Good Living 123

I like the America where our citizens are recognized as the nation’s heart and soul. I like the America where our hopes, dreams, and differences make us stronger, rather than dividing us.

 

I have been deeply saddened by the America that embraces a “cancel culture” to crush differing opinions, gaslights otherwise intelligent people with loud and frequent repetition of known lies, and labels supporters of a Presidential opponent as deranged fascists, weak, deplorable, or garbage. Further, I will not be cajoled nor berated into voting for ANYONE based on race or sex. Period.

A lot of cleanup continues and restoration begins in western NC. We have been blessed by neighbors and friends showing up to work on our great many fallen oak trees, all of which were taller than our house is long! But amidst all the challenges that Helene left in her wake, there are some Wowza moments. Case in point, the photo our neighbor snapped of this elk in our pasture. There are some 200 elk in North Carolina, but this gem was displaced by the storm and its flooding, as we are in the foothills. Elk tend to stay up in the mountains, particularly the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, west of Asheville. (We are southeast of Asheville.) So, Mill Spring in little Polk County got a Wowza moment!

TRUMP VS HARRIS — LIKE IT OR NOT

Which administration or person did it…. Trump-Pence/Trump, or Biden-Harris/Harris?

Information is from their official and government websites or from their statements and appearances.

Information & Fact Checking Sources of info & quotes re: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

(To neutralize criticism that information showing Donald Trump in a positive light must come only from right-wing organizations, we deliberately sought only nonpartisan or liberal sources and fact-checked the fact-checkers. In one instance, a note from the libertarian Cato Institute is used and noted as such.)

ABC News
AP
CalMatters.org
CBS News
Chicago Sun Times
CNN
ColoradoPolitics.com
E2.org
ESD.WA.GOV
GovTrack.us
Market Watch
Mary Harris of Slate.com
NBC News
New York Magazine
Newsweek
NPR
NPR Network   KUOW.org
PBS
Pew Research Center
Politifact (The Poynter Institute… a journalism school owned by the left-wing Tampa Bay Times)
ReadTangle.com
Reuters
Seattle Times (SeattleTimes.com)
Scripps News
Sky News Australia
Snopes.com
Spokesman.com
The Brookings Institute
The Center for Public Integrity
The Epoch Times
The Science Survey.com
USA Today
US Census Bureau
US Department of Health and Human Services
US Small Business Administration
Washington Examiner
Washington Post
Whitehouse.gov
The following information is broken up into policy sections.

Economy
Employment
Business/Industry/Innovation
Quality of Life
Taxes
Crime/Making Communities Safer
Education
Healthcare
Covid-19 Pandemic
Drugs & Opioid Crisis
Border Crisis/Immigration
Global/Trade
Military/Veterans
Federal Judiciary
Energy/Natural Resources
Climate/Environment
Other

A section on Lies, Exaggerations, and Speculations follows, with “my personal take” in conclusion.

Please cast your vote for President of the United States based on the person with whom you agree on policies and accomplishments that benefit this country and people everywhere.

ECONOMY

• Under which administration did middle-class family income increase nearly $6,000 – more than five times the gains during the entire previous administration?
  • This happened during the Trump-Pence administration. In the Biden-Harris administration the increase has been $1,400 or 2.4%.

 

• Who rescued the economy by lowering the deficit with the single largest annual reduction in American history?
  • President Biden did this, following the historically high 2020 debt resulting from the Covid-19 global pandemic. However, the deficit never returned to the far lower, pre-pandemic levels of the Trump administration. Historically, the budget deficit numbers show:
    • 2017 $665.7 billion
    • 2018 $779 billion
    • 2019 $984.4 billion
    • 2020 $3.1 trillion
    • 2021 $2.8 trillion
    • 2022 $1.4 trillion
    • 2023 $1.7 trillion
  • US Fiscal Data indicates increases in both 2020 and 2021 deficits were directly related to COVID-19 pandemic-related expenditures.

 

• Under which administration did unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma all reach record lows?
  • For African Americans, the unemployment rate dropped to an all-time historic low of 5.3% in September 2019 under President Trump.
  • For Hispanic Americans, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1% under President Trump in October 2019, the lowest rate in history.
  • For Asian Americans, the unemployment rate dropped to 2.7% in 2019 under President Trump, the lowest rate in history.
  • For Native Americans, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1% in 2019 under President Trump, the lowest rate in history.
    • President Biden also claims investing historic funding for Tribal governments and Native American communities.
  • For veterans, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.0%, 20-year low under President Trump in 2019, and then dropped for 1 month in 2023 to 2.9% under the Biden-Harris administration.
  • For individuals with disabilities, the unemployment rate reached a new low of 7.3% in 2019 under President Trump. It had peaked at 16.9% under President Obama.

 

• Which 2024 Presidential candidate claims the other will make it more difficult for workers to earn overtime?
  • This is Kamala Harris. Though she repeats the falsehood, Donald Trump is the one who proposes no income tax on overtime wages.

 

 

• Who claims a new record low unemployment rate for those without a high school diploma?
  • Presidents Trump and Biden both claim this, and both are correct. For those without a high school diploma, the unemployment rate reached a new low of 4.9% under President Trump in 2019 and then set another new record low of 4.5% under President Biden.

 

• Under which administration did unemployment for women hit its lowest rate in nearly 70 years?
  • Per the US Bureau of Statistics, this happened under the Trump administration in November 2019 when the rate was just 3.6%, dramatically the lowest since it briefly touched 2.9% in July, 1953, 66 years earlier.

 

• Who said, “Build Back Better is designed to help everyday folks who just need a little bit more support“?
  • This was Kamala Harris on December 14, 2021. In this speech, she continued, “So, we are lowering the cost of everything from childcare to healthcare, from prescription drugs to electric vehicles. This bill is fully paid for and will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.”
  • Initially presented as a $3.5 trillion bill, the revised bill cost was $2.2-trillion and included $555 billion for clean energy and climate change, $400 billion for child tax credits, $130 billion for Affordable Care Act Credits, $25.6 billion for House Natural Resources Committee, $45.51 billion for House Science Committee (including over $4 billion for NASA nut not for human space exploration), $10 billion for transit support, $10 billion for high-speed rail, $4 billion to lower carbon emissions, and $1.5 billion to reduce aviation-caused carbon emissions. It also included more than 1 million new affordable housing units, creation of 1–2 million new apprenticeship slots, and an electric car tax credit of $7500, plus an extra $4,000 for American-made vehicles built with union labor.
  • Funding the bill: $400 billion from IRS reform, including enforcement of tax payments from taxpayers making over $400,000, $, 350 billion from a 15% minimum tax on foreign corporate profits, $325 billion from a 15% minimum tax on corporations making over $1 billion, $230 billion from an adjusted gross income surcharge of 5% on those earning $10 million, $145 billion by repealing the 2017 tax act’s rebate on prescription drugs. In total the cost would be paid over ten years.
  • Fact checking also shows a downside:
    • The additional deficit spending exacerbated inflation.
    • It harmed many US businesses and drove the nation toward recession.
    • $200 billion in funding was a tax on sole proprietors, independent contractors, and many small Main Street, USA businesses, many of which were still struggling to recover from COVID-19 restrictions, rising inflation, and supply-chain disruptions.
    • Prescription price controlling led to the predictable shortages, non-price rationing, and reduced incentive to innovate.
    • Subsidies were withheld from middle-class families.

 

 

 

• Which administration claims the lowest inflation, Trump-Pence or Biden-Harris?
  • Both administrations claim it, although the numbers do not provide support.
  • Under the Biden-Harris administration, the June 2024 numbers reflect 3%, the lowest inflation since they took office. However, that lowest figure is higher than any month under the Trump-Pence administration.
  • Fact check shows average inflation in prior years: 2017: 2.1%, 2018 2.5%, 2019 2.3%, 2020 1.4%, 2021 7%, 2022 8%, 2023 4.1%
  • Americans shifted from the lowest inflation (1%) when the Biden-Harris administration first began to continuing to suffer from the highest inflation in history.
  • As the Democrat nominee for President, Kamala Harris has said in August and September 2024 that she will reduce inflation and the crippling high cost of living for daily necessities. However, she has not previously advocated nor taken any steps to indicate a workable plan to do this. Under the Biden-Harris administration, groceries are up 26%; gas leapt from $2 to $5, with an average as high as $6 per gallon; new home prices rose 46%, car costs jumped 33%, and healthcare costs are up 18%. (Some sources show these inflation numbers to be much higher.)

 

• Which administration declared great success with Inflation Reduction Act?
  • This was the Biden-Harris administration. On 8/15/23, Kamala Harris said, “The Inflation Reduction Act created 175,000 clean energy jobs in the past year.”
  • According to the nonpartisan business group E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), the US clean energy economy added 127,000 workers, 3% of all new jobs in the US in the same 2022 time period.
  • Fact checks also show the Biden-Harris administration delivered the opposite, with the highest inflation in history, peaking at over 9%, on daily items like groceries.

 

• Which administration claims nearly 7 million people were lifted off food stamps?
  • Nearly 10 million people were lifted off the various food stamp programs during the Trump administration.

 

• Under which administration did poverty rates for both African Americans and Hispanic Americans reach record lows?
  • This happened under President Trump when the poverty rates dropped to 18.8% for African Americans and 15.7% for Hispanic Americans, both historic lows. The rate for African Americans dipped again to 17.1% for African Americans in 2023 under President Biden.

 

• Which administration claims to have controlled inflation?
  • Both administrations claim this, but Trump has the far better record. The Biden-Harris inflation high of 9.13% marks the first time that inflation rose above 9% since 1980, under President Jimmy Carter. Inflation has now fallen to around 3%, which is still higher than when the Biden-Harris administration began. Trump’s first year saw a 2.13% rate in 2017, which rose to 2018’s 2.44% inflation. He lowered that in 2019 to 1.81%, then to 1.2% in 2020. Under the Biden-Harris administration, inflation rose to 4.7% in 2021, 8% in 2022 (including the 9.2% peak), 4.1% in 2023, and averaging 3.2% so far in 2024. So, the Biden-Harris administration can claim improvement over the four years, but their best rate is still worse than when they took office.
• Under which administration did the bottom 50% of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth?
  • This happened under President Trump, when wages rose fastest for low-income and blue-collar workers – a 16% pay increase.

 

EMPLOYMENT

• Which administration hit a new unemployment low, setting a record not seen since July 1953?
  • According to the US Bureau of Statistics, unemployment dropped to 3.6 in November 2019 under President Trump tax, the lowest since July 1953 when it touched 2.9%.

 

• Which administration claims more people working than at any time in American history.
  • This is the Biden-Harris administration. Of course, the US working age population (aged 15 – 64) is also larger than at any time in American history at 208,874,300 as of August 2024. In August 2020, for example, the working population included 206,156,600 people.

 

• Which administration achieved 40 months in a row with more job openings than job-hirings?
  • This happened under the Trump administration with more Americans reporting being employed than ever before – nearly 160 million and jobless claims hitting a near 50-year low. Unemployment dropped to 3.5% in 2019 under President Trump and stayed at or below 4% for 19 months. Unemployment dropped again under President Biden to 3.4%, setting a new record low in 54 years.

 

• Under which administration did incomes rise in every single metro area in the United States for the first time in nearly 3 decades?
  • This happened under the Trump administration along with an increase in real GDP in all 50 states.

 

• Who directed the federal government to replace outdated degree-based hiring with skills-based hiring?
  • President Trump signed this executive order.

 

• Which administration cracked down on collecting taxes on tips from service workers?
  • This was the Biden-Harris administration. As vice president, Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to crackdown on tips earned by workers in the service and hospitality industry, including adding 87,000 more IRS agents to help.
  • Campaigning for President, Harris says she’ll fight to end taxes on hospitality workers’ tips. (Fact checks also show that these are the same taxes she voted to ensure they would pay.)

 

 

• Which administration claims to have created nearly 11 million jobs, including good-paying jobs, union jobs and jobs that don’t require a 4-year degree?
  • The Biden-Harris administration claims this, although President Trump is the one who changed standards to skill-based, rather than degree-based hiring for many of those jobs.

 

• Under which administration did nearly 500 companies sign the Pledge to America’s Workers, committing to provide more than 16 million job and training opportunities?
  • This happened under President Trump.

 

• Who claims a 50-year historic low unemployment rate of 3.5%?
  • Under President Biden this happened for one month in April 2023. (The overall rate is over 4% in 2024).
  • In December 2019, when President Trump’s pro-growth agenda created more than 6.4 million jobs, the average employment held at 3.5% for the 19^th month in a row, marking the lowest unemployment rate since May 1969.

 

• Under which administration did 17 states enjoy an unemployment rate of 3% or less?
  • This happened in April 2023 under the Biden-Harris administration. However, 3% was not the nationwide unemployment rate, which dipped to 3.7% in 2023.
  • The US unemployment rate was 4.9% when Donald Trump was elected President in 2016. It dropped to 4.1% in 2017, 3.9 in 2018, and 3.7 in 2017.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns saw a temporary jump to 8.1%, which tracked rapidly down reaching 6.3% when the Biden-Harris administration took office. It then dropped to 3.9% by the end of 2021, 4% in 2022, 3.7% in 2023, and 4.2% in 2024.
  • Currently, the average unemployment rate under the Biden-Harris administration is 4.3%.

 

• Who claims record high employment rates for people with disabilities?
  • Both Biden and Trump claim this, and both are correct. Employment rates for both men and women with disabilities have been improving since 2010 when they reached 31.7% and 27.7% respectively. Under President Trump they reached new record highs with 33.3% and 28.6% respectively, and new highs under President Biden in 2023 at 38.2% and 36.1% respectively.

 

• Which administration expanded apprenticeships to more than 850,000 and established the new Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship programs in new and emerging fields?
  • President Trump signed the National Apprenticeship Act in 2020.

 

• Who established the National Council for the American Worker and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board?
  • President Trump signed this executive order.

 

• Which administration advanced cutting-edge research on cancer and other diseases through the ARPA-H initiative?
  • President Biden did this.

 

• Which administration created more manufacturing jobs in one year than in any single year in nearly 30 years?
  • This occurred under the Biden-Harris administration in 2022. Worthy of note is the fact that the vast majority of these jobs were rehires after the global Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns, rather than new manufacturing jobs.

 

• Which administration awarded the most ever federal contracting dollars to small businesses and disadvantaged small businesses?
  • The Biden-Harris administration did this.

 

• What administration claims to have started a record number of small businesses?
  • The Biden-Harris administration claims this. However, the majority of those were re-starts after being closed during the global Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns.
  • The Trump-Pence administration may well have laid the groundwork and launched the rapid growth enjoyed since. According to the US Small Business Administration in October 2020, the small business sector was rebounding far faster than experts had predicted and more than half the jobs lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic had already been regained. Further, they completely credited the rapid comeback to President Trump’s decisive leadership. Trump launched the largest economic response program aimed at small businesses in American history — the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In just over four months, the program approved more than $525 billion in forgivable loans to millions of small businesses and nonprofits. The SBA tripled the number of lenders to originate loans and emphasized lenders that specialize in connecting minority entrepreneurs with capital. As a result, nearly 70% of all PPP loans went to small businesses with fewer than 10 employees – an important metric since the average minority-owned firm has 8 employees. This Trump program alone helped keep more than 5 million small businesses viable and kept over 50 million small business employees on payroll, despite their jobs being closed.
  • Trump’s round-the clock support helped get more than $190 billion in EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loans) to small businesses impacted by the pandemic, with low-interest loans and no payments for a full year.
  • Under Trump, 2020 also saw a record-breaking year in SBA microloans, helping new small businesses launch, despite the global pandemic.
  • Per the US Small Business Administration, under Trump, women-owned small businesses were awarded federal contracts at the highest rate ever and 117 Women’s Business Centers were strategically located across the country to provide guidance and business support to women entrepreneurs. The reach was also expanded to serve African American entrepreneurs with the addition of Women’s Business Centers at three Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
  • President Trump also donated a portion of his salary to boost SBA’s veteran assistance programs, and helped the SBA launch the Veteran Owned Small Business Growth Training Program, filling a critical role in helping existing veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs grow their small business. Under President Trump more veteran entrepreneurs were served than in any previous administration.
  • Under the Biden-Harris administration, a new record high was hit as 18.1 million new small businesses sought to launch, a new record high since the Census Bureau began tallying the statistic in 2004. The US SBA acknowledged that the high number was due in great part to the global pandemic.
  • Under President Biden, the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure American Rescue Plan is also credited with fueling new waves of investment that provided entrepreneurs with opportunities to win new federal contracts.
  • However, due to dramatic differences in Biden’s economic plans, the libertarian Cato Institute notes that the more likely catalysts for the boom stem from the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and technological developments. Before Biden took office, President Trump’s economic plan had already focused on rebuilding an economy to help hardworking Americans once again live the American Dream.
  • In September 2024, Harris says she has a goal of 25 million new SBA apps in first term.

