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Tonight: Follow our debate coverage on Twitter

National
Bill Adair
By Bill Adair
October 1, 2008

A team of PolitiFact reporters and editors will be fact-checking tonight’s debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. We’ll be doing our usual Truth-O-Meter items, plus we’ll also be doing live coverage on Twitter during the debate.

You can follow us on Twitter at

www.twitter.com/politifact

.

If you hear something you’d like us to check, send us a Twitter message.

Our Sources

Follow us on Twitter.

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Bill Adair
Kay Hagan
stated on October 7, 2014 in a debate :
“The Common Core was not put together by the Department of Education in Washington. It was put together by governors and by states.”  
Mostly True
By Bill Adair, Tom Kertscher • October 8, 2014
Kay Hagan
stated on October 3, 2014 in a news release:
Says Thom Tillis “refuses to say what we should do to combat ISIS.”
Mostly True
By Bill Adair, Shaker Samman • October 7, 2014
Protect Oregon Driver Licenses
stated on April 21, 2013 in a campaign website statement:
Gov. Kitzhaber oversaw creation of the Oregon driver card law “behind closed doors without allowing any input from citizens who represent the public interest.”
Mostly False
By Bill Adair • August 13, 2014
John Kitzhaber
stated on July 18, 2014 in a campaign debate:
Oregon “is the most trade-dependent state in the nation”
False
By Bill Adair • July 25, 2014
Donald Rumsfeld
stated on February 17, 2013 in an op-ed in the "Washington Post":
Says wrestling was a favorite sport of Abraham Lincoln.
True
By Bill Adair • February 18, 2013
Chain email
stated on June 26, 2012 in a message forwarded to many people:
Says “a lip-reading instructor at the River School, a Washington, D.C., school for the deaf” has determined that during 9/11 ceremonies, Michelle Obama said, “All this for a damn flag.”
Pants on Fire!
By Bill Adair • June 26, 2012
Rick Perry
stated on January 8, 2012 in a Republican debate in New Hampshire.:
Says President Barack Obama “is a socialist.”
Pants on Fire!
By Bill Adair • January 8, 2012
Michele Bachmann
stated on November 22, 2011 in a Republican debate in Washington:
Says Apple CEO Steve Jobs told President Obama that the company moved factories to China because it needed 30,000 engineers.
True
By Bill Adair • November 23, 2011
Republican Party of Florida
stated on March 19, 2010 in a news release:
The Democratic health care plan is a “government takeover of nearly 20 percent of our economy.”
Pants on Fire!
By Bill Adair • March 19, 2010
Charlie Crist
stated on March 2, 2010 in the State of the State address:
Cover Florida “is available to any Floridian, offering basic coverage for about $150 a month, instead of the typical $600 a month.”
Mostly False
By Bill Adair, John Frank • March 3, 2010
C.W. Bill Young
stated on February 20, 2010 in a speech to Pinellas County Republicans.:
The Democratic health care plan is a “government takeover of our health programs.”
Pants on Fire!
By Bill Adair • February 25, 2010
Tom Price
stated on January 29, 2010 in a Republican retreat in Baltimore:
“Mr. President, multiple times from your administration there have come statements that Republicans have no ideas and no solutions” on health care.
True
By Bill Adair • January 29, 2010
Barack Obama
stated on January 27, 2010 in his State of the Union address:
The “pay-as-you-go law … was a big reason why we had record surpluses in the 1990s.”
Half-True
By Bill Adair, Louis Jacobson • January 28, 2010
Dick Cheney
stated on December 30, 2009 in a statement to Politico.:
President Obama “doesn’t … want to admit we’re at war.”
Pants on Fire!
By Bill Adair • January 3, 2010
Barack Obama
stated on September 20, 2009 in an interview on Meet the Press:
“Mathematically, the White Sox can still get in the playoffs.”
True
By Bill Adair • September 20, 2009

