“Nations like China see weakness as opportunity. … Their arms supply Putin’s regime”
— Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina
This needs context.
American intelligence agencies say that China was critical to rebuilding Russia’s arms industry in the face of Western sanctions. However, American officials say that China, unlike North Korea or Iran, has supplied only dual-use parts, not lethal aid that is used directly in the war in Ukraine.
“Iran is waging a war in Israel and Gaza, with help from Joe Biden.”
— Richard Grenell, acting director of national intelligence in the Trump administration
This needs context.
While Republicans argue that President Biden’s foreign policy with Iran has been too accommodating, it is hard to argue that the United States is directly aiding Iran’s conflict with Israel. Under Mr. Biden, the United States intervened to help Israel take down dozens of missiles and drones in a major military operation to halt Iran’s attack on Israel.
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“She was appointed the border czar.”
— Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris
This is misleading.
Many Republicans have derisively called Vice President Kamala Harris the “border czar,” but that is not a title bestowed upon her by President Biden. In March 2021, Mr. Biden named Ms. Harris to oversee efforts addressing the root causes of migration, including diplomatic attempts and aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — not border security specifically. Ms. Harris visited the border that June and also made a trip to Mexico and Guatemala.
“Biden’s F.B.I. has even stated that practicing Catholics present an elevated risk of domestic terrorism simply because of their faith.”
— Callista Gingrich, former ambassador to the Holy See
This needs context.
Ms. Gingrich is most likely referring to a leaked memo from January 2023 that was prepared by the F.B.I.’s field office in Richmond, Va. The memo warned of the potential for extremism for adherents of a “radical-traditionalist Catholic” ideology. But it was withdrawn, and the nation’s top law enforcement officials have repeatedly denounced it.
The memo warned of potential threats before the 2024 election and suggested gathering information and developing sources within churches to help identify suspicious activity. It also distinguished between those radicalized and not radicalized, saying that “radical-traditionalist Catholics” were a small minority.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, have both disavowed the memo.
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“Your favorite Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, created your favorite committee, the Jan. 6 committee, which demanded that I violate executive privilege.”
— Peter Navarro, former Trump administration official
This needs context.
Mr. Navarro defied a subpoena seeking information about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, asserting that Donald J. Trump had told him to invoke executive privilege. But a federal judge said Mr. Navarro had shown no evidence that Mr. Trump had ever invoked privilege. An appeals court agreed and said that Mr. Navarro had to serve his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress; Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. rejected his last-ditch appeal, paving the way for Mr. Navarro to become the first senior aide to Mr. Trump to serve time in connection with the efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election.
“Biden’s war on energy hits every American because the cost of energy is in everything we use or touch every day. His red tape has raised the price of gas in your car. The cost of food on your table. The clothes on your back.”
— Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota
This is false.
The Biden administration has imposed regulations to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, but there has not been a war on energy. Oil production has hit record highs under the Biden presidency, and the administration has approved more drilling permits for wells on federal lands than under President Donald J. Trump. At the same time, it is pumping billions of federal dollars into developing new sources of power including wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen and nuclear energy.
While there could be an economic effect to decisions by the Biden administration, like offering fewer new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters, studies do not suggest a current link between Mr. Biden’s policies and prices at the pump or supermarket. But it is unclear how stark that impact would be. One study by Resources for the Future, a Washington think tank, found that if the government were to completely end all new oil and gas production on federal lands between now and 2050 — something that has not happened— it would lead to an increase of 1 to 2 percent in the price of oil.
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“He is using mandates to shut down reliable baseload electricity. That is why your electric bills have shot upwards.”
— Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota
This is misleading.
Retail electricity prices have indeed risen since President Biden took office, about 28 percent nationwide on average. But the reasons for that increase are complex, experts said, and typically have had less to do with his administration’s policies and more with other factors such as fluctuations in natural gas prices and the rising cost of upgrading the nation’s aging grid.
Energy Innovation, a clean-energy research group in California, studied electricity price spikes and found no evidence that clean-energy policies had driven up prices. In fact, it found that states with the biggest growth in wind and solar production — like Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma and New Mexico — had managed to slow rate increases.
“Let’s look at Biden’s E.V. mandates.”