 

 

 

BUSINESS / INDUSTRY / INNOVATION

• Who claimed that US companies will make nearly $300 billion in manufacturing investments in the US in the next few years?
  • President Biden said this in his 2023 State of the Union address.

 

• Who promised to bring back supply chains from overseas?
  • President Biden made this promise. However, both Biden and Trump did this.
  • The Biden-Harris administration worked to make “Made in America” a reality. President Biden signed an executive order to establish a “Made in America” office at the White House and promised a $900-billion private sector investment in American manufacturing.
  • Under President Biden, manufacturing jobs shut down during the Covid-19 lockdown finished becoming restored.
  • President Trump “turbocharged” an initiative to remove global supply chains from China and reduce US reliance on China. Between his election in 2016 and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the US added 510,000 new manufacturing jobs. In 2018 alone, 264,000 new manufacturing jobs were added, the most in 30 years.
  • During the first 3 years of the Trump-Pence administration, manufacturing production grew at a rate 11 times greater than the previous 3 years under the Obama-Biden administration.
  • In 2018, under President Trump, a record high 95% of manufacturers had a positive outlook on their business.
  • President Trump negotiated the America First Trade deals to boost US manufacturers.
  • President Trump’s US-Mexico-Canada Agreement created 176,000 new jobs and grew the US economy by up to $235 billion.

 

 

 

• Which administration pushed for massive deregulation, ending the regulatory assault on American businesses and workers?
  • This happened under President Trump, under whose administration, instead of 2-for-1, 8 old regulations were eliminated for every 1 new regulation adopted. Further, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the US topped the world in 2019 under President Trump a $21.44 trillion. The average GDP growth rate during his administration is skewed down due to the global pandemic to just 2.3%. As a comparison measure, the GDP rate under the Biden-Harris administration is 2.2%, with under 2% indicating a recession. Regardless, the overall US GDP is $25.46 trillion, still highest in the world.
  • Also, the 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Trump administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.

 

• Who established the Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to reduce outdated regulations at the state, local, and tribal levels?
  • President Trump established this by executive order.

 

• Who promised a new set of economic proposals to spur entrepreneurs and small businesses?
  • This was promised by Kamala Harris on September 4, 2024. However, she has outlined no details in speeches nor on her website, and nothing in her past shows any previous interest, efforts, nor track record in this area.
  • On the other hand, Trump has a solid history of work on behalf of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Among his many endeavors, as president, Donald Trump signed executive orders to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans and their small businesses from administrative abuse.

 

• Who modernized the Department of Agriculture’s biotechnology regulations to put America in the lead to develop new technologies?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Who launched the W-GDP 2x Global Women’s Initiative with the Development Finance Corporation, which has mobilized more than $3 billion in private sector investments over three years?
  • President Trump did this in 2019.

 

• Which administration ensured American leadership in technology and innovation?
  • President Trump’s is the first administration to name artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G communications as national research and development priorities. Trump also launched the American AI Initiative to ensure American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) and established the National AI Initiative Office at the White House.

 

• Which administration launched a groundbreaking program to test safe and innovative commercial drone operations nationwide?
  • President Trump initiated this in 2017.

 

  

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Which administration claims historic legislation to lower costs for families’ everyday expenses?
  • While the Biden-Harris administration has made this claim, fact checking shows that in addition to the highest inflation on everyday expenses, including groceries, the Biden-Harris administration created an environment with record high consumer debt (even when not including student loans). Legislative efforts did not lower cost of living.
  • On 12/14/21 Kamala Harris said, “Our Build Back Better Act is designed to help everyday folks who just need a little bit more support. So, we are lowering the cost of everything from childcare to healthcare, from prescription drugs to electric vehicles. This bill is fully paid for and will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.”
  • Initially presented as a $3.5 trillion bill, the revised bill cost was $2.2 trillion. It included $555 billion for clean energy and climate change, $400 billion for child tax credits, $130 billion for Affordable Care Act Credits, $25.6 billion for House Natural Resources Committee, $45.51 billion for House Science Committee (including over $4 billion for NASA but not for human space exploration), $10 billion for transit support, $10 billion for high-speed rail, $4 billion to lower carbon emissions, and $1.5 billion to reduce aviation-caused carbon emissions. It also included more than 1 million new affordable housing units, creation of 1–2 million new apprenticeship slots, and an electric car tax credit of $7500, plus an extra $4,000 for American-made vehicles built with union labor.
  • Funding the bill: $400 billion from IRS reform, including enforcement of tax payments from taxpayers making over $400,000, $350 billion from a 15% minimum tax on foreign corporate profits, $325 billion from a 15% minimum tax on corporations making over $1 billion, $230 billion from an adjusted gross income surcharge of 5% on those earning $10 million, $145 billion by repealing the 2017 tax act’s rebate on prescription drugs. In total the cost would be paid over ten years.
  • Fact checking shows a downside:
    • The additional deficit spending exacerbated inflation.
    • The legislation harmed many US businesses and drove the nation toward recession.
    • $200 billion in funding was a tax on sole proprietors, independent contractors, and numerous small Main Street, USA businesses, many of which were still struggling to recover from COVID-19 restrictions, rising inflation, and supply-chain disruptions.
    • Prescription price controlling led to the predictable shortages, non-price rationing, and reduced incentive to innovate.
    • Subsidies were withheld from middle-class families.

 

• Which administration claims to have made the largest investment in public transit in American history?
  • The bipartisan package signed by President Biden made a $20-billion investment in rebuilding roads and bridges, the largest amount since the interstate highway systems were built under President Eisenhower, and the most significant investment in passenger rail system since Amtrak’s inception.

 

 

• Who claims to have ensured access to clean drinking water in every community?
  • The Biden-Harris administration claims this, although it is an extreme exaggeration. However, $152 million was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand water storage in the west, bringing clean, reliable drinking water to communities across the West through six water storage and conveyance projects.

 

• Which administration provided affordable high-speed Internet access for every American (16 million households) by securing commitments from 20 leading internet providers to increase speeds and cut prices?
  • The correct answer is that both Trump and Biden worked for this.
  • President Biden claims this specific statement. The Biden-Harris administration launched a $45-billion “Internet for All” initiative in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
  • In 2019, President Trump launched the American Broadband Initiative to promote the rapid deployment of broadband internet across rural America and ensure America led the world in cutting edge technology throughout the nation, including areas that had formerly not been included due to less population density. He also led the US Dept of the Interior to increase broadband internet access on the extensive federally managed lands.

 

• Which administration protected marriages for LGBTQI+ and interracial marriages?
  • Then Biden-Harris administration did this through the Respect for Marriage Act that recognized and protected same-sex and interracial marriages. The bill was passed to ensure protection from any possibility that the Supreme Court might reverse its previous 2015 decision.
  • The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in 1996 and defined marriage as between a man and a woman. In 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2008, California declared marriage equality but lost it later that same year when a state constitution update defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Over the next few years, a few key decisions paved the way to full equality. On June 26, 2015, a US Supreme Court decision made marriage equality the law of the land and granted same sex couples in all 50 states the right to full, equal recognition under the law.

 

• Which administration promised to eliminate student debt?
  • Although the Supreme Court struck it down, Biden announced 40 million people would get student debt relief, including 20 million whose debt would be completely canceled, in an effort to narrow the racial wealth gap.

 

• Who supports reproductive freedom and visited a Planned Parent abortion clinic?
  • This is Kamala Harris. She has a long track record of advocating for pro-choice options, including having them all paid for by the taxpayers.
  • She also hosted free vasectomies for men attending the Democrat National Convention in Chicago in August 2024; free spots for sterilization filled immediately.

 

• Which administration signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation, resulting in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes?
  • President Trump did this.

 

 

• Who supports US citizenship and photo ID to vote in federal elections?
  • This has long been Donald Trump. However, as VP, Kamala Harris was tasked with protecting voting rights at the state and national level.
  • Harris has repeatedly claimed since her 7/10/21 network interview that requiring a photo ID was “discriminatory” and “racist” because most blacks and minority populations don’t know how or where to get an ID, don’t know where DMV is, and don’t know how to use the Internet.
    • Interviews in Harlem, NY called such thinking ignorant, because they all have IDs, know how to get them, and use the Internet regularly.
  • Harris has also advocated for noncitizen arrivals to be permitted to vote as citizens, which most groups and individuals see as jeopardizing citizens’ right to vote.

 

• Which candidate has the most positive track record when it comes to the Child Tax
  Credit?
  • As a Senator, Kamala Harris voted against doubling the Child Tax Credit, proposed by then President Donald Trump.
  • VP Harris proclaimed that “Donald Trump doesn’t care about you” and announced that she would raise the Child Tax Credit to $6,000. Fact checking shows that under Trump, the Child Tax Credit doubled from $1000 to $2,000. With the pandemic, Trump increased the credit to $3,600. The Biden-Harris Administration lowered it to $2,000.
  • The Harris promise is an obvious political response to Donald Trump. In April 2024, Trump’s platform confirmed his vocal calls that he plans to increase the credit to $5,000.
  • Four months later, presidential candidate Harris promised to raise the CTC to $6,000. Fact checkers question why she supported lowering it in the first place and had not previously advocated raising it.

 

• Under which administration did the average American family save $2,500 a year in lower electric bills and lower prices at the gas pump?
  • This was under President Trump. The average American family’s monthly electric bill under Trump-Pence ranged from $111 – 117 and from $121 – 149 per month under Biden-Harris. While some areas were higher and others lower, US gasoline prices under President Trump averaged $2.50 per gallon. Under President Biden, the average price has been $3.12.

 

• Under which administration did African American homeownership increased from 41.7%?
  • African American homeownership rates had fallen sharply during the 2010s, but the Trump-Pence administration saw steady increases, with an average of 42.57%. These increases have continued under the Biden-Harris administration, with an average of 44.05% since 2021. For reference, homeownership rates in 2020 averaged 61.7% for Asian Americans, 51.1% for Hispanic Americans, and 72.1% for Caucasian Americans.

 

• Which candidate running for President in 2024 falsely claims to have had a middle-class upbringing?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris twice claimed a “middle class” upbringing. She has also stated numerous times while campaigning to have been “raised as a middle-class kid.” These are utterly false claims (lies, not exaggerations), although they are an understandable attempt to appear to be relatable to the majority of Americans who are in the middle class. Raised primarily by her mother, after her parents split up when she was 7 years old, Harris was born and raised in a highly privileged household. She lived in the best neighborhoods, attended exclusive private schools, and traveled abroad. Her mother came to the US from India as a biologist to do her graduate studies in endocrinology, after which she became a biomedical scientist the University of California at Berkley and a 40-year career in research. She met the man who became Kamala’s father while at UC, where he had come to study from Jamaica. Her father became not only a professor, but the first black scholar to be granted tenure in the Stanford University Department of economics.

 

• Which administration worked to rebuild and invest in rural America?
  • In 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products, which is bringing innovative new technologies to market in American farming and agriculture.

 

• Which administration strengthened America’s rural economy by investing over $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to rural America?
  • This was done by President Trump in 2020.

 

• Under which administration did homebuilder confidence reach an all-time high, and home sales hit their highest reading since December 2006?
  • Under the Trump-Pence administration, home sales totaled 21.9 million, averaging 5.5 million per year. Under the Biden-Harris administration (including projections for the final 4 month of 2024), home sales totaled 15.9 million, averaging 3.9 million per year. As a 2024 presidential candidate, Harris has proposed getting 1.5 million homes built in each of 3 years, which is far below the number of homes annually built.

 

• Under which administration did Opportunity Zone designations increase property values within them by 1.1 percent, creating an estimated $11 billion in wealth for nearly half of Opportunity Zone residents who own their own home?
  • This happened when President Trump signed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Opportunity Zones have attracted $75 billion in funds and driven $52 billion of new investment in economically distressed communities, creating at least 500,000 new jobs. Approximately 1 million Americans will be lifted from poverty as a result of these new investments.

 

• Who authorized more than $6 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box program, which delivered over 128 million boxes of locally sourced, produce, meat, and dairy products to charity and faith-based organizations nationwide?
  • To continue critical support to farmers, distributors, and American families in need, President Trump did this.

 

 

 

• Who reduced approval times for major infrastructure projects from 10 or more years down to 2 years or less?
  • Among other things, in 2019, President Trump signed 2 executive orders to accelerate energy infrastructure projects. He also promoted safeguarding the cybersecurity of the national power grid and critical infrastructure, locking China out of the US 5^th-generation internet market, and rolling back regulations to ease the process of planning and construction.

 

• Who established the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing to bring down housing costs?
  • Because the supply of affordable housing has not kept pace with housing demands, President Trump established this.

 

• Who signed the largest-ever increase in Child Care and Development Block Grants – expanding access to quality, affordable childcare for more than 800,000 low-income families?
  • With women now the sole or primary breadwinners in 40% of American households with children under age 18, and 2/3 of mothers with children under age 6 employed, President Trump did this. Efforts included doubling the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000 and signing into law the largest ever increase in funding for the Child Care & Development Block Grant, plus major funding increases for Head Start, Early Head Start, and the Preschool Development Grant programs.

 

• Who created the first-ever paid family leave tax credit for employees earning $72,000 or less?
  • Though not addressed since President Clinton took office in January 1993, President Trump did this.

 

• Which administration signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for Federal workers?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Which administration signed into law a provision that enables new parents to withdraw up to $5,000 from their retirement accounts without penalty when they give birth to or adopt a child?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Which administration was the first to convene a meeting at the United Nations to end religious persecution?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Under which administration were barriers reduced to ensure Native Americans are free to keep spiritually and culturally significant eagle feathers found on their tribal lands?
  • President Bill Clinton had attempted to get officials working together to ease this process, and President Donald Trump did it.

 

 

TAXES

• Who signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Ac, the largest tax reform package in history?
  • President Trump did this. More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts. A typical family of four earning $75,000 received an income tax cut of more than $2,000 – slashing their tax bill in half. Doubled the standard deduction – making the first $24,000 earned by a married couple completely tax-free.
  • On 2/5/2018 under President Trump, Americans received the biggest gross tax cuts in American history, when he cut over $5.5 trillion in taxes over 10 years.

 

• Who said that Trump’s tax cuts primarily benefitted billionaires and big corporations?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris said this. However, this claim is false. IRS data shows all income brackets benefited with the largest benefits going to working and middle-income filers, not the top 1%.
    • Further, if Harris actually believed this, the Biden-Harris administration would not have left most of the Trump tax cuts in place for the past 3 ½ years, which they did.
    • The 2025 Biden-Harris budget proposal includes a gross tax increase of $4.4-trillion, including boosting top individual income tax rates from 37 to 39.6%. In all, the proposal accounts for the 9^th largest tax increase since 1940 and the 2^nd largest increase outside of wartime.

 

• Did the Biden-Harris administration claim that “Build Back Better” would fix the Trump tax cuts?
  • Both Biden and Harris claimed this. However, Build Back Better initiatives left the bulk of Trump’s tax cuts in place.

