The best laid plans
Things couldn't be worse for those who so carefully planned to interfere in the 2024 election. First, they used lawfare to critically wound the former President they hate. It failed to fool the American public and has only garnered more support for Trump despite having the "convicted felon " tag placed on his back. And I'll say it again that conviction will be overturned.
Then we had the Supreme Court weigh in on Presidential immunity. It turns out that all Presidents have limited immunity. For those who went to college and became indoctrinated it means that a President can't be later convicted for an official act. That even applies to Donald Trump.
Finally, there is the matter of the media outright lying to us about the condition of Joe Biden going all the way back to 2020 when they used the pandemic as an excuse to hide him in the cellar. Way back then, the woman who just might be the nation's single best reporter, Miranda Devine told us in a New York Post story, that there was something wrong with candidate Biden. At the time she was covering the Biden campaign and immediately noticed that in even the briefest of interviews, Biden required a teleprompter and answered few questions.
Right about now the democrats figured that Trump would be bleeding out supporters & donors with the fraudulent " convicted felon " charge and that they could once again make it all about "Trump." Instead, Donald Trump made one of the greatest Poker calls in political history: he accepted a debate with Joe Biden under all the conditions that Biden wanted. This time we fully heard, without interruption, Biden speak without the teleprompters, and it was devastating. The people who listen to left wing media were astonished to learn they were lied to, and down ballot democrats are petrified that they will lose. Now the Biden campaign is fully committed to proving that Joe is mentally capable of being president. It is now all about Biden.
This piece from the New York Times says it all:
From the outset of President Biden's re-election campaign, the plan for winning was to make former President Donald J. Trump so unpalatable that voters uneasy with the incumbent would vote for him anyway.
But now Mr. Biden is stuck in a political tailspin, with an abysmal debate performance highlighting his inability to make a case against Mr. Trump and prompting a collective national hand-wringing about his ability to do his job while an increasing number of House Democrats say he should leave the race. To get voters to focus on the threats posed by a second Trump administration, Mr. Biden's own allies say he first must escape his current doom loop and convince voters — even and especially fellow Democrats — that he is up to the job himself.
"The focus has to shift back to Trump and what rights we lose if he's president," said Representative Eric Swalwell of California, who ran against Mr. Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. "The last three elections have shown us if you're the focus, you lose."
Indeed, the Biden campaign has long sought to make Mr. Trump its focus.
That's why Mr. Biden kicked off this year with a blistering speech about Mr. Trump's attempt to overthrow the last election, why his allies spent millions to block the No Labels effort and why the president has tried to highlight the anniversaries of news regarding abortion rights.
And it is why Mr. Biden's top aides thought it was a good idea to move the first debate from September to June — to give voters the one-on-one look at Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump that the president's team thought would recalibrate the race, lift Mr. Biden's sagging poll numbers and remind voters what would change if Mr. Trump takes office again in January.
A pre-debate memo from Jen O'Malley Dillon, Mr. Biden's campaign chair, mentioned Mr. Trump 18 times and Mr. Biden just five. Of Mr. Trump's record, Ms. O'Malley Dillon wrote that the president "will hold Donald Trump accountable for all of it on the debate stage — and he's raring to go."
Biden’s Strategy to Make the Race About Trump Is Suddenly in Doubt - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Today's news:
Israelis held nationwide anti-government protests calling for a cease-fire and the return of hostages.
In Japan, the yen is plunging, as is the defense budget.
Boeing will plead guilty to a felony charge over two fatal crashes of 737 Max jets.
A half-dozen top House Democrats told colleagues in a private call that it was time for Biden to end his campaign, and discussed how to use their collective influence to convince him.
Biden is starting a crucial week. He has a NATO summit in Washington and his team has promised that he will hold a solo news conference, his first in Washington since November 2022.
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Good morning.
The scene from Galveston Texas:
Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News, via Associated Press
Hurricane Beryl made landfall in the Great state of Texas as a category 1 storm.
Oh well, it is what it is.
Last week, Beryl carved a path of destruction across the Caribbean − leaving at least 11 people dead and destroying or severely damaging infrastructure on several islands. Beryl, which at one point strengthened into the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, last made landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday morning.
Beryl roars through Texas; at least 2 dead, millions without power: Live updates (msn.com)
Ok, so be it.
Texas is on it's own power grid, if the power is out, look to Texas' leadership.
Call trump, maybe he can come down to hand out paper towels and soak up all the water.
Yeah, sounds like Texas is screwed with Abbott's lack of leadership.
The question of the day : What will democrats do now that just about every scheme to destroy Trump has failed?
Perhaps we might see the last step from the state of Washington:
The state of Washington has effectively abolished its long-standing residency requirement for voter registration.
The decision, led by Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (D) and Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D), is another attempt by Democrats to cheat on the presidential election.
The Center Square reports that through agency rulemaking, Hobbs’ office has removed a provision that has been a part of Washington’s electoral framework since the state’s original 1889 Constitution.
This move follows a consent decree earlier this year, settling a 2023 lawsuit that claimed the residency requirement violated federal law, due to a 2018 state law.
Article VI, Section 1 of the Washington Constitution mandated that a person must be a resident of the state for 30 days before the election to register to vote.
However, the Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans filed a lawsuit in November 2023, arguing that this requirement was in violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970, which prohibits residency requirements for federal elections.
The lawsuit claimed that this “pre-election durational residency requirement” — which voters must attest to satisfying on voter registration forms — “is longer than the registration deadline and…therefore prevents voters who could otherwise lawfully register and cast ballots from doing so just because they moved into the state, county or precinct too recently.”
The plaintiff contends that Washington’s durational residency requirement disenfranchises voters who move to the state or within the state (to a new county or precinct) fewer than 30 days before Election Day.
