By CNN Staff
Five of the Republican presidential hopefuls made various false, misleading or out-of-context claims Wednesday in the third debate of the party’s 2024 primaries.
The front-runner in the race, former President Donald Trump, once back back, skipped the debate in favor of his own speech. Here’s a check of some of the applicants’ claims that were at the level of debate in Miami.
In an exchange about how applicants would respond to incidents of anti-Semitism on school campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Gov. Ron DeSantis said President Joe Biden is fighting Islamophobia from supporting Jewish students.
“Not only is he not helping persecuted Jewish students, he is launching an initiative to fight so-called Islamophobia. No, it is anti-Semitism that is getting out of control,” DeSantis said.
First the facts: it’s misleading. While Biden’s leadership announced last week that it was developing a national strategy to fight Islamophobia, the White House already published a national strategy to fight anti-Semitism in May.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Education issued rules reminding schools that they have a legal responsibility to deal with incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. The rules in particular state that schools will have to deal with discrimination based on race, color or national origin, adding opposites to Jews, Israelis, Muslims, Arabs or Palestinians.
“When it comes to anti-Semitism or Islamophobia, it has no place on our school campuses or in our schools,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on CNN.
Biden has denounced anti-Semitism, either after the Hamas attack or for years before.
From CNN’s Katie Lobosco
Asked about her use of military force in opposition to Iran in reaction to recent attacks on U. S. troops in Iraq and Syria through Iranian proxy groups, former U. S. Ambassador to the U. N. Nikki Haley said, “The concept that our men and women can just be targeted, and that we have nearly a hundred legal attacks under Biden’s leadership is unthinkable. “
First the facts: Haley’s figure is incorrect. As of Wednesday, Iranian-backed teams had attacked U. S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria at least 41 times since Oct. 17 with one-way drone strikes or rocket attacks. Rocket attack on Wednesday against forces in Shaddadi, Syria.
Haley also said the U. S. will have to “eliminate the infrastructure it uses to carry out those moves so that it can never do it again. “A senior army official told reporters on Wednesday that an airstrike carried out that day via a U. S. F-15 fighter jets targeted a weapons garage used by Iran’s Revolutionary Islamic Guard Corps, which allegedly houses “weapons that we probably use in many movements” that took positions opposite to our forces here in the region.
From CNN’s Haley Britzky
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said, “Frankly, President Biden has billions for Iran. “
First the facts: this requires context. Scott did not say that the $6 billion in question was not “sent” through the United States itself and was not U. S. taxpayer money. This is $6 billion of Iran’s own money, from oil sales, which had been frozen in limited South Korean accounts until the Biden administration agreed in September to allow it to be moved to limited accounts in Qatar, which will be used through Iran with U. S. approval. for certain specific humanitarian purposes, as part of a deal in which Iran agreed to release five Americans who the U. S. considered unjustly detained.
Biden’s administration has continually said that none of the $6 billion has been spent yet. And in early October, after Hamas’ attack on Israel, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats that the US and Qatar had reached a “quiet agreement” not to allow Iran access to cash for the time being, a source told CNN. in October. (Although Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not verify that a “quiet agreement” had been reached, he made clear that the U. S. was in a position to freeze the funds. )
Even before that, Biden’s leadership had been under pressure that the Iranian government would not pocket the cash and that this money could only be used, under strict U. S. supervision, to make humanitarian purchases from authorized vendors. Some critics of Biden, however, have rightly pointed out that Iran’s access to $6 billion for humanitarian purposes could cause it to lose the same amount of its own cash to fund terrorism.
From CNN’s Daniel Dale
Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy claimed in the debate that “Hunter, Joe Biden’s son, won a $5 billion bribe from Ukraine. “He claimed bribery was the reason the U. S. sent so much aid to Ukraine, which was invaded through Russia last year.
First the facts: The claim that a member of Biden’s circle of relatives won a bribe is unproven. An FBI informant who relayed this claim to the FBI in 2020 simply reported that everything he said had been told to him through a Ukrainian businessman, the executive leader. the power company whose board Hunter Biden had served on; the informant did not provide any evidence to the FBI, and no evidence was made public in the years that followed. Moreover, there is no evidence that U. S. war aid to Ukraine, which was approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress, has anything to do with the president’s son.
According to an internal FBI document made public through Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa earlier this year, despite strong objections from the FBI, the whistleblower told the bureau in 2020, when Donald Trump was president, that Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky claimed in 2016 to have made a $5 million payment to “a Biden” and some other $5 million payment. dollars to “some other Biden. “But the FBI document contained no evidence for this claim, and the document stated that the informant “could not give any other opinion on the veracity” of the claim.
