Fact-checking Trump and Harris as US presidential election nears: A look at lies so far

Former United States president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic rival and current Vice President Kamala Harris are on a close edge ahead of the US presidential elections, with both the candidates holding rallies and addressing events across the country.

The question on everyone’s mind is whether America will get its first woman president or a second Trump term.

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Trump and Harris both made several claims attacking each other at several campaign rallies and speeches. However, as the claims went through fact-checking, it was revealed some of the statements made by them were false, or only partially true.

The two candidates faced off against each other during the 90-minute debate, held at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center on September 11, with both focusing on some of the pressing issues which concern the American voters. Later, Trump at a Fox News town hall event on Tuesday told several lies. A CNN fact check revealed that he made around 19 false claims in a one-hour interview.

Meanwhile, Harris also made sixstatements that were false, inaccurate, or lacking context, in one of her speeches.

‘Inflation during Biden’s tenure worst in our nation's history’

“We had the worst – they say it’s in 48 years I say ever. We had the worst inflation in the history of our country,” Trump said. However, the claim made by him is ‘false’ according to CNN fact check.

While it is true that early in JoeBiden’s presidency, the annual inflation rate peaked at roughly nine per cent (June of 2022), however, that is not the highest it has ever been.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II and during the oil embargo and shortages of the late '70s and early 1980s, the inflation rate peaked at 14.5 per cent, as per ABC News.

‘Sex change operations on minors’

Trump claimed, “Kamala supports states being able to take minor children and perform sex-change operations on them without their parents’ consent.”

Watch |US Elections: Trump, Harris Try To Sway Voters To Balance The Elections

However, this was false as surgical procedures for minor children receiving gender-affirming care require parental consent. Moreover, she has not said she supports changing state laws, the New York Times reported.

‘Haitian migrants eating pets’

During thepresidential debate between Trump andHarris in September, the former US presidentclaimed that the Haitian migrants are “eating the pets of the people that live there”. When he was fact-checked by the debate moderator, Trumpsaid that he saw people on television who said “their dog was eaten by the people that went there.”

An Ohio city spokesperson told ABC News that there have been "no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community,” terming Trump’s claims as false once again.

‘Every single job taken by a migrant worker’

In yet another claim made about the migrants, Trump said that almost every job was taken by them. “You know, the jobs, almost every single job, was taken by a migrant worker.”

However, the number of native-born workers and foreign-born workers has both increased by millions in the US, under the Biden administration.

‘Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare’

In one of her speeches from September, Harris claimed thatTrump “intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.”

However, during his 2024 presidential campaign, the former US presidenthas repeatedly said that he would not cut Social Security and Medicare, thoughhe had earlier, shown brief and vague support for such proposals, making Harris’claims 'misleading'.

‘Goldman Sachs report saying Harris’s plan would grow economy, while Trumps’ plan would shrink’

Harris said, “In fact, independent economists like Goldman Sachs have said my plan would grow our economy and his plan would shrink the economy, reignite inflation, and send us into a recession by the middle of next year.”

The claim was labelled as “exaggerating” as the Goldman Sachs analysis did show that Harris’victory in November polls would lead to a “very slight boost” to economic growth, while a Trump’s victory, regardless of what happens in Congress, would cause growth to slow in 2025.

But Goldman's chief executive said “A lot more has been made of this than should be,” given the report showed a mere “two-tenth of 1 percent” difference between the two cases.

Trump ‘intends to end the Affordable Care Act’

Harris said, “On top of all of this, Donald Trump intends to end the Affordable Care Act.”

According to the New York Times fact check, Trump has made vague and contradictory statements about his health care plan, and said that he would not end it but replace it only with “something better and less expensive.”

(With inputs from agencies)