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Romney, Obama and fact-checking the town-hall debate

Texas

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (left) and President Barack Obama (right) mix it up during the Oct. 16, 2012, debate in New York.

Becky Bowers

By Becky Bowers October 17, 2012

PolitiFact in Washington checked the second preidential debate of 2012. This one was a town hall format at Hofstra University in New York.

How did things turn out? Go ahead and click here to view the updated PolitiFact story.

Debate No. 3 between the two occurs on Oct. 22, 2012, with a focus on foreign affairs.

See updated story at PolitiFact.com.

stated on October 15, 2013 in an email and social media posts:

Congressional lawmakers earn their salaries "FOR LIFE," which for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi would add up to "$803,700 Dollars a year for LIFE including FREE medical."

pants-fire

pants-fire

Louise Slaughter

stated on October 9, 2013 in an interview on MSNBC:

"Eighty percent of the antibiotics in this country are fed to livestock."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on September 27, 2013 in blog posts:

"Obama Declares November National Muslim Appreciation Month."

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on September 22, 2013 in a roundtable on ABC’s “This Week”:

Under economic sanctions, "now Iran is suffering 30 percent inflation, 20 percent unemployment."

mostly-true

mostly-true

Betsy McCaughey

stated on September 15, 2013 in the New York Post:

"Obamacare will question your sex life."

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on September 13, 2013 in a discussion on CNN's "Crossfire":

"The CDC issued a report commissioned by President Obama just earlier this year, and it found some very inconvenient facts. Armed citizens are less likely harmed by attackers. Effectiveness of gun control laws is mixed. Gun buybacks don't work."

half-true

half-true

stated on September 13, 2013 in posts on the Internet:

Warren Buffett recently said "Scrap Obamacare and Start All Over."

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on September 5, 2013 in an interview on MSNBC’s “All In”:

Says he "opposed the president’s decision to go into Iraq" in 2003.

barely-true

barely-true

stated on September 4, 2013 in an interview on Fox Business Network:

Chemical weapons have been used "probably 20 times" since the Persian Gulf War.

barely-true

barely-true

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

stated on September 2, 2013 in a CNN interview:

Says there's a "100-year-old international norm not to use chemical weapons."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on August 15, 2013 in blog posts:

Obamacare provision will allow "forced home inspections" by government agents.

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on August 10, 2013 in a speech to the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa:

Says "President Obama just granted all of Congress an exception" to Obamacare.

false

false

stated on August 1, 2013 in a letter with other Florida lawmakers to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:

Says Florida refused to allow the insurance commissioner to "negotiate lower rates with companies or refuse rates that are too high" under Obamacare.

true

true

stated on July 30, 2013 in an MSNBC interview:

Says about NSA data collection: "Every member in both parties who served on the Intelligence Committee voted in favor of this."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on July 25, 2013 in a FoxNews.com op-ed:

Under Obamacare, "75 percent of small businesses now say they are going to be forced to either fire workers or cut their hours."

pants-fire

pants-fire

Donald Trump
stated on April 16, 2024 in statement to the media in New York City:

“This trial that I have now, that’s a Biden trial.”

By Amy Sherman • April 19, 2024
X posts
stated on April 18, 2024 in an X post:

Video shows hecklers April 16 booing Joe Biden’s motorcade in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

By Jeff Cercone • April 19, 2024
Facebook posts
stated on April 12, 2024 in a post:

Michelle Obama announced she is "running for President in 2024 as a man."

By Grace Abels • April 19, 2024
Threads posts
stated on April 18, 2024 in a Threads post:

Former President Donald Trump didn’t attend daughter Ivanka Trump’s graduation.

By Ciara O'Rourke • April 19, 2024
Kamala Harris
stated on April 15, 2024 in a moderated conversation:

“As many as 75% of school shootings resulted from a gun that was not secured.”

By Samantha Putterman • April 19, 2024
Viral image
stated on April 13, 2024 in a Facebook post:

“BREAKING: Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Russia will support Iran if the United States attacks Iran’s soil in support of Israel.”

By Ciara O'Rourke • April 19, 2024
Stephen King
stated on April 15, 2024 in an X post:

“The 1864 Arizona law forbidding abortions, upheld by the State Supreme Court, also sets the age of consent for females at 10 years.”

By Sofia Ahmed • April 19, 2024
National Center for Public Policy Research .
stated on April 5, 2024 in Proxy statement:

"Kohl’s has contributed $1,000,000 to the (Black Lives Matter) movement and related causes since 2020."

By Ricardo Torres • April 19, 2024
Instagram posts
stated on April 13, 2024 in una publicación en Instagram:

Video muestra a Israel "bajo ataque desde Yemen, Iraq, el libano y Irán".

By Maria Briceño • April 19, 2024
Facebook posts
stated on April 15, 2024 in a Facebook post:

The government owes you $8,832 and a $2,000 spending card.

By Jeff Cercone • April 18, 2024