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AFP
President Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden faced each other in the first of three televised debates ahead of the November US election.
During a heated 90-minute argument, candidates argued over everything from the economic climate to how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Reality Check canceled some of their claims.
Trump: “We have built the largest economy in history”
Bottom line: That’s not true – there have been times in US history when the economy was stronger.
President Trump claimed that prior to the coronavirus outbreak, we “built the largest economy in US history”.
It claims it generated historic economic growth, recorded low unemployment and lifted millions of Americans out of poverty.
It’s true that the economy was doing fine before the pandemic – a trend that started during the Obama administration – but there were times when it was much stronger.
The economy under Trump in six charts
Biden: “We have 4% of the world population, [but] 20% of deaths “
Verdict: That’s about right. However, if you look at per capita coronavirus deaths, there are a number of countries worse than the United States.
Mr Biden criticized President Trump’s management of the coronavirus response.
“We actually have 4% of the world’s population, 20% of the deaths,” said the former vice president.
According to the numbers, that’s about right. The US population is approximately 328 million, which is just over 4% of the 7.7 billion world population.
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Reuters
According to the latest data from John Hopkins University, 205,942 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in the United States. The total number of deaths registered worldwide is 1,004,808.
According to this metric, the US accounts for about 20% of deaths from Covid-19 worldwide, although the way countries record their numbers varies significantly.
Countries with the highest per capita Covid-19 deaths
Per 100,000 people
You can find more information about President Trump’s coronavirus claims here.
- Who comes out on top in the polls – Trump or Biden?
Trump: The postal vote increase is creating “a fraud like you’ve never seen before”.
Verdict: Studies have found no evidence of widespread fraud, although there have been isolated cases.
President Trump said an increase in postal votes would “create fraud like you’ve never seen before”.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a large proportion of US voters are expected to vote by post in this year’s election.
The President has repeatedly warned that this will lead to widespread fraud.
There have been isolated cases of fraud, including recent examples in North Carolina and New Jersey.
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Reuters
In September, the US Department of Justice issued a statement on an incident in Pennsylvania in which “nine military votes were rejected” and seven of them were “cast in favor of presidential candidate Donald Trump.”
Despite such incidents, numerous studies have found no evidence of serious, widespread fraud.
According to a 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice, the overall election fraud rate in the United States is between 0.00004% and 0.0009%.
Biden: “100 million people [in the US] have pre-existing conditions “
Verdict: There is no definitive answer to that.
Candidates argued over how many people in the United States already have illnesses, which may deter some Americans from being covered by private health insurers.
Mr Biden said there were 100 million people with pre-existing conditions, but President Trump said that number was “completely wrong”.
How many? There is no definitive answer.
According to the US government’s Department of Health and Human Services, between 50 and 129 million non-elderly Americans have pre-existing health conditions.
Other organizations have different estimates. The Center for American Progress estimates it’s higher at 135 million people under 65.
Trump: “We are weeks away from a vaccine”
Bottom line: There is a “very, very small chance” that an approved vaccine will be ready by the end of October, says the chief scientific advisor to the US vaccination program.
President Trump said in the debate that the US is only “weeks” away from a vaccine. Dr. However, Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific advisor to the U.S. vaccination program, said there was little chance that an approved vaccine could be ready by the end of October.
In the meantime, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, predicted the U.S. will know by November or December this year if there is a safe and effective sting.
He told a Senate committee hearing earlier this month that there could be enough doses for every American by April.
Biden: “Manufacturing went down a hole” before the coronavirus
Conclusion: This is not true according to the numbers.
The Democratic candidate Joe Biden suggested that the manufacturing “got into a hole” before Covid-19.
The pandemic had an impact on this sector. The U.S. had 237,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in August than when Trump took office in 2017.
Prior to the pandemic, President Trump had created nearly half a million manufacturing jobs in his first three years in office.
Biden: “Trump hasn’t cut drug prices for anyone”
Bottom line: The average monthly cost of prescription drugs fell slightly through August 2019, although then it rose again.
Mr Biden claimed that President Trump did not cut drug prices for anyone.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the cost of household items in the United States, the average monthly cost of prescription drugs decreased 0.3% through August 2019.
This was the first drop in prices since 1973 over a period of 12 months. While average drug prices rose 1.5% the following year, the average increases under President Trump were lower than those under President Obama.
The CPI is not necessarily the most reliable way to measure drug prices because it mainly includes widely used drugs that are usually cheaper. It is less likely to include newer or less-prescribed drugs that are more expensive and have higher price increases.
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