As a result, these individuals are barred from voting in the upcoming election and cannot elect state or local officials who would represent their current residence. This regulation is crucial for maintaining the fairness of our elections and preventing voter fraud.
In response, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 6021 in 2018 , allowing voters to register as late as 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The Fix is In: Washington State Abolishes Residency Requirement for Voter Registration | Lou Dobbs
On what basis?
To the demented right, everything the Democrats do is an attempt to steal some election or other.
Meanwhile we know of an attempt to steal an election. It is known as the Eastman memo and was approved by President Trump. An illegal plan to subvert the election that Trump was still trying to put in motion on Jan 6th when he should have been making phone calls to end the riot. Instead he was making phone calls to congressional allies to try and stop the vote count.
BTW, Lou Dobbs is an idiot.
Clearly to opening the door to nonresident voting.
To the demented right, everything the Democrats do is an attempt to steal some election or other.
Based on the facts of what they have done.
Instead he was making phone calls to congressional allies to try and stop the vote count.
Can you assure us that democrats won't try that should he win?
Well, that solves it.
Does that mean the state of Washington didn't just approve non-resident voting?
And btw there is this:
House Democrats launched a united effort to vote against a Republican-backed election bill that would require voters provide proof of citizenship to cast ballots in federal elections.
Republicans are pushing the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, otherwise known as the SAVE Act, which would amend the National Voter Registration Act, and require states to obtain proof of citizenship from voters for federal elections, as well as purge noncitizens from voter rolls.
House Dems launch united effort against election bill requiring voters prove citizenship (msn.com)
I dont understand what your objection is to that. It must be just because Democrats proposed it.
Where is your link?
As far as what the state of Washington is trying to do:
There are a few reasons. We could have people temporarily moving into states just to vote there in the 2024 election. There is also the problem of people voting in two different states because of this 30-day window.
It’s impossible to object to that bill, unless you want illegal aliens voting.
On what basis are Democrats overturning a long standing residency law?
Coming from the demented left that screamed Georgia's new election law was "too restrictive" and would disenfranchise voters that is a laugh. Only took 1 election to disprove their pearl clenching.
Just one? You are leaving out Gore, Kerry, Hillary, Obama, Biden, and a host of other Democrats at state levels.
Trump is not in charge of DC security. At that time it fell to Bowser, and Pelosi & McConnel (through their respective Sergeants at Arms). In case you forgot Trump offered 10,000 National Guard troops for security- he was rejected by both Bowser and Pelosi.
Disproven as above. Trump's administration was handling- as per suppressed testimony from the Jan 6th committee.
Do you seriously believe that people voting in two states effect election results?
And anyway, most of the instances I have heard of that were republicans.
You notice that none of them are commenting on it.
total nonsense
DURING THE RIOT, what did Trump do to end it? I doubt if you know , because he has yet to answer the question, even when it is posed to him directly. Jake tapper asked him at the debate and Trump answered by babbling about the border. Pure consciouness of guilt.
Anything effecting voting in certain states could be decisive in a close election.
And anyway, most of the instances I have heard of that were republicans.
Really? Here in Boston, we have a lot of students voting. Do they vote if they go back home as well?
I'm not interested in which party you think benefits. I want secure elections.
This is why Trump did not answer Tapper's question.
Not that many people vote in two states. The idea that such would be an organized plan involving thousands of people is ludicrous
Prove Trump is in charge of DC security.
Go ahead we can all wait. I already proved who is.
Again, Trump isn't in charge of DC security. [No value]
[✘] You can't seem to blame those responsible. Bowser, Pelosi, and McConnell. Their stupidity lead to the Jan 6th riot.
Also, Pence was a part of the Trump administration at the time. I said the Trump administration was acting; and it was!
You don't know what Trump did either; [✘] and what Democrats have done to this country for the last 8 years and counting.
Republicans suck; but Democrats have taken sucking to a whole new damn level.
Those are the facts. And the president has the authority to call out National Guard to defend the Capitol building.
Since I watched the J6 hearings, I do know what he did not do.
What a pathetic comment.
There is no record of former President Donald Trump authorizing or requesting thousands of National Guard troops for the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Several Trump administration officials who have testified before the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 said they never heard Trump request National Guard support before or during the attack.
Congressional Democrats did not deny a request for troops. The D.C. National Guard reports only to the president. If such a request had been made, they would not have had the authority to deny it.
PolitiFact | No proof Trump asked for troops on Jan. 6 or that Democrats denied a request
[✘]
No such thing as non-resident voting in elections.
That is the fact they can't overcome. The very fact which they always try to muddy up.
Complete lie.
He was in charge of security of the entire fucking country and pretty sure DC is part of the country!
Are you aware of differing levels of government and responsibility?
Are you aware that anyone in charge is ultimately responsible for what happens under his/her command?
Careful, don't paint yourself into a corner...
Yes, I have 48 years in the Army. Do you have a point.
Already made it, sorry you missed it.
Which is already illegal.
There are multiple instances of new laws being passed even when old ones are still on the books.
You got that right.
So how many places will they be able to vote?
[deleted][✘]
It seems to be powerful stuff.
Projection sure is. The complete opposite of truth/reality.
Lies.
There is only one problem with this, the person you are talking to has to cognizant enough to understand, they should have a meeting with Jill about ending this elder abuse.
Very good. It is Jill and his sister who are pushing him on.
God speed to them.
Per the New York Times, hunter and Jill are calling the shots
That is frightening, but not as scary as whoever it was that opened the southern border.
Lol.
I'll take the secure border, the prosperity, safe streets and enemies who fear having Trump's finger on the button.
