WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris wrestled in the first and only vice-presidential debate ahead of the Nov. 3 election on Wednesday because coronavirus put President Donald Trump on the sidelines in the White House.
A look at the statement from the Salt Lake City runners with the facts:
Economy
PENCE: “Joe Biden wants to return to the economic surrender to China, that half of our international trade deficit was with China alone when we entered service. And Joe Biden wants to repeal all the tariffs that President Trump has put in place to fight for American jobs and American workers. ”
THE FACTS: The rates were not the profit Pence claimed.
To begin with, tariffs are taxes that consumers and businesses pay through higher prices. So Pence defends tax increases. The tariffs against China did lead to a reduction in the trade deficit in China in 2019. But this is at best a pirrish victory because US economic growth has generally slowed from 3% to 2.2% due to trade uncertainty.
More importantly, the Trump administration has not reduced the overall trade imbalance. For all trading partners, the Census Bureau said the trade deficit last year was $ 576.9 billion, nearly $ 100 billion higher than the previous year of Barack Obama’s presidency.
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HARRIS, on Trump’s tax cuts: “On Day 1, Joe Biden recalls the tax bill.”
THE FACTS: No, that’s not what Biden is suggesting. He would recall some of it. Nor can he repeal a law himself, much less on his first day in office. Harris also said Biden would not raise taxes on people earning less than $ 400,000. If he were to repeal the Trump tax cuts across the board, he would break the promise.
Coronavirus
HARRIS: “The president said it was a joke.”
THE FACTS: This is misleading.
She refers to a campaign rally on February 28 in South Carolina in which Trump said the phrases ‘the coronavirus’ and ‘this is their new joke’ on separate points. Although it is difficult to discern its meaning, the broader context of his words shows that he spoke out against the Democrats because of their denials of the coronavirus response of his government.
“Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus,” he said during the protest. “You know that, right? Coronavirus. They politicize it. He briefly delves into the subject of the chaotic Democratic primary in Iowa, then the Russia investigation before returning to the pandemic. “They chose the accusation. … And this is their new farce. ‘
At a news conference the day after the rally to clarify his remarks, Trump said he did not refer to the coronavirus itself as a joke.
“No no no.” he said. ” Hoax ‘in reference to the action they are taking to try to pin it on someone because we did such a great job. The joke is on them, no – I’m not talking about what’s going on here. I talk about what they do. This is the joke. ”
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PENCE, at the Rose Garden meeting on September 26, after which more than 11 participants tested positive for COVID-19: “It was an outdoor event, giving all our scientists regular and regular advice.”
THE FACTS: His suggestion that the recommendations followed the safety recommendations for the health of the people is untrue. The event, with the launch of nominee High Court Amy Coney Barrett, drew more than 150 people and challenged safety recommendations in a variety of ways. And it was not all outside.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, large gatherings of people who have traveled from outside the area and are not at least 6 feet apart are the biggest risk for the spread of the virus.
This is exactly the type of high-risk event that the White House has hosted.
Guests sit close together, not 6 feet apart, in rows of chairs outside. Many were caught on camera, slapped on the back, shaking hands and chatting, barely at arm’s length.
The CDC also strongly encourages people to wear masks, but few in the Rose Garden have worn them. There was also a private reception in the White House after the Rose Garden ceremony, where some politicians, including North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who has since tested positive, were pictured not wearing masks.
Environment
PENCE: ‘Both have repeatedly committed themselves to abolishing fossil fuels and banning hydrofracking … President Trump has made it clear that we will continue to listen to science’ on climate change.
THE FACTS: Pence is correct when he says Harris supports hydrofracking ban, wrong when he says Biden does, and untrue when he says Trump is following the science of climate change.
Speaking at a CNN Climate Change House for Democratic presidential candidates last year, Harris said: ‘There is no doubt I want to ban the hydrofracking ban. Start with what we can do in public lands from day one. Now, as Biden’s running mate, she’s bound by his agenda, which is different.
Biden has an ambitious climate plan that seeks to rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels. However, he says he does not support the ban on hydraulic fracturing or hydraulic fracturing, and says he doubts whether such a ban is possible.
As far as Trump and climate change are concerned, Trump’s public remarks as president reject the science of climate change – that it is caused by people burning fossil fuels, and that it is sharply deteriorating. Last month, Trump said, “I do not think science knows” what global warming and the consequent worsening of wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters are all about. He mocked science in many public comments and tweets.
Its reduction in regulations eliminated the major Obama-era efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Health care
PENCE: “President Trump and I have a plan to improve health care and protect existing conditions for all Americans.”
THE FACTS: There is no clear plan. People with pre-existing conditions are already protected by the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, and if the Trump administration succeeds in persuading the Supreme Court to stop it, the protection will be jeopardized.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring that it is the policy of the US government to protect people with existing conditions, but Trump will have to go back to Congress to work out legislation to replace those in ‘Obamacare’ .
Several Republican approaches offered in 2017 would have undermined protection in the ACA, and Trump did not provide details on how his plan would work. Although Trump has been in office for nearly four years, he has yet to launch the comprehensive health proposal he once promised.
More about the virus
PENCE: “He has suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world. Joe Biden opposed the decision, saying it was xenophobic and hysterical. ”
THE FACTS: Trump’s order did not suspend ‘all travel from China’. He limited it, and Biden never described the decision as ‘xenophobic’. Dozens of countries have taken similar steps to control travel from hot spots before or about the same time as the US did.
The U.S. restrictions, which took effect on February 2, continued for months to allow access from the Hong Kong and Macao territories to China to the United States. The Associated Press reports that more than 8,000 Chinese and foreign nationals settled in the territories entered the United States in the first three months after the travel restrictions were imposed.
In addition, more than 27,000 Americans returned from mainland China in the first month after the restrictions came into effect. U.S. officials have lost track of more than 1,600 of those who were supposed to be monitored for virus exposure.
Biden accused Trump of having a record of xenophobia, but not explicitly in the context of the president’s decision to restrict travel from China during the pandemic. Trump at one point called the virus the “China virus” and the “foreign virus,” urging Biden to urge the country not to take a turn in the pandemic toward xenophobia or racism.
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HARRIS, on the aftermath of the pandemic: “One in five businesses closed.”
THE FACTS: This is not accurate at the moment. We do not yet know how many businesses have closed permanently – or could do so in the coming months.
What we do know is that the National Federation of Independent Business said in August that 1 in 5 small businesses would close if economic conditions did not improve in the next six months.
Many small businesses have survived in part through the forgiving loans of the Payroll Protection Program. Major employers such as Disney and Allstate Insurance have announced layoffs, as well as major airlines. Restaurants that survived the pandemic will soon face the challenge of cold weather. It is therefore too early to say how many businesses have closed or will close.
Associated Press authors Josh Boak, Ellen Knickmeyer, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Colleen Long, Amanda Seitz, Calvin Woodward and Hope Yen contributed to this report.