In a much-anticipated debate on Tuesday night, former president Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris will finally square off in person. There is a world of difference between the two presidential candidates’ assessments of the nation’s current situation. Harris emphasizes hope for the future, pledging that “we’re not going back,” in contrast to Trump’s gloomy portrayal of concerns like immigration and high inflation.
There will probably be a lot of repeats of the many incorrect and misleading statements made by both candidates in the June 2024 debate, which was the first debate of the election and the one that finally led to President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race.
Here are a few examples of Trump’s and Harris’s recent misleading and inaccurate statements.
A major concern is the continued availability of abortion services.
A major issue in the 2024 election will be abortion, following the historic Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe v. Wade over two years ago. The verdict effectively outlaws abortion in 14 states controlled by Republicans, with few exceptions, for the whole pregnancy. In three other states, it is illegal after the first six weeks, when the majority of pregnant women are unaware of their condition.
When it comes to abortion, Trump frequently attempts to cast Democrats as extremists. During the June debate and on several other occasions, he made the incorrect assertion that certain states permit women to obtain abortions after the baby is born. There is no truth to this. Every state has made it illegal to kill a baby after birth, and none of them have legalized infanticide.
“With or without Congress,” Trump would “enact a nationwide abortion ban,” Harris stated in her acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination. During his “Fox & Friends” appearance on August 22, Trump stated: “I would never.” No federal prohibition is in the works. It rightfully belongs in the United States presently. On the other hand, he hinted in March that he would back a nationwide ban on abortions performed at or after 15 weeks of gestation.
The responsibility for pulling out of Afghanistan
Even before the final American forces departed Kabul airport in August 2021, the Taliban had retaken control of the nation, and Trump has sought to associate Harris with this disastrous U.S. pullout on multiple occasions.
When it comes to the tragic conclusion to America’s longest war, most evaluations have found that Trump and Biden are equally to blame. According to the top U.S. government war watchdog, “the single most important factor” in the collapse of U.S.-allied Afghan security forces and the takeover by the Taliban was Trump’s 2020 agreement with the Taliban to withdraw all U.S. soldiers and military contractors.
The second-most important element, according to the watchdog, was Biden’s announcement in April 2021 that he would carry out the pullout that Trump had initiated. Although Harris claims to have been the last person present when Biden made his decision, an 18-month inquiry by House Republicans and watchdog assessments have failed to find any evidence that the vice president had any substantial influence on the decision-making process.
Thirteen service troops and about one hundred seventy Afghans were killed in a suicide attack that occurred at Kabul’s airport during the retreat.
Disputes over economic policy
Both Trump and Harris have made arguments about how they would be better for the country’s finances, and voters have ranked inflation and the economy as top concerns heading into the election.
Democrats, Harris included, have asserted that the typical American family would lose $3,900 annually due to Trump’s plan to levy a 10% to 20% tariff on all imports, with a maximum of 60% on Chinese goods. Prices for a lot of goods would likely go up, according to most economists. The progressive lobbying organization Center for American Progress provided the $3,900 number. But Trump has suggested that other taxes may be cut with the tariff money, bringing the total cost of the scheme down.
For some first-time homeowners, Harris has proposed a $25,000 down payment aid program and tax breaks for builders of affordable starter houses. Down payment aid programs will likely boost demand at a time when estimates of the U.S. housing shortfall stand at 3–7 million units, according to experts. Consequently, these pledges may wind up working against each other.
While praising Biden’s administration for high inflation, Trump incessantly claims that his administration has had the greatest economy in the nation’s history.
It is false, however, to say that Trump presided over an economic boom. A huge recession hit the country under his president, first and foremost, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Trump’s first three years in office, the economy grew by an average of 2.67 percent, excluding problems brought on by the pandemic. While that is respectable, it falls well short of the 4% averaged of Bill Clinton’s administration (1993–2001), as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Inflation has been trending downward since May 2020, when it was 0.1%, and it reached a high of 9.1% in June 2022 during Biden’s first 17 months in office. Inflation over the past year has hit a three-year low, according to the most current statistics, which reveals that it dropped to 2.9% in July.
