Trump, Harris accuse each other of lying in presidential debate. The moderators were ready with facts
A closer look at some of Tuesday night's wild and questionable claims
Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trumprepeatedly accusedthe other of lying to the U.S. public during Tuesday night's fiery presidential debate in Philadelphia.
Whether pointingfingers over past policies or making personal attacks, "lie" might have been one of their favourite words of the night.
"You're going to hear from the same old tired playbook, a bunch of lies," Harris, the Democratic nominee, said of her opponent early in the debate. She went on to usethe phrase "bunch of lies" multiple times throughout the evening.
Trump, the Republican, later said of Harris:"What she says is an absolute lie."
And at another point: "Well, there she goes again. It's a lie."
But both made statements that didn't pass the sniff test.Here are some of them.
Abortion after birth
Harris has been an ardent defender of abortion rights throughout her campaign, warning that reproductive health options would only get worse in a second Trump presidency.
Trump hit back, alleging that the Democrats are in favour of abortion up until the final months of pregnancy and beyond,claiming that babies'lives are being or could be terminated after birth.
"Her vice-presidential pick also says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine," Trump claimed, referring toMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
"He also says execution after birth execution, no longer abortion becausethe baby is bornis OK."
Trump made a similar claim about West Virginia.
ABC News co-moderatorLinsey Daviscorrected the record, stating "there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born."
As far as abortions later in pregnancy, they are exceedingly rare. In 2020, less than one per centof abortions in the United States were performed at or after 21 weeks, according to the Centresfor Disease Control and Prevention.
They also are usually the result of serious complications, such as fetal anomalies, that put the life of the woman or fetus at risk, medical experts say. In most cases, these are also wanted pregnancies, experts say.
Migrants are eating pets
Trumpmade a disturbing and unverifiable claim that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating other peoples' household pets.
"They're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats ... They're eating the pets of the people that live there," he said.
Trump refused to accept co-moderator David Muir's counterpoint that Springfield's city manager told ABC News there were no credible reports of pets being harmed, injured or abused by anyone in the immigrant community.
Muir interjected a second time as Trump continued to insist pets were being eaten.
Trump later claimed without evidence that Democrats were recruiting migrants as voters.
"A lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they're trying to get them to vote. They can't even speak English. They don't even know what country they're in practically and these people are trying to get them to vote, and that's why they're allowing them to come into our country," he said.
There's no evidence for this, nor is there any evidence that non-citizens illegally vote in significant numbers in the U.S.
Voting by non-citizens already is illegal in U.S. federal elections. It can be punishable by fines, prison time and even deportation.
While non-citizens have cast ballots, studies show it's incredibly rare, and states regularly audit voter lists to remove ineligible voters from the rolls.
Fracking friend or foe
Davis asked whyHarris had softened her views on fracking, on mandatory gun buy-back programs and on decriminalizing irregular border crossingssince running for the Democratic nomination in 2020.
She insisted her "values haven't changed."
But Harris did say,in 2019, that there was "no question" she would ban fracking. In her vice-presidential debatethe next year, she said "Joe Biden will not ban fracking," but didn't clarify her own view.
She has repeatedly said, during this campaign,that she won't ban fracking if elected, and reiterated that in Tuesday's debate.
Trump claimed that Harris would end fracking in Pennsylvania a crucial state for both candidates and the number two producer of natural gasin the country on her first day in office, if she's elected.
Trump's statement ignoredthe fact that, without a law approved by Congress, a president can only ban fracking on federal lands.
The federal government owns about two per cent of Pennsylvania's total land, and it is not clear how much of that is suitable for oil or gas drilling.
With files from The Associated Press
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