Did you hear Wesley Hunts story about trumps meeting with the Taliban leader?
We have record numbers of people traveling for fun. There is prosperity NOW.
The lower class never prospers and did not prosper under Trump.
As for safe streets , the president has no role in that.
The worlds dictators are cheering for Trump to win, so they hardly fear him.
I'm very familiar with it.
That highlights the difference between Trump and Biden.
Where do you live?
It is interesting that you didnt dispute that.
Do I have to dispute obvious propaganda?
what do you want, my address ?
I live on the southwest side of Chicago.
LOL.
Will people ever learn that propaganda is no substitute for rational arguments?
It is the last resort for those who have no facts to back up what they believe. They just chant the same stuff over & over again and hope it will stick.
I agree. When will we see some?
Then it must be an amazing place if there is so much prosperity, vacation time and immunity from the past three horrendous years.
I have never seen anyone as blind to Trump's mountainous personal flaws as you. You know literally nothing about Jan 6th because you hide from the truth. You think Trump is a persecuted victim rather than the con man, liar, crook, and sexual assaulter that he is.
Some things are beyond fixing.
I wasnt speaking about Chicago. Dont you follow the news ?
You tell me. Two weeks ago, you said that stories about Biden's decline were examples of misinformation and disinformation that should be censored.
My aim is to fix the deep state.
But you just said you live there and in your world everything is great.
i said i live in chicago because you asked me where i live. no other reason
And you were asked that question because you were describing a fantasy world.
Do you seriously dispute that Trump lies, constantly expresses personal grievance, is a full blown narcissist, and spews hate?
Trump recently gave his approval to a social media post that called for a televised military tribunal putting Liz Cheney on trial for treason. Does that sound like the act of a rational, stable man ?
Let me LOL you again. I cant think of anything else.
And 2 weeks from now they will return to Russian propaganda and right wing disinformation. And Biden will still be mentally challenged like I’ve been saying for months.
I do!
Trump recently gave his approval to a social media post that called for a televised military tribunal putting Liz Cheney on trial for treason.
He reposted an image. When will you ever stop?
Unfortunately, I think they are now only left to trying to do something to the electoral process.
You calling Trump a crook is hardly worthy of me calling Biden mentally impaired. I would be on solid ground, but the real focus should be on their performance as Presidents. When you are ready to defend an open border and needless inflation, let me know.
.
Your definition of prosperity sucks! If things are so great why has personal debt never been higher? Why are more people in debt than ever before?
So why the fuck should the lower class vote for Democrats? Since they "never prosper". They are carrying far more debt under Biden; so that is a great reason to vote against him!
Talk is cheap, prove it!
We all know who China is rooting for this election. Same with Iran, Houthi, Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS/ISIL, Taliban, Ukraine etc; and it sure as hell isn't Trump!
When you "retweet" something on social media, you are showing agreement with it. That is how it works.
"He reposted an image"
So true!
You are showing you liked it which is far different than adopting a policy based on it.
Will you ever stop?
no such thing
Then who violated Carter Page's civil rights?
Wonderful, I'll look forward to your posts reflecting that.
Plenty here to read if one so chooses.
There is no deep state. It is a fiction created by people who wish to destroy the government. It is one step away from the Star Chamber. ...but I see that it is continuing to work on some.
I wish that people could bitch about something real for a change.
There is no deep state
of course there is, it’s the class of professional bureaucrats who run the administrative agencies. It’s amazing how quickly the democrats ditched the memory of “the resistance” they were so proud of during trumps presidency. Once they realized how it was incompatible with their conversion to “defenders of democracy” they pretended it never happened.
It is one step away from the Star Chamber
which was absolutely real.
maybe they think it's a really deep state...
No.
That is called bureaucracy. Every government has it, almost by definition.
Yes, in the 15th century. Currently, not so much.
Oh, I see.
Thank you for another substantive discussion. / S
Biden is as big a liar as trump.
its what make this whole line of attack on trump so ridiculous. Biden came to national prominence because he was such a prolific liar.
Miranda Divine said he was the biggest liar to ever hold the office.
lol.
Trump lied 6 times as much as Biden in the debate.
It is fun to watch people who say they dont care for Trump defend him though.
Almost as fun as it is to watch those like yourself defend Biden.
most people have never heard of Miranda Divine
Who?
When I saw Divine, I immediately thought of John Waters, a Baltimore icon/filmmaker known for Serial Mom among his movies and Divine is one of his stars.
PROVE IT
Your point?
here is a taste for you
www.politifact.com /article/2024/jun/28/2024-presidential-debate-fact-check-biden-trump/
2024 presidential debate: Fact-checks of Biden and Trump
PolitiFact Staff 27-34 minutes
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, shared a debate stage June 27 for the first time since 2020, in a feisty confrontation that — thanks to debate rules — managed to avoid the near-constant interruptions that marred their previous meetings.
Biden, who spoke in a raspy voice at the debate’s start, struggled at times, at one point saying that his administration "finally beat Medicare." After the debate, during a stop at a Waffle House, Biden told reporters he had a sore throat, according to the pool report.
Trump, meanwhile, repeated numerous falsehoods, including that Democrats want doctors to be able to abort babies after birth.
Trump attacked Biden’s record, blaming inflation and other issues on Biden’s "insane and stupid policies." Biden questioned Trump’s conduct, noting that Trump is a convicted felon and saying he has the "morals of an alley cat."
CNN hosted the debate, which had no audience, at its Atlanta studio. CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderated. The debate format allowed CNN to mute candidates’ microphones when it wasn’t their turn to speak.
Biden and Trump clashed on the economy, immigration and abortion, and revisited discussion of their ages. Biden is 81; Trump is 78.
