A look at false and misleading claims during the vice presidential debate

The vice statesmanlike candidates, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, connected Tuesday engaged successful a fast-moving, mostly civilian statement connected a wide scope of issues. Here’s a look astatine immoderate mendacious and misleading claims from the debate.

Iran has not received $100 cardinal successful unfrozen assets nether the Biden-Harris administration

VANCE: “Iran, which launched this attack, has received implicit $100 cardinal successful unfrozen assets acknowledgment to the Kamala Harris administration. What bash they usage that wealth for? They usage it to bargain weapons that they’re present launching against our allies.”

THE FACTS: The Biden medication agreed past twelvemonth to unfreeze $6 cardinal successful Iranian assets arsenic portion of a woody to escaped 5 U.S. citizens being held by Iran. But medication officials accidental not a dollar of that has yet been fixed to Iran. It was portion of a woody negotiated by the Obama administration, earlier Biden and Harris took office, that could person allowed Iran to entree frozen assets successful speech for accepting limits connected its atomic program.

In 2016, Iran said it had received entree to much than $100 cardinal worthy of frozen overseas assets pursuing the implementation of a landmark atomic woody with satellite powers. The wealth had been held successful banks successful China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey since planetary sanctions were tightened successful 2012 implicit Tehran’s atomic program. Then-Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress that lone astir $50 cardinal of the frozen assets would really beryllium accessible by Iran.

Walz overstates the outgo of insulin earlier cap

WALZ: “They were charging $800 earlier this instrumentality went into effect.”

THE FACTS: Walz overstated however overmuch Americans were paying for insulin earlier a caller instrumentality capped prices astatine $35 per period for millions of older Americans connected Medicare. A December 2022 survey recovered that radical who were connected Medicare oregon enrolled successful backstage security paid $452 yearly connected mean earlier the caller instrumentality took effect.

Vance links unaffordable lodging to immigrants who person travel into the state illegally

VANCE: “You’ve got lodging that is wholly unaffordable due to the fact that we brought successful millions of amerciable immigrants to vie with Americans for scarce homes.”

THE FACTS: Most economists blasted a semipermanent diminution successful the lodging proviso for the dependable summation successful location prices. The fig of caller homes nether operation plunged from an yearly gait of 1.4 cardinal successful April 2006 to hardly supra 400,000 successful August 2011, and didn’t retrieve to 2006 levels until 2021.

Vance said astatine slightest 1 salient economical investigation from the Federal Reserve supports his claims that immigrants are pushing up lodging costs, but helium didn't supply details. He was apt citing a May 2024 blog station by Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Kashkari says immigration’s long-run effect connected ostentation is “unclear,” but immigrants request a spot to unrecorded and their accomplishment has overlapped with higher prices.

There mightiness beryllium upward unit connected location prices successful immoderate markets due to the fact that of immigrants arriving, but astir economists accidental the contented is simply a deficiency of proviso of homes connected the market. Homebuilders accidental they request the immigrants to physique the homes. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said astatine a September quality league that precocious owe rates mean radical aren’t listing their homes for merchantability and determination has not been capable supply.

Walz wrongly claims Project 2025 creates gestation registry

WALZ: “Their Project 2025 is going to person a registry of pregnancies.”

THE FACTS: That’s not true. The blimpish inaugural calls for the postulation of “accurate and reliable statistical information astir abortion, termination survivors, and abortion-related maternal deaths,” but not a grounds of each gestation that occurs.

More specifically, Project 2025 proposes that the Department of Health and Human Services necessitate each states to study elaborate accusation astir abortions that are performed wrong their borders, including the full fig of abortions, the property and authorities of residence of the mother, the gestational property of the fetus, the crushed for the termination and the method utilized to execute the abortion. It suggests that this information beryllium separated into categories specified arsenic spontaneous miscarriages, intentional abortions, stillbirths and different aesculapian treatments that effect successful the decease of the fetus, similar chemotherapy.

Vance overstates migration numbers

VANCE: “We’ve got 20, 25 cardinal amerciable aliens who are present successful the country.”

THE FACTS: That fig is highly inflated. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports much than 10 cardinal arrests for amerciable crossings from Mexico from January 2021 done September 2024.

That’s arrests, not people. Under pandemic-era asylum restrictions, galore radical crossed much than erstwhile until they succeeded due to the fact that determination were nary ineligible consequences for getting turned backmost to Mexico. So the fig of radical is little than the fig of arrests.

According to the Department of Homeland Security’s latest disposable estimate, determination were astir 11 cardinal radical surviving illegally successful the U.S. arsenic of January 2022, 79% of whom entered anterior to January 2010.

Vance distorts Minnesota termination law

VANCE: “It says that a doc who presides implicit an termination wherever the babe survives, the doc is nether nary work to supply lifesaving attraction to a babe who survives a botched late-term abortion.”

THE FACTS: This assertion misrepresents a measure Walz signed into instrumentality successful 2023, updating connection astir the attraction of newborns.

The caller connection uses the operation “an babe who is calved alive” alternatively of “a calved live babe arsenic a effect of an abortion.” It states that aesculapian unit are required to “care for the babe who is calved alive” alternatively than “preserve the beingness and wellness of the calved live infant.”

Both the existent mentation of the instrumentality and the 2015 mentation that was amended authorities that “an babe who is calved live shall beryllium afloat recognized arsenic a quality person, and accorded contiguous extortion nether the law.”

Infanticide is criminalized successful each state, including Minnesota, and the measure does not alteration that.

Vance connected Trump and Jan. 6, 2021

VANCE: “Remember helium said that connected January the 6th, the protesters ought to protestation peacefully.”

THE FACTS: It’s existent that Trump told the assemblage gathered adjacent the White House, “I cognize that everyone present volition soon beryllium marching implicit to the Capitol gathering to peacefully and patriotically marque your voices heard.”

But Vance ignored the incendiary connection Trump utilized passim his speech, during which helium urged the assemblage to march to the Capitol, wherever Congress was gathering to certify President Joe Biden’s victory. Trump told the crowd: “If you don’t combat similar hell, you’re not going to person a state anymore.” That’s aft his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, declared: “Let’s person proceedings by combat.”