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PolitiFact’s annotated vice presidential debate

National
Table tight
Gov. Mike Pence, right, speaks as Sen. Tim Kaine listens during the vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (Andrew Gombert/Pool vi
Allison Graves
By Allison Graves
October 5, 2016
By Joseph Cariz
October 5, 2016
By Katherine Burns
October 5, 2016
By Rachel Tiede
October 5, 2016

PolitiFact’s writers annotated the transcript of the vice presidential debate on Medium. Read the transcript of the debate with our analysis and fact-checks by clicking here.

Our Sources

Listed in the annotation

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.”
Half-True
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.
False
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.”
Mostly True
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.”
Mostly True
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.”
Mostly False
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.
Mostly False
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.”  
Mostly True
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.”
Half-True
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.”  
Half-True
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.”
Mostly False
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.”
Half-True
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.”
Pants on Fire!
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.’ ”  
Pants on Fire!
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.”
Half-True
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.”
Pants on Fire!
By Allison Graves • May 15, 2018

PolitiFact’s annotated vice presidential debate

Clear
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.”
Pants on Fire!
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.”
Mostly False
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.”
Pants on Fire!
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.”
Half-True
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.”
Mostly False
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”.
False
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.”
False
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.
False
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.”
False
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.”
Half-True
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.
Mostly False
By Caleb McCullough • July 29, 2026
James Fishback
stated on July 23, 2026 in X post:
The U.S. Congress just “voted to merge our military with Israel’s military.”
False
By Samantha Putterman • July 29, 2026
Senate Leadership Fund
stated on July 25, 2026 in an ad:
Maine Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson hit a female colleague.
False
By Amy Sherman • July 28, 2026
Mike Collins
stated on July 21, 2026 in an X post:
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff “voted against the Laken Riley Act.”
False
By Ben Brasch • July 28, 2026
Social Media
stated on July 14, 2026 in publicaciones en redes sociales:
“El Congreso acaba de elegir la única versión de reforma horaria que Estados Unidos ya probó, odio y derogó”.
True
By Alex Min • July 27, 2026
Abdul El-Sayed
stated on July 6, 2026 in an interview:
A Michigan Senate primary poll “seems to be funded by AIPAC.”
False
By Caleb McCullough • July 24, 2026
Donald Trump
stated on July 22, 2026 in a speech in Georgia:
“They caught thousands of votes in New Jersey where illegal aliens were allowed to vote. Thousands and thousands.”
Mostly False
By Amy Sherman, Louis Jacobson • July 24, 2026
Republican National Committee
stated on July 3, 2026 in a post on X:
New York Democrats are communists for “trying to force” New Yorkers to conserve energy.
Pants on Fire!
By Jill Terreri Ramos • July 24, 2026
Social Media
stated on July 14, 2026 in a social media post:
“Congress just picked the one version of clock reform America has already tried, hated, and repealed.”
True
By Alex Min • July 20, 2026
Sherrod Brown
stated on July 1, 2026 in an X post:
Since the passage of the “Jon Husted-backed” HB 6, Ohioans’ residential utility rates have gone up $663 a year.
Half-True
By Gracey Abernethy • July 20, 2026
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