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Fact-checks abandoned. Lies prevail in presidential debate.

Poll finds majority of voters want moderators to fact-check presidential debates.

Published July 4, 2024 at 5:02am by

Fact-Checking Was Lacking in Biden-Trump Debate

During CNN's 2024 presidential debate, neither President Joe Biden nor former President Donald Trump effectively fact-checked each other in real time, despite their attempts to do so. Inaccurate statements were made by both candidates, but due to the moderators' stated approach of not challenging accuracy, it was left to the opponents to refute these claims with little success.

PolitiFact fact-checked nearly 30 claims during the debate, finding that while Biden made some False and Mostly False statements, Trump's performance included a significant number of False and Pants on Fire claims that went unchallenged. Trump's tendency to stick to his script and ignore questions on various issues, as noted by the Washington Post, resulted in missed opportunities to fact-check Biden's claims.

One example was Biden's claim that billionaires pay 8.2% in taxes, which PolitiFact previously rated as False. Trump's response focused on Medicare, ignoring the inaccuracy of Biden's statement. Biden also repeated a Mostly False claim about semiconductor jobs' salary requirements, but Trump did not refute it. On Black unemployment, Biden claimed the lowest level in a long time, breaking Trump's previous record, but Trump responded with hyperbole and false blame on inflation and immigration.

During the debate, Trump made a series of misleading claims, including:

The largest tax cut in history
Sole blame for high inflation
Sole blame for Afghanistan exit issues
His tax cuts spurred the greatest economy ever
Biden weaponized justice to target him
Biden allowed millions from prisons/jails/mental institutions into the country

Biden struggled to counter these claims effectively, often running out of time and delivering confusing rebuttals. Experts criticized the lack of moderator fact-checking, noting that it allowed false narratives to go unchecked and advantaged Trump. This was supported by a recent Boston University poll indicating that most Republicans and Democrats preferred moderators to correct false statements.

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