— Gov. Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota
False.
There is no electric vehicle mandate. The Biden administration has announced a regulation that requires carmakers to meet new average emissions limits across their entire product line, in effect compelling them to sell more electric and hybrid vehicles. Gas-powered cars and trucks can still be sold.
Mr. Burgum went on to correctly note, however, that China dominates in making batteries for such vehicles.
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“You didn’t see these spy balloons under President Trump, did you?”
— Representative Michael Waltz, Republican of Florida
This needs context.
After a Chinese spy balloon drifted across the United States in 2023, the American public learned that other Chinese surveillance balloons had previously crossed U.S. territory near Texas, Florida, Hawaii and Guam for short periods of time.
It was Mr. Waltz who first disclosed the earlier incursions, after a congressional briefing about the previous balloons. Several of the episodes occurred during the Trump administration. However, Mr. Waltz was correct in his suggestion that the American public did not see the spy balloons that drifted in the United States during the Trump administration.
President Biden “is focused on building electric tanks.”
— Representative Michael Waltz of Florida
This is false.
The Biden administration has not put forward any plans to make all Army tanks electric. A 2022 climate strategy plan from the Army does call for fielding an all-electric light-duty nontactical vehicle fleet by 2027 and for fully electric tactical vehicles by 2050. The plan does not include tanks.
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“The guy who advised Obama not to take out Osama. Joe Biden advised against the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.”
— Lee Zeldin, former congressman from New York
This needs context.
President Biden was not opposed to taking out Osama bin Laden, but as vice president he recounted that he had advised Mr. Obama during a security meeting to wait and first ensure Bin Laden was at the Pakistan compound before proceeding — but that Mr. Obama ultimately decided to move forward.
Mr. Biden never said he was against such a raid altogether. That said, Mr. Biden later recalled that, after the meeting and in private, he told Mr. Obama “to follow his own instincts.” That assertion has not been independently confirmed.
“Meanwhile pro-crime district attorneys have turned our cities into giant crime zones.”
— Donald Trump Jr.
This is misleading.
F.B.I. data shows that, overall, violent crime nationwide has been declining — not increasing — after an uptick in 2020. As for cities in particular, a survey by the Major Cities Chiefs Association has similarly reported drops in homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault (though there was an increase in some categories in 2021 before declining in 2022 and 2023).
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“Remember Build Back Better? Instead, we got broke, bumbling Biden. Nothing is built, nothing is back and nothing is better. Bridges are collapsing.”
— Donald Trump Jr.
False.
Rhetorical flourishes aside, President Biden’s 2021 infrastructure law included $550 billion in new funding for roads, bridges, rail, airports, the energy grid and other infrastructure projects. According to the Biden administration, the law has led to over 60,000 projects, including more than 10,000 bridges being repaired or rebuilt.
“Somehow, a real estate developer from New York City by the name of Donald J. Trump was right on all of these issues while Biden was wrong.”
— J.D. Vance, Republican nominee for vice president
This is exaggerated.
Mr. Vance cited Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s support of Nafta, China’s entry to the World Trade Organization and the Iraq war as examples of Mr. Biden’s poor judgment. But Mr. Trump also supported the Iraq war.
In 2002, asked whether he supported an invasion, Mr. Trump responded, “Yeah, I guess so.” Mr. Trump spoke out against the war in 2004, a year after it began. It did not stop him from backing President George W. Bush in the 2004 election.
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“Joe Biden is willing to buy energy from tinpot dictators but not hard-working Americans right here at home.”
— J.D. Vance, Republican nominee for vice president
This is false.
Under the Biden administration, the United States is producing more oil than any country ever has. The United States set a record for crude oil production in 2023, outstripping what any country has produced in a year.
Under the Trump administration, the United States for the first time began to export more crude than it imported. Energy experts say that was largely the result of more than a decade of improvements in oil and gas production from hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, and not Donald J. Trump’s deregulatory or pro-drilling agenda.
The United States continues to be a net exporter under the Biden administration: In 2022 the United States exported about 9.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, while importing about 8.3 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. The United States also has imported less oil from the Persian Gulf region under Mr. Biden than under Mr. Trump, according to the E.I.A.