Snopes Coverage of the Final 2020 U.S. Presidential Debate
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden met in Nashville for the final debate of the election season, and Snopes fact checked it live.
- Published 22 October 2020
Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here.
The second and final 2020 U.S. presidential debate took place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Reporters Dan Evon, Jessica Lee, and Bethania Palma, along with Assignments Editor Camille Knox, Operations Manager Lisa Wang, and Operations Editor Jordan Liles covered the debate. This was originally scheduled to be the third presidential debate, but the Oct. 15 debate that was slated to take place in Miami was canceled, prompting dueling town halls on different television networks by the two candidates.
We were also happy to welcome Connor Klentschy, who assisted the team. He is a student of Jevin D. West, Assistant Professor, DataLab, iSchool, University of Washington.
Our team will also be presenting new fact-check content in the days to come, just as we have been doing for more than 25 years. We encourage readers to sign up for our newsletter for our analysis, and to support our newsroom and fact-checking efforts by becoming a Snopes Member.
Please refresh this page throughout the debate. We will be adding our fact check content during and after the debate ends, with each new item loading in at the top, under this text.
Biden and Fracking
Biden has stated he would end new gas and oil production on federal lands, but not ban fracking outright. https://t.co/JZ4DCMMI7n pic.twitter.com/igXJWQRAtm
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump on Windmills
Last December, Trump stated that windmills result in "tremendous fumes, gases [that] are spewing into the atmosphere."https://t.co/Sk9JJqyF6s
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
The World’s Cleanest Air?
President Donald Trump said: “What I want is the cleanest, crystal clear water, the cleanest air…We have the best carbon emission numbers that we’ve had in 35 years.”
Last year, we asked the White House what the evidentiary basis was for the president’s claim that the U.S. has the world’s cleanest air, but we did not receive a response.https://t.co/FH4vh2Qvam pic.twitter.com/rwoYbGclYZ
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump and White Supremacists
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “Abraham Lincoln over here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire.”
ICYMI: https://t.co/ZvmIQA3myi
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump and Racism
President Donald Trump said: “I am the least racist person in this room.”
Trump has been dogged by accusations of racism long before he ran for president. https://t.co/1vquPLECL5 pic.twitter.com/A2e18P1u8K
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Institutional Racism in America
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “The fact of the matter is, there is institutional racism in America.”
Black Americans are more likely to be killed during encounters with police than white Americans. https://t.co/VYerHXMmJt pic.twitter.com/ZmFTjVzrR3
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
U.S. Has Been Unable to Reunite 545 Children with Parents?
Court-appointed lawyers said they are unable to find the parents of 545 children who were separated at the U.S. border with Mexico.https://t.co/DHwOCKON64
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Obama Administration Built Cages?
The Obama-Biden administration, not the Trump administration, built the cages that hold many immigrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border. https://t.co/Qid3tHUvSH
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
The Payroll Tax and Social Security
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “If he continues his plan to withhold the tax on Social Security, Social Security will be bankrupt by 2023, with no way to make up for it. This is the guy who’s tried to cut Medicare.”
Trump has expressed the desire to eliminate the payroll tax that funds Social Security and Medicare. https://t.co/gWQnQUR6TE pic.twitter.com/YVJGvntbbG
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Biden and Fracking
President Donald Trump said: “Then [Biden] goes to Pennsylvania… and he says ‘oh, we’re gonna have fracking.'”
Tonight, Trump said Biden wants to end fracking.
But that's not the Biden campaign's position. https://t.co/aidHNTGLc4 pic.twitter.com/2nGM6No620
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Spying on Trump Campaign?
President Donald Trump said: “I was put through a phony witch hunt for three years… It started before I even got elected. They spied on my campaign. No president should ever have to go through what I went through.”
Trump has repeatedly said "they spied on my campaign,"
But the FBI did not find any evidence of illegal spying on the 2016 Trump campaign. https://t.co/bQu8kWF3Zx pic.twitter.com/FDHYc8Vvpa
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump Said He’s “Smart” on Taxes
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “You’re not paying your taxes or you’re paying taxes that are so low. (And you said) I only pay that little because I’m smart.”
In 2016, while debating then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Trump said not paying federal taxes "makes me smart."https://t.co/62RfffnDfW pic.twitter.com/N8I8TySpXb
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Biden and Ukraine
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “Nothing was unethical [with regard to Ukraine] … Not a single solitary thing was out of line.”
A 2018 video clip of Biden has been taken out of context to accuse him of encouraging corruption in Ukraine to benefit his son. You can watch the video here.https://t.co/yffKAFijPF pic.twitter.com/Dfy6tWdQg4
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
“No Collusion”?
Trump said the Mueller Report found "no collusion" between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, but that's not exactly what the report said. https://t.co/crr5hmPH0Z
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump’s Taxes under Audit?
President Donald Trump said of releasing his taxes: “As soon as the audit is finished…”
Trump has repeatedly said that he would release his taxes when they are no longer under audit. While we wait, the New York Times has obtained several years of the president's taxes.https://t.co/dxWkxbCGnU pic.twitter.com/AsBzLSRxUz
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Hunter Biden and $3.5 Million?
Unsubstantiated reports have circulated that Biden's son received $3.5 million from a Russian billionaire.
Read more about the Hunter Biden rumors here.https://t.co/6kTZ2Cd0DU
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump Knew Coronavirus Was Serious?
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “Think about what the President knew in January and didn’t tell the American people. He was told this was a serious virus that spread in the air and it was much worse than, much worse than the flu. He went on record and said to one of your colleagues… that in fact he knew how dangerous it was, but he didn’t want to tell us. He didn’t want to tell us because he didn’t want us to panic.”
Trump told journalist Bob Woordward in February that he knew the virus was airborne and more deadly than he told the public. https://t.co/H1okJkQmOv pic.twitter.com/gpHuFlZq4x
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump Called Fauci and Doctors “Idiots”?
Trump did call Fauci and his people idiots.
Here's a closer look at their relationship. 👇https://t.co/j2HmYJiiDB
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump Said to Inject Bleach?
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “[Trump] said ‘don’t worry, maybe inject bleach.’ He said he was kidding when he said that but a lot of people thought he was serious.”
President Trump in April 2020 suggested injecting bleach to treat coronavirus. Trump claimed he was joking. https://t.co/66wZQuU3op pic.twitter.com/2RTsj4pare
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Trump Praised China on Coronavirus?
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “He said the President of China is being transparent. We owe him a debt of gratitude. We have to thank him.”
President Trump in January praised China for its handling of the coronavirus.https://t.co/wF5lGxgG1x pic.twitter.com/W9lVBZI1Dh
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
“Xenophobic”
President Donald Trump said: “Months later, [Biden] was saying I was xenophobic.”
Biden has called Trump xenophobic, but it wasn't based entirely on Trump's decision to reduce travel from China to slow the spread of COVID-19. https://t.co/XSNvUpDfpA pic.twitter.com/TCa0McG6c8
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
Facts about Masks
Former Vice President Joe Biden said: “If we just wore these masks, the president’s own advisors have told him, we could save 100,000 lives.”
True: Cloth face coverings slow the spread of the virus. https://t.co/PUyXYZVZQf
?utm_source=lt&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=d1022 pic.twitter.com/PtYz8reQPl— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020
The First Question
Debate begins now. First question: "How would you lead the country during this next stage of the coronavirus?"
We've been tracking Trump's response since the beginning of the outbreak. Find all of our COVID-19 fact checks here: https://t.co/VRQ4oWl4wI
— snopes.com (@snopes) October 23, 2020