News
  • Login
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Worklife
  • Travel
  • Reel
  • Future
  • More
Sunday, April 26, 2026
No Result
View All Result

NEWS

3 °c
London
8 ° Wed
9 ° Thu
11 ° Fri
13 ° Sat
  • Home
  • Video
  • World
    • All
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East
    • US & Canada

    Aboriginal children's book pulled over illustrator's Bondi attack comments

    Explosions and gunfire as armed groups launch co-ordinated attacks across Mali

    Who is the anti-colonial activist grabbing attention in West Africa?

    Everest flood warning neglected for years, Nepal officials tell BBC

    BBC visits Chernobyl ghost city 40 years after world’s worst nuclear accident

    Mexico says US agents killed in crash weren’t permitted to operate there

    Trump cancels US envoys' trip to Pakistan for talks on Iran war

    Trump said RFK Jr could run ‘wild’ with health policy. Instead he’s reined him in

    Woman trapped in poo for three hours after outback toilet collapses

  • UK
    • All
    • England
    • N. Ireland
    • Politics
    • Scotland
    • Wales

    Why the voice note craze is yet to truly explode in Britain

    'I know what I saw' – Scotland's history of big cat sightings

    Coventry v Wrexham: Don Hyam hails Coventry City’s rise but wants same for Wrexham

    Padel making a racquet across NI

    Starmer insists 'majority' of Labour MPs back his leadership

    Woman and child die after getting into difficulty in water

    The Papers: 'Falklands tell Trump to back off' and 'Harry does a Diana'

    Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins renew their rivalry at the 2026 World Snooker Championship

    'Very funny' naked statue of Monty Python's Terry Jones to be unveiled

  • Business
    • All
    • Companies
    • Connected World
    • Economy
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Global Trade
    • Technology of Business

    England shirt overpriced, says £40k kits collector

    McDonald's boss on abuse claims: 'I don't want to talk about the past'

    UK borrowing lowest for three years but Iran war clouds outlook

    Island's inflation rate is 2.7%, new figures show

    China car giant BYD says it can thrive without US

    US justice department drops probe into Fed chairman Jerome Powell

    US soldier charged after winning $400,000 betting on removal of Maduro

    Asbestos toy warnings

    Stock markets are too high and set to fall, says Bank of England deputy

  • Tech
  • Entertainment & Arts

    Dancers say Lizzo ‘needs to be held accountable’ over harassment claims

    Freddie Mercury: Contents of former home being sold at auction

    Harry Potter and the Cursed Child marks seven years in West End

    Sinéad O’Connor: In her own words

    Tom Jones: Neighbour surprised to find singer in flat below

    BBC presenter: What is the evidence?

    Watch: The latest on BBC presenter story… in under a minute

    Watch: George Alagiah’s extraordinary career

    BBC News presenter pays tribute to ‘much loved’ colleague George Alagiah

    Excited filmgoers: 'Barbie is everything'

  • Science
  • Health
  • In Pictures
  • Reality Check
  • Have your say
  • More
    • Newsbeat
    • Long Reads

NEWS

No Result
View All Result
Home Reality Check

Fact-checking six of Kamala Harris’s campaign claims

August 21, 2024
in Reality Check
12 min read
250 3
0
492
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Getty Images Harris at a rally in Arizona Getty Images

Kamala Harris has been holding rallies across the US as she campaigns against Donald Trump, and will appear in Milwaukee on Tuesday ahead of her headline speech at the Democratic National Convention later in the week.

She has made a series of claims contrasting their records on the economy, healthcare, abortion and immigration.

BBC Verify has been examining them.

Is Trump planning to cut Social Security and Medicare?

CLAIM: “Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.”

VERDICT: This is misleading. In this campaign, Trump has said repeatedly he would not do this, although he has suggested he would in the past.

Social Security provides a source of income when you retire or if you cannot work due to a disability.

Medicare is a US government programme which provides healthcare coverage for millions of Americans who are retired or disabled.

“I will not cut 1 cent from Social Security or Medicare,” Trump said at a rally on 5 August.

And in his 20 point policy platform, one of the pledges is: “Fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts.”

However, during his time as president Trump proposed several budgets which would have cut elements of Medicare, such as eliminating the programme advising recipients how to sign up for benefits. None of these budget proposals was enacted.

He also has made comments about cutting Social Security in the past.

In an interview in March this year, on entitlement programs such as Social Security Trump said: “There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.”

However, he later clarified the comments, saying: “I will never do anything that will hurt or jeopardise Social Security or Medicare.”

Is inflation down?

CLAIM: “Inflation is down under 3%.”

VERDICT: That figure is correct but some context is needed here.

Inflation, which is the increase in the price of something over time, is down from a peak of 9.1% under the Biden administration and it is higher than when Mr Trump left office.

US inflation

When President Biden took office in January 2021, inflation was 1.4% but it rose significantly during the first two years of his administration.

This trend is comparable with many Western countries which saw high inflation in 2021 and 2022, as global supply chain issues as a consequence of Covid and the war in Ukraine contributed to rising prices.

While the Biden administration had limited control over these external factors, some economists say that their 2021 American Rescue Plan, worth $1.9tn (£1.5tn), also contributed to rising prices.

How many jobs has the Biden administration created?

CLAIM: “We have created 16 million new jobs.”

VERDICT: That is roughly correct. 15.8 million jobs have been added under the Biden administration, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, when the Biden government entered the White House in January 2021, the US was recovering from the Covid pandemic, which crippled the economy and during which more than 20 million jobs were lost.