 

• Which candidate advocates extending Social Security benefits to undocumented migrants?
  • This is Kamala Harris. Unfortunately, fact checking shows that Social Security is not able to afford to pay for all the immigrants, unless taxes are raised substantially

 

• Which administration cut the business tax rate from 35% (the highest in the developed world) down to 21%?
  • President Trump did this.
  • Among the tax proposals for 2025, the Biden-Harris administration proposes increasing the business tax rate back up from 21% to 28% for 2025. With other tax increase proposals, the Biden-Harris proposal accounts for the 9^th largest tax increase since 1940 and the 2^nd largest outside of wartime.
  • In contrast, tax proposals by Trump reflect the 6^th largest tax cut since 1940. Combined with his proposed tariffs, his proposal ranks as the 13^th largest tax cut since 1940. Making Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would result in a tax cut of $7.4-trillion, resulting in the 6^th largest tax cut since 1940.

 

• Under which administration did Tax Relief for the Middle Class come with the passage of $3.2 trillion in historic tax relief?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Who warned about a plan to place a sales tax on everything?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris declared that Trump plans to place a “sales tax” on everything.
    • This is false. Harris was mischaracterizing Trump’s tariff plans for foreign imports, particularly on goods from China. However, Trump’s plan has the foreign countries footing the bill, rather than the American taxpayers. Trump would raise tariffs to 10% on all imports and 60% on Chinese goods. (These proposed tariff hikes would increase annual revenue by .71% of GDP.)
    • Trump would also lower the corporate tax from 21% to 20% (versus the Biden-Harris budget proposal which increases it from 21 – 28%), and Trump would make individual, estate, and business tax changes from the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act permanent.

 

• Under which administration was over $1.5 trillion repatriated into the United States from overseas?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Which administration invested in America’s Workers and Families with the Affordable and high-quality Child Care for American workers and their families?
  • This happened in the Trump administration. Trump doubled the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000 per child and expanded the eligibility for receiving the credit. Nearly 40 million families benefitted from the child tax credit (CTC), receiving an average benefit of $2,200 – totaling credits of approximately $88 billion. Further,
    Trump increased the Child Tax Credit up to $3,000 – $3,600, taking effect in 2021. The Biden-Harris administration cut it back down to $1,000.
    • Donald Trump’s platform includes a $5,000 Child Tax Credit. Becoming the Democrat nominee for President, Kamala Harris upped Trump’s plan with a $6,000 Child Tax proposal, but she has not responded to questions about why it had been reduced by the Biden-Harris administration in the first place.

 

 

 

CRIME / MAKING COMMUNITIES SAFER

• Which administration signed the bipartisan First Step Act into law, the first landmark criminal justice reform legislation ever passed to reduce recidivism and help former inmates successfully rejoin society?
  • This was signed into law by President Trump. He also launched a new “Ready to Work” initiative to help connect employers directly with former prisoners and awarded $2.2 million to states to expand the use of fidelity bonds, which underwrite companies that hire former prisoners. The bill also awarded over $333 million in Department of Labor grants to nonprofits and local and state governments for reentry projects focused on career development services for justice-involved youth and adults who were formerly incarcerated.

 

 

• Which administration claims violent crime fell for the third consecutive year?
  • The Biden-Harris administration has long claimed that violent crimes, including homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, dropped to a 50-year low. Biden and Harris have only ever admitted to slightly higher rates for auto theft.
  • However, President Trump, a long-time, open supporter of law enforcement, has long argued the opposite — that violent crime rates have been rising under the Biden-Harris administration.
  • As of September 2024, both the updated FBI numbers and those from the US Department of Justice reveal dramatic increases in violent crime in the US, fully validating Donald Trump’s claims. Murder and homicide numbers are up 60%, rape up 42%, robbery up 67%, and aggravated assaults up 55%. Property crimes are also up more than initially thought, with burglary up 40% and motor vehicle theft up 42%. Because law enforcement agencies are not required to report crime numbers to the FBI, and the majority of crimes go unreported to police, officials also admit that violent and property crime numbers may well be dramatically higher than these latest numbers.
  • Early FBI numbers initially made it appear that overall violent crime rates may have either remained consistent or even slightly declined, the rates in some cities increased. For example, in New York City, under the Trump administration major felony offenses finally dropped from six digits to 96,658 in 2017. That rate dropped each of the following years until it rose to above 100,000 again under the Biden-Harris administration, coming in at 102,741 in 2021, 126,589 in 2022, and 126,786 in 2023.

 

• Which 2024 candidate for President has been a long-time supporter of defunding the police?
  • According to CNN and other fact checking organizations, only Kamala Harris has been an advocate of defunding the police for many years.
  • When confronted by Trump over her strong past support for defunding the police, in the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris shook her head in denial and claimed, “That’s not true.” However, it is completely true.

• • It is believed that Harris back-peddled in August 2024 to sound more moderate than her long-held philosophies reveal. ABC News noted that Kamala Harris previously expressed support for “reimagin[ing]” policing and “redirect[ing] resources” from police toward what the outlet described as “other areas of government [such as] schools and small businesses” or redirected to social services, mental health counseling, and affordable housing.

• • However, nothing in her record in California, the US Senate, or the Biden-Harris administration supports a change in her defund the police philosophy.

 

• Which administration advocated against gun violence?
  • President Trump required people ages 18 – 21 undergo enhanced background checks to purchase firearms.
  • Under President Trump, gun trafficking and straw purchases were also made distinct federal crimes.
  • Vice-President Harris has oversight responsibility for the first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Protection, established by Biden in September 2023, banning individuals under age 21 from buying firearms and giving Justice Department additional powers to prosecute gun traffickers.
  • Skyrocketing violent crime, particularly in urban areas, stirred both administrations to action. On August 27, 2020, Kamala Harris said, “It’s no wonder people are taking to the streets. And I support them.”
    • Harris also called violence in the streets “peaceful protests.” Said she was proud of them, though these protests included antifa and other far-left extremists and full-out riots, with cars overturned and burned, stores and small businesses ransacked and looted, and thousands of violent acts and injuries.
  • The Biden-Harris administration delivered the first meaningful gun violence reduction legislation in 30 years, helping to remove firearms from dangerous people and narrowing the “boyfriend loophole” to keep guns out of the hands of dating partners.
• Which candidate advocated to make lynching a criminal civil rights crime?
  • This was Kamala Harris. As a senator, Harris introduced a Bill to make lynching a criminal civil rights crime. The Bill passed in February 2019. She said to Congress, “These hateful acts should never happen again, and God forbid, they do, we are making clear there will be swift, serious, and severe consequences.”

 

• Who signed an executive order on Day 1 in office, directing the federal government to use every tool available to advance equity and racial justice?
  • This was President Joe Biden, who signed executive order mandating federal reforms on practices such as chokeholds, restricting no-knock entries, creating a national police accountability database, and restricting the transfer of military equipment to local police departments.

• • Under Biden-Harris, legislation put more cops on the beat and invested in community policing, despite previous promises to reduce police in the communities.
  • Under Biden-Harris, legislation reauthorized and strengthened the Violence Against Women Act.

 

• Which 2024 candidate running to be President of the United States praised white supremacists?
  • Neither candidate. However, in the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris repeated the debunked line that Trump praised white supremacists marching in Charlottesville, VA in 2017 when he said there were “some fine people on both sides.”
  • Harris’s claim is false, though repeatedly used to be deliberately divisive and falsely paint Donald Trump as a racist. Trump’s comments regarding “some fine people on both sides” were made when referring to both sides of the debate on whether to allow historic monuments to remain standing.

 

• Did Kamala Harris claim that President Donald Trump incited the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol?
  • Yes, in the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris said this. However, this is false. Though such language resonates and is, thus, frequently used by his opponents, President Trump clearly and specifically told protestors to “peacefully and patriotically make [their] voices heard.” Trump also had sought to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to the Capitol ahead of Congress’s certification of the 2020 election results.
  • During that first Debate, Harris also claimed that “some” police officers died as a result of the January 6, 2021 demonstrations at the US Capitol. However, medical examiners determined that Officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes, not due to any act of violence.
  • Harris also claimed that January 6, 2021, was the “worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” This is both false and inflammatory. Self-government was never threatened nor in jeopardy, nor were Americans exposed to risks like those during World War I, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, or World War II, to name just a few. The protestors and Donald Trump believed the election results had been rigged and sought to delay Congress from certifying the election.

 

• Who tried to bail out rioters following the death of George Floyd?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris denied she tried to bail out left-wing rioters (from May, 2020 through May, 2023) following the death of George Floyd. Also, during the September 10, 2024 Presidential debate, Trump said Harris “wanted to let criminals that killed people, that burned down Minneapolis – she went out and raised money to get them out of jail.”
  • Harris vehemently shook her head “no,” but Trump was right. Not only did Harris donate money herself, but Harris encouraged her social media followers to donate to a bail fund dedicated to those arrested for their months-long, $2-billion siege of cities like Minneapolis. This fund benefited the rioters, accused rapists, and repeat offenders.

 

• Who revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods, which brings together Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to develop solutions to violent crime?
  • Though initiated by President George W. Bush in 2001, it had been funded and directed by the US Department of Justice since. President Trump brought attention back to the nationwide initiative with more direction and funding to best identify the most pressing violent crimes in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address the wide range of issues, from gun and gang violence to domestic abuse.
  • The violent crime rate, which had risen in 2021 and 2022 dropped 6% in 2023, compared to 2022. Violent crime dropped 11% in cities with populations of 1 million or more. The murder rate dropped 20%; rape was down 16%; aggravated assault fell 11%.

 

• Who secured permanent funding for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund for first responders?
  • President Trump signed the Bill on July 29, 2019, which also extended the filing deadline to October 1, 2090.

 

• Who signed an executive order applying Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism?
  • President Trump did this in 2019.

 

• Who improved first-responder communications by deploying the FirstNet National Public Safety Broadband Network?
  • Initially proposed following the September 11, 2001 attacks, President Barack Obama had tried to launch it in 2012, but President Trump made it a reality with a 25-year, $6.5 billion investment in providing a wireless broadband network allowing police, firefighters, other first responders, and officials to have their own space for communications during emergencies. FirstNet now serves more than 12,000 public safety agencies across the Nation.

 

• Who established a new commission to evaluate best practices for recruiting, training, and supporting law enforcement officers?
  • President Trump signed the Safe Policing for Safe Communities executive order on June 16, 2020, to incentivize local police department reforms in line with law and order, including adherence to applicable laws and prohibiting the choke hold.

 

• Which administration implemented strong measures to stem hate crimes, gun violence, and human trafficking, and launched a centralized website to educate the public about hate crimes and encourage reporting?
  • President Trump did this in 2019. In 2021, President Biden announced that the year-long surge in gun violence across the country was unacceptable, as he said he would use Trump’s Rescue Plan to fund more officers on the beat and to train them in effective community policing.

 

• Who signed the Fix NICS Act to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals?
  • In 2017, President Trump signed this act, which also added accountability and strengthened the background check for gun purchases.

 

• Which candidate running for the office of President of the United States in 2024 does not support mandatory gun confiscation.
  • Donald Trump has never supported the confiscation of guns and is a supporter of the 2^nd Amendment providing citizens with the right to keep and bear arms. During the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Harris also claimed that she doesn’t support mandatory gun confiscation.
    • Harris’ claim is misleading at best. Perhaps she has changed her position, or perhaps she is attempting to sound more moderate and pleasing the mainstream voters. However, Harris has frequently and openly expressed support for such a policy, sometimes stating she would ban guns on Day 1 and other times stating she would sign such an executive order if Congress did not do so within her first 100 days.

 

• Who signed the STOP School Violence Act and created a Commission on School Safety to examine ways to make our schools safer?
  • President Trump did this in 2017.
• Who launched the Foster Youth to Independence initiative to prevent and end homelessness among young adults under the age of 25 who are in, or have recently left, the foster care system?
  • President Trump did this in 2019. HUD Secretary Ben Carson said, “The Foster Youth to Independence” program furthers President Trump’s commitment to our underserved communities with opportunities for success and self-sufficiency by providing youth who are aging out of foster care with a safe and decent home.” The program awarded more than 600 vouchers in the first year alone.

 

• Who prioritized fighting for the voiceless and ending the scourge of human trafficking across the Nation, through legislation, executive action, and engagement with key industries.
  • In his first days in office, President Trump signed an executive order targeting transnational criminal organizations that traffic and exploit innocent people Trump also signed the Frederick Douglas Trafficking Victim Prevention & Protection Reauthorization Act, adding another $430-million to fight sex and labor trafficking. And President Trump created the first-ever White House position focused solely on combating human trafficking.
  • In 2022, President Biden signed legislation to add $14-million to the fight against human trafficking.
  • In 2012, as California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris introduced a bill to ensure that those convicted of human trafficking crimes involving minors would not be able to keep the financial benefits they reaped from those crimes.

 

 

 

 

EDUCATION

• Under which administration did educational test scores for K-12 students sink to record lows?
  • This happened under the Biden-Harris administration.

 

• Who fought to give every American access to the best possible education by expanding School Choice?
  • Among the many provisions of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is an allowance for parents to use up to $10,000 from a 529 education savings account to cover K-12 tuition costs at the public, private, or religious school of their choice.

 

• Who called on Congress to pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act?
  • On February 4, 2020, President Trump called on Congress to pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunities Act to expand education options for 1 million students of all economic backgrounds to be able to attend a school of their choice. With more than 120 Congressional co-sponsors, this bill also created a $5-billion annual tax credit for donations to state-based, locally controlled scholarships.
  • President Trump also signed the INSPIRE Act in 2017, which encouraged NASA to have more women and girls participate in STEM and seek careers in aerospace and allocated no less than $200 million each year in grants to prioritize women and minorities in STEM and computer science education.
  • President Trump also directed nearly $1.5-billion in the development of public charter schools, helping these schools g row to serve more than 3 million students.
  • President Trump also took action to promote technical education, when he signed into law the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which provides over 13 million students with high-quality vocational education and extends more than $1.3 billion each year to states for critical workforce development programs.
  • On September 4, 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced they’ve been focused on education since Day One, and want to be sure schools have the resources and support they need to strengthen reading and math skills, which plummeted following the Covid-19 pandemic. They also want to increase student attendance and support states’ efforts to ensure every child is reading fluently by third grade.
  • The Biden-Harris administration has called for significant increases for Title 1, which sends money to schools serving more students from low-income families, including the Head Start program.
  • As a Senator, Kamala Harris called for a $13,500 raise for teachers by the end of her first term.
  • In 2019, during her first run to be president, Harris advocated for school desegregation and racial equity initiatives, as well as universal pre-school, calling education “a right.”

 

• Which administration made the largest expansion of public education in a century?
  • The Biden-Harris administration claims that the universal preschools for all 3- and 4-year-olds. Included in the $2.2 trillion Build Back Better bill, marks the largest expansion of public education in a century.
    • Fact checking shows that Uncle Sam only picks up the full tab for the first 3 years. Then states must pay 40%.
  • Build Back Better included increased federal funding for college scholarships and free school meals.

 

• Despite Supreme Court rulings, who tried to get student loans paid off by the government?
  • The Biden-Harris administration did this.
  • The efforts were criticized as repeated attempts to buy votes and because it meant taxpayers would be paying off other people’s loans.
  • Students who went to work rather than to college also expressed that they should not have to pay back loans for other students who made different choices.

 

• Who called for changes to Title IX that included discrimination protection for transgender students, specifically for protecting males who identify as females.
  • The Biden-Harris administration did this, but the Supreme Court sided with the states that challenged the rewrites.

 

• Which administration issued a rule strengthening Title IX protections for survivors of sexual misconduct in schools, and that – for the first time in history – codifies that sexual harassment is prohibited under Title IX?
  • The Trump-Pence administration required sweeping reforms, including those that helped the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to close a total of 172 sexual violence cases in just 3 years, marking a 375% increase over the previous 8 years.

 

• Who negotiated the historic bipartisan agreement on new higher education rules to increase innovation and lower costs by reforming accreditation, state authorization, distance education, competency-based education, credit hour, religious liberty, and TEACH Grants?
  • This was President Trump, who emphasized workforce, skill training rather than degree-based hiring.

