Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate of 2024, fact checked

[Pelican Press 0]

Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate of 2024, fact checked

Here’s the running fact check of some of the statements made by President Biden and former President Donald Trump during the first 2024 presidential debate, which is taking place in Atlanta on Thursday, June 27, at 9 p.m. ET. 

Follow CBS News’ live coverage of the debate.

Trump claims “we had the greatest economy in the history of our country”: False

Trump: “We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And we have never done so well. Every- everybody was amazed by it. Other countries were copying us.” 

Details: Trump’s claim is false that during his presidency the U.S. had the greatest economy in the history of the country by many of the common metrics used to judge economic performance. The claim struggles when looking at GDP. If the 2020 pandemic is excluded, growth after inflation under Trump averaged 2.67%, according to figures from the 

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. This is far from the GDP growth under Democratic President Bill Clinton of 4%, according to 

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. Including the time ******* after COVID spread, that average drops to 1.45%. 

Trump’s claim also falls short when compared to historical figures. Growth between 1962 to 1966 ranged from 4.4% to 6.6%. In 1950 and 1951, GDP ranged between 8.7% and 8%.

Under Mr. Biden, annual GDP growth is averaging 3.4%, according to the 

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.

Unemployment

Trump’s claim is also false even when evaluating the unemployment rate.  In February 2020, a month before the COVID pandemic affected the economy, the unemployment rate stood at 3.5% — which was the lowest since December 1969 — but not the lowest ever. When Trump’s term ended, the unemployment rate was 6.3%.

In 1953, the unemployment rate fell as low as 2.5%. Under Mr. Biden, the unemployment rate is 4%, according to the 

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 from May 2024. 

In January 2023 and again in April 2023, the unemployment rate was 3.4%, lower than the best month during Trump’s term.

Stock market performance

On Jan. 19, 2021, the 

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 closed at 67.8% above where it had been the day before Trump was inaugurated in 2017. 

According to 

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, at the end of President Barack Obama’s first term in office, the S&P closed 84.5% higher. Additionally the S&P gained 79% during President Bill Clinton’s first term, and 70% during President Dwight Eisenhower’s first term. So far, under President Biden, the 

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, according to calculations on June 13. 

By Laura Doan and Hunter Woodall 

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Biden claims he’s the only president this century that doesn’t have troops dying anywhere in the world: False

Biden: “I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have any — this decade — that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world.” 

Details: At least 16 U.S. service members have ***** while serving overseas during Mr. Biden’s presidency. Thirteen U.S. service members 

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 in an ******* at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan in August 2021. Three soldiers were 

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 in an ******* in Jordan in January of this year.

By Layla Ferris

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Trump claims he did not refer to U.S. soldiers who were ******* as “suckers and losers”: False

Trump: “First of all, that was a made-up quote. ‘Suckers and losers,’ they made it up.”

Details: Current and former U.S. military service members have detailed to CBS News multiple instances when Trump made disparaging remarks about members of the U.S. military who were captured or *******, including referring to the ********* war ***** at the Aisle-Marne ********* ********* in France in 2018 as “losers” and “suckers.”  

A senior Defense Department official and a former U.S. Marine Corps officer with direct knowledge of what was said detailed how Trump said he did not want to visit the ********* because it was “filled with losers.” These accounts were backed independently by two other officials — a former senior U.S. Army officer and a separate, former senior U.S. Marine Corps officer.   

In another conversation on the trip, Trump referred to the 1,800 Marines who ***** in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting *******.  The Atlantic was first to report Trump’s comments in 2020. His former chief of staff John Kelly later confirmed to CNN the essence of what Trump had said.

By James LaPorta and Sierra Sanders 

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Presidential Debate, Joe Biden, Donald Trump
#Trump #Bidens #presidential #debate #fact #checked

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