Our reporters are fact-checking the candidates and providing context and explanation for the policy debates.
WHAT THE FACTS ARE
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ record on gun control is more complicated than he let on.
What Sanders said:
“Back in 1988, coming from a state that had no gun control, I called for the ban of the sale and distribution of assault weapons. I lost that election.”
This is misleading. Sanders suggested he had a long history of fighting the National Rifle Association, the gun industry’s powerful lobbying association.
Sanders noted that he has a “D minus voting record from the NRA and as president I suspect it will be an F record,” citing his failed bid for the House in 1988 as evidence. He vowed that as president, he would “do everything I can” to take on the NRA.
But in portraying himself as a longtime foe of the gun industry, Sanders left out parts of his record as a lawmaker defending gun rights in Vermont, a rural hunting state. In 1993, then-Rep. Sanders voted against the Brady Bill, which mandated background checks and imposed a five-day waiting period for gun purchasers.
In 2005, while still in the House, Sanders voted in favor of a measure to shield gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits arising from the criminal use of their products. In 2012, after a mass shooting in Colorado, he suggested the federal government should steer clear of gun control, saying, “In my view, decisions about gun control should be made as close to home as possible — at the state level.” But Sanders voted in favor of the 1994 assault weapons ban, which passed as part of a broad package of crime legislation.
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WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT
Democrats are all in agreement that climate change is a crisis, but quarreled over how to address it.
What John Hickenlooper said:
“I think the guarantee for a public job for everyone who wants one is a classic part of the problem. It’s a distraction.”
The candidates agreed on the urgency of addressing climate change but debated whether the Green New Deal provides the right solution. At this point the Green New Deal is a non-binding congressional resolution that outlines an ambitious plan for tackling climate change also calls for a federal jobs guarantee, adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations and retirement security for every American as well as dramatically reducing planet-warming emissions by 2030. Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, who has been critical of the Green New Deal, called the job guarantee “a distraction.” Others who have embraced it, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said that criticism ignores an opportunity to create jobs in the renewable energy markets.
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WHAT THE FACTS ARE
Hickenlooper suggested universal health care would not play well with moderate voters.
What Hickenlooper said:
“Last year Democrats flipped 40 Republican seats in the house and not one of those 40 Democrats supported the policies of our front-runners at center stage.”
This is exaggerated. Hickenlooper was referring to “Medicare for All,” the progressive plan for universal health care. Many of the seats Democrats flipped in taking control of the House in 2018 were in swing districts, or districts carried by President Donald Trump; most of the freshmen who won those seats are centrists and do not support Medicare for All. But at least two of them — Reps. Katie Porter and Katie Hill of California — do, and campaigned on it. Both signed onto Medicare for All legislation in the House.
In 2017, Porter said on Twitter: “I believe in universal coverage and I support Medicare for All.”
Hill’s campaign posted a video on Facebook explaining her reasoning for backing Medicare for All, describing how she and her husband, Kenny, faced $200,000 in medical expenses early in their marriage. “Ensuring progress on health care is one of the top priorities for me as the issue hits extremely close to home and we have to do whatever it takes to get us to Medicare For All as soon as possible.”
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WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT
The Democrats sparred over whether to endorse Medicare for All, the proposal to replace the current insurance system with a federal plan that would cover everyone. What was said:
Sanders: “Medicare For All is comprehensive and covers all health care needs for senior citizens.”
Rep. Tim Ryan: “You don’t know that, Bernie.”
Sanders: “I do know it. I wrote the damn bill.”
Sanders and Warren argued Medicare for All was necessary, while their opponents pushed back and argued that Americans want a choice of plans and therefore preferred a public option, the choice of a Medicare-like plan in addition to private insurance. John Delaney invoked his father, who liked his union plan and wanted to keep it.
WHAT THE FACTS ARE
Sanders blamed trade policy, apparently referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement, for Detroit’s decline.
What Sanders said:
“Detroit was nearly destroyed because of awful trade policy which allowed corporations to throw workers in this community out on the streets as they moved to low-wage countries.”
This is exaggerated. NAFTA, which went in effect 1994, is often blamed for the loss of American manufacturing jobs in the Midwest, but Detroit’s struggles started well before that as global competition increased. Auto jobs started scattering during the energy crisis of the 1970s and the economic downturn of the 1980s. Moreover, jobs in Detroit were also lost to competition the union-averse South, where many carmakers seeking cheaper labor relocated operations.
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WHAT THE FACTS ARE
Mayor Pete Buttigieg made the case that the economy is not as strong as Trump likes to argue because expenses are rising faster than wages.
What Buttigieg said:
“Nominate me and we will have a different conversation with American voters about why the president of the United States thinks you’re a sucker when the problem in your life is your paycheck is not going up nearly as fast as the cost of housing.”
This is true. A March study from the National Association of Realtors found that in the past six years, from 2012 to 2018, median home prices across the United States increased by 47% while monthly wages rose 16%.
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WHAT THE FACTS ARE
Hickenlooper falsely said that Colorado was the strongest economy in the United States under his watch as governor. What Hickenlooper said:
“I learned the small business lessons of how to provide service and teamwork and became a top mayor and as governor of Colorado created the No. 1 economy in the country.”
This is false. According to the latest federal government data, at the end of Hickenlooper’s last term as governor in 2018, Colorado’s economy ranked seventh in the country when measured by real gross domestic product growth. Measured on a per person basis, the state’s real GDP growth was ranked 15th.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.