 

 

 

• Who prioritized support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities?
  • This was President Trump. He moved the Federal Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Initiative back to the White House. He also signed into law the FUTURE Act, making permanent $255 million in annual funding for HBCUs and increasing funding for the Federal Pell Grant program. Signed legislation that included more than $100 million for scholarships, research, and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions. And he fully forgave $322 million in disaster loans to four HBCUs, so they could focus on educating their students. Trump also secured $255-million in annual, permanent funding for historically Black colleges and universities and simplified the Free Application for Federal Student Aid? form, helping 20 million families who apply every year to qualify for federal student aid.

 

• Who wanted to eliminate the US Department of Education?
  • President Ronald Reagan called for a total elimination of the US Department of Education and massive cutbacks in the federal role in education. Donald Trump also advocates sending the roll of governing schools back to the state, while increasing federal funding for schools.

 

• Who called for free college for every American?
  • On September 7, 2024, Kamala Harris called for free state college for every American. In contrast, Donald Trump’s plan focuses on workforce and skill training, rather than degree-based hiring.

 

 

 

HEALTHCARE

• Which administration offered Association Health Plans, allowing employers to pool together and offer more affordable, quality health coverage to their employees at up to 30% lower cost?
  • This was the Trump-Pence administration. He also increased availability of short-term, limited-duration health plans, which can cost up to 60 percent less than traditional plans, giving Americans more flexibility to choose plans that suit their needs.

 

• Who expanded Health Reimbursement Arrangements, allowing millions of Americans to be able to shop for a plan of their choice on the individual market, and then have their employer cover the cost?
  • This was President Trump. He also lowered Medicare Advantage premiums by 34% nationwide to the lowest level in 14 years. Medicare health plan premium savings have totaled nearly $1.5 billion within two years. And he improved access to tax-free health savings accounts for individuals with chronic conditions. He also worked with states to create more flexibility and relief from oppressive Obamacare regulations, including reinsurance waivers to help lower premiums. He also finalized requirements for unprecedented price transparency from hospitals and insurance companies so patients know what the cost is before they receive care and took action to require that hospitals make the prices they negotiate with insurers publicly available and easily accessible online.

 

• Which administration expanded access to telehealth, especially in rural and underserved communities?
  • This was President Trump.

 

• Which administration issued unprecedented reforms that dramatically lowered the price of prescription drugs and lowered drug prices for the first time in 51 years?
  • This was President Trump. He also finalized a rule to allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and finalized the Most Favored Nation Rule to ensure that pharmaceutical companies offer the same discounts to the United States as they do to other nations, resulting in an estimated $85 billion in savings over seven years and $30 billion in out-of-pocket costs alone.
  • President Trump also proposed the rule requiring federally funded health centers to pass drug company discounts on insulin and Epi-Pens directly to patients. Trump ended the costly kickbacks to middlemen and ensured that patients directly benefit from available discounts at the pharmacy counter, saving Americans up to 30 percent on brand name pharmaceuticals.
  • President Trump also enhanced Part D plans to provide many seniors with Medicare access to a broad set of insulins at a maximum $35 copay for a month’s supply of each type of insulin. Reduced Medicare Part D prescription drug premiums, saving beneficiaries nearly $2 billion in premium costs.
  • As a candidate, former President Trump proposed tying prescription drug prices to what foreign countries pay, as it tends to be much less than in America. Then Kamala Harris also proposed a prescription drug plan, allowing the Secretary of Health & Human Services to set a “fair price” no higher than 100% of the average price for that drug in other developed countries.
    • As California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris won more than $230 million in settlements with pharmaceutical companies.

 

• Who signed first-ever executive order to affirm that it is the official policy of the United States Government to protect patients with pre-existing conditions?
  • President Trump signed this in 2020.

 

• Which administration lowered seniors’ health care expenses?
  • Both. During the Biden-Harris administration, out of pocket expenses for seniors were capped at $2,000 per year, ensuring that seniors enrolled in Medicare will not pay more than $35 for a month’s supply of insulin, and recipients will receive free vaccines.

• President Biden also expanded mental health services in schools.

 

• Who signed an executive order ensuring young women access to contraception, abortion, and traveling across state lines for sensitive services without parental knowledge or interference?
  • This was President Biden.

 

• Who approved the Right to Try to give terminally ill patients access to lifesaving cures?
  • President Trump signed the Right to Try Bill in 2017.

 

 

• Which administration achieved the highest enrollment in healthcare insurance?
  • Under the Biden-Harris administration, 16 million people were enrolled in healthcare insurance, marking the historically low uninsured rate of 8%, with 4 out of 5 people able to find insurance on Healthcare.gov for $10 a month or less. Build Back Better funding expanded access to affordable health insurance for 9 million Americans, provided expanded childcare for working class families, and increased wages of child-care workers. Childcare becomes a 90% state paid & just 10% federally paid after year 3.
  • The Biden-Harris administration also lowered the cost of hearing aids by making them available over the counter.
• • The Biden-Harris administration reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goal of cutting the cancer death rate by at least half over the next 25 years.

 

• Who opposed legislation that permitted healthcare workers to save the life of a baby born alive during an abortion?
  • As a Senator, Kamala Harris voted against saving the lives of babies born live during late term abortions.

 

• Which President signed an executive order to fight kidney disease with more transplants and better treatment?
  • President Trump signed this in 2019.

 

• Which president signed into law a $1 billion increase in funding for critical Alzheimer’s research?
  • President Trump did this in 2019.

 

• Which administration launched a campaign to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America in the next decade?
  • President Trump started a program to provide the HIV prevention drug PrEP to uninsured patients for free. He also launched new online tools, including eMedicare, Blue Button 2.0, and Care Compare, to help seniors see what is covered, compare costs, streamline data, and compare tools available on Medicare.gov.
• Who initiated an effort to provide $500 million over the next decade to improve pediatric cancer research?
  • President Trump did this in 2019.

 

• Who supported the single-payer healthcare bill, designed to shift to a fully government-run healthcare and away from allowing private health insurance?
  • In 2017, Senator Kamala Harris co-sponsored this Bernie Sanders’ bill. She announced, “I intend to co-sponsor the Medicare-for-All Bill, because it’s just the right thing to do.” Harris also said in 2024, “Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege.” However, as the Democrat US Presidential nominee, she has backed away from her long-held healthcare for all belief, recognizing that it would take too long to execute.
  • In 2019, in her first campaign to be President, she stated that though she had co-sponsored Bernie Sanders’ single-payer bill., she preferred her vision for a 10-year transition to “Medicare for all.”

 

 

 

• Which administration provided new Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits, including modifications to help keep seniors safe in their homes, respite care for caregivers, non-opioid pain management alternatives like therapeutic massages, transportation, and more in-home support services and assistance.?
  • This was done by the Trump-Pence administration.

 

• Who reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy, ensuring that taxpayer money is not used to fund abortion globally?
  • President Trump did this. He also supported legislation to end late-term abortions and cut all funding to the United Nations population fund due to the fund’s support for coercive abortion and forced sterilization.
  • President Trump also enforced the requirement that taxpayer dollars do not support abortion coverage in Affordable Healthcare exchange plans, and he led a coalition of countries to sign the Geneva Consensus Declaration, committing to protecting women’s health and declaring that there is no international right to abortion.

 

• Who claimed several states threaten women with prison time for getting an abortion?
  • VP Kamala Harris said this in the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate. She warned that several states have “Trump abortion bans” that make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide healthcare,” threaten women with prison time, and “make no exception, even for rape or incest” when it comes to abortion.
    • This is a false claim. Though the US Supreme Court returned the matter to the states, treatment is not criminalized anywhere. Further, every single pro-life policy on the books, includes exceptions, including protecting the life and health (including mental health) of the pregnant woman.

 

• Which president issued an executive order reinforcing the requirement that all hospitals in the United States provide medical treatment or an emergency transfer for infants who are in need of emergency medical care—regardless of prematurity or disability?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Who supports reinstating Roe v Wade?
  • This is Kamala Harris. In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Harris dodged answering the question on whether she supports any restrictions on abortion but claimed she “absolutely supports reinstating the protections of Roe v Wade. She also pledged to sign legislation such as the mis-named “Women’s Health Protection Act” which would codify abortion through all 9 months of pregnancy.
  • In addition to co-sponsoring the original version of that legislation, Senator Harris voted against medical care and protections for babies born alive after botched abortions.
  • Harris has long sought greater emphasis on women’s reproductive healthcare and criticized state laws that seek to limit abortion services. She wants abortions for all to be the law of the land. This is arguably her strongest and longest-held policy position.
    • Interesting to note that in the USSR, this was the law of the land, and abortion became the number one means of birth control. During her child-bearing years, a woman in the Soviet Union had an average of 12 abortions.

 

 

 

• Who said that 9^th month abortions don’t exist in the U.S.?
  • This was Kamala Harris. In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris said, “Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term asking for an abortion.” “That’s not happening. It’s insulting to women of America.”
    • Sadly, this procedure does take place, albeit illegally. Regularly used in 2^nd and 3^rd trimester abortions and miscarriages, partial birth abortions involve dilating the cervix, pulling the baby out by the feet just to the neck, puncturing the skull and draining its contents so it will then slide out more easily through the dilated cervix. Called “inhumane” and “gruesome,” the partial birth abortion was made illegal in the United States by federal law in 2003. Attempts to overturn the law were thwarted by a 2007 US Supreme Court decision. State attempts, including in 2023 by Ohio, to pass state constitutional amendments to permit the procedure are irrelevant, as federal law supersedes state authority.
    • The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revealed that thousands of abortions are still performed after 21 weeks of pregnancy. These findings do not include reporting from at least 4 abortion-friendly states, including California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey), so the number of current late-term abortions is likely much higher.

 

• Who claimed that a national abortion ban is coming?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris claimed that Donald Trump will sign a national abortion ban and hire a national “abortion… monitor that would be monitoring your pregnancies, your miscarriages” if he is elected.
    • Harris’ claim is false. The 2024 Republican abortion platform explicitly states, “decisions about ending life in the womb should be left up to the states,” as the US Supreme Court determined. Neither Donald Trump nor the platform mention anything about a national pro-life coordinator. And Trump has sworn to not sign federal legislation curbing abortion.

 

• Who supports in vitro fertilization (IVF)?
  • Both President Trump and VP Harris support IVF. However, in an effort to link Democrats’ abortion goals with in vitro fertilization, in the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Harris claimed that “under Donald Trump’s abortion bans… couples who pray and dream of having a family are being denied IVF treatments.”
    • Harris’ claims about Trump are false. In fact, Trump has openly touted IVF and promised that he would make taxpayers fund it.

 

 

 

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

• Which administration achieved 79% of adults fully vaccinated for Covid-19?
  • This was the Biden-Harris administration, which also re-opened any K-12 schools that had not yet re-opened, finished funded the nationwide vaccination campaign, and mailed over 740 million free COVID-19 tests directly to tens of millions of Americans.

 

• Which president was initially criticized as premature for taking early action and then criticized by the same people for not responding quickly enough when the Covid-19 virus first became known?
  • This was President Trump. Among Trump’s immediate life-saving responses was restricting travel to the United States from infected regions of the world. Despite media criticism for overreacting and acting too quickly, the Trump administration acted swiftly to save American lives and combat the virus in the US. He also issued travel advisory warnings recommending that American citizens avoid all international travel. Trump reached rapid bilateral agreements with Mexico and Canada to suspend non-essential travel and expeditiously return illegal aliens.

 

• Are Democrat claims valid that President Trump did not do enough to deal with the Covid-19 global pandemic? No. Fact checking clearly shows that Donald Trump dramatically outpaced the rest of the world in his actions that helped the United States rebound far more quickly.
  • President Trump also declared Covid-19 a National Emergency under the Stafford Act and established the 24/7 FEMA National Response Coordination Center.
  • President Trump implemented strong community mitigation strategies to sharply reduce the number of lives lost in the United States down from experts’ projection of up to 2.2 million deaths in the United States without mitigation.
  • President Trump called on the United Nations to hold China accountable for their handling of the virus, including refusing to be transparent and failing to contain the virus before it spread.
  • President Trump re-purposed domestic manufacturing facilities to ensure frontline workers could receive critical supplies and distributed billions of pieces of Personal Protective Equipment, including gloves, masks, gowns, and face shields.
  • President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act over 100 times to accelerate the development and manufacturing of essential material in the USA. He contracted with companies such as Ford, General Motors, Philips, and General Electric to produce ventilators. He contracted with Honeywell, 3M, O&M Halyard, Moldex, and Lydall to increase our Nation’s production of N-95 masks.
  • Under President Trump’s direction, the Army Corps of Engineers built 11,000 beds, distributed 10,000 ventilators, and surged personnel to hospitals. The Trump-Pence administration also converted the Javits Center in New York into a 3,000-bed hospital and opened medical facilities in Seattle and New Orleans.
  • President Trump dispatched the USNS Comfort to New York City, and the USNS Mercy to Los Angeles. He deployed thousands of FEMA employees, National Guard members, and military forces to help in the response.
  • President Trump executed nearly 250 flights through Project Air Bridge to transport hundreds of millions of surgical masks, N95 respirators, gloves, and gowns from around the world to hospitals and facilities throughout the United States and replenished the depleted Strategic National Stockpile.
  • Under President Trump’s leadership, the number of ventilators increased nearly ten-fold to more than 153,000. Despite grim projections from the media and governors, no American who has needed a ventilator was denied a ventilator. Increased the number of N95 masks fourteen-fold to more than 176 million.
  • President Trump created the largest, most advanced, and most innovative testing system in the world. He also built the world’s leading testing system from scratch, conducting over 200 million tests – more than all of the European Union combined. The Trump-Pence administration engaged more than 400 test developers to increase testing capacity from less than 100 tests per day to more than 2 million tests per day.
  • President Trump slashed red tape and approved Emergency Use Authorizations for more than 300 different tests, including 235 molecular tests, 63 antibody tests, and 11 antigen tests. Under his direction, over 2,000 retail pharmacy stores, including CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens, began providing testing using new regulatory and reimbursement options.
  • President Trump deployed state of the art testing devices and tens of millions of tests to every certified nursing home, assisted living facilities, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribes, disaster relief operations, Home Health/Hospice organizations, and the Veterans Health Administration. He also began shipping 150 million BinaxNOW rapid tests to states, long-term care facilities, the IHS, HBCUs, and other key partners.
  • President Trump advocated pioneer groundbreaking treatments and therapies that reduced the mortality rate by 85 percent, saving over 2 million lives and putting the United States among the lowest case fatality rates in the entire world.
  • At Trump’s direction, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program to expedite the regulatory review process for therapeutics in clinical trials, accelerate the development and publication of industry guidance on developing treatments, and utilize regulatory flexibility to help facilitate the scaling-up of manufacturing capacity.
  • President Trump authorized more than 370 therapies in clinical trials and another 560 are in the planning stages.
  • President Trump announced $450 million in available funds to support the manufacturing of Regeneron’s antibody cocktail. Shipped tens of thousands of doses of the Regeneron drug.
  • President Trump secured more than 90 percent of the world’s supply of Remdesivir, enough to treat over 850,000 high-risk patients.
  • President Trump launched the Covid-19 High Performance Computing Consortium with private sector and academic leaders unleashing America’s supercomputers to accelerate coronavirus research.
  • President Trump brought the full power of American medicine and government to produce a safe and effective vaccine in record time. Launched Operation Warp Speed to initiate an unprecedented drive to develop and make available an effective vaccine in less than a year. Pfizer and Moderna developed two vaccines in just nine months, five times faster than the fastest prior vaccine development in American history. Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines proved approximately 95 effective – far exceeding all expectations. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson both offered promising candidates in the final stage of clinical trials. The vaccines were administered within 24 hours of FDA-approval.
  • President Trump made millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses available before the end of 2020, with hundreds of millions more to quickly follow.
  • President Trump finalized a partnership with CVS and Walgreens to deliver vaccines directly to residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities as soon as a state requests it, at no cost to America’s seniors.
  • President Trump signed an executive order to ensure that the United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations and prioritized resources for the most vulnerable Americans, including nursing home residents. Quickly established guidelines for nursing homes and expanded telehealth opportunities to protect vulnerable seniors. He also required that all nursing homes test staff regularly and launched an unprecedented national nursing home training curriculum to equip nursing home staff with the knowledge they need to stop the spread of Covid-19.
  • President Trump distributed tens of billions of dollars in Provider Relief Funds to protect nursing homes, long-term care facilities, safety-net hospitals, rural hospitals, and communities hardest hit by the virus and released 1.5 million N95 respirators from the Strategic National Stockpile for distribution to over 3,000 nursing home facilities.
  • President Trump directed the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council to refocus on underserved communities impacted by the coronavirus.
  • President Trump supported Americans as they safely return to school and work. He issued the Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, a detailed blueprint to help governors as they began reopening the country. President Trump focused on protecting the most vulnerable and mitigating the risk of any resurgence, while restarting the economy and allowing Americans to safely return to their jobs. He helped Americans return to work by providing extensive guidance on workplace-safety measures to protect against Covid-19 and investigating over 10,000 coronavirus-related complaints and referrals.
  • President Trump provided over $31 billion to support elementary and secondary schools. Also distributed 125 million face masks to school districts. He also provided comprehensive guidelines to schools on how to protect and identify high-risk individuals, prevent the spread of COVID-19, and conduct safe in-person teaching. He also brought back the safe return of college athletics, including Big Ten and Pac-12 football.
  • During the pandemic shutdown, President Trump rescued the American economy with nearly $3.4 trillion in relief, the largest financial aid package in history. He also secured an initial $8.3 billion Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Act, supporting the development of treatments and vaccines, and to procure critical medical supplies and equipment.
  • President Trump signed the $100 billion Families First Coronavirus Relief Act, guaranteeing free coronavirus testing, emergency paid sick leave and family leave, Medicaid funding, and food assistance.
  • President Trump signed the $2.3 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, providing unprecedented and immediate relief to American families, workers, and businesses. He also signed additional legislation providing nearly $900 billion in support for coronavirus emergency response and relief, including critically needed funds to continue the Paycheck Protection Program.
  • President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act, adding an additional $310 billion to replenish the program and delivered approximately 160 million relief payments to hardworking Americans. Through the Paycheck Protection Program, approved over $525 billion in forgivable loans to more than 5.2 million small businesses, supporting more than 51 million American jobs.
  • President Trump signed an executive order to temporarily suspend student loan payments, evictions, and collection of payroll taxes.
  • President Trump achieved a record-setting economic comeback by rejecting blanket lockdowns.
  • President Trump rapidly deployed the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which provided $30 billion in support to farmers and ranchers facing decreased prices and market disruption when Covid-19 impacted the food supply chain. And he delegated authorities via the Defense Production Act to protect breaks in the American food supply chain as a result of COVID-19.
  • President Trump directed the Department of Energy to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to mitigate market volatility caused by Covid-19.
  • President Trump secured an additional $3.5 billion in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help families and first responders with childcare needs.

