Fact check: how many of Biden’s debate claims stack up?

Most presidential debates tend to be underwhelming but last night certainly was not one of them. Much of the subsequent coverage focused on Joe Biden’s hesitant, stumbling performance, prompting Donald Trump at one stage to remark that ‘I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.’ But Mr S was more struck by the sheer number of times that Joe Biden seemed to make statements that were either misleading – or simply downright untrue. Below are eight of the worst instances…

Trump ‘bleach’ comments on Covid

Biden began the debate by accusing Trump of not taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously, saying Trump told Americans, ‘It’s not that serious. Just inject a little bleach in your arm.’ Trump, however, did not say people should inject bleach in their arm. Instead, in a 2020 pandemic briefing he spoke about an ‘injection inside’ the lungs with a disinfectant, after an aide presented a study showing how bleach could kill the virus when it remained on surfaces. Trump later claimed he was speaking ‘sarcastically.’

Any troops dying anywhere in the world’

Biden told the audience that ‘The truth is I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have any – this decade – the best to have any troops dying anywhere in the world that he did.’ This fails to acknowledge the 13 fallen service members who were killed during his administration’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021. Three US soldiers were also killed during the January drone attack on an American base in northern Jordan carried out by Iranian-backed militia groups.

Insulin shot claims

‘We brought down the price of prescription drugs, which is a major issue for many people, to $15 for an insulin shot – as opposed to $400,’ Biden said. This, however, is simply not true: Biden capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month under Medicare, not $15 a shot, and some drug companies have matched that cap. However, that price cap does not apply to everyone. Moreover, the $400 ‘an insulin shot’ claim appears to reference a 2022 report by the Department of Health. That found that patients using insulin spent an average of $434 annually on insulin in 2019 – not $400 a shot.

'Fewer border crossings'

In a skirmish with Donald Trump about the number of illegal immigrants arriving from Mexico, Joe Biden asserted that 'Now you’re in a situation where there are 40 percent fewer people coming across the border illegally. That’s better than when he left office.' This refers to a Department of Homeland Security estimate that the seven-day average of migrant apprehensions dropped more than 40 percent since he issued an executive action barring asylum at the border. Yet the numbers are still much higher than when Trump was president, reaching an all-time high of just over 302,000 in December 2023.

15 per cent unemployment under Trump

Biden criticised Trump's record in office by saying: 'The economy was flat on its back, 15 per cent unemployment. He decimated the economy, absolutely decimated the economy.' This statement clearly lacks context – unemployment briefly hit 15 per cent in April 2020 when lockdown was at its peak. But by the end of 2020, the unemployment rate reached 6.8 per cent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump wants to get rid of Social Security

In a section about public services, the Democrat candidate asserted that his opponent 'wants to get rid of Social Security. He thinks there's plenty to cut in social security. He's wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare, both times.' Yet Trump has repeatedly insisted that he will try to protect Medicare and Social Security – as he did during his first term.

Trump did say in a CNBC interview on 11 March that 'there is a lot you can do' in terms of 'cutting' spending under Social Security. President Biden previously suggested that these comments were proof Trump aimed to make cuts in the programs, but a campaign spokesman said was referring to 'cutting waste and fraud,' rather than Social Security entitlements.

Billionaires pay 8.2 per cent taxes

Biden claimed in the debate '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 percent taxes.' That claim appears to refer to a 2021 White House study which concluded that the 400 wealthiest taxpayers paid an effective tax rate of eight percent. However that estimate included unrealised gains in the income calculation when people are obviously are taxed on capital gains when they sell their assets.

As the Washington Post notes, the average tax rate paid by the top 0.001 per cent – 1,475 taxpayers with at least $77 million in adjusted gross income in 2020 – was actually 23.7 percent. The top 1 percent of taxpayers (income of at least $548,000) paid nearly 26 per cent.

Border patrol endorsement

'By the way, the Border Patrol endorsed me, endorsed my position,' Biden said. There is no evidence to support this claim. The National Border Patrol Council, the trade union for U.S. Border Patrol agents and staff members, has actually endorsed Donald Trump. Following the debate they posted 'To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden.' Ouch.