The second night of the Democratic National Convention was filled with excitement as a celebratory call marked the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee. As speaker after speaker addressed the convention, praising her ability to lead the country, they also played out differences with her opponents, former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, and at times misrepresented Republican positions.
Here are the facts. ___
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: “Senate Republicans pretend to care about middle-class families, but they voted against expanding the child tax credit. And J.D. Vance didn’t even show up to vote.”
THE FACTS: Vance indeed skipped a vote in August on an account to expand child benefits and restore certain tax benefits for businesses.
The bill failed to pass in the Senate, as Republicans largely opposed the measure, arguing they could get a better deal next year. The Associated Press reported at the time.
But there is more to it.
Vance has also said that he… support the extension of child benefitscurrently $2,000, to $5,000. He said the Senate vote was a “show vote,” in which bills are designed to fail but allow parties to emphasize issues to voters.
Schumer on Trump’s plan to create tariffs: “He wants to essentially impose a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities that we import from other countries. It means higher prices for virtually all of your everyday needs. Donald Trump’s plan would cost the average family $3,900 a year.”
THE FACTS: Trump has proposed imposing a 10% to 20% tariff on all imports and up to 60% on imports from China.
Economists do expect it would raise prices for many goods. The Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, estimates it would cut average incomes by 1.8 percent for the top 60 percent of earners. And the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive advocacy group, has calculated that the higher rates would cost households an extra $3,900 a year.
However, Trump has said that the revenue from the tariffs could be used to cut other taxes, which would reduce the overall cost of the policy.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham: “Donald Trump and JD Vance want to dismantle our healthcare system, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and cut protections for pre-existing conditions.”
THE FACTS: Trump has repeatedly promised to replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law with a plan of his own. For example, three years after a Congress entirely controlled by Republicans failed to repeal “Obamacare” in 2017, Trump has called on the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.
More recently, the Republican presidential candidate threatened to reopen the combative fight.
“Obamacare costs are outrageous, and it is not good health care,” he wrote in a November 2023 report. post on his Truth Social site. “I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican senators who campaigned against it for 6 years and then put their hands up not to end it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we must never give up!”
But Trump in April backed off a possible repeal, saying in a video on Truth Social that he is “not running to replace the ACA” and that he plans to make it “much better, stronger, and much cheaper.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Trump during COVID-19 pandemic: “And Donald, well, Donald told us to inject bleach.”
THE FACTS: This claim was also made on the first day of the Democratic National Convention by Representative Robert Garcia of California.
That’s an exaggeration. Trump actually asked or whether it would be impossible to inject disinfectant into the lungs.
“And then I see the disinfectant, which knocks it out in a minute,” he said at a press conference in April 2020. “And is there a way that we can do something like that, by injecting it from the inside or almost a cleanse, because you see it goes into the lungs and it does a tremendous amount to the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that out, so you’ll have to use medical doctors, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful.”
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Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.