2020 FactCheck: on Principles & Values

Mike Pence: To reverse American decline must win back traditional values

[FNS, 2/19/10]: "To reverse American decline, we should recognize that our present crisis is not merely economic and political, but moral. We must win back America for the fundamental traditional values of the American people. The sanctity of life & the sanctity of marriage."

[Press Release, 3/8/04]: "The President rightly called marriage, 'the most enduring human institution.' Marriage was ordained by God, confirmed by law, is the glue of the American family & the safest harbor for children."

Source: FactCheck on 2020 Trump Research Book Sep 22, 2020

Joe Biden: FactCheck: No, only 50% of recent presidents were Ivy league

Joe Biden claimed that he would be the "first person without an Ivy League degree to be elected president," in the context of white privilege. Is that claim true?

We checked, and no, it's not even close to true. Rasmussen College published "U.S. Presidents with College Education: From Learners to Leaders," on 4/24/2013, including the following list. Of recent presidents, the list is split evenly into 8 Ivy Leaguers and 8 not:

Donald Trump, U. Penn (Ivy League)
Obama, Columbia & Harvard (Ivy League)
W. Bush, Yale & Harvard (Ivy League)
Clinton, Yale (Ivy League)
H. W. Bush, Yale (Ivy League)
Reagan, Eureka College (not Ivy)
Carter, US Naval Academy (not Ivy)
Ford, Yale (Ivy League)
Nixon, Whittier (not Ivy)
Johnson, Texas State (not Ivy)
Kennedy, Harvard (Ivy League)
Eisenhower, US Military Academy (not Ivy)
Truman, U. Missouri (not Ivy)
Roosevelt, Harvard (Ivy League)
Hoover, Stanford (not Ivy)
Coolidge, Amherst (not Ivy)

Source: OnTheIssues Fact-check on CNN Town Hall 2020 Sep 17, 2020

Donald Trump: FactCheck: "We have the best testing in the world"? Not!

Trump: "Cases are up because we have the best testing in the world and we have the most testing. No country has ever done what we've done in terms of testing. We are the envy of the world. They call and they say the most incredible job anybody's done is our job on testing. You look at other countries; they don't even do tests."

OTI FactCheck: Trump refers to the total number of tests--the US is indeed first. The US is not first in testing per capita. For countries over a million population in early 2021:
Country Tests (millions) Tests per million population
UAE 29M 2.9/M
Denmark 15M 2.7/M
Bahrain 3M 1.7/M
Cyprus 2M 1.3/M
Israel 12M 1.2/M
UK 83M 1.2/M
Singapore 7M 1.2/M
USA 338M 1.0/M

Country	Tests (millions)	Tests per million population
UAE	29M	2.9/M
Denmark	15M	2.7/M
Bahrain	3M	1.7/M
Cyprus	2M	1.3/M
Israel	12M	1.2/M
UK	83M	1.2/M
Singapore	7M	1.2/M
USA	338M	1.0/M

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on Fox News Sunday 2020 Jul 19, 2020

Joe Biden: FactCheck:Yes, entered & left Congress as one of the poorest

In challenging President Trump to release his tax returns, Joe Biden said he had released 21 years of his returns and then claimed relative poverty for himself. "I entered as one of the poorest men in Congress, left one of the poorest men in government-- in Congress and as vice president," Biden said.

We looked for outside data on [entering Congress poor] and did not find much, but indications are Biden didn't have much wealth. Roll Call magazine has done wealth rankings, but only for members of Congress and dating back only to 1990. The summary Biden reported outside income in 1973 of $6,050, all from speeches.

On Biden's second claim about leaving as one of the poorest officials in government, Biden's estimated net worth was -$52,493 in 2007. In other words, it appeared that his debts outpaced his assets. Biden again ranked near the bottom: 577 of 581 officials in 2014: his estimated net worth was -$947,987. Since leaving the White House, Biden has reaped millions.

Source: PolitiFact.com FactCheck on 2020 Democratic primary Oct 30, 2019

Kamala Harris: FactCheck: Constitutionally eligible to run for presidency

In January 2019, Jacob Wohl--a Twitter political troll--dipped his toes into the topic of constitutional law, asserting his view that 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris was constitutionally ineligible to hold the office of President of the United States: "Kamala Harris is NOT eligible to be President. Her father arrived from Jamaica in 1961--mother from India arrived in 1960. Neither parent was a legal resident for 5 years prior to Harris's birth, a requirement for naturalization. Kamala was raised in Canada."

The constitutional requirements for the office of U.S. president have nothing to do with the naturalization status of one's parents, but do include requirement of 14 years' residency in the US. Though Harris spent her high school years in Canada, she has been resident in the US since 1982. She was born in Oakland California, in 1964, and is a natural-born citizen, fulfilling all the requirements to be constitutionally eligible to run for president.

Source: Snopes.com Fact-Check on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jan 28, 2019

The above quotations are from Fact-checking on 2020 Presidential, Gubernatorial, and Senatorial campaigns. Click here for definitions & background information on Principles & Values. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Donald Trump on Principles & Values. Click here for more quotes by Joe Biden on Principles & Values.
*2020 Presidential contenders on Principles & Values:*
	*Democrats running for President:* Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO) V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE) Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT) Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Rep.John Delaney (D-MD) Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA) Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA) Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Marianne Williamson (D-CA) CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY) *2020 Third Party Candidates:* Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI) CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Howie Hawkins (G-NY) ~~Gov.Gary Johnson~~(L-NM) ~~Howard Schultz~~(I-WA) Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)	*Republicans running for President:* ~~Sen.Ted Cruz~~(R-TX) ~~Gov.Larry Hogan~~ (R-MD) ~~Gov.John Kasich~~(R-OH) V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) ~~Gov.Mark Sanford~~ (R-SC) Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY) Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL) Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY) *2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:* Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK) Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL) Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA) Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX) Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA) Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA) Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021