Read by topic:
Immigration
Abortion
Inflation and economy
Jobs
Trump legal cases
Social Security, Medicare and taxes
Checking the record on Hitler comment and Charlottesville
Crime
Health care
Foreign policy and terrorism
Election denial and Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol
Worst president rankings
The golf moment
Immigration
Trump: Biden "allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails and mental institutions."
Pants on Fire! Immigration officials arrested about 103,700 noncitizens with criminal convictions (whether in the U.S. or abroad) from fiscal years 2021 to 2024, federal data shows. That accounts for people stopped at and between ports of entry.
Not everyone was let in. The term "noncitizens" includes people who may have had legal immigration status in the U.S. but were not U.S. citizens.
The data reflects the people that the federal government knows about, but it’s inexhaustive. However, immigration experts said despite the data’s limitations, there is no evidence to support Trump’s statement.
Biden: "I've changed (the law) in the way that now you're in a situation where there are 40% fewer people coming across the border illegally."
Mostly True . The Department of Homeland Security announced that illegal immigration encounters dropped by 40%, to fewer than 2,400 each day , in the weeks after Biden announced a policy largely barring asylum access for people entering the U.S. at the southern border. The policy was announced June 4.
But immigration experts caution that it’s difficult to pinpoint a single reason for any change in border crossings. For example, other factors, such as hot weather , can affect migration patterns.
Since the policy was announced only a few weeks ago, it’s unclear whether the drop in illegal immigration will continue .
Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told PolitiFact the policy could have a short-term deterrent effect. But Adam Isacson, defense oversight director at the Washington Office on Latin America, a research group, told PolitiFact, that no crackdown in the past decade has had a lasting impact.
Trump: "We had the safest border in the history of our country."
Mostly False . Illegal immigration between ports of entry at the U.S. southern border dropped in 2017, Trump’s first year in office, compared with previous years. Apprehensions then rose, and dropped again in 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, immigration dropped drastically worldwide as governments enacted policies limiting people’s movement.
In the months before Trump left office, illegal immigration was rising again. A spike in migrants , especially unaccompanied minors , started in the spring 2020 during the Trump administration and generally continued to climb each month.
Illegal immigration during Trump’s administration was higher than under both of former President Barack Obama’s terms.
Biden: While talking about a bipartisan border bill, "by the way, the Border Patrol endorsed me, endorsed my position."
Half True . The National Border Patrol Council — the U.S. Border Patrol’s union endorsed a bipartisan border security bill in February. But it didn’t endorse Biden.
Here's what Brandon Judd, the union’s president, said about the bill in February:
"While not perfect, the Border Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction and is far better than the current status quo. This is why the National Border Patrol Council endorses this bill and hopes for its quick passage."
Biden also supported the bill and said he would sign it into law if it passed. The bill failed in the Senate on a 49-50 vote .
However, Judd and the Border Patrol union have been critical of Biden and his immigration policies and endorsed Trump in the 2020 election.
"To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden," the National Border Patrol Council said in an X post during the debate.
Trump: Biden allowed in "18 million people."
False . Immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the border 9.7 million times under Biden’s presidency. When accounting for "got aways" — people who aren’t stopped by border officials — the number rises to about 11.4 million.
But encounters don’t mean admissions . Encounters represent events, so one person who tried to cross the border twice counts for two encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is let in. Many encounters result in deportations. The Department of Homeland Security estimates about 4 million encounters have led to expulsions or removals.
Abortion
Trump: "The problem (Democrats) have is they're radical, because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth."
False. Willfully terminating a newborn’s life is infanticide and is illegal in every U.S. state.
Most elected Democrats who have spoken publicly about this have said they support abortion under Roe v. Wade’s standard, which provided abortion access up to fetal viability. This is typically around 24 weeks of pregnancy, when the fetus can survive outside of the womb. Many of these Democrats have also said they support abortions past this point if the treating physician deems it necessary.
Medical experts say situations resulting in fetal death in the third trimester are rare — less than 1% of abortions in the U.S. occur after 21 weeks — and typically involve fatal fetal anomalies or life-threatening emergencies affecting the pregnant woman. For fetuses with very short life expectancies, doctors may induce labor and offer palliative care. Some families choose this option when facing diagnoses that limit their babies’ survival to minutes or days after delivery.
Some Republicans who have made claims similar to Trump’s point to Democratic support of the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022 , citing the bill’s provisions that say providers and patients have the right to perform and receive abortion services without certain limitations or requirements that would impede access. Anti-abortion advocates say the provisions in the bill, which failed to advance 49-51, would have created a loophole that eliminated any limits to abortions later in pregnancy.
Alina Salganicoff, director of KFF’s Women’s Health Policy program, said the legislation would have allowed health providers to perform abortions without obstacles such as waiting periods, medically unnecessary tests and in-person visits, or other restrictions. The bill would have allowed an abortion after viability when, "in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care provider, continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant patient’s life or health."
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden debate June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP)
Trump: "He caused this inflation. I gave him a country with … essentially no inflation. It was perfect."
Mostly False . When Biden was inaugurated, year-over-year inflation was about 1.4%. However, that was shaped by the still-weak economy during the coronavirus pandemic, which was still a serious threat when Biden was inaugurated.
As the pandemic conditions improved, the economy accelerated. Consumers were ready to buy products, but the pandemic had prompted supply chain shortages. This, combined with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which raised gasoline prices, led to inflation, peaking at 9% about a year and a half into Biden’s presidency. That was the highest in about four decades.
Economists generally say Biden’s coronavirus relief plan, the American Rescue Plan, did exacerbate inflation by putting more money into consumers’ hands at a time when supplies were running short. But they do not believe that Biden caused high inflation single-handedly.
