Fact-checking Biden's CNN Town Hall

Over the course of the evening time, Biden took questions ranging from farming legal guidelines, the navy presence in Afghanistan, to how he would technique the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden made quite a lot of errors and misleading statements on the drive-in stage. Here’s a check out the information:

Biden claimed Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Services for Sickness Administration and Prevention, contradicted President Donald Trump’s stance on masks utilization by suggesting widespread masks sporting might save 100,000 lives between now and January.

“By one of the best ways, his private CDC director contradicted him currently. He talked about, if, the reality is, you merely wore this masks, nothing else nevertheless this masks, you’d save between now and January one different 100,000 lives,” Biden talked about.

Particulars First: Whereas Redfield did advocate for sporting masks to stop the unfold of coronavirus in a congressional listening to Wednesday, and Trump did later say that Redfield misspoke, CNN could not uncover any file of Redfield providing these explicit numbers regarding the number of lives that will very properly be saved by mask-wearing.

Testifying sooner than a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the federal authorities’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Redfield said, “I’m not going to comment straight regarding the President nevertheless I will comment as a result of the CDC director that face masks, these face masks, are a really highly effective, extremely efficient public properly being software program we now have.”

“I am going to proceed to enchantment for all Folks, all folks in our nation, to embrace these face coverings,” Redfield added. “I’ve talked about it, if we did it for six, eight, 10, 12 weeks, we would carry this pandemic beneath administration.”

He made headlines for extra saying, “I might even go so far as to say that this face masks is additional assured to protect me in direction of Covid than after I take the Covid vaccine.”

Reached for comment, the Biden advertising marketing campaign pointed CNN to the latest forecast from the Faculty of Washington’s Institute for Nicely being Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). As of early September, the IHME model predicts 224,000 additional people inside the US could die from the coronavirus by January, nevertheless with near-universal mask use the number of projected additional fatalities might decrease by better than half, or a minimum of 100,000.

CNN has reached out to the CDC for comment.

Bible and bunker

In the middle of the town hall, Biden attacked Trump for posing for footage whereas holding a Bible in entrance of a church all through from the White House after protesters have been forcibly far from a park all through from the White House. Biden instructed that Trump held the Bible the mistaken approach up, after which retreated once more to a bunker.

Biden talked about the protesters have been eradicated so Trump might “stroll all through to a Protestant church and keep a Bible the mistaken approach up — I have no idea if he ever opened it — the mistaken approach up, after which return to a bunker inside the White House.”

Particulars First: Biden will get two data fallacious proper right here. Trump did not keep a Bible the mistaken approach up and his go to to the bunker was quite a lot of days sooner than this event.

On Might 29, Trump was briefly taken to a White House bunker amid intense protests that evening. This was three days sooner than the go to outdoor of St. John’s.

Whereas posing in entrance of the church, Trump held a Bible out for the cameras. Photos and videos current that Trump held the Bible correct facet up.

Ivy League

In line with Biden, the media claimed his election would set a precedent.

“Everytime you guys started talking on television about Biden, if he wins can be the primary particular person with out an Ivy League diploma to be elected President, I’m contemplating who the hell makes you suppose I’ve to have an Ivy League diploma to be President?”

Particulars First: Not all earlier presidents graduated from school, to not point out from the Ivy League. If elected, Biden will be the first president with out an Ivy League diploma since Ronald Reagan.

State of the Union

In the middle of the town hall, Biden criticized Trump for not warning the US regarding the coronavirus all through this yr’s State of the Union deal with.

“Take into consideration had (Trump) on the State of the Union stood up and talked about — when once more in January I wrote an article for USA At current saying, ‘We now have acquired a pandem-we’ve acquired an precise draw back’ — take into consideration if he had talked about one factor. What variety of additional people will be alive?” Biden talked about.

Particulars First: Trump spent 20 seconds of his February 4 State of the Union deal with on the coronavirus. A few days later, Trump instructed Bob Woodward privately that the coronavirus is additional deadly than the flu, after speaking with Chinese language language President Xi Jinping earlier that day. It’s unclear what all Trump knew or believed regarding the coronavirus on the time of the deal with, though he continued to downplay it for weeks.

Here’s what Trump talked about regarding the virus by means of the State of the Union:

Defending Folks’ properly being moreover means stopping infectious sicknesses. We’re coordinating with the Chinese language language authorities and dealing rigorously collectively on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all wanted steps to safeguard our residents from this menace.

The USA At current article Biden wrote on January 27 criticized Trump’s rhetoric spherical and technique to the coronavirus, writing, “The potential of a pandemic is an issue Donald Trump is unqualified to take care of as president.”

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