 

 

 

 

DRUGS & OPIOID CRISIS

• Who brought unprecedented attention and support to combat the opioid crisis?
  • President Trump declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency. Trump secured a record $6 billion in new funding to combat the opioid epidemic.

 

• Which administration pardoned all prior federal offenses for simple marijuana possession?
  • This was done by the Biden-Harris administration in an effort to remedy the nation’s approach to marijuana, including racial disparities.

 

• Who signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest-ever legislative effort to address a drug crisis in our Nation’s history?
  • In 2018, President Trump launched the Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand in order to confront the many causes fueling the drug crisis.
  • Under his direction, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a record $9 billion in grants to expand access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services to States and local communities.
  • Under the Trump-Pence administration the CRIB Act passed, allowing Medicaid to help mothers and their babies who are born physically dependent on opioids by covering their care in residential pediatric recovery facilities.

 

• Who distributed $1 billion in grants for addiction prevention and treatment?
  • President Trump did this. He also expanded access to medication-assisted treatment and life-saving Naloxone.

 

• Who announced a Safer Prescriber Plan that seeks to decrease the amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America by one third within three years?
  • President Trump did this. He also launched FindTreatment.gov, a tool to find help for substance abuse.

 

• Who took action to seize illegal drugs and punish those preying on innocent Americans?
  • Under President Trump in FY 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 35 percent from FY 2018. They also seized tens of thousands of kilograms of heroin and thousands of kilograms of fentanyl since 2017.
  • Under President Trump, the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecuted more fentanyl traffickers than ever before, dismantled 3,000 drug trafficking organizations, and seized enough fentanyl to kill 105,000 Americans. The DOJ charged more than 65 defendants collectively responsible for distributing over 45 million opioid pills.
  • President Trump also brought kingpin designations against traffickers operating in China, India, Mexico, and more who have played a role in the epidemic in America.
  • Under President Trump, the US indicted major Chinese drug traffickers for distributing fentanyl in the U.S for the first time ever, and convinced China to enact strict regulations to control the production and sale of fentanyl.

 

 

 

 

BORDER CRISIS / IMMIGRATION

• Which administration permitted more unvetted migrants to enter the United States over the southern border.
  • In addition to those who entered legally, the Biden-Harris administration allowed more than 15 million (some sources say the numbers are closer to 20 million) unvetted illegals into the country in the first 3 years of their administration, as well as unknown numbers of “get-aways.” Thousands among the migrants admitted and the “get-aways” have known terrorist ties.
  • Vice-President Kamala Harris was tasked with “stemming the migration situation” at southern border. With no immigration law experience, she initially laughed at the idea of her visiting the border to personally assess the situation. Later, in Guatemala, she walked out of a meeting with the president of Mexico, because she disagreed with him. Kamala Harris claimed there was no crisis at the border. As of a September 25, 2024 interview on MSNBC, Harris now admits that “the immigration system is broken.”
  • Kamala Harris labeled the border wall as “racist” and “mean.”
    • The Harris campaign had a 4-layer, impenetrable wall built around the National Convention in Chicago and required photo ID from everyone who entered
  • Just through June 2024, in the Biden-Harris administration, 78,000 people crossed the border in January 2021, increasing to over 100,000 in February. These numbers climbed to 150,000 in March (an additional 180,000 migrants were apprehended in March) and known migrant crossings stayed well above the monthly 150,000 threshold through June 2024, peaking at just over 300,000 in December 2023.

 

 

• Which administration owns the human tragedy at the southern border?
  • Although they often like to project the idea that the migrant crisis was caused by Donald Trump, fact checkers agree that the Biden-Harris administration owns it. President Trump had taken many steps to increase migrant processing options and secure the southern border.
  • For the first 3 ½ years of the Biden-Harris administration, Trump policies, including building and reinforcing the border wall, were reversed, allowing undocumented migrants to enjoy a basically open border policy. Both President Biden and VP Harris frequently denied the high numbers of migrants were a problem, never mind a crisis.
  • Under President Trump, entering children received physical and mental health screenings, plus regular vaccines. Follow-up wellness checks were also done after children were placed with sponsors. These were among the practices abandoned by the Biden-Harris administration, which also started releasing unaccompanied children to non-parent/non- immediate relative adults.
    • Worthy of note is that current US law makes it illegal to release children to non-parent/non-immediate relative adults. Plus, the practice is considered highly dangerous due to the increase in human trafficking.
    • In 2023 alone, more than 130,000 UAC (Unaccompanied Alien Children) crossed the southern border illegally.
  • President Trump built or reinforced some 450 miles of the world’s most robust and advanced border wall. Illegal crossings have plummeted over 87 percent where the wall has been constructed.
  • President Trump deployed nearly 5,000 troops to the Southern border. In addition, Mexico deployed tens of thousands of their own soldiers and national guardsmen to secure their side of the US-Mexico border.
  • President Trump ended the dangerous practice of Catch-and-Release, which means that instead of aliens getting released into the United States pending future hearings never to be seen again, they are detained pending removal, and then ultimately returned to their home countries.
  • President Trump entered into three historic asylum cooperation agreements with Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to stop asylum fraud and resettle illegal migrants in third-party nations pending their asylum applications.
  • President Trump entered into a historic partnership with Mexico, referred to as the “Migrant Protection Protocols,” to safely return asylum-seekers to Mexico while awaiting hearings in the United States.
  • President Trump ended asylum fraud, shut down human smuggling traffickers, and solved the humanitarian crisis across the Western Hemisphere. Trump also suspended, via regulation, asylum for aliens who had skipped previous countries where they were eligible for asylum but opted to “forum shop” and continue to the United States.
  • President Trump cross-trained United States Border Patrol agents to conduct credible fear screenings alongside USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) adjudication personnel to reduce massive backlogs.
  • President Trump streamlined and expedited the asylum hearing process through both the Prompt Asylum Claim Review (PACR) and the Humanitarian Asylum Review Process (HARP).
    • And the first bill introduced as Senator Kamala Harris was designed to provide legal representation to all people detained by Customs and Border Patrol agents.
  • President Trump launched the Family Fraud Initiative to identify hundreds of individuals who were fraudulently presenting themselves as family units at the border, oftentimes with trafficking children, in order to ensure child welfare.
  • President Trump worked with Mexico and other regional partners to dismantle the human smuggling networks in our hemisphere that profit from human misery and fuel the border crisis by exploiting vulnerable populations.

 

• Who took steps to address the root causes of the migration over the US southern border?
  • Donald Trump’s strong stance on the border is well known and documented above. Among many other things, he favored building a wall along the southern border, returning those who cross illegally back to their nation of origin or at least to have them wait in Mexico till they could enter legally.
  • Put in charge of addressing the migration issue at the southern border in 2021, VP Harris wanted to study root causes to find a long-term solution and disregarded pleas for immediate, short-term help.
  • In June 2021, Harris repeatedly stated to potential immigrants, “Do not come. Do not come.”
  • As illegal border crossings surged to historic levels in the Biden-Harris administration, Democrats have tried to distance the Democratic presidential nominee from the moniker “border czar,” although challenges to the term did not arise until she became the top of the Democrat’s 2024 ticket.
  • The Biden-Harris administration created centers where arriving migrants can sign up for benefits, and they are also encouraged to register to vote. Fact check found this to be true.
  • In Summer, 2024, the Biden-Harris administration stopped denying there is a crisis at the southern border. They also admitted errors in their border policy and tightened asylum rules.

 

• Did Donald Trump say, “[Harris] supports free healthcare for illegal immigrants and has promised to give illegals mass amnesty and citizenship, which will obliterate Social Security.”?
  • Yes, and fact checks show Trump’s statement to be true.
  • As recently as September 2024, Harris advocated a path to citizenship for million of illegal immigrants, despite opposition from the millions of immigrants who took the time and put in the years of effort to legally come into this country, become productive members of society, and go through the process of becoming a US citizen.

 

• Did Kamala Harris repeat claims that Donald Trump implemented the family separation policy at the border that put children in cages?
  • Yes, but fact checks show this policy and practice came under President Barack Obama. Though this was proven back in 2018, Democrats, including VP Harris, continue to propagate the divisive lie for political purposes.

 

 

 

• Under which administration were large cages built in which to place children who crossed the US southern border without their parents?
  • In 2014, the Obama-Biden administration had large metal cages built to deal with the unprecedented number of Central American families, teenagers, and children who started crossing the border. By May 2014, thousands of Central Americans were streaming into Texas, more than 7,000 per day. Border Patrol stations were overcrowded. President Barack Obama responded quickly, having a very large warehouse converted to serve as a new Central Processing Center. Chain-link fencing created partitions, with sections designated for teenage boys and men traveling alone, mothers with small children, entire family groups, and children without parents or immediate family members. The facility looked more like an array of livestock cages than a humane facility. The public became aware of the caged facility after the Trump-Pence administration began in 2017. 4½ months after taking office, President Donald Trump ended the previous administration’s practice of caging undocumented migrants. Videos of children in cages surfaced in 2018. Although the videos were shot in 2014, they were later falsely attributed to President Trump.

 

• Who claimed that the border bill proposed earlier this year in the US Senate would have stemmed illegal immigration and fentanyl at the US southern border?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris claimed this. However, her statement is false. That measure would have turned current invasive practices into federal law.
  • The Border Security and Immigration Bill passed in the House was an actual border security bill to improve the situation. Per CSPAN the House vote showed 219 Republicans voted for the Bill, 2 Republicans and 211 Democrats voted against the Bill, and 3 Representatives did not vote. Though the Bill passed, Chuck Schumer sat on it and did not bring it to the Senate.

 

• Who secured our Nation’s immigration system against criminals and terrorists?
  • President Trump instituted national security travel bans to keep out terrorists, jihadists, and violent extremists, and implemented a uniform security and information-sharing baseline all nations must meet in order for their nationals to be able to travel to, and emigrate to, the United States. He also suspended refugee resettlement from the world’s most dangerous and terror-afflicted regions.
  • President Trump established the National Vetting Center, which is the most advanced and comprehensive visa screening system anywhere in the world.

 

• Who wants expanded Presidential powers to address the legal status of undocumented immigrants?
  • This is VP Kamala Harris, who also wants to extend voting rights to all migrants and provide a path to citizenship for all, both legal and illegal immigrants.

 

• Who issued a comprehensive “public charge” regulation to ensure newcomers to the United States are financially self-sufficient and not reliant on welfare?
  • President Trump took many steps to protect American workers and taxpayers, including this regulation. Trump also created an enforcement mechanism for sponsor repayment and deeming, to ensure that people who are presenting themselves as sponsors are actually responsible for sponsor obligations. Trump issued a rule with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make illegal aliens ineligible for public housing. Trump also suspended Employment Authorization Documents for aliens who arrive illegally between ports of entry and are ordered removed from the United States.

 

 

 

 

GLOBAL / TRADE

• Which candidate warned a bloodbath would follow a November 2024 election loss?
  • Both candidates have referenced this. In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris repeated the false and divisive narrative that Trump claimed there would be a “bloodbath” if he loses in November. While Donald Trump never called for post-election violence as Harris repeatedly implies, while speaking of the economy at a rally, Trump did suggest an “economic bloodbath” awaits America (specifically in the auto manufacturing industry) if Democrats win the election.

 

• Did Kamala Harris say that Donald Trump told Russia it could “do whatever the hell [it] wants” with Ukraine?
  • Yes, but her claim is false. In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris did falsely state that Trump told Russia it could “do whatever the hell [it] wants” regarding Ukraine. However, the statement was never made by Trump to Putin. The comment she distorted comes from remarks he made at a South Carolina rally during which he recounted a story from when he was President and speaking with a NATO member. He alluded to the US potentially withholding support if the member didn’t pay its minimum defense spending obligation. “You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?” Trump recalled telling the NATO member. “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bill.”

 

• Which 2024 US Presidential candidate do the world’s dictators most hope will win?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris claimed that the world’s autocratic leaders are pulling for Trump to win.
  • While there is no definitive way to know, some autocratic leaders have expressed not wanting to return to the years when they feared America’s strength. Regardless, during the September 10, 2024 debate, Kamala Harris claimed that the world’s autocratic leaders are pulling for Trump to win. In truth, just days before the first 2024 US Presidential debate, Russian president Vladimir Putin publicly threw his support behind Kamala Harris.
  • As of September 2024, it is also known that Iran is actively attempting to help the Democrats defeat Donald Trump. In an elaborate scheme, senior Trump campaign officials accounts were hacked, and the hacker offered news organizations files and information he falsely claimed he’d gotten while working at the Trump campaign. Criminal charges are pending.
  • Further, the US government knows and, as of September 25, 2024, has informed Donald Trump that Iran is and has been actively attempting to get him assassinated to prevent his return to the White House.
  • Others supporting the campaign of Kamala Harris include China and the Mexican cartels.
  • Argentina, working hard to emerge for the first time as a nation with freedom for its people with inalienable rights for the people, has expressed its belief in Donald Trump.

 

• Who negotiated the return of 56 hostages and detainees from more than 24 countries?
  • President Trump did this.