US jobs

“Many of the jobs would have come back if Trump had won in 2020 – but the American Rescue Plan played a major role in the speed and aggressiveness of the labour market recovery,” says Professor Mark Strain, an economist at Georgetown University.

Since President Biden came into office, job growth has been strong, surpassing the pre-pandemic levels seen under Trump.

However, weaker than expected job growth in July led to fears of a sudden downturn in the US economy and stock markets were hit as a result, but they have since stabilised.

Did Trump drive the US economy into the ground?

CLAIM: “He froze in the face of the COVID crisis. He drove our economy into the ground.”

VERDICT: The US economy did take a big hit during the pandemic, like most countries, but it also bounced back under Trump.

US economic growth

You can see from the graph above that there was a dramatic collapse in economic growth in the US during the Covid pandemic.

However following the pandemic, the US economy bounced back under Trump.

He implemented a series of measures to help it recover, including financial assistance for small businesses.

During Trump’s four years in office (Jan 2017- Jan 2021), the average annual growth rate of the US economy was 2.3%.

Under the Biden administration, this figure has been 2.2% – so almost the same.

Did Trump tank the immigration deal?

CLAIM: “We had a chance to pass the toughest bipartisan border security bill in decades but Donald Trump tanked the deal.”

VERDICT: Trump was publicly against the Biden administration’s immigration bill, but voting on it was up to Congress.

The immigration bill aimed to tighten asylum standards, increase spending on Border Patrol, and allow for the automatic closure of the southern border to illegal crossings if a certain daily threshold was reached.

It failed to pass a vote in February with the majority of lawmakers in the US Senate opposing it.

Trump did not have a vote as he was not an elected official at the time, but he did call for his Republican allies to oppose it.

Getty Images US-Mexico borderGetty Images

Illegal immigration into the US across the southern border is a key issue in the presidential campaign

Trump also took credit when the bill failed, saying it was “horrendous” as he thought it was not tough enough on immigration.

At a Fox News event in February 2024, he said he was against the deal as passing it would have “made it much better for the opposing side”.

The bill was blocked in the Senate for a second time in May.

Did Trump ban abortions?

CLAIM: “In more than 20 states, there is a Trump abortion ban, many with no exceptions, even for rape and incest… be sure if he were to win, he would sign a national abortion ban”

VERDICT: Bans were enacted by states after Trump left office but, as president, he appointed three justices to the Supreme Court who voted to overturn Roe v Wade. Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban.

Roe v. Wade protected the federal Constitutional right to abortion for nearly 50 years until it was overturned in June 2022.

As a result, 22 states currently ban abortion or restrict the procedure to earlier in pregnancy than was set by Roe v. Wade. In 14 of those states, abortion is banned in almost all circumstances with 10 not even making an exception for rape or incest.

During his campaign, he has declined to back a national abortion ban and said he believes the issue should be left to individual states.

Additional reporting by Gerry Georgieva.

BBC Verify logo



Source link

Tags: campaignclaimsFactcheckingHarrissKamala

Related Posts

Couple discovers Lebanon home destroyed by Israel from satellite image

April 26, 2026
0

Joe Elias contacted BBC Verify following reports that his village was among several destroyed by Israeli forces. Source...

What does the data tell us about immigration in Wales? Search for your area

April 25, 2026
0

The population of Wales grew by about 23,000 as a result of net international migration in the year to...

What we know about the Iranian ship seized by the US

April 22, 2026
0

The US has intercepted an Iranian ship entering the Gulf as part of its naval blockade, US President Donald...

  • Australia helicopter collision: Mid-air clash wreckage covers Gold Coast

    523 shares
    Share 209 Tweet 131
  • UK inflation: Supermarkets say price rises will ease soon

    515 shares
    Share 206 Tweet 129
  • Ballyjamesduff: Man dies after hit-and-run in County Cavan

    510 shares
    Share 204 Tweet 128
  • Somalia: Rare access to its US-funded 'lightning commando brigade

    508 shares
    Share 203 Tweet 127
  • Google faces new multi-billion advertising lawsuit

    508 shares
    Share 203 Tweet 127
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Australia helicopter collision: Mid-air clash wreckage covers Gold Coast

January 10, 2023

UK inflation: Supermarkets say price rises will ease soon

April 19, 2023

Ballyjamesduff: Man dies after hit-and-run in County Cavan

August 19, 2022

Stranger Things actor Jamie Campbell Bower praised for addiction post

0

NHS to close Tavistock child gender identity clinic

0

Cold sores traced back to kissing in Bronze Age by Cambridge research

0

A 17th Century 'supercomputer' once owned by Indian royalty heads for auction

April 26, 2026

Why the voice note craze is yet to truly explode in Britain

April 26, 2026

The Drama star Jordyn Curet says playing young Zendaya is 'dream come true'

April 26, 2026

Categories

Science

A 17th Century 'supercomputer' once owned by Indian royalty heads for auction

April 26, 2026
0

The astrolabe - or astronomical computer - is possibly the largest in existence and has never been exhibited before....

Read more

Why the voice note craze is yet to truly explode in Britain

April 26, 2026
News

Copyright © 2020 JBC News Powered by JOOJ.us

Explore the JBC

  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Worklife
  • Travel
  • Reel
  • Future
  • More

Follow Us

  • Home Main
  • Video
  • World
  • Top News
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Tech
  • UK
  • In Pictures
  • Health
  • Reality Check
  • Science
  • Entertainment & Arts
  • Login

Copyright © 2020 JBC News Powered by JOOJ.us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
News
More Sites

    MORE

  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Worklife
  • Travel
  • Reel
  • Future
  • More
  • News

    JBC News