Eating pets, inflation, abortion - key debate claims fact-checked

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris went caput to caput successful their archetypal televised statement successful the US predetermination campaign.

In 90 minutes of often fiery exchanges, the Republican and Democratic statesmanlike candidates traded claims implicit cardinal predetermination issues including the economy, migration and abortion.

BBC Verify has been examining them.

CLAIM: Trump: “In Springfield, they’re [immigrants] eating the dogs, the radical that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of radical that unrecorded there”.

VERDICT: There is nary grounds that this is happening.

Trump's remark followed a baseless assertion - which was shared by his vice-presidential campaigner JD Vance - that immigrants from Haiti who person precocious settled successful Springfield, Ohio, person been eating pets.

Springfield metropolis officials told BBC Verify: “There person been nary credible reports oregon circumstantial claims of pets being harmed, injured oregon abused by individuals wrong the migrant community.”

You tin work more here.

CLAIM: Harris: “Donald Trump near america the worst unemployment since the Great Depression”.

VERDICT: This is false.

At the extremity of Trump’s word of bureau successful January 2021, the unemployment complaint was 6.4%.

But it has been higher since the Great Depression.

In October 2009, unemployment peaked astatine 10% successful a play of heavy economical recession.

It has fallen steadily since, isolated from a crisp highest during the Covid pandemic, and successful the astir caller information for August 2024, unemployment stood astatine 4.2%.

CLAIM: Trump: “We person millions of radical pouring into our state from prisons and jails, from intelligence institutions and insane asylums”.

VERDICT: There is nary grounds for these benignant of numbers.

There person been astir 10 cardinal encounters with migrants crossing implicit the US borderline since January 2021.

There are nary publically disposable figures connected however galore of them person served clip successful situation oregon travel from intelligence institutions but determination is immoderate information connected however galore person erstwhile transgression convictions.

Of the 1.4 cardinal apprehensions of radical crossing the borderline illegally truthful acold this fiscal twelvemonth (to September 2024) - and wherever the Border Patrol was capable to cheque against instrumentality enforcement databases - about 14,700 radical had erstwhile transgression convictions.

That's equivalent to astir 1% of each borderline apprehensions successful this play and doesn’t magnitude to the “millions” Trump is claiming.

CLAIM: Harris: "If Donald Trump were to beryllium re-elected, helium volition motion a nationalist termination ban".

VERDICT: This is misleading. Trump has denied that helium would motion a nationalist prohibition if elected president.

He has said that helium would permission limits connected termination entree up to idiosyncratic states to decide.

Here, Harris besides talked astir "his Project 2025" - a notation to a papers published by the right-wing Heritage Foundation outlining a database of argumentation proposals that they judge a Trump presidency should implement.

It doesn’t suggest a nationalist prohibition either, but it does urge limiting termination access.

Trump has distanced himself from the document, saying: “I cognize thing astir Project 2025. I person nary thought who is down it.”

Many erstwhile Trump medication officials are associated with Project 2025.

CLAIM: Trump: “The worst ostentation we've ever had" [was nether Biden].

VERDICT: This is false.

Under President Biden, ostentation peaked astatine 9.1% successful June 2022, astatine a clip erstwhile prices were rising sharply successful galore countries.

Inflation was past supra 9% successful 1981, but it has been importantly higher than that astatine respective different points successful US history.

Since its highest successful mid-2022, ostentation has dropped to 3.3%, for the twelvemonth to May 2024. But prices are inactive rising and it is simply a cardinal contented for galore voters.

CLAIM: Harris: "Economists person said that that Trump income taxation would really effect for mediate people families successful astir $4,000 much a year".

VERDICT: Harris calls Trump's projected taxation connected imports a income tax. Some economists person estimated that these tariffs could outgo families this much. Others person little estimates.

Trump insists the outgo would beryllium felt by overseas countries but economists judge determination would beryllium an economical outgo for US importers and consumers.

The $4,000 fig comes from analysis - by the left-of-centre deliberation vessel the Centre for American Progress - of Trump’s pledge to summation tariffs connected each imported goods to 10-20% and each goods imported from China to 60%.

They took the magnitude the US buys successful goods from overseas annually, figured retired however overmuch the caller taxes connected these goods would beryllium and divided this by the fig of households successful the US.

It works retired astatine $4,600 per household, but erstwhile you look astatine “middle income” families you get a fig of $3,900 a year.

Other estimates are lower. The Peterson Institute thinks the interaction would beryllium person to $1,700 a twelvemonth (for tariffs astatine 10%) oregon $2,500 (at 20%).

CLAIM: Trump: “Crime successful Venezuela… is mode down due to the fact that they person taken their criminals disconnected the streets and fixed them to her [Harris] to enactment into our country”.

VERDICT: There is nary grounds that Venezuela is doing this. Crime levels are down but experts accidental this is due to the fact that of the authorities of the economy.

The Venezuelan authorities does not people reliable transgression figures, but the autarkic Venezuelan Observatory of Violence does.

The Observatory’s 2023 annual report said that convulsive deaths that twelvemonth - specified arsenic homicides - were down by a 4th compared to 2022.

The Observatory told BBC Verify: "Crime is reduced successful Venezuela by a simplification successful transgression opportunities: slope robberies vanish due to the fact that determination is nary wealth to steal; kidnappings are reduced due to the fact that determination is nary currency to wage ransoms.”

It said it had seen nary grounds that the Venezuelan authorities was sending criminals to the US.

Reporting by Lucy Gilder, Merlyn Thomas, Daniele Palumbo, Gerry Georgieva & Kayleen Devlin.