 

• Which administration fought for fair and reciprocal trade agreements and secured historic trade deals to defend American workers?
  • Shortly after his inauguration, President Trump withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
  • Trump signed landmark Prague Principles with America’s allies to advance the deployment of secure 5G telecommunications networks, and he signed the first-ever bilateral AI cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom.
  • President Trump ended the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), replacing it with the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USMCA contains powerful new protections for American manufacturers, auto-makers, farmers, dairy producers, and workers. The USMCA is expected to generate over $68 billion in economic activity and potentially create over 550,000 new jobs over ten years.
  • President Trump signed an executive order making it government policy to Buy American and Hire American, also took action to stop the outsourcing of jobs overseas.
  • President Trump negotiated with Japan to slash tariffs and open its market to $7 billion in American agricultural products and ended its ban on potatoes and lamb. Over 90 percent of American agricultural exports to Japan now receive preferential treatment, and most are duty-free. Trump also negotiated another deal with Japan to boost $40 billion worth of digital trade.
  • President Trump renegotiated the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, doubling the cap on imports of American vehicles and extending the American light truck tariff. He got South Korea to lift its ban on American poultry and eggs and to agree to provide market access for record exports of American rice.
  • President Trump reached a written, fully enforceable Phase One trade agreement with China on confronting pirated and counterfeit goods, and the protection of American ideas, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks. China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of United States exports and opened market access for over 4,000 American facilities to exports while all tariffs remained in effect.
  • President Trump achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union (EU) that addresses unfair trade practices and increases duty-free exports by 180 percent to $420 million. He also secured a pledge from the EU to eliminate tariffs on American lobster – the first United States-European Union negotiated tariff reduction in over 20 years. President Trump also got the European Union agreement to increase beef imports by 180 percent and opened up its market to more imports of soybeans.
  • President Trump resolved the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil crisis during COVID-19 by getting OPEC, Russia, and others to cut nearly 10 million barrels of production a day, stabilizing world oil prices.
  • President Trump took strong actions to confront unfair trade practices and put America First. Imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods to protect American jobs and stop China’s abuses under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Directed an all-of-government effort to halt and punish efforts by the Communist Party of China to steal and profit from American innovations and intellectual property.
  • President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign aluminum and foreign steel to protect our vital industries and support our national security. Approved tariffs on $1.8 billion in imports of washing machines and $8.5 billion in imports of solar panels.
  • President Trump blocked illegal timber imports from Peru.
  • President Trump delivered historic support for American farmers, including successfully negotiating more than 50 agreements with countries around the world to increase foreign market access and boost exports of American agriculture products, supporting more than 1 million American jobs.
  • President Trump authorized $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices – fully funded by the tariffs paid by China. China lifted its ban on poultry, opened its market to beef, and agreed to purchase at least $80 billion of American agricultural products in the next two years.
  • Through President Trump’s negotiations, Argentina lifted its ban on American pork, Brazil agreed to increase wheat imports by $180 million a year and raised its quotas for purchases of United States ethanol, and Guatemala and Tunisia opened up their markets to American eggs. Trump also won tariff exemptions in Ecuador for wheat and soybeans.
  • President Trump prevented Russian energy coercion across Europe through various lines of effort, including the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation, civil nuclear deals with Romania and Poland, and opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
  • President Trump negotiated leasing capacity in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Australia, providing American taxpayers a return on this infrastructure investment.
  • President Trump restored America’s leadership in the world and successfully negotiated to ensure our allies pay their fair share for our military protection. Trump secured a $400 billion increase in defense spending from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies by 2024, and the number of members meeting their minimum obligations more than doubled. President Trump is credited by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for strengthening NATO.
  • President Trump worked to reform & streamline the United Nations (UN) and reduced spending by $1.3 billion.

 

• Who signed legislation to assist religious and ethnic groups targeted by ISIS for mass murder and genocide in Syria and Iraq?
  • President Trump did this. He also appointed a Special Envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism and imposed restrictions on certain Chinese officials, internal security units, and companies for their complicity in the persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

 

 

 

• Who claims to have rallied the world to support Ukraine in response to Putin’s aggression?
  • This happened during the Biden-Harris administration. While they claim to have rallied the world to support Ukraine in response to Putin’s aggression, in truth, they took no stand against Russia. The strongest statements made happened when Putin first started amassing troops on Ukraine’s border. They said, “Don’t do it.”
  • The Biden-Harris administration provided unprecedented security and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and imposed some sanctions to hold Russia accountable.

 

• Under which administration was NATO’s collective security strengthened?
  • This is claimed by the Biden-Harris administration, because Finland and Sweden joined NATO in fear of becoming a future target of Russia, and leading the administration to claim it had deepened transatlantic partnership.

 

• Who regularly stood up to autocracy and defended our values?
  • The Biden-Harris administration started backing Israel after thousands of Hamas militants invaded, raped, mutilated, and murdered Israeli citizens and many others.
  • What resulted was war between Israel and Hamas (including other terrorist factions in the Middle East). As many pro-Palestine, pro-Israel, and even pro-Hamas demonstrations in the US on college campuses and in cities, the Biden-Harris administration’s strong words in support of Israel and against Hamas waivered or when silent altogether.
  • At Republican National Convention, Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State under Donald Trump said, “President Biden won’t even talk about the fact that Americans are still being held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.” Among the 240 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, 8 Americans are reportedly still in captivity, including 3 who were killed. Trump’s comment about President Biden is an exaggeration. Through August 2024, it could be said that little attention was being paid to our remaining hostages, but on 10/7/23 Biden said, “We now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas.” On 10/20/2023 Biden said, “As I told the families of Americans being held captive by Hamas, we’re pursuing every venue to bring their loved ones home.”

 

• Who removed key leaders of Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists from the battlefield?
  • The Biden-Harris administration claims this.

 

• Which 2024 US Presidential candidate claims to have demonstrated America’s relentless pursuit of justice?
  • This claim is made by Kamala Harris. While no examples of this c6ould be found by fact checkers during the past 15 years, it is presumed that this statement refers to her two terms as California’s Attorney General

 

 

 

MILITARY / VETERANS

• Who advanced peace through strength?
  • President Trump withdrew from the one-sided Iran Nuclear Deal on May 8, 2018 and imposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian Regime. Trump also conducted vigorous enforcement on all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue.

 

• Who was the first president to meet with a leader of North Korea and the first sitting president to cross the demilitarized zone into North Korea?
  • President Trump did this in June, 2019. Further, he maintained a maximum pressure campaign and enforced tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiating de-nuclearization, the release of American hostages, and the return of the remains of American heroes.

 

• Who brokered economic normalization between Serbia and Kosovo, bolstering peace in the Balkans?
  • President Trump did this on September 4, 2020.

 

• Which president renewed our friendship and alliance with Israel and took historic action to promote peace in the Middle East?
  • President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and moved the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
  • President Trump acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law.
  • President Trump removed the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias.
  • President Trump brokered historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab-Muslim countries, including Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Sudan.
  • Under President Trump, the United States negotiated a normalization agreement between Israel and Morocco, and recognized Moroccan Sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara, a position with long standing bipartisan support.
  • President Trump brokered a deal for Kosovo to normalize ties and establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump is “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”
  • President Trump is the first president to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
  • First American president to address an assembly of leaders from more than 50 Muslim nations. And reached an agreement to fight terrorism in all its forms. Established the Etidal Center to combat terrorism in the Middle East in conjunction with the Saudi Arabian Government.
  • President Trump announced the Vision for Peace Political Plan – a two-state solution that resolves the risks of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security, and the first time Israel has agreed to a map and a Palestinian state. Released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through historic private investment.
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, regarding Trump’s foreign policy record, Harris claimed, “Donald Trump is weak and wrong on national security and foreign policy.”

• This is a false campaign statement made to appeal to the anti-Trump voter base. Under Trump’s administration the U.S. southern border was secure, and America facilitated multiple peace agreements between Israel and Arab states. Under the Biden-Harris administration, Russia invaded Ukraine, Iran-backed Hamas launched multiple terrorist attacks on primarily civilian targets in Israel, and China has ramped up its threats toward Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan.

 

• Which administration claims to have not had even one member of the US military on active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world for the first time this century?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Harris said, “There is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world [for] the first time this century.”
    • This is not true. Among several other places, former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., shared that the United States has “troops in Syria and Iraq who are routinely attacked by Iran-backed militias.” Plus, “three soldiers were killed in Jordan earlier this year!”

 

• Which administration botched the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in 13 US service members getting killed?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris tried to blame Trump by claiming, “Donald Trump, when he was president, negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine.”
    • That isn’t true, and most voters’ memories will likely know the blame rests squarely on the Biden-Harris administration. According to the House Foreign Affairs Committee report, “The evidence proves President Biden’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops was not based on the security situation, the Doha Agreement, or the advice of his senior national security advisors or our allies. Rather, it was premised on his longstanding and unyielding opinion that the United States should no longer be in Afghanistan.”

 

• Who defeated terrorists, held leaders accountable for malign actions, and bolstered peace around the world?
  • President Trump defeated 100% of ISIS’ territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria. He freed nearly 8 million civilians from ISIS’ bloodthirsty control, and liberated Mosul, Raqqa, and the final ISIS foothold of Baghuz.
  • Under President Trump the US killed the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and eliminated the world’s top terrorist, Qasem Soleimani.
  • President Trump took decisive military action twice against the Assad regime in Syria for the barbaric use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians, including a successful 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles strike.
  • President Trump authorized sanctions against bad actors tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.
  • President Trump negotiated an extended ceasefire with Turkey in northeast Syria.
  • President Trump signed the largest arms deal ever, worth nearly $110 billion, with Saudi Arabia.

 

• Which president stood up against Communism and Socialism in the Western Hemisphere?
  • In 2017 President Trump pleased Cuban Americans when he reversed the previous administration’s one-sided Cuba policy. Trump also pledged not to lift sanctions until all political prisoners were freed, freedoms of assembly and expression were respected, all political parties were legalized, and free elections were scheduled. Trump also enacted a new policy aimed at preventing American dollars from funding the Cuban regime, including stricter travel restrictions and business restrictions on the importation of Cuban alcohol and tobacco. Trump called on Cuba to promote the rule of law, respect human rights, and take concrete steps to foster political and economic freedoms.
  • President Trump was the first world leader to recognize Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and led a diplomatic coalition against the Socialist Dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. Trump blocked all property of the Venezuelan Government in the jurisdiction of the United States and cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime and sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime. Trump also brought criminal charges against Nicolas Maduro for his narco-terrorism.
  • President Trump imposed stiff sanctions on the Ortega regime in Nicaragua.

 

• Who rebuilt the United States military with over $2.2 trillion in defense spending?
  • President Trump did this, and by 2020 had driven $738 billion into improvements. Trump also secured three pay raises for US service members and their families, including the largest raise in a decade.
  • President Trump also modernized and recapitalized our nuclear forces and missile defenses to ensure they continue to serve as a strong deterrent.
  • President Trump upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command and by reducing burdensome procedural restrictions on cyber operations.
  • President Trump addressed gaps in American’s defense-industrial base, providing much-needed updates to improve the safety of our country.
  • President Trump completed several multi-year nuclear material removal campaigns, securing over 1,000 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and significantly reducing global nuclear threats.

 

• Who created the Sixth Branch, the United States Space Force, the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947?
  • President Trump did this in 2019.

 

• Who worked with Mexico and Canada in a successful joint bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with 60 matches to be held in the United States?
  • President Trump did this in 2018.

 

• Who won the bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California?
  • When President Obama refused to speak to the International Olympic Committee, President-Elect Trump stepped in and sealed the deal to make the United States the 3^rd country in the world to host the games three times.

 

• Who reformed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve care, choice, and employee accountability?
  • In 2017, President Trump signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act, which ensured that veterans could continue to see the doctor of their choice and wouldn’t have to wait for care. During the Trump Administration, millions of veterans were able to choose a private doctor in their communities.
  • President Trump signed and implemented the VA Mission Act in 2019, which made permanent Veterans CHOICE, revolutionized the VA community care system, and delivered quality care closer to home for Veterans. The number of Veterans who say they trust VA services increased 19 percent to a record 91 percent, an all-time high.
  • Under President Trump in 2020, the US started offering same-day emergency mental health care at every VA medical facility and secured $9.5 billion for annual mental health services.
  • President Trump established the White House VA Hotline, which has fielded hundreds of thousands of calls.
  • President Trump formed the PREVENTS Task Force to fight the tragedy of Veteran suicide. He also helped decrease veteran homelessness, improved education benefits, and achieved record-low veteran unemployment. Compared to 2009, 49 percent fewer veterans experienced homelessness nationwide during 2019.
  • President Trump signed and implemented the Forever GI Bill, allowing Veterans to use their benefits to get an education at any point in their lives and eliminated every penny of Federal student loan debt owed by American veterans who are completely and permanently disabled.
  • President Trump signed and implemented the HAVEN Act to ensure that Veterans who’ve declared bankruptcy don’t lose their disability payments.
  • President Trump helped hundreds of thousands of military service members make the transition from the military to the civilian workforce and developed programs to support the employment of military spouses. He placed nearly 40,000 homeless veterans into employment through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. Placed over 600,000 veterans into employment through American Job Center services.
  • President Trump also enrolled over 500,000 transitioning service members in over 20,000 Department of Labor employment workshops and signed an executive order to help Veterans transition seamlessly into the United States Merchant Marine.

 

• Which administration claims to have delivered benefits to more than 5 million veterans?
  • The Biden-Harris administration claims this, along with removing red tape from the benefit application process and authorizing 30 more clinical sites.

 

• Which administration reversed the discriminatory ban on transgender servicemembers?
  • Calling it discriminatory, the Biden-Harris administration reversed the transgender military ban.

 

 

FEDERAL JUDICIARY

• Who said that a president is immune from any misconduct if they are in the White House?
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris claimed the recent Supreme Court ruling means that Donald Trump “would essentially be immune from any misconduct if he were to enter the White House again.”
    • This is misleading at best. The Justices said a U.S. president possesses “absolute immunity” for “actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority” and “at least presumptive immunity” for “official acts.” They also noted there is “no immunity for unofficial acts.” They asked the lower courts to determine if Trump’s alleged acts constitute “official acts.”

 

• Who appointed a historic number of Federal judges to interpret the Constitution as written?
  • President Trump nominated and confirmed 226 Federal judges.
    • This is a lot in 4 years, especially compared with 320 for President Obama and 360 for President Clinton over 8 years. Barack Obama still has the largest number of active judges appointed, at 248.
  • President Trump filled all Court of Appeals vacancies for the first time in four decades.
  • President Trump flipped the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits from Democrat-appointed majorities to Republican-appointed majorities and dramatically reshaped the long-liberal Ninth Circuit.
  • President Trump appointed three US Supreme Court justices, expanding its conservative-appointed majority to 6-3.
    • Trump appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.
    • Trump appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy.
    • Trump appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

• President Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman and first public defender to serve on the US Supreme Court.
• President Biden appointed a record percentage of women, racial and ethnic minorities, and civil rights lawyers and public defenders.

 

• Which administration appointed a record number of women to serve in his Administration?
  • President Biden did this.
    • Women by administration:     Biden 11
      • Trump 7
      • Obama 8
      • GW Bush 4
      • Clinton 6
      • GHW Bush 4
      • Reagan 3
      • Carter 0
      • Nixon 1
      • Johnson 0
      • Kennedy 0
      • Eisenhower 1
      • Truman 0
      • F Roosevelt 1 (the first)

 

• Which administration appointed the most people of color to serve in his Administration?
  • President Biden did this. While President Trump had 4 minorities (18%) represented in his cabinet, President Biden chose 50%, including the highest-ranking person of color in history in vice-president Kamala Harris.

• While in office, President Trump had appointed the 3^rd largest number of women and 3^rd largest number of people from racial and ethnic minorities. Biden topped him.

 

 

 

 

ENERGY / NATURAL RESOURCES

• Which president streamlined energy efficiency regulations for American families and businesses?
  • President Trump did this, including preserving affordable lightbulbs, enhancing the utility of showerheads, and enabling greater time savings with dishwashers.