Trump: "You look at the cost of food, where it's double, triple and quadruple."
False. Food costs have risen faster under President Joe Biden than under any of his five most recent predecessors. However, the 21% increase in food prices on Biden’s watch is well below what Trump claimed. Quadrupling food costs would be an increase of 300%, or more than 10 times larger than what Trump said.
Specific categories of food have spiked more than food prices overall. For instance, egg prices are 84% higher today than when Biden took office. But for every food category that has outrun overall food inflation, there’s another category that has risen more slowly than average.
Also, this increase was spread over three and a half years, making the annual increase about 6%, part of which has been offset by rising wages .
Biden: "Economists say (Trump’s proposed tariffs are) going to cost the average American $2,500 a year or more."
Mostly True. Most economists expect that Trump’s proposed 10% across-the-board tariff on foreign products will force consumers to pay more. The specific size of that hit is open to debate, though Biden offered a figure somewhat higher than current estimates.
Just days before the debate, the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank, projected additional costs per household of $1,700 to $2,350 annually.
The Peterson Institute of International Economics, another Washington, D.C.-based think tank, projected that such tariffs would cost a middle-income household about $1,700 extra each year.
Former President Donald Trump responds to a question June 27, 2024, during a debate against President Joe Biden in Atlanta. (AP)
Jobs
Biden: Semiconductor jobs "to build these chips … pay over $100,000. You don’t need a college degree for them."
Mostly False . The average semiconductor industry salary is around $170,000, figures from Oxford Economics and Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group, show. But this figure includes all jobs within the industry and doesn’t single out jobs requiring no college degree.
To earn a salary of $110,000 or higher, employees in the semiconductor industry need undergraduate or graduate-level degrees, the groups say.
The most a person would make without a four-year degree is about $70,000, according to a 2021 report from the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics.
Biden: "Black unemployment is the lowest level it’s been in a long, long time."
Mostly True . The record for low Black unemployment rate was set under Biden in April 2023, at 4.8%. It has risen modestly since then to 6.1 % in May 2024, but that’s still lower than it was for much of the first two years under Trump.
Overall, Trump had success on this statistic, too. When Biden set the record, the record he was breaking was Trump’s: 5.3% in August and September 2019.
Trump: "The only jobs (Biden) created are for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs, bounce-back from the COVID."
False . Since Biden took office in early 2021, the number of foreign-born Americans who are employed has risen by about 5.6 million. But over the same time period, the number of native-born Americans employed has increased by almost 7.4 million. (There are many more native-born Americans than foreign-born Americans, so on a percentage basis, the increase for foreign-born Americans is about 22%, compared with 6% for native-born Americans.)
It’s also wrong to say that all the foreign-born employment gains (much less all the employment gains) stem from migrants here illegally. The data for foreign-born Americans includes anyone born outside the U.S., including immigrants who have been in the United States legally for decades.
Employment on Biden’s watch passed its prepandemic level by June 2022, about a year and a half into his term. Since then, the U.S. economy has created an additional 6.2 million jobs.
Trump legal cases
Trump: Biden "indicted me because I was his opponent."
False . The Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into Trump’s business records began before Biden was president, but Biden was president by the time Trump was charged in 2023.
After Michael Cohen, who had been an attorney for Trump, pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018, then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. began investigating the payments, Politico reported . That was before Biden was president. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg hired a former Justice Department prosecutor in 2022. But experts told us that doesn’t prove Biden was involved.
Trump has also been indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury and two federal grand juries. Biden is not responsible for state or federal prosecutors’ decisions to present cases to grand juries.
President Joe Biden gestures after answering a question during the June 27, 2024, debate against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta. (AP)
Social Security, Medicare and taxes
Trump: "Social Security, he's destroying it, because millions of people are pouring into our country, and they're putting them onto Social Security. They're putting them onto Medicare, Medicaid."
False . It’s wrong to say that immigration will destroy Social Security. Social Security’s fiscal challenges stem from a shortage of workers compared with beneficiaries.
Immigration is far from a fiscal fix-all for Social Security’s challenges. But having more immigrants in the United States would increase the worker-to-beneficiary ratio, potentially for decades, thus extending the program’s solvency, experts say.
Most immigrants in the U.S. illegally are also ineligible for Social Security. However, people who entered the U.S. illegally and were granted humanitarian parole — a temporary permission to stay in the country — for more than one year, are eligible for Social Security.
Immigrants in the U.S. illegally also are generally ineligible to enroll in federally funded health care coverage such as Medicare and Medicaid. (Some states provide Medicaid coverage under state-funded programs regardless of immigration status. Immigrants are eligible for emergency Medicaid regardless of status.)
Biden: Trump "wants to get rid of Social Security, he thinks there's plenty to cut in Social Security."
False . Biden went further than previous attacks to say Trump would cut the program entirely. In a March CNBC interview , Trump said of entitlement programs such as Social Security, "There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting."
However, Trump quickly walked that statement back. Also, his campaign website says that not "a single penny" should be cut from Social Security, and he’s repeated similar lines in campaign rallies.
Before the 2024 campaign, Trump said about a half dozen times that he’s open to major overhauls of Social Security, including cuts and privatization.
Trump: "He wants to raise your taxes by four times. He wants to raise everybody's taxes by four times."
False . Biden proposed a tax increase of about 7% over the next decade, which is far lower than the 300% increase that former President Donald Trump claimed. (Doubling would be a 100% increase and tripling would be a 200% increase.)
About 83% of the proposed Biden tax increase would be borne by the top 1% of taxpayers, a level that starts at just under $1 million a year in income.