Republicans tried to bolster the credibility of the indictment by claiming that it was in an FBI document and that the FBI considered the informant to be highly credible. But the document simply memorized the data provided through the informant; This does not prove that the data is true. And Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Devon Archer, testified before the House Oversight Committee earlier this year that he had no knowledge of such bills for the Bidens; Archer called Zlochevsky’s case an example of the Ukrainian businessman embellishing his influence.
By CNN’s Daniel Dale, Marshall Cohen and Annie Grayer
In his opening remarks, Ramaswamy accused the media of interfering in the last U. S. election.
“These media rigged the 2016 election, they rigged the 2020 election with Hunter Biden’s computer story, and they’re going to rig this election unless we have accountability,” Ramaswamy said.
Facts First: This claim is false. No election was “rigged” and there is no evidence of fraud significant enough to supersede the result.
Officials from the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, as well as state election officials, said in a 2020 statement, “The Nov. 3 election was the most secure in American history. “
And tellingly, in his own 2022 ebook, “Nation of Victims,” Ramaswamy writes that “the 2016 election was not literally stolen” and that he has not noticed “convincing evidence” that the 2020 election was stolen or rigged.
“The fact that all of our government establishments have unanimously found that there is no evidence of significant fraud is telling. In addition, I have spoken with many Republicans at all levels of government, and none have presented compelling evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump. “Very few have seriously tried. I don’t think most Republican politicians really stole the election,” Ramaswamy wrote.
When asked about the upgrade stance via NBC’s Chuck Todd in August, Ramaswamy claimed that in his books he also discussed what he saw as back-to-back election interference in 2020 — how “big tech” had worked to prevent the spread of an overdue campaign. However, Ramaswamy’s claims that the debate was not aimed at tech corporations or the media, which were truly the first to break the story around the laptop.
Ramaswamy has argued in the past that the media spread an unfair narrative of Russian collusion in the 2016 election, depriving Trump of the ability to perform his task after his election. However, a bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee supported the conclusion of the U. S. intelligence community. that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help then-candidate Donald Trump.
By CNN’s Tara Sumbramaniam
Haley again attacked DeSantis over his record on fracking after their heated exchange on the issue at the time of the Republican debate.
“On the power side, it makes me laugh that Ron is helping to keep doing this,” Haley said Wednesday.
“He’s against fracking, he’s against drilling,” Haley said. “He opposed it even before the Florida electorate voted on it. “
First, the facts: DeSantis has continually pushed back against those allegations, but Haley is largely right. Although DeSantis did not unilaterally ban fracking before the Florida electorate approved a constitutional amendment to that effect, he signed an executive order just days after taking office that called on the state to “categorically oppose all offshore oil and fuel activities. “Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.
And beyond semantics, Haley’s broader argument about DeSantis’ stance on offshore drilling and fracking is supported through her comments and actions. During DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign in 2018, he was asked if he supported a ban on fracking and he flatly said yes. In January 2020, he also oversaw the acquisition of 20,000 acres of wetlands from the Everglades in the state of Florida to permanently protect them from oil drilling, which in no way motivated the constitutional amendment.
By CNN’s Tara Subramaniam
As the effects of Tuesday’s election highlighted, abortion remains one of the main issues of tension among voters. During Wednesday’s debate, Scott claimed that 75% of Americans approve of a federal ban on abortion for women who are at least 15 weeks pregnant.
“We need a federal cap of 15 weeks. Three out of four Americans agree with a 15-week limit,” Scott said.
First the facts: this requires context. A spokesperson for Scott’s crusade told CNN during the debate that Scott was presenting a vote conducted by the anti-abortion organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which, according to one study, used loaded language and did not offer respondents a full diversity of conceivable answers. Some independent votes conducted this year and last year, which raised questions about abortion in a much more impartial way, found particularly less than 75% support for banning abortion after 15 weeks.
The SBA survey found 77% for at least some limits in 15 weeks, but there are significant differences in this survey.
The applicable question prompted respondents to talk about “a baby’s heartbeat” and how “a baby can feel pain,” using much more emotional language than independent surveys typically use. The vote also did not offer respondents the opportunity to explicitly support limits on abortion beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy. Instead, it only allowed respondents to endorse one of the following proposals: a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest; a 6-week ban with those exceptions; a 15-week ban with those exceptions; an absolutely unrestricted abortion throughout the pregnancy, or “I’m definitely not sure. “In other words, the vote did not even mention the option of banning abortion when the fetus is viable, that is, when the fetus can leave the womb with or without medical assistance, a figure that is sometimes estimated at 23 or 24. Weeks.
More impartial surveys conducted through the media and educational entities have yielded very different results.
