The first debate of the 2016 presidential campaign has (finally) come to a close. And it was every bit as ugly as we thought it would be. In fact, it was basically one roundhouse to the temple away from a UFC match. Trump went after Hillary for her email scandal. Hillary went after Trump for his tax returns. And naturally, they both fudged the facts a bit. Okay, more than a bit in some cases. Sadly, Gennifer Flowers was not in attendance to witness it all firsthand. We’ve cross-referenced some of the more hotly-contested claims made by both candidates with the Pulitzer Prize-winning non-partisan website Politifact. So if you disagree with these findings, your beef is with them. Please don’t tear us apart in the comments. Our egos are fragile. Anyway, on to the facts: Clinton claimed that Trump once dismissed climate change as a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. Politifact says she was absolutely right. Here’s the tweet she was referring to: Trump claimed that Clinton flip-flopped on the TPP trade deal. The Donald spoke the truth on that one. It seems to be one of the ways that Bernie Sanders’ campaign “pushed” Clinton to the left. Clinton’s claim that she voted against the controversial CAFTA deal during her time in the Senate was determined to be truthful. Asked about his persistent refusal to release his tax returns, Trump claimed that financial disclosures are just as revealing. Politifact determined that’s factually inaccurate. Not surprisingly, Trump was more than a little out of his element on issues related to poverty and systemic racism in America. Not only did he repeat the phrase “law & order” more than your grandfather when you switch the channel from TNT. Many pointed out that there was a bit of a disconnect between Trump’s support of stop and frisk and the birther movement and his “braggodocious” claims about his connections to the African-American community. According to Politifact, Clinton was correct in her claim that Trump was charged with housing discrimination and violations of the Civil Rights Act. Clinton was correct in her claims that black Americans are more likely to get arrested and more likely to face longer sentences for the same crimes. Clinton has a big lead amongst minorities, but that doesn’t mean she’s flawless on racial issues. Trump was correct in his claim that Clinton once used the term “superpredators” when referring to gang members. At more than one point, Trump claimed that both Clinton and debate moderator Lester Holt were lying in their claims that he supported the invasion of Iraq. Politifact determined that Trump did indeed support the invasion. One of the more surprising moments of the debate came toward the end of the evening when Clinton cited misogynistic, racist comments that Trump made about a Venezuelan-born actress and former beauty pageant contestant named Alicia Machado. Shockingly, those claims have been verified by several media outlets . View Slideshow: 19 Things Donald Trump Has Actually Said While Running for President As for the moment when Trump said his temperament is his strongest asset “maybe by far.” Well, we didn’t bother to check Politifact on that one.
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Presidential Debate Fact-Check: Who Lied More, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?
