The first presidential debate of the 2024 election season between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump turned into a heated exchange filled with multiple false claims and inaccuracies.
President Biden mentioned that the price of insulin was reduced to $15 from $400. While the Inflation Reduction Act capped out-of-pocket costs at $35 a month for seniors, there is no evidence of insulin being priced at $400 previously. Biden also made a claim about Border Patrol endorsing him, which was refuted by the National Border Patrol Council, stating they never endorsed him.
Another claim by Biden was about a 40% reduction in illegal border crossings. While there was a drop after a policy change, experts caution against attributing it solely to one factor. Trump falsely stated that Biden had indicted him because he was his opponent, which contradicts the timeline of events around Trump’s charges.
Trump made a claim that food prices had doubled, tripled, or quadrupled under Biden, which does not align with the 25% increase reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Additionally, he mentioned that a crime bill by Biden referred to African Americans as ‘super predators,’ while in reality, it was then-first lady Hillary Clinton who used that term in a speech about the 1994 crime bill.
Claims regarding border violence being the most dangerous place in the world and increased homicides by people living illegally in the U.S. were also found to be false. Research actually suggests that immigrants commit fewer crimes than U.S. citizens.
Overall, the debate was filled with misleading statements and inaccuracies, highlighting the importance of fact-checking and verifying claims in political discourse.
