Fact-Checking the 2024 Presidential Debate
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced each other Thursday evening for the first presidential debate of the 2024 presidential cycle.
Inside a CNN studio in Atlanta, the candidates sparred for roughly 90 minutes, with CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash as moderators.
While presidential debates typically happen in front of live audiences, Thursday's show was just the candidates and moderators. Also, showrunners muted the candidates' microphones when it was not their turn to speak, and they were not allowed to bring prewritten notes or props.
Snopes analyzed the candidates' statements in real time. This page is no longer receiving updates. If you'd like to support this type of fact-checking during the 2024 election cycle, we'd love your help.
Closing Statements
7:50 p.m. PT / 10:50 ET:
In his closing remarks, Biden said, "We've made significant progress from the debacle that was left by President Trump in his last term." His wife, Jill Biden, greeted him on stage when the event ended.
Meanwhile, in his final comments, Trump said, "We're living in hell." He exited alone.
The debate is over. Stay tuned for more fact-checking from us as the 2024 presidential election nears. Heard something tonight you're curious about? Send Snopes tips here: https://t.co/ggOmeDS1Kw
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Cognitive Abilities
7:39 p.m. PT / 10:39 ET:
Trump boasted about his alleged score on two cognitive tests and claimed Biden has not taken one. "I aced them, both of them," he said. "I'd like to see him take one, just one. A real easy one — like, go through the first five questions. He couldn't do it."
Biden did not take a cognitive test as a part of his annual physical exam in February. However, presidents are not legally required to take such tests. In fact, no president has publicly acknowledged taking such a test or made the results public except Trump.…
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According to The Associated Press, Trump indeed took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which is designed to detect early signs of memory loss and other mild cognitive impairment.
Biden said of Trump: "This guy's three years younger and a lot less competent."
Alleged Past Statements by the Candidates
7:33 p.m. PT / 10:33 ET:
❌Speaking in the Senate in 1993, Biden referred to young people who have become criminals as predators. He did not use the term "super-predator," nor did he specifically refer to Black people. https://t.co/7LqxiUGnEj pic.twitter.com/T1Hk0UGDE1
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This alleged quote by Trump about Hitler originated with an anecdote by Gen. John Kelly — a Trump chief of staff — but its authenticity has more than once been denied by Trump's spokespersons. https://t.co/cHmmdlqXxo pic.twitter.com/RQcFu6hqNC
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Biden said: "I wasn't going to run again until I saw what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia. People coming out of the woods carrying swastikas, torches, torches, and singing the same antisemitic bile they sang back in Germany."
After the 2017 Charlottesville rally, Trump did say there were "very fine people on both sides," referring to protesters and counterprotesters. He said in the same statement he wasn't talking about neo-Nazis and white nationalists, who he said should be "condemned totally."… pic.twitter.com/lwzKsGBxT4
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Biden said: "I went to the World War II cemetery [...] he refused to go to. [Trump] was standing with his four-star general and he told him, he said, 'I don't want to go in there because they're a bunch of losers and suckers.'"
Trump and his allies have denied the accusation that he once called fallen soldiers "suckers" and "losers" since it first emerged in 2020, shortly before that year's election between Trump and Biden. Whether performative or authentic, Trump's apparent support for soldiers in the U.S. military, both active and veteran members, has been part of his presidential campaigns.
There's no audio or visual evidence to independently verify that Trump once called fallen soldiers "suckers" and "losers," though a few people who supposedly witnessed the statement have publicly talked about it. https://t.co/hUevJg5K1S pic.twitter.com/G57ghLmAWy
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Trump claimed during the debate: "That was a made-up quote — 'suckers and losers.' They made it up."
2021 U.S. Capitol Attack
7:17 p.m. PT / 10:17 ET:
Trump's speech to supporters in the hours before they breached Capitol security on Jan. 6, 2021, came under question.
Trump did say this to supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, but that statement lacked context. In the same speech, he encouraged them to "fight like hell" and "demand that Congress do the right thing." https://t.co/lTx63cLg6m pic.twitter.com/NLdIwdtTrg
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Additionally, Trump claimed he "offered" National Guard soldiers to help secure the federal grounds, but former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "turned them down." In reality, the House Speaker does not have control of the National Guard.
Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not prevent the National Guard from responding to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The House Speaker does not have direct control of the National Guard. https://t.co/CHxFcJYqHj
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Roe v. Wade Overturned
6:40 p.m. PT / 9:40 ET:
The candidates were asked about the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that guaranteed federal abortion protections for all women, about two years ago.
In previous public statements, Trump has taken credit for overturning Roe v. Wade. https://t.co/CrSok9Da6P pic.twitter.com/ARqtBU5Tpy
— snopes.com (@snopes) June 28, 2024
Trump has repeated this factually flawed claim about Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam before. https://t.co/rzJB10KS0Q pic.twitter.com/Cb7ZxXMPHo
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The Associated Press described Biden's answer to a question about restrictions on abortion as "nonsensical." It reported:
[He said he] 'supports Roe v. Wade, which had three trimesters. The first time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the women and the state.'
He added that he thought doctors, not politicians, should make decisions about 'women's health.'
Economic Conditions
6:20 p.m. PT / 9:20 ET:
In the opening minutes, the candidates highlighted economic conditions in January 2021, when Biden took over the White House.
Trump claimed Biden "inherited almost no inflation," and "then it blew up under his leadership." Biden said, "Take a look at what I was left when I became president, what Mr. Trump left me. We had an economy that was in freefall."
Trump and Biden are painting differing views of the economy when the latter took over the White House in January 2021. In reality, inflation was 1.4% at that time. https://t.co/MDWc2Mx3tU
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✅True. Trump and Herbert Hoover are the only U.S. presidents on record who left office with fewer total jobs than when they entered office. https://t.co/Jc7fxNKhnx pic.twitter.com/Ho3jxpM3AS
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Since Biden took office, the economy gained 14.9 million jobs in total. However, about 9 million of those jobs were lost during the pandemic, so the net jobs gain from pre-pandemic levels was 5.5 million. https://t.co/LtCK7um6Sr pic.twitter.com/vOfFDuw1ss
— snopes.com (@snopes) June 28, 2024
CNN Production Rumors
5:15 p.m. PT / 8:15 ET:
With less than an hour before start time, rumors about the event's production spread on social media.
Among them was the false claim that CNN was planning to broadcast the program with a one- to two-minute delay to give producers time to "cut and edit" audio.
Responding to an X post with the claim, the official public-relations account for CNN wrote, "This is false."
❌ No, CNN doesn't plan to implement a 1- to 2-minute delay during the first U.S. presidential debate. https://t.co/KWgOorSxLi pic.twitter.com/undaBTAKmK
— snopes.com (@snopes) June 27, 2024
What to Look Out For
12:50 p.m. PT / 3:30 ET:
Political analysts are publishing forecasts for the show, attempting to best guess the candidates' talking points. NPR reported:
On the issues, it's expected the candidates will discuss the state of the economy and immigration policy, as both are consistently top issues for voters in national polling. It's also possible the candidates will weigh in on international politics, given voters remain divided on whether the U.S. should be sending military aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars.
Issues aside, the candidates' demeanors will be a focus for viewers. Being among the oldest presidential candidates in U.S. history (Biden is 81 and Trump is 78), both candidates have fielded allegations of bizarre public behavior or verbal slip-ups because of their supposed cognitive decline. "One slip-up, stumble or verbal miscue could cement concerns about their advanced age," the BBC wrote.
Biden himself once said he was a "gaffe machine."
✅ Mostly true: Biden and Trump are the oldest U.S. presidential candidates ever. https://t.co/hVue6n9Aew pic.twitter.com/KSUYDBtIl6
— snopes.com (@snopes) June 27, 2024
Let us note here: Politicians' alleged lack of mental fitness for office is not a unique characteristic of the 2024 election cycle. Since the beginning of Snopes three decades ago — that was then-President Bill Clinton's era — the newsroom has fielded rumors about presidents' appearances or alleged faux pas, no matter their political affiliation or agenda, nor the accusations' level of truth.
Analysts also agree legal cases involving Trump and those involving Biden's son Hunter Biden will come up during the debate. Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts last month, and he faces serious charges in three other indictments. Days later, a jury convicted Hunter Biden of three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018.
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