due to the pandemic. By December 2020, it had dropped to 6.4%, significantly lower than the peak but still relatively high. Trump did not leave Biden or Harris with a record post-Depression unemployment rate.
Trump's Claim That FBI Crime Data Is Unreliable – False
PolitiFact reported that in 2021, the FBI's new reporting system reduced data coverage to 65% of the U.S. population, down from the usual 95%. By 2022, coverage returned to 94%, with 2023 and 2024 data expected to maintain that participation level.
Trump says "every legal scholar" wanted Roe vs Wade scrapped – False
Some abortion-rights legal scholars criticized Roe v. Wade's 1973 legal reasoning, favoring equal protection arguments. Despite this, experts say these scholars wouldn't support overturning Roe. They believed stronger constitutional grounds existed but still defended the ruling's core principles.