US jobs, soaring crimes, immigrants: Fact-checking Trump and Harris' false, misleading claims during first face-off

In their first and perhaps only debate, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris described the state of the country in starkly different terms. Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025 HARRIS: “What you’re going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected again.” THE FACTS: Trump has said he doesn’t know about Project 2025, a controversial blueprint for another Republican presidential administration. Trump's taxing and spending plan examined HARRIS: “What the Wharton School has said is Donald Trump’s plan would actually explode the deficit.” THE TRUTH: The Penn-Wharton Budget Model did find that Trump’s tax and spending plans would significantly expand the deficit by $5.8 trillion over ten years. Trump misrepresents crime statistics TRUMP, criticizing the Biden administration: “Crime is through the roof.” THE FACTS: In fact, FBI data has shown a downward trend in violent crime since a coronavirus pandemic spike. Trump endorses false rumor about immigrants eating pets TRUMP: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats… They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” THE FACTS: There’s no evidence to support the claim, which Trump and his campaign have used to argue immigrants are committing crimes at a higher rate than others.