For example, an AP-NORC poll conducted in June asked U. S. adults whether they believed their condition deserved to allow a pregnant user to have a legal abortion in other circumstances of her pregnancy; 51% said their state deserved to allow legal abortion after 15 weeks, 45% said their state did not deserve to do so. A Marquette Law School vote in July asked U. S. adults whether they would oppose a national law banning abortion after 15 weeks; 47% were in favor and 53% against.
In a Fox News vote in April, the registered electorate was asked if they would oppose a state law banning abortion after 15 weeks “except in a medical emergency. “That’s more than previous ballots that didn’t mention an exemption for medical emergencies, but it’s still well below the 75% Scott mentioned.
By CNN’s Daniel Dale and Tara Subramaniam
In advocating for a federal limit of 15 weeks for abortion, Scott said it would “allow states like California, Illinois, or New York to perform abortions up to the day of birth. “
First the facts: this requires context. California, Illinois, and New York do not allow unrestricted abortion during pregnancy. Both states ban abortion after a certain point, though they then allow some exceptions to protect the pregnant person’s health.
It is conceivable that Scott would advise that, without a federal law imposing a national restriction on abortion, those Democratic-led states would eliminate all abortion restrictions in the future. But his wording leaves open the impression that he’s saying those states today don’t have restriction, and that’s not the case.
California and Illinois allow abortion up to fetal “viability,” which is the point at which the fetus could leave the uterus with or without medical assistance (sometimes thought to be around 23 or 24 weeks) and then when abortion is mandatory to protect the patient’s “life or health”; its legislation echoes the now-overturned language of Roe v. Supreme Court Wade, which required “life or health” exceptions after viability. New York clarifies that abortion is illegal after 24 weeks unless the fetus is not viable or when abortion is mandatory. protect the “life or health” of the pregnant person; Under a 2019 New York state law, abortion is never treated as a crime.
Some conservatives oppose the presence of “life or health” exceptions in abortion laws, arguing that the “health” component of those exceptions is so broad that it necessarily allows abortion at any time. But the claim about “abortion on demand” is false. It suggests that you can ask for an abortion in those states at any time and for any reason.
It should also be noted that a small percentage of abortions are performed at 24 weeks or more.
According to data released by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U. S. In the U. S. , only 0. 9% of abortions reported in 2020 occurred at 21 weeks or more (some of these abortions occur due to serious health risks or fatal fetal abnormalities). Conversely, 80. 9 percent of abortions reported in 2020 were performed before 10 weeks, 93. 1% before 14 weeks, and 95. 8% before 16 weeks.
By Daniel Dale and Jen Christensen of CNN
Speaking about Biden’s reaction to Hamas’ attack on Israel, Florida Gov. DeSantis said, “We had Floridians who were there after the attack. He [Biden] left them stuck. Flights may just not take off. “So I gathered the resources in Florida, sent planes to Israel and got more than 700 people to safety. There could have been more hostages if we hadn’t acted. “
First the facts: DeSantis’ statement, which turns out to say that Biden failed to evacuate Americans from Israel, is false and requires context.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced on Oct. 12 that the U. S. government would begin arranging charter flights for Americans wishing to leave Israel on Oct. 13. The first U. S. government flight from Israel landed in Athens on Oct. 13. On Oct. 30, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the company postponed charter flights due to a lack of demand.
Separately, DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Florida on Oct. 12, allowing him to dispose of a $500 million fund that does not require legislative approval to evacuate other people from Israel to Tampa. In October, he told reporters in New Hampshire that he hoped the first evacuation flight would land in Florida on Oct. 15.
DeSantis’ claim that “there could have been more hostages, too” without his evacuation flights is hypothetical; We cannot determine with certainty whether it is possible that more hostages will be taken in the future. But it should be noted that no hostages have been kidnapped in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7. DeSantis declared a state of emergency five days later to begin charter flights, after Israeli forces regained control of the country.
When asked for an explanation on this claim, DeSantis’ crusade spokesperson Bryan Griffin said in an email during the debate: “Of course, Hamas may have taken more hostages. Everyone Ron DeSantis has brought home is one hundred percent sure of this possibility.
From CNN’s Haley Britzky
Ramaswamy claimed that Ohio “has passed a constitutional amendment that now codifies well the right to abortion up to the moment of parental consent” because of a “Republican culture of loss. “
First the facts: this is true.
The passage of Ballot Measure No. 1 on Tuesday establishes a person’s right to abortion in the Ohio state constitution. The measure explicitly says abortion is allowed in all circumstances, nor does it replace Ohio’s parental consent and ification law.