Taxpayers earning up to $60,400 would see their yearly taxes decline on average, and taxpayers earning $60,400 to $107,300 would see an annual increase of $20 on average.
Biden: "I said I’d never raise the tax on anybody if you're making less than $400,000. I didn’t."
Mostly True . Biden has said repeatedly that he will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000, a promise he campaigned on in 2020 .
He has not raised any individual income taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 a year. It’s always possible that individual taxpayers could see increases because of changes in their personal circumstances.
Some corporate tax increases enacted on Biden’s watch have a small projected pass-through effect on taxpayers. Economists generally allocate a portion of the tax burden from corporate taxes to shareholders and partly to consumers, who often pay higher prices as corporations factor the higher taxes into pricing of goods and services.
The White House has told PolitiFact that Biden would let the tax cuts Trump signed in 2017 expire for wealthier taxpayers, but would not let Americans making less than $400,000 see any tax increase.
Trump: "I gave you the largest tax cut in history."
False . When it was passed in 2017, Trump’s tax cut was, in inflation-adjusted dollars, the fourth-largest since 1940. And as a percentage of gross domestic product, it ranked seventh in history, according to figures published by the Treasury Department.
Checking the record on "suckers and losers," "Hitler's done some good things," and Charlottesville, Virginia
Biden: Trump said, "I don't want to go in (a World War I cemetery in France), because they're a bunch of losers and suckers."
Trump called this a "made-up quote." Both statements need context.
A September 2020 article in The Atlantic cited unnamed sources as saying that Trump called Americans who died in wars "suckers" and "losers" when he canceled a trip in 2018 to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris.
"Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers," The Atlantic reported Trump said, citing multiple unnamed sources. In a separate conversation, also according to unnamed sources, he said U.S. Marines who lost their lives in World War I’s Battle of Belleau Wood were "suckers" for getting killed.
John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, confirmed elements of The Atlantic’s story three years later in an October 2023 statement to CNN , including that Trump referred to military members who were killed or wounded as "suckers" and "losers."
But Trump has long denied these allegations.
Biden: "This is a guy who says Hitler's done some good things."
This is a reference to a passage in a book by CNN anchor Jim Sciutto in which Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, described a conversation he had with Trump.
"He said, ‘Well, but Hitler did some good things,’" Kelly said . "I said, ‘Well, what?’ And he said, ‘Well, (Adolf Hitler) rebuilt the economy.’"
According to the book, Kelly also told Sciutto that Hitler had the "loyalty" of his senior staff, unlike Trump.
There is no independent verification of this conversation. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNN in March that Kelly suffered from "a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," but didn’t address the specific allegations.
Biden: Trump called Nazis protesting in the crowd in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 "very fine people."
Trump vehemently denied Biden’s characterization. Here’s what happened.
In comments to reporters following violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the removal of a Confederate general’s statue, Trump said of marchers who protested the removal, "You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides."
During back-and-forth remarks with reporters, Trump separately condemned the "neo-Nazis and the white nationalists."
"But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me," Trump said. "Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch."
Trump also said that counterprotesters had similar makeup of "good" and "bad" people — "some fine people" and also " troublemakers" and "bad people."
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump’s debated immigration, abortion, the economy and golf June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP)
Crime
Trump: "What he's done to the Black population is horrible, including the fact that for 10 years, he called them super predators … in the 1990s."
False . In a 1993 Senate floor speech, Biden, then a U.S. senator from Delaware, spoke about doing something for young people who lacked supervision, structure or opportunities. He said the country needed to focus on them, because otherwise, a portion of them would "become the predators 15 years from now."
Biden did not single out any racial or ethnic group. In a 1998 speech at an attorneys general conference, Biden also used the term "predators." He didn’t say he was talking about Black youth.
Health care
Biden: "We brought down the price (of) prescription drug(s), which is a major issue for many people, to $15 for an insulin shot, as opposed to $400."
Half True . Biden touted his efforts to reduce prescription drug costs by referring to the $35 insulin price cap his administration instituted as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But he flubbed the number during the debate, saying it was lowered to $15. In his closing statement, Biden corrected the number to $35.
The price of insulin for Medicare enrollees starting in 2023 dropped to $35 a month, not $15. Drug pricing experts told PolitFact when we rated a similar claim that most Medicare enrollees were likely not paying a monthly average of $400 before the changes, although because costs vary depending on coverage phases and dosages, some might have paid that much in a given month.
Biden: Trump "wants to get rid of the ACA again."
Half True . In 2016, Trump campaigned on a promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. In the White House, Trump supported a failed effort to do just that. In the years since, he has repeatedly said he would dismantle the health care law in campaign stops and social media posts throughout 2023.
In March, however, Trump walked back this stance, writing on Truth Social that he "isn’t running to terminate" the ACA but to make it "better" and "less expensive." Trump hasn’t said how he would do this.
Trump: "I'm the one that got the insulin down for the seniors."
Mostly False . When he was president, Trump instituted the Part D Senior Savings Model , a program that capped insulin costs to $35 a month for some older Americans in drug plans that chose to participate.
But because it was voluntary, 38% of all Medicare drug plans , including Medicare Advantage plans, participated in 2022, according to KFF. Trump’s voluntary plan also covered only one form of each dosage and insulin type.
Biden points to the Inflation Reduction Act’s mandatory $35 insulin cap as a major achievement. This cap applies to all Medicare prescription plans. It also expanded the cap to all covered insulin types and dosages. Although Trump’s model was a start, it did not have the sweeping reach that Biden’s mandatory cap achieved.
Foreign policy and terrorism
Biden: "I’m the only president this century that doesn't have any, this decade, that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world like he did."
False . Some U.S. service members have died in combat abroad during Biden’s presidency.