Tonight: Follow our debate coverage on Twitter

Clear
Phil Berger
stated on October 7, 2026 in comments:
Suspending North Carolina’s gas tax
Full Flop
By Paul Specht • October 7, 2026
Zach Nunn
stated on September 8, 2026 in a social media post:
“We have cut the largest taxes in U.S. history.”
Mostly False
By Isabella Tisdale • October 7, 2026
Senate Leadership Fund
stated on September 22, 2026 in an ad:
Iowa U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Josh Turek “supports amnesty for illegals.”
Half-True
By Caleb McCullough • October 7, 2026
Markwayne Mullin
stated on October 1, 2026 in a speech at a rally in Oklahoma:
For President Donald Trump, “there’s no financial gain like the past presidents have had. It’s cost him to be in office.”
Pants on Fire!
By Louis Jacobson • October 5, 2026
Donald Trump
stated on October 4, 2026 in a Truth Social post:
Brazil’s quick election results are proof that places like Detroit, Philadelphia and California “take weeks to rig” their elections.
Pants on Fire!
By Amy Sherman • October 5, 2026
Donald Trump
stated on September 21, 2026 in an X post:
Roy Cooper was “in New York speaking at a New York Times ‘Climate Forward’ event” when Hurricane “Helene slammed into North Carolina.”
False
By Paul Specht • October 5, 2026
WinSenate
stated on September 25, 2026 in an ad:
Iowa Republican Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson voted against releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Mostly False
By Loreben Tuquero • October 2, 2026
Donald Trump
stated on October 1, 2026 in a Truth Social post:
“I stated, numerous times, that it would take 4-6 weeks to get rid of THE IRAN NUCLEAR THREAT, and I did it in one night!”
False
By Amy Sherman, Maria Briceño • October 2, 2026
TikTok posts
stated on September 28, 2026 in a post:
These videos show scenes of alleged sexual assault at Cornell University.
Pants on Fire!
By Jeff Cercone • October 1, 2026
Byron Donalds
stated on September 28, 2026 in an ad:
“Just months after” the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, David Jolly “was in Washington, pressuring Congress to expand drilling off the Florida coast, over $5 million in billings.”
Mostly False
By Samantha Putterman • October 1, 2026
Senate Leadership Fund
stated on September 16, 2026 in an ad:
Sherrod Brown supports “forcing childhood sex change surgery.”
False
By Louis Jacobson • October 1, 2026
John E. Sununu
stated on September 8, 2026 in his primary night victory speech:
“Chris Pappas voted to raise taxes 68 times. Every tax vote he’s made was to raise taxes.”
False
By Louis Jacobson • October 1, 2026
Mike Rogers
stated on September 24, 2026 in a TV interview:
Abdul El-Sayed “could not condemn the terrorist who tried to attack and kill 140 Jewish children right here in Michigan.”
Mostly False
By Caleb McCullough • October 1, 2026
Ashley Hinson
stated on September 2, 2026 in a social media post:
Iowa Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek “skipped 58% of the votes at the Statehouse this year.”
True
By Anna Mitchell • September 30, 2026
Mike Rogers
stated on September 23, 2026 in an X post:
“Abdul El-Sayed supports defunding the police and emptying prisons.”
Mostly False
By Caleb McCullough • September 28, 2026
WinSenate
stated on September 24, 2026 in an ad:
Sen. Susan Collins “voted to cover up the Epstein files” and Jeffrey Epstein’s “business partner funneled $3 million” to a Collins super PAC.
False
By Amy Sherman • September 28, 2026
Rob Sand
stated on August 24, 2026 in an ad:
Iowa once had “the best public schools in the country,” but is now “in the bottom half.”
Half-True
By Grace Olson • September 24, 2026
Republican National Committee
stated on September 2, 2026 in an X post:
“54% of North Carolina commercial driver’s licenses were issued illegally to foreign nationals.”
False
By Paul Specht • September 24, 2026
Texas PAC
stated on September 11, 2026 in an ad :
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico “supported using taxpayer dollars for sex change surgeries on young children.”
False
By Ben Brasch • September 24, 2026
Chris Pappas
stated on September 15, 2026 in a press release:
New Hampshire Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Sununu “led efforts to privatize Social Security.”
Mostly True
By Louis Jacobson • September 23, 2026
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