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The first presidential debate annotated

National

Trumptight — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during the presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

By Allison Graves
September 27, 2016

By Joseph Cariz
September 27, 2016

By Katherine Burns
September 27, 2016

By Rachel Tiede
September 27, 2016

We’re annotating the first presidential debate on Medium. See the transcripts and the facts behind what the candidates said here.

Our Sources

Listed inside the Medium annotations.

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Allison Graves

Democratic Governors Association
stated on July 13, 2018 in a post on Medium:

Says Adam Putnam “backed a water bill that gutted water quality regulations.”

By Allison Graves • July 18, 2018

Rick Scott
stated on June 13, 2018 in an ad:

Says Sen. Bill Nelson “voted for higher taxes” 349 times.

By Allison Graves • July 5, 2018

Ron DeSantis
stated on June 28, 2018 in a Fox News debate:

Says Adam Putnam “endorsed the Schumer-Obama Gang of Eight immigration amnesty.”

By Allison Graves • June 29, 2018

Bill Nelson
stated on June 21, 2018 in an ad:

Says he “actually wrote the bipartisan law that makes it illegal to drill off Florida’s coast.”

By Allison Graves • June 29, 2018

Adam Putnam
stated on June 7, 2018 in an interview with Fox News:

Florida taxpayers “pay tens of millions of dollars a year to feed and house in our prison system criminal illegal aliens.”

By Allison Graves • June 26, 2018

New Republican PAC
stated on June 11, 2018 in a political ad:

Says Bill Nelson voted for “cuts to Medicare providers” and voted to weaken “Social Security protections” as a U.S. senator.

By Allison Graves • June 15, 2018

Andrew Gillum
stated on June 20, 2018 in a debate:

Under Philip Levine, Miami Beach “passed a resolution to ban assault rifles, which was not enforceable and never enforced. He passed a resolution to raise the minimum wage, which actually no one got the benefit of because it was not enforced.”

By Allison Graves • June 9, 2018

Florida Democratic Party
stated on June 6, 2018 in in a press release:

“Flip Flop! After opposing term limits for decades, Adam Putnam adopts Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis’ position.”

By Allison Graves • June 8, 2018

Ron DeSantis
stated on June 2, 2018 in during a BBQ :

“The bulk of the problem with the opioid epidemic is the fentanyl and all the synthetic drugs coming across the southern border.”

By Allison Graves • June 7, 2018

Florida House Majority Office
stated on May 17, 2018 in a video:

It is a “myth” that “per-student funding only rose by 47 cents this year.”

By Allison Graves • May 30, 2018

Senate Majority PAC
stated on May 21, 2018 in in an ad:

Says Bill Nelson is “one of America’s most independent senators.”

By Allison Graves • May 24, 2018

Bloggers
stated on May 14, 2018 in a post on Facebook:

“BREAKING NEWS: Donald Trump On His Way To Donate Kidney To Melania Trump.”

By Allison Graves • May 17, 2018

Bloggers
stated on May 15, 2018 in a post on Facebook:

“Legendary Actor Sidney Poitier: Donald Trump might become ‘The Greatest Of All Time.’ ”

By Allison Graves • May 17, 2018

The Collective super PAC
stated on May 11, 2018 in an ad:

Says Gwen Graham “voted against President Obama 52 percent of the time.”

By Allison Graves • May 17, 2018

Bloggers
stated on May 14, 2018 in a post on the Internet:

Says Julia Roberts told Celine Dion, “If you hate Trump you can go in your country.”

By Allison Graves • May 15, 2018

The first presidential debate annotated

Clear

Social Media
stated on August 23, 2026 in social media posts:

Products marked as beef on U.S. store shelves “might just be from a foreign country that was buying horses from the U.S. government for the slaughter.”

By Maria Briceño • August 25, 2026

Jon Husted
stated on August 4, 2026 in a Fox News interview:

When he was a senator, Sherrod Brown “supported Social Security payments for illegals, healthcare for illegals and COVID checks for illegals.”

By Cami Henry-Seymore • August 25, 2026

Byron Donalds
stated on August 8, 2026 in an ad:

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly said he supports “gender-changing surgeries on kids.”

By Samantha Putterman • August 19, 2026

Randy Fine
stated on August 16, 2026 in a fundraising email:

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “requiring ID” to shop at city-run grocery stores.

By Amy Sherman • August 18, 2026

Abdul El-Sayed
stated on August 5, 2026 in an interview:

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers “helped to architect the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic.”

By Caleb McCullough • August 17, 2026

Alexander Vindman
stated on July 27, 2026 in an X post:

Then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody transferred “$10 million in taxpayer money meant for children’s health care to a campaign fund.”

By Samantha Putterman • August 13, 2026

Ron Johnson
stated on August 10, 2026 in a Fox News Digital video:

There is “an 82% miscarriage rate with women who got the (COVID-19 vaccine) injection in the first or second trimester.”

By Caleb McCullough • August 12, 2026

Donald Trump
stated on August 10, 2026 in remarks in the Oval Office:

When the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines are given together in the combined MMR vaccine, “there could be a possibility they’re quite lethal.”

By Amy Sherman, Madison Czopek • August 11, 2026

Donald Trump
stated on August 10, 2026 in remarks while signing an executive order:

There are vaccines the size of a “bottle of soda … poured into a little child’s body.”

By Grace Abels, Louis Jacobson • August 11, 2026

X posts
stated on August 8, 2026 in X posts:

Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed “openly calls for Sharia law in America.”

By Amy Sherman • August 10, 2026

Donald Trump
stated on August 4, 2026 in a Fox News interview:

Prices are “all coming down now. The food, the groceries, it’s all coming down.”

By Louis Jacobson • August 10, 2026

Mike Rogers
stated on August 5, 2026 in a campaign statement:

Abdul El-Sayed “believes America deserved 9/11.”

By Caleb McCullough • August 7, 2026

Byron Donalds
stated on July 22, 2026 in X post:

“Senate Bill 484 ensures that utility rates will not go up due to data centers.”

By Samantha Putterman • August 7, 2026

Seth Moulton
stated on August 5, 2026 in an Instagram post:

“DOJ Epstein files reveal Senator Ed Markey was part of Epstein lobbying effort.”

By Amy Sherman, Caleb McCullough • August 6, 2026

Donald Trump
stated on August 4, 2026 in una entrevista en Fox News :

En Venezuela, “Estamos ganando cientos de miles de millones de dólares (en ingresos petroleros), y ellos también”.

By Louis Jacobson • August 6, 2026

Donald Trump
stated on August 4, 2026 in a Fox News interview:

In Venezuela, “We’re making hundreds of billions of dollars (in oil revenue), and so are they.”

By Louis Jacobson • August 6, 2026

Donald Trump
stated on August 3, 2026 in remarks in the Oval Office:

“There was vandalism” at the Reflecting Pool.

By Amy Sherman, Louis Jacobson • August 4, 2026

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
stated on August 2, 2026 in an interview with Dana Bash on CNN:

The U.S. “had the highest death rate from COVID of any nation on earth.”

By Grace Abels • August 4, 2026

United Democracy Project
stated on July 28, 2026 in an ad:

“With our democracy on the line against Donald Trump in 2024, El-Sayed told Democrats to vote uncommitted — even after Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer warned those efforts would help elect Donald Trump.”

By Gracey Abernethy • July 31, 2026

Haley Stevens
stated on July 27, 2026 in a debate:

“No,” she hasn’t taken money from utility companies for her U.S. Senate campaign.

By Caleb McCullough • July 29, 2026

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The first presidential debate annotated

Our Sources

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Allison Graves

The first presidential debate annotated