Instead, the new amendment to state statutes states that any form of prohibition of the pre-viability of the procedure (usually between 23 and 24 weeks) is prohibited by state law. When a user is 24 weeks pregnant, there is a smart chance that the baby can come out of the womb. Once the situation is viable, the state could limit a client’s access to an abortion, unless the pregnant client’s health or life is threatened due to the pregnancy. During pregnancy it is exceptionally rare.
In Ohio, a minor will still need her parents’ permission to have an abortion or will want to get an exception from a judge.
From CNN’s Jen Christensen
DeSantis said in the debate, “In Florida, I banned China from buying land in the state. “
First the facts: this requires context. The law signed by DeSantis prohibits maximum land purchases in Florida through Chinese and U. S. entities (who are not U. S. citizens or permanent residents), but the law did not absolutely prohibit all land purchases through those entities and Americans, as DeSantis categorically states here. He offered to debate with the spectators.
DeSantis signed a bill this year banning the ownership of real estate in Florida through the Chinese government, its ruling Communist Party, members or officials of the government or party, other China-based organizations, or “any Florida-domiciled user. “Republic of China and who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States.
But the law provides an exemption for Chinese who have been granted asylum in the U. S. U. S. citizens or those who have a U. S. visa other than a tourist visa. These Americans can acquire residential assets, up to two acres, if the assets are more than 8 kilometers. of an army installation.
From CNN’s Daniel Dale
When asked how she would help rural Americans who are hit by inflation, former U. S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said she would seek not to spend Covid-19 relief funds.
“First of all, I’m going to make sure of the $500 billion unspent that exists because of Covid,” he said.
First the facts: Haley’s number is inaccurate. Haley did the same thing at a CNN at City Hall in June, and her knowledge was replaced at the time. CNN checked again in late August and found that about $300 billion in the Covid-19 relief budget had gone unspent and uncommitted, according to an estimate by the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, a government watchdog group. This figure takes into account the roughly $28 billion in the Covid-19 budget that was written off as a component of the debt limit. plan in June.
There is even less uncommitted, or yet legally uncommitted, cash that Congress can recover. As of April 30, there is only $104. 3 billion in uncommitted and unexpired funds, according to the U. S. Government Accountability Office. U. S. However, this figure does not reach recessions as a component of the debt ceiling plan.
By CNN’s Tami Luhby
In a series of comments on Ukraine, Ramaswamy claimed that the country is “not democratic. “To back up this claim, he said Ukraine “has threatened not to hold elections this year unless the United States disburses more money. “
First the facts: this requires context. In an interview in August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, under pressure that increased investment was one of the many things the country needed to hold elections, asked the United States and Europe for help.
“If the U. S. and Europe give us monetary support . . . I’m sorry, I would possibly not hold elections on credit, nor will I accept arms money to donate to elections,” Zelensky said, according to excerpts from the shared report. interview. on their official website.
And Zelensky made it clear in the August interview that the lack of budget was not the only obstacle. He said elections in Ukraine would only be imaginable if the right to vote was guaranteed to all citizens, including army workers and forced immigrants abroad. and whether foreign observers could be provided at polling stations on the front line.
Just days before Ramaswamy’s comments on the debate, Zelensky said it would be “irresponsible” to hold elections now, but he did not address the budget shortfall or ask the U. S. for more help for the upcoming election.
“In times of war, when there are so many challenges, it is surely irresponsible to address the issue of elections in society in a joyful and playful way,” Zelensky said in his nightly address on Monday. “I don’t think so. “It’s the right time for the election. “
Presidential elections in Ukraine are held every five years but have been suspended under martial law since the start of the conflict. This week, Ukraine’s parliament approved the extension of martial law and mobilization in the country for another 90 days. Zelensky was sworn in in May 2019, meaning he will be re-elected in the spring of 2024.
According to CNN’s Tara Subramaniam, former U. S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, attacking rival candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis, said, “We will end all formal industrial relations with China until they stop Americans from being killed because of fentanyl, something Ron has yet to say. I’m going to do it.
Haley, attacking rival candidate DeSantis, said, “We will end all formal industrial relations with China until they stop killing Americans with fentanyl, which Ron has still said he is going to do. “
First the facts: it’s misleading. DeSantis, like Haley, has campaigned to end China’s preferential industrial status, known as normal, permanent industrial relations.
Haley was more particular in linking the proposed revocation of industry prestige to China’s role in the U. S. fentanyl crisis, saying that “as president, I will press Congress to revoke normal, permanent industrial relations until the flow of fentanyl ends. “But DeSantis has also called for the elimination of the industry’s prestige, called for “economic independence from China” and denounced China’s role in the fentanyl crisis, so Haley in the debate advised a greater difference between their positions than there really is.
From CNN’s Daniel Dale
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