Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence are set to face off for the first time on the debate stage, and although we’ve seen heaps of misinformation about Harris – including false claims about her heritage and eligibility to hold office – there’s been much less about Pence, even dating back to July 2016, […]
Democrats have been talking about the Republican-led legal challenge to the Affordable Health Care Act and how that could affect costs and coverage for people with health problems. In a Facebook post on Sept. 23, Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from Long Island, wrote: “It is inconceivable that in the midst of a global pandemic […]
Within one day, President Donald Trump announced his COVID-19 diagnosis and was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment. The flurry of events was stunning, confusing and triggered many questions. What was his prognosis? When was he last tested for COVID-19? What is his viral load? The answers were elusive. Picture the […]
PolitiFact, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, has been fact-checking presidential politics since 2007 and has rated more than 18,000 individual claims on our Truth-O-Meter. Follow along below for our live coverage below. This page will update automatically. See Figure 1 on PolitiFact.com
As Election Day approaches, you may be more likely to see online disinformation that’s aimed at influencing your vote. This year, we’ve fact-checked dozens of false claims on social media about the candidates. Other events — the coronavirus pandemic, nationwide protests against police brutality and natural disasters — have created an even more fertile environment […]
Trump’s biography Donald Trump, 74, is seeking reelection as president of the United States. Trump was born in Queens, N.Y., the son of real estate developer Fred Trump. He became president of the family’s real estate business in 1971 and expanded it into skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and other businesses ventures. In 2003, he took a […]
Biden’s biography Joe Biden, 77, is the 2020 Democratic nominee for president. Biden was born to a working-class family in Scranton, Pa. As a young attorney, he was elected to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate in 1972 at the age of 29. Weeks after he won, his wife and young daughter were killed in […]
The coronavirus pandemic has created a lot of barriers to normal, in-person life in the United States: barriers to education, to voting, for live events, to health care, the list goes on. During the vice presidential debate on Wednesday, there will also be a physical barrier. A wall of plexiglass will be placed between Vice […]
Before news of President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 test upended the election cycle with a host of unknowns, one of his campaign’s leading narratives was that of Joe Biden as a clumsy, aging orator who frequently flubs the facts. The evidence driving this line of attack on the former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee […]
President Donald Trump headed back to the White House after three days of treatment for COVID-19 at Walter Reed Medical Center. In tweeting the news, he told people not to be afraid of COVID-19. “Don’t let it dominate your life,” Trump said Oct. 5. “We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs […]
Democrats running for Congress this year have differing views on how to expand health care coverage, but they’ve been united in attacking Republicans on the issue of preexisting conditions, according to a PolitiFact review. Claims that Republicans will weaken or destroy protections for people with preexisting health conditions have been made in all 18 of […]
And just like that, it’s October. Under a month until Election Day, and PolitiFact is absolutely swimming in fact-checking work. It’s a true tidal wave: Politicians during debates and events; pundits on TV, radio and Twitter; everyone else on social media. But we’ve got experience with this. At PolitiFact, we’ve been fact-checking claims made by politicians […]