 

• Who increased access to our country’s abundant natural resources to achieve energy independence?
  • President Trump unleashed America’s oil and natural gas potential, finally bringing America to energy independence. For the first time in nearly 70 years, the United States became a net energy exporter under President Trump.
  • Under President Trump, the United States became the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world. Natural gas production reached a record-high of 34.9 quads in 2019, following record high production in 2018 and in 2017. The United States became a net natural gas exporter for three consecutive years and reached an export capacity of nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day.
  • President Trump replaced the Clean Power Plan with the new Affordable Clean Energy rule.
  • President Trump approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
  • President Trump opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas leasing.
  • President Trump reformed the New Source Review permitting program, which had punished companies for upgrading or repairing coal power plants.
  • President Trump streamlined Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal permitting and allowed long-term LNG export authorizations to be extended through 2050. The United States became among the top three LNG exporters in the world. Increased LNG exports five-fold since January 2017, reaching an all-time high in January 2020. LNG exports were projected to reduce the American trade deficit by over $10 billion.
  • President Trump granted more than 20 new long-term approvals for LNG exports to non-free trade agreement countries. The development of natural gas and LNG infrastructure in the United States provided tens of thousands of jobs and led to the investment of tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure. By the end of 2020, we had 6 LNG export facilities operating in the United States, with 2 additional export projects under construction.
  • Under President Trump, renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2019. Enacted policies that helped double the amount of electricity generated by solar and helped increase the amount of wind generation by 32 percent from 2016 through 2019.

 

• Who called for the historic release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices?
  • The Biden-Harris administration did this to try to lower gasoline prices by $1.60 from their Summer 2022 high of $5.06, the highest price since 2014.

 

• Who built a more resilient power grid?
  • The Biden-Harris administration claims this.

 

• Which administration took action to lower energy costs for families?
  • Both the Biden-Harris and Trump-Pence administrations claim to have done this, but only one actually did it.
  • Fact checks show the Biden-Harris administration actually delivered record high gasoline prices in all 50 states, and the Build Back Better Act repealed a 2017 law allowing drilling in the arctic and offshore drilling in both the Atlantic and Pacific (abruptly ending US energy independence and going backwards to reliance on oil from the Middle East). The Biden-Harris administration did seek clean energy technologies, but they only raised energy costs for families.
  • Under the Trump-Pence administration, the average American family saved $2500 a year in lower prices at the gas pump and lower electric bills. Thanks to the Trump tax cuts, more than 100 utilities lowered their electric rates. Under Trump, the US became the #1 producer of oil in the world and maintained its #1 position for natural gas production. 2019 marked the first time in 67 years that American annual gross energy exports exceeded gross energy imports.

 

• Who seeks a ban on fracking?
  • As official 2024 campaign positions, neither Trump nor Harris want a ban on fracking. However, former President Trump has always been against a fracking ban, and Vice-President Harris has always supported (previously) a fracking ban.
  • In the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, Kamala Harris claimed she made herself “very clear in 2020.” “I will not ban fracking,” she said at the debate.
  • Her position when she ran for President in 2020 was definitively against fracking. She said in a CNN interview, “There is no question. I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

 

 

 

CLIMATE / ENVIRONMENT

• Which 2024 US Presidential candidate seeks environmental improvements?
  • Both. However, Kamala Harris has been a more vocal advocate for environmental improvements and climate change.

• VP Harris speech on Electric Vehicle Investments on December 13, 2021. “The future of transportation in our nation and around the world, is electric. By 2050 at the latest, we will achieve net-zero emissions.”
• In 2020 Harris called for ramping up electric vehicle production, something that became an early cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration. Given the role to lead the American supercharged efforts, Harris was embarrassed when she was videotaped showing that she had no clue how to even connect her charger to an electric vehicle.
• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under the Bidden-Harris administration would provide $7.5 billion to build the network of EV charging stations. Billions more were allocated for electric power transmissions to provide those charging stations with clean energy. And it created a new office – the Joint Office on Energy and Transportation – to help agencies work together to implement the new law.
  • Challenges to sustainability arose, including a complete inability to safely mine, attain, and process key battery minerals. More importantly, no way has been found to safely dispose of expired batteries.
  • Within 3 years, the Biden-Harris administration knew the US was falling dramatically short of the goal to be on track to increase the existing 100,000 chargers to 500,000 chargers by 2030 in a national network to make EVs accessible for all Americans for both local & long-distance trips.

• • President Trump worked to modernize the National Environmental Policy Ace (NEPA), which was initialized in 1970.
  • President Trump published a whole-of-government strategy focused on ensuring American leadership in automated vehicle technology.
  • President Trump took strong action to protect the environment and ensure clean air and clean water.
  • President Trump took action to protect vulnerable Americans from being exposed to lead and copper in drinking water and finalized a rule protecting children from lead-based paint hazards.
  • President Trump invested over $38 billion in clean water infrastructure.
  • President Trump withdrew from the one-sided Paris Climate Agreement.
  • Under President Trump, in 2019, America achieved the largest decline in carbon emissions of any country on earth. Since withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, the United States reduced carbon emissions more than any nation.
    • American levels of particulate matter – one of the main measures of air pollution – fell to approximately five times lower than the global average.
    • Between 2017 and 2019, the air became 7 percent cleaner – indicated by a steep drop in the combined emissions of criteria pollutants.
    • The US led the world in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, having cut energy-related CO2 emissions by 12 percent from 2005 to 2018 while the rest of the world increased emissions by 24 percent.
    • The Biden-Harris administration rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement on Day 1.

 

• • Under President Trump, in FY 2019 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleaned up more major pollution sites than any year in nearly two decades.

 

• Which administration jumpstarted the American offshore wind industry and convened the nation’s first federal-state offshore wind partnership?
  • This is the Biden-Harris administration. They also set new policies to reduce super pollutants like HFCs and methane to protect communities and reduce emissions fueling climate change. They claim the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution, including enacting a $1-trillion investment to remove every lead pipe in America.
  • The Biden-Harris administration also planned first-ever national network of EV charging stations to increase existing 100,000 to 500,000. Signed executive orders to develop clean energy and reduce pollution.

 

• Which administration protected more lands and waters than any president since John F. Kennedy?
  • Theodore Roosevelt established 230 million acres of public lands, including 150 national forests, the first 55 federal bird reservations and game preserves, 5 national parks, and the first 18 national monuments
  • John F. Kennedy established the Cape Code Natural Seashore, Padre Island National Seashore, and Point Reyes National Seashore, to protect areas from over-development
  • Ronald Reagan added 10.6 million acres of forests, mountains, deserts, and wetlands to the nation’s protected areas
  • Bill Clinton protected 4.6 million acres as national monuments in the lower 48 states, more than any previous administration.
  • George W. Bush protected 3.6 million acres of wetlands, 200,000 square miles (equal to 128 million acres) of Pacific Ocean as conservation (forming one of the world’s largest conservation areas and larger than all US national parks combined), designated the nation’s 8^th and 9^th national marine sanctuaries (Cordere Bank and Florida Keys), and added 27 million acres to our national parks.
  • Barack Obama created 19 national monuments covering 260 million acres.
  • Donald Trump called on Congress to deliver the single largest investment in America’s national parks and conservation in history. The US Department of the Interior goes on to note that this Great American Outdoors Act also established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, providing $9.53 billion for natural parks, wildlife refuges, campgrounds, forests, and American Indian schools and permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million per year.
  • Biden added 24 million acres of public land and $8 billion toward conservation projects.

 

• Who restored public access to Federal land at Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument?
  • President Trump did this.
• Who recovered more endangered or threatened species than any other administration in its first term?
  • President Trump did this. Trump also secured agreements and signed legislation to protect the environment and preserve our Nation’s abundant national resources. The USMCA guarantees the strongest environmental protections of any trade agreement in history.

 

• Which administration worked toward the most aggressive climate and environmental justice agenda in American history?

• The Biden-Harris administration set US climate goal to reduce emissions 50% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050.

• • The Biden-Harris administration awarded more than $1 billion to initiate cleanup and clear the backlog of 49 previously unfunded Superfund sites, over $250 million to clean up hundreds of contaminated brownfield sites and $725 million for abandoned mine lands.
  • The Biden-Harris administration restored protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments and designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument to conserve our lands and waters, honor our nation’s veterans, protect Tribal cultural resources, and support jobs and America’s outdoor recreation economy

 

• Which president placed a moratorium on offshore drilling off the coasts of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida?
  • President Trump did this in 2020.

 

• Who signed the Save Our Seas Act to protect the environment and developed the first-ever Federal strategic plan to address marine litter?
  • President Trump signed the bipartisan act in 2020, championing our oceans, fisheries, wildlife, and coastal communities. The act improved America’s ability to clean up waste, advance international cooperation with nations responsible for the majority of trash entering the oceans and explore innovative ways to manage and even reuse plastic waste.

 

• Who signed the Great American Outdoors Act, securing the single largest investment in America’s National Parks and public lands in history?
  • In 2020, President Trump signed the largest public lands legislation in a decade, designating 1.3 million new acres of wilderness, investing in protection and sustainment of public lands and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools. GAOA established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (GAOA LRF) to address overdue maintenance needs. GAOA also permanently authorized funding for  the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) –a separate fund aimed at safeguarding our natural areas and cultural heritage.
  • President Trump also signed a historic executive order promoting much more active forest management to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
  • President Trump joined the One Trillion Trees Initiative to plant, conserve, and restore trees in America and around the world.

 

 

 

OTHER:

• Which candidate garnered the lowest approval ratings?
  • As Vice President, Kamala Harris repeatedly earned the lowest ratings ever for a VP. Further, an April 13, 2022, poll from the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times found just a 35% approval rating and a 45% disapproval rating in Harris’ home state of California, even in the Bay area where she served as District Attorney. In every poll throughout the Biden-Harris administration, both Biden and Harris fared the worst in the history of voter opinion polls.
  • Harris, no matter how poorly Biden did, Harris did worse. People felt she kept proving she was “out of her depth,” with “little to add to the conversation.” She was in “lockstep with Biden” and brought “nothing new” to the table.
  • Every time a Harris failure or weakness has been pointed out, it is labeled as racist or sexist, though Joe Biden chose her as his running mate based on race and gender.

 

• Which candidate says they wanted to be a president identified positively with all issues?
  • Harris stated she wants to be identified with everything, the economy, the generational argument, climate change, women’s reproductive rights, and more. The immigration assignment was to give her foreign policy experience, as she has none. She advocates for climate change and environmental systems.
  • However, policies and advocacies only prove she talks the talk she believes voters want to hear. Despite her repeated claims that her “values have not changed,” on only one issue do her statements prove this to be true. She has never waivered on her advocacy for women to be able to choose abortion anytime and anywhere, at the government’s expense, and without the knowledge of a parent, if the woman is under age.

 

• Whose strongest legislative impact came as part of the Executive Branch?
  • This is Kamala Harris. As President of the Senate, Vice President Harris set a new record for the most tie-breaking votes (33 as of 08/08/24) cast by a VP in history – a record that had stood for nearly 200 years. She presided over an evenly-split Senate, and while all her votes stayed on the Democrat side of the aisle, many were for critical policy endeavors, including more tax scrutiny on the tips made by service workers. This one marks a point on which Harris reversed her position when she became the Democrat nominee for President, as she made a point of echoing Donald Trump’s call for “no tax on service worker tips.”
  • Another VP Harris tie-breaking vote in the Senate requires negotiation of certain prescription drugs beginning in 2026, including maximum prices for certain drugs that have no generic equivalent and caps the price of insulin at $35 through 2025.
    • While some thought the insulin cap was a Biden-Harris idea, it was merely adding the cap for a short time for anyone without insurance. President Trump had already capped insulin copays at a maximum of $35 for a month’s supply of each type of insulin. Trump’s enhancements had also reduced Medicare Part D prescription drug premiums, saving beneficiaries nearly $2 billion in premium costs.

 

 

• Which 2024 US Presidential candidate has been steadfast to their political party?
  • This is Kamala Harris. A lifelong registered Democrat, Harris has been a loyal and steadfast Democrat voter. In fact, during her term in the US Senate, she staunchly avoided bi-partisan endeavors, voting 99% of the time with the Democrats. Based on the Bills and resolutions she co-sponsored or supported, Harris ranked the most politically left compared to all Senate Democrats. Further, her consistent Senate record earned her the distinction of having several sources name her the most liberal Democrat in Washington, ranking even further to the left than independent Bernie Sanders. Even when most Democrats voted with Republicans on bi-partisan efforts, she usually voted against anything sponsored or co-sponsored by a Republican.
    • Senator Kamala Harris joined bi-partisan Bills the least often when compared to all other Senate Democrats. She signed on as a co-sponsor of 696 Bills in the US
      Senate, but only 14% were introduced by someone other than a Democrat, and many were introduced by Bernie Sander, the ultra-liberal Senator from Vermont. Harris also got bi-partisan co-sponsors on the 2^nd fewest bills compared to all Senate Democrats.

• Kamala Harris also wrote the fewest laws compared to Senate Democrats. She introduced only 1 Bill that became a law. That was S.129: Saint Francis Dam Memorial Monument Act to establish a memorial monument to commemorate those killed by the dam’s collapse March 12, 1928.
• Kamala Harris was the 2^nd most absent in votes compared to all Senators in all parties, missing 55.1% of the votes (or 397 of the 720 votes).

• Harris was one of only 22 Democrats who voted against the bi-partisan Middle East security package that warned against a “precipitous withdrawal” of US military forces in Syria and Afghanistan.
• Harris was also 1 of just 8 Democrats who voted against the passage of the new trade agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada that replenished the old North American Free-Trade Agreement.

• Donald Trump had no consistent political party affiliations. He started out as a devoted Democrat, as was his father.
  • 2015-2016 Many Republicans thought Trump was running as a Republican to assure Hilary Clinton a victory in 2016.
  • 2001 – 2009 Democrat
  • 1999 – 2000 Reform Party for 1 year
  • Early 80s Republican (during Reagan administration in early 80s); then bounced with Independence Party and as an independent. Then back to Republican.
  • 1960s – early 80s Initially, he was, like his father, a Democrat.
• Until he ran for President as a Republican, Donald Trump was “the darling” of the upper echelon of Democrat social circles, with numerous celebrities, from Oprah Winfrey to Howard Stern, encouraging Trump to run for President and saying that he’d be a great president.
• Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was subjected to similar Democrat criticism when he left the Democrat ticket to run for President as an independent.
  • Like his father, RFK, Jr is not a partisan hack. He says you do not get his support just by putting a “D” after your name.
  • Robert Kennedy, Sr developed such a “contempt for liberals” during the Adlai Stevenson 1956 presidential campaign that he crossed party lines and voted for Eisenhower.
  • John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy joined their father Joe, crossing party lines to work for Republican Richard Nixon’s campaign for the California US Senate seat against Democrat nominee Helen Gahagan Douglas.
• Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democrat candidate for President, left the Party in 2022, noting a familiar sentiment that the Party simply was not the party of the people any longer, plus echoing many of the same criticisms Republicans make about Democrats and the extreme left. She was highly criticized by Democrats.
  • Gabbard also feared the direction of the Democrats would lead us into nuclear war.
  • Many considered her a favorite and powerful possible running mate for Donald Trump in 2024.

 

• Do Kamala Harris and the Democrats claim that Donald Trump will implement Project 2025 if elected?
  • These false charges were repeatedly made at the DNC and again in the September 10, 2024, US Presidential debate, by Kamala Harris.
  • Though Harris and Democrats know this is false, they have made a conscious decision to repeat it and ignore fact checkers’ calls to cease, as Democrats rightly believe the lies resonate in their favor with potential voters, who may be unaware these are lies.

 

• Who advanced women’s economic empowerment and included women’s empowerment for the first time in the President’s National Security Strategy.
  • President Trump did this in 2017. He signed into law key pieces of legislation, including the Women, Peace, and Security Act and the Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act.
  • President Trump launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative – the first-ever whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment that reached 24 million women worldwide.
  • President Trump launched the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) with 13 other nations in 2017. This included a $50 million donation on behalf of the United States to We-Fi providing more capital to women-owned businesses around the world.
  • President Trump released the first-ever Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, which focused on increasing women’s participation to prevent and resolve conflicts.

 

What do the candidates’ overall records indicate?