In August 2021, 13 U.S. service members were killed in an attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan under Biden’s administration. No U.S. service member deaths were reported in 2022, Defense Department data shows. Full government data for U.S. active duty military deaths is not available for 2023 or 2024. This January, three U.S. soldiers were killed in a drone strike in Jordan.
During Trump’s presidency, from January 2017 to January 2020, 65 U.S. service members were killed in combat, Defense Department data shows.
Trump: "We had no terror (attacks) under my administration."
False . During Trump’s presidency, there were several major terror attacks, some linked to extreme global jihadist ideology.
In 2017, there were two separate attacks in New York City, which Trump himself acknowledged as "terrorist attacks" during his 2018 State of the Union address.
There was also a December 2019 mass shooting by a member of Saudi Arabia’s air force who was studying at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. Three U.S. service members were killed and eight were wounded by the gunman, who had expressed anti-American and anti-Israel sentiments on social media. Trump’s Attorney General William Barr described the shooting as "an act of terrorism."
Trump’s Justice Department also prosecuted several cases of domestic terrorism.
Excluding unsuccessful attacks and those for which officials doubt motive, there were 220 terror incidents in the United States of varying severity during Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2020, according to the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland, which tracks incidents of terrorism.
Election denial and Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol
Trump: Regarding the 2020 election, "the fraud and everything else was ridiculous."
False . There is some fraud in every election, but it was not enough to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. And some fraudulently cast ballots involved defendants who were either registered Republicans or said that they supported Trump .
Federal and state officials , including Republicans in Georgia , said the 2020 election was legitimate. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, said that he had not seen fraud on a scale that would invalidate Joe Biden’s victory.
As Trump faced reelection in 2020, he said Biden could win only if the election was rigged. Numerous investigations, court cases and reviews yielded no evidence of widespread rigging in the 2020 presidential election.
Elections are administered in thousands of local areas nationwide, each with safeguards, making any attempt to "rig" a national election highly improbable.
Trump: Pelosi said "I take full responsibility for Jan. 6."
False . That’s not what former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.
In a 41-second video taken on Jan. 6, 2021, Pelosi said, "I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more," referring to U.S. Capitol security. She did not say she took responsibility for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Records show that Pelosi approved a Jan. 6, 2021, request to seek support from the National Guard and pushed to get National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol when their deployment was delayed by hours that day.
Worst president rankings
Biden: Presidential historians "voted who was the worst president in American history. From best to worst. They said (Trump) was the worst in all of American history."
True . The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, released in February, collected responses from 154 presidential historians, which included current and recent members of the American Political Science Association. The survey ranked Biden as the 14th best president in U.S. history, and put Trump last.
The historians were asked to give every president a score, from zero to 100. Abraham Lincoln topped the list with an average score of 95, while Biden scored an average of 62.66. Trump averaged just under 11 points.
The golf moment
Somehow the presidential debate turned into a fight over who’s the better golfer. Biden said he would have a driving competition with Trump and claimed he was a 6 handicap while serving as vice president.
Trump scoffed. "He can hit a ball 50 yards."
Joe Biden is currently listed with the United States Golf Association as holding a 6.7 handicap playing out of Fieldstone Golf Club in Delaware. Biden hasn’t logged a score in the system since 2018. Scores are typically self-reported, and a handicap comes from an average of the lowest 8 of the most recent 20 posted scores.
The lower the handicap you have, the better golfer you are. Ivanka Trump, for instance, is a 20.9 handicap and Eric Trump is listed as a 13.6 (without a round since 2015). Donald Trump is in the system as a member of the prestigious Winged Foot Golf Club in New York. He lists a handicap of 2.5 but hasn’t posted a score since 2021.
PolitiFact PolitiFact Executive Director Aaron Sharockman, Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson, Senior Correspondent Amy Sherman, Staff Writers Grace Abels, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Maria Briceño, Jeff Cercone, Madison Czopek, Marta Campabadal Graus, Ranjan Jindal, Mia Penner, Samantha Putterman, Sara Swann, Maria Ramirez Uribe, Researcher Caryn Baird, KFF Health News Senior Correspondent Julie Appleby and KFF Health News Mountain States Editor Matt
Volz contributed to this story.
Our debate fact-checks rely on both new and previously reported work. We link to past work whenever possible. In some cases, a fact-check rating may be different tonight than in past versions. In those cases, either details of what the candidate said, or how the candidate said it, differed enough that we evaluated it anew.
They've got 16 of Trump's statements labeled with the word "false" and 3 of Biden's.
I can go through that BS later. Politifact carries water for the left.
Here is what the moron managed to say:
No troops have died
What Biden said: “I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have any — this decade — that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like [Trump] did.”
We beat Medicare
What Biden said: ‘We finally beat Medicare.”
Fact: Huh? It’s unclear if even the octogenarian president knew what he meant here, but the obvious verbal blunder occurred after he froze discussing his record on the economy.
Trump, 78, sarcastically responded: “He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.”
Endorsed by Border Patrol
What Biden said: The US Border Patrol union “endorsed me, endorsed my position.”
Truth: The National Border Patrol Council refuted Biden’s claim — mid-debate. “To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden,” the union posted on X.
Which accord?
What Biden said: “[Trump] pulled out of the Paris Peace Accords, uh, Climate Accord.”
Fact: The president confused the Paris Climate Accords, the YEAR international pact aimed at tackling climate change, with the Paris Peace Accords that marked the end of the Vietnam War in 1973.
Black unemployment
What Biden said: “Black unemployment is the lowest level it’s been in a long, long time.”
Truth: In April 2023 under Biden, black unemployment hit a record low of 4.8%, beating a previous low of 5.3% reached under Trump in 2019.
However, the rate last month was 6.1 %.
Social Security
What Biden said: “[Trump] wants to get rid of Social Security. … He’s wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare.”
Truth: The ex-president has repeatedly said he wants to protect Medicare and Social Security .
Taxing the rich
What Biden said: “We have a thousand millionaires in America, I mean billionaires. And what’s happening? They’re in a situation where they in fact pay 8.2% taxes.”
Truth: The top 1% of taxpayers (income of at least $548,000) paid an average tax rate of nearly 26% in 2020, while the top 0.001% — 1,475 taxpayers with at least $77 million in adjusted gross income – paid 23.7%, according to IRS data cited by the Washington Post.
Trump’s unemployment rate
What Biden said: “[The] unemployment rate rose to 15% [under Trump]; it was terrible.”
Fact: The unemployment rate was 6.4% when Trump left the White House in 2021. Unemployment rose from 4.4% in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic to 14.8% in April 2020. The unprecedented global outbreak wreaked economic havoc worldwide.
Border crossings
What Biden said: “I’ve changed in a way that now you’re in a situation where there are 40% fewer people coming across the border illegally. That’s better than when [Trump] left office.”
Truth: He’s confusing data. The daily average of migrant apprehensions dropped more than 40% — to nearly 2,400 — since Biden issued an executive action that went into effect a month ago prohibiting asylum at the southern border.
Drug prices
What Biden said: “We brought down the price of prescription drugs … to $15 for an insulin shot as opposed to $400. No senior has to pay more than $200 for any drug … beginning next year.”
Truth: Under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that Biden signed into law, Medicare enrollees must still pay up to $35 monthly, and seniors and disabled people must fork over as much as more $2,000 yearly out-of-pocket starting in 2025.
Fact check: Biden's horrific debate performance made worse by multiple lies and gaffes (nypost.com)
Obviously, they lied
not at all.
its hilarious that you see Politifact as biased but not the NY Post.
Trump’s repeat falsehoods included his assertions that some Democratic-led states allow babies to be executed after birth , that every legal scholar and everybody in general wanted Roe v. Wade overturned , that there were no terror attacks during his presidency , that Iran didn’t fund terror groups during his presidency , that the US has provided more aid to Ukraine than Europe has , that Biden for years referred to Black people as “super predators ,” that Biden is planning to quadruple people’s taxes , that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 National Guard troops for the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 , that Americans don’t pay the cost of his tariffs on China and other countries , that Europe accepts no American cars , that he is the president who got the Veterans Choice program through Congress , and that fraud marred the results of the 2020 election .
Trump made more than 30 false claims during CNN’s presidential debate — far more than Biden (msn.com)
I intend to go through that politifact article later, item by item.
I already see things they are calling false as factual, starting with him saying he is willing to take responsibility for the protest getting out of hand on Jan 6th.
Have a good night.
whatever that means. i dont see that in the article
The 'protest getting out of hand'
wow
Even in his letter to democrats Biden continued to push his lies:
Richard has an unholy crush on her, probably because her lies and distortions are comparable.
Damn media, as represented by Fact Check, didn’t find a 6X difference.
The best laid plans of rogues, rascals, liars, and election cheats have been toppled by another public disclosure. Amazing what just a little light can do.
It was obvious that Joe Biden was going to continue his 2020 campaign all the way through to the 2024 reelection. But even back then the Biden camp had to maintain a clean up crew because Biden would make a mess of things. Yes, the Democrats strategy all along was to make 2024 a referendum on Trump.
And the Democrats' chosen one screwed the pooch, hard, on live TV. Even the split screen intended to show an uncouth, rude, and abusive Donald Trump backfired. Biden had been prepped to goad Trump by attacking his appearance, personality, and character but Trump didn't follow the script. Biden was completely unprepared to defend his record.
So, the public had an opportunity to see the real Joe Biden flailing around trying to deflect attention from himself during the most important American holiday. (Shades of the fall of Kabul. Biden still hasn't gotten his victory parade.) And now the public will be treated to an 81 year old President hosting the 75th anniversary celebration of NATO while a war rages in Europe. Are we only going to see a lot of grip 'n grin shots from a distance without any interviews? During an election year? When Biden wants to brag about NATO? And European NATO is worried about being stuck holding the Ukrainian bag?
Good luck, Joe! Enjoy the neurological and cognitive tests that are obviously in your future.
Perfect!
I guess that's why neither Bret Baier nor Shannon Bream can book any Biden surrogates as guests.
Talk of hypocrisy & projection:
Kamala Harris claims this will be "the most significant election of our lifetime" because one side might "weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies"
I don't feel like researching it, but just how many cycles now have we heard that line about the upcoming election is the most significant election of our lifetime? Seems to be a standard line that gets rolled out each cycle. Someone should read Washington the story about the boy who cried wolf.
I'm going to say 3, which would be two Presidential elections and one mid-term election.
Only one deserved the tittle:
The most significant election was held in 2020, and the pandemic had a lot to do with the outcome.
"might weaponize the DOJ". Does she not have any idea what is going on around her?
It seems the very people who weaponized & politicized the government are now afraid that Republicans will do likewise.
The problem is they don't understand what they are doing. They've set a lot of precedents that will come back and bite them in the ass. And all for fear on ONE person.
I think they should be held accountable.
Like I said, the precedents they set will come back and bit them in the ass. And it's expected they will whine and cry about being held accountable for setting those precedents.
One can only hope. In the meantime, they are screaming he is seeking revenge!
He's following the precedents THEY set. They did it to themselves.
Correct.
When it happens the media will just keep going with "revenge" and "dictator."
Without a doubt.