Trump’s record shows a focus on what have been called common-sense policies to lift Americans up through middle class tax cuts, record-setting regulation cuts, fair trade, abundant energy, low inflation, better wages, and a restoration of the rule of law. His actions reflect the “peace through strength” policies that keep our countries and others safe.

 

In Harris’ 2019 published memoir, she called herself a progressive prosecutor. Her record shows unwavering support for abortion rights and sex change surgeries while flip-flopping since becoming the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate on most other issues including fracking, taxing service worker tips, gun control/confiscation, and defunding the police to appear more moderate to the voters. She has long supported diversion for certain criminal defendants, like drug treatment instead of going to trial.

 

Which candidate lies?

Both. Lying, spinning, and misspeaking seem to be oddly accepted or at least expected as part of politics, although both sides distinctly point the finger at the other side as if they are the only ones doing it.

 

Fact checkers find Donald Trump frequently exaggerates the facts, primarily because he speaks off-the-cuff, but also because his approach seems ego driven. Whenever they disagree (or want to disagree) with his statements, liberal media members regularly dub Trump statements as false (rather than as allegations, opinions, or even speculations), even when those statements have not been proven to be false. Despite a strong grasp on details, numbers, and facts, Trump is prone to exaggerate.

 

Among Trump’s exaggerations and speculations:

• Donald Trump expresses concern over “increasing gang activity on our city streets,” and notes the new gangs from Venezuela dwarf the violence of the existing gangs.
  • This may be fact, but it may also be speculation. While increasing reports point to these concerns as likely, fact checks say no such actual data may be available for another year or so.
• “We’re very close to world war.”
  • This is speculative. However, with ongoing troubles with China, Russia, and, especially, the escalations in the Middle East, Trump’s speculations could end up ‘spot on.’
• “Kamala’s record is horrible. She’s a radical left person at a level that nobody’s seen.”
  • This is slight exaggeration. Fact checking shows that many did not like her criminal justice record, and her US Senate record shows she was easily the most liberal Senator during her tenure. However, others in history may have been more radical.
• “She was the border czar, 100%. All of a sudden, she’s not the border czar anymore, like nobody ever said it.”
  • While she did not object to the unofficial czar title for 3 years, as the 2024 nominee for president, she no longer wishes to be associated with this administration’s grotesque failures regarding immigration. The phrase was used repeatedly by media outlets and reporters and never challenged, but that was never her official title regarding her assignment to address the migration at the southern border issue.
• “We have a vice president who is the least admired, least respected, and the worst vice president in the history of our country.”
  • This is an exaggeration. Per NPR, a recent rating of VPs showed Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle to score lower than Kamala Harris.
• “We’re leading; we’re leading.”
  • This is Trump’s positive thinking, at best. The race is statistically tied in national polls. In some, Harris leads. In some, Trump leads.
• “She [Kamala Harris] couldn’t pass her bar exam.”
  • This was true on her first attempt, but Harris passed on her second try. She was not among the 45% who pass on their first try. However, she was among the 34% of those who sit for the California bar exam who eventually pass.
• “I had 107,000 people in New Jersey” at an outdoor event.
  • NPR says that while Donald Trump did not exaggerate nor lie about this number, the source for the number may have given faulty information, and perhaps the more accurate count at his New Jersey event approached 60,000.
• “Everybody’s going to be forced to buy an electric car.”
  • Another exaggeration. The Biden-Harris goal is 50% by 2030, but not 100%.
• “The weight of EVs is more. For a truck it’s 2 ½ times, 2 ½ times heavier. You would have to rebuild every bridge in this country if you were going to do this ridiculous policy.”
  • Though the statement shows Trump’s usual flair for the dramatic, he is correct that the nation’s transportation infrastructure has not yet been considered. This policy, if implemented, could have dangerous consequences.
• “We have commercials that are at a level I don’t think anybody’s ever done before.”
  • If considering the money spent by both major parties, this is false. Per NPR, Democrats have outspent Trump’s campaign and his various support groups by more than double. $375.5 million to just $150.6 million.
• In Chicago, “on July 4^th, 117 people were shot, and 17 died. The toughest gun laws in the United States are in the city of Chicago.”
  • Liberal media voices say Trump lied. However, it is true that Chicago has the toughest gun laws in the United States, and yet one of the highest violent crime rates. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson acknowledged that on July 4, 2024, “more than 100 people were shot, and 19 died.” Donald Trump may have had his numbers off a bit, but his point was absolutely true.
• Trump claims that decades ago he went down hard in a helicopter with Willie Brown.
  • Trump did have a scary emergency helicopter crash landing decades ago, but he was with Nate Holden, a former Los Angeles city councilman and state senator.
• Families are “paying 50, 60, 70% more for food than they did just a couple of years ago.”
  • Liberal media have called this statement a lie. However, fact checking shows that eggs are one of the items that hit an 89.8% inflation price boost, even higher than his highest claim. Although eggs now cost merely 36% higher, Trump’s point is well taken. Other grocery store purchases that remain at high inflation are items like margarine, which is up by 54.1% and peanut butter and other fats and oils that remain up by 44%. Though current prices are down from their earlier record highs, among the other foods still remaining between 32 and 40% inflationary high prices are breads, crackers, beef roasts, flour, prepared mixes, sugar and substitutes, steaks, canned vegetables, and carbonated beverages.

 

 

Kamala Harris

Also, apparently ego driven and likely to appear more appealing to the majority of voters, Kamala Harris has made repeatedly telling both policy and personal lies part of her regular campaign speeches. After years of practice as a prosecutor, Harris is an effective communicator. However, as USA Today noted in September 2024, “when her communication skills fail, she’s deliberately being unclear or else lying.” She uses the same technique in her rare interviews to avoid answering questions. And she rambles through convolutely twisted explanations of plans with lots of descriptives (like “inspired” to “wholistic”) without any actual details.

 

Among others, Harris’ lies include:

• “Donald Trump doesn’t care about you.”
  • This is campaign rhetoric, at best. At worst, it’s an outright lie to encourage potential voters to believe Trump is a bad person. However, his consistent track record of protecting and uplifting families and workers proves the statement wrong.
• “I was raised as a middle-class child.”
  • This is a lie. While an obvious attempt to appear as if she can relate to the majority of American voters, Kamala Harris grew up in an extremely privileged household, the best neighborhoods, and exclusive private schools.
• Donald Trump “is a threat to democracy and freedom” in our country, when his actions and words clearly show his full devotion to both.
  • This is a lie to solidify voter support. Donald Trump has repeatedly called on Harris to stop claiming “your opponents will turn America into a dictatorship.” Harris ignores this and claims he will be a dictator on Day 1. Some sources note that Trump is an existential threat, but he is a threat to the “deep state,” not to democracy. Because he is not influenced by them, Trump is seen as a threat to those with power. Thus, they call him the threat to urge voters to fear and even hate him.
• “I am a capitalist” and believe in small business. Harris said this in September 2024.
  • This is an obvious fabrication for election purposes, as all of Harris’ previous stands have been socialistic and the opposite of free enterprise. This is most likely to appeal to independent voters. Nothing in Harris’ history reveals any policies nor practices in support of small businesses.
• A photo in her 2019 published memoir states Harris is “standing next to my Grandma Beryl.”
  • This is false. This grandmother passed away in Kingston, Jamaica, 4 years before Harris was even born.
• “I know the plight of the worker. I worked at McDonald’s. Trust me; I know.”
  • Harris tells this lie to appear relatable to voters. However, no records show Kamala Harris worked at any McDonald’s nor at any other hourly wage job. Years ago she had said that her first employment came after earning her post-graduate JD college degree, when she joined the Alameda County District Attorney’s office in 1990. Her then boyfriend William Brown, Speaker of the California State Assembly also got her appointed to several lucrative board positions.
• “My values have not changed.”
  • This is a lie, although Harris may wish to personally believe this statement. Her August-September 2024 campaign promises regarding the economy, fracking, defunding the police, gun control and confiscation, and more, show a very different picture.

 

• “I am going to bring down costs and bring down taxes for the middle class. We know how to do these things.”
  • This is speculation, at best. Since she has worked with Biden on these issues for the past 3½ years, the obvious question regards why she has not done these things to this point. If she knows how to “do these things,” then she should have been doing some of them long before starting to campaign to stay in power.
• “Donald Trump incited the January 6^th riots in our nation’s capital.”
  • This is a hotly debated topic even among fact checkers. He asked supporters to do their march and protest “peacefully and patriotically,” which is not “insurrection speak.” Before the peaceful protest began, Trump asked for 10,000 National Guard troops due to the sheer size of the massive crowd, but Nancy Pelosi turned him down.
  • President Trump and much of the nation did not believe the November election results were legitimate, and hundreds of voting precincts appeared to have had serious issues. However, armed with mountains of evidence, Donald Trump and his team were unable to get judges to look at the evidence in 60 different court cases. This was not due to lack of evidence as many media outlets continue repeating to this day, but because the evidence was presented too late. It had not been previously known that the window for challenging ballots and presenting evidence was as narrow as 3 days. Trump and millions of other people believed the 2020 election was rigged, and they wanted to delay Congress’ certification of the results so there would be time to appeal his case.
  • At the January 6, 2021 protest rally in Washington, there was no intent to prevent the certification of a legitimate president, but an illegitimate one. If Biden proved to be elected legitimately, Trump had no issue. But he wanted the certification stopped and told the tens of thousands in attendance to “fight like hell or you’re not going to have a country anymore.” He also said they should do so “peacefully and patriotically.” Trump was impeached for “inciting an insurrection,” but was acquitted. As of August 6, 2024, prosecutors have charged 160+ people with using a deadly or dangerous weapon (although the “weapons” were flags and not guns or knives or any other traditional weapons) or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. (Trump opponents say that 140 law enforcement officers were injured to some degree.)
• “Trump’s tariffs are dangerous and will be a national sales tax on everything.”
  • If she believes this, why did the Biden-Harris administration keep his tariffs and even increase some? Trump called China’s practices with us ‘trade cheating.’ A 2024 US government report now validates Trump’s tariffs.
• “Trump isn’t serious about trade. He doesn’t think about these things.”
  • Before serving in the US Senate, Harris had never dealt with trade issues. Donald Trump has for many years, and, as President, worked a number of good trade deals for the United States. While Harris advocates free trade verbally, Trump’s emphasis has always been for fair trade.

 

Harris has many of her own areas with exaggerations, misstatements, or areas where she appears to be deliberately unclear. For example, Harris now wants voters to believe she is a moderate whose values have always been clear and that have not changed. However, her record clearly and repeatedly shows she was the most ultra, left-wing liberal in the U.S. Senate.

 

It should also be noted that for years Kamala Harris and the entire Biden-Harris Administration regularly lied to the American public and their own party leaders about Joe Biden’s declining cognitive abilities.

 

Also, not until campaigning for President in 2024 did Harris refer to being “raised as a Black woman.” Despite being bi-racial with her mother being Indian and her father being Jamaican, though not African American, Harris had previously only referred regularly to her Indian heritage. According to MSNBC, social justice advocate and 5-time Grammy winner Janet Jackson calls Kamala Harris disappointing and opportunistic in suddenly calling herself Black. Jackson has now suffered great criticism for her statements. (There are those who believe free speech is only for those with whom they agree.)

 

When asked why she has not acted on any of her current proposed ideas during the past 3½ years, since she admits that she was involved in all aspects of running the country with Biden, Harris does not answer. She advocates her desire to “turn the page” and look to the future. Critics note this is because her past actions do not support her current promises for the future.

 

 

 

Now I will express my opinion.

Both candidates lie and have personal records strongly suggesting questionable character and personalities. Both are egomaniacs, because that is a basic commonality in anyone who believes they could run this country. So, voters do not need to “like” the candidate. However, I believe we have a duty to vote for the one who will serve this nation… this democratic republic… in the best possible way FOR the people and NOT to further control the people.

 

“Personality politics” reflects our voting for someone we like, which is impossible when two candidates are not likable. “Party politics” means we vote based on the candidate’s political party. Democrats want to vote for the Democrat. Republicans want to vote for the Republican. Independents will not vote by political party, although they may lean conservative or liberal in their voting habits. “Identity politics” means we vote based on factors such as race and gender. “Policy politics” means we vote on factors such as qualifications, skills, and proven track record.  To me, this is a year to skip “party politics,” because both parties drive me nuts. Further, I have never been an advocate of “identity politics,” because I find it to be shallow, sexist, and racist.

 

If we understand that “policy and track record” show which of the candidates has always been most supportive of the worker, the family, better housing and lifestyle, strong economy and global presence, peace through strength, energy independence, legal immigration, low inflation, and lower prices at the gas pump and store, better wages, and less taxes, then only one person should get our vote… even if we must hold our noses to cast that ballot.

 

However, if we think voting for President is better based on race or gender, and we want to vote for the first woman of color, it also means that we want someone whose consistent track record favors gun confiscation and bans, open borders, fracking bans, weak military presence, lack of energy and manufacturing independence, higher inflation and higher prices at the pump and food stores, restricted freedom of speech, lower employment for women and minorities, along with abortions and sex change operations for anyone (including children without knowledge or consent of their parents).

 

I believe we must be careful not to let “personality politics” influence our voting. If his abrasive personality puts you off, then vote for Donald Trump because he is clearly the best choice for President but claim in your social circles that you voted for Kamala Harris if you must. However, if you vote for Kamala Harris, please do not ever again claim that you favor democracy, freedom, independence, a better lifestyle, or the light of hope that America has cast for decades. Please embrace that a vote for Harris is a vote for communism, suppression of free speech, and government control of the masses.

 

 

“I think it’s ironic that the same people telling the poor that rich people are screwing you over are the very people who are screwing them over.”

— Vivek Ramaswamy (1985 – )
American entrepreneur and former 2024 Republican candidate for US President

After Helene tried to drown out western NC in the wee hours of September 27, we are grateful to say, “The lights are back on, and we love having power and water again.”

 

 

Yesterday afternoon, as trucks started rolling into our pasture and along the road by our driveway, we cheered and applauded and expressed our thanks to the tireless workers from several states, who all responded with broad smiles.

 

 

 

They were unloading their gear and beginning repairs on yet another stretch of downed and tree-covered power lines.

 

 

 

 

NC Air National Guard has been amazing. Forestry, first responders, TIEC, and several local agencies, too. Choppers continue their flights, searching, rescuing, and recovering. We went from 400 to 650 roads and highways closed in the last days of September.

 

 

 

 

Entire towns washed away. The damage in the two towns abutting us to the north (Lake Lure and Chimney Rock) is beyond horrific.

 

 

 

We are very blessed. (FEMA was not ready for prime time in North Carolina… missed multiple basic steps like getting names and headcounts in stranded neighborhoods or contact info or addresses to which folks were going to evacuate. Communication 101 and some training are needed.)

 

In times like this, we learn the depths of generosity and kindness. Our confidence in the goodness of the human spirit is restored, as so many worked hard to help others, even when their homes remained without power and water.

Special thanks to friends David Weisgerber & Angie Vidibor for their pictures of Day 1 from Chimney Rock… and to Bill and Angie Leffort for letting us shower and gather water and then lending us their generator when their power returned so we could rev up the fridge and freezer, helping us to feed folks. And yes, now that Milton swept across Florida, Mom is safe, though without power and water.

Here’s my bottom line. In times of trouble and challenges, faith and the 5 C’s will get us through:
Calmness
Compassion
Competency
Cooperation
&
Creativity
My most humble and heartfelt thanks to everyone.

 

On this, the International Day of Peace, let us all pray and work together… just as if we were civilized.

September 8^th is National Iguana Awareness Day, and these lizards need a little respect. Highly adaptable, they adapt well to environments ranging from rocky streambeds to sandy deserts.

 

 

 

They can blend with their surroundings and change colors to absorb more sunlight when temperatures get chilly. However, they are among the most frequently abandoned pets. Too often, people don’t learn what their care will involve. Vet costs alone can be hundreds of dollars per year, and while they live about 20 years, they can grow to be 6 feet long.

 

 

While Sir Ronald is neither lizard nor well-suited to live in the desert, he has grown to more than 6 feet tall! So, silly, but I also wish him the happiest anniversary today, our 23^rd wedding anniversary. Love you, Babe!