How PolitiFact is covering Election 2024

American voters will head to the polls Nov. 5 to choose their next president and representatives in Congress, state capitals and city halls. PolitiFact’s mission in this moment is to give people the information they need to govern themselves.

Specifically: At PolitiFact, our Election 2024 mission is to hold politicians and pundits accountable to the truth and to share the facts so you can be an informed participant in the 2024 election.

This is the fifth presidential election PolitiFact has covered. And there are some things you can come to expect from our independent, nonprofit newsroom:

1. We listen to you. PolitiFact pursues reader-suggested fact-checks. The best way to suggest a fact-check is to email [email protected]. We think of readers as our eyes and ears on the ground and we’re grateful for your suggestions.

2. When candidates make campaign promises, we remember them. We are committed to tracking the major campaign promises of the next president, something we’ve done since Barack Obama took office in 2009. Besides the Obameter, you can read our promise trackers for Joe Biden and Donald Trump. 

3. PolitiFact fact-checks debates. When the presidential candidates meet one on one, PolitiFact journalists show up in force to analyze their assertions in real time. We offer contemporaneous coverage on a live blog and our social media channels. We publish new fact-checks and analysis after the debates. And, if you want to catch up on your own time, we recap the highlights in our newsletters and publish videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Here’s how we covered the June 27 presidential debate between Trump and Biden. 

4. PolitiFact may not always be first to respond to the news. You’ll notice we don’t normally publish breaking news. We don’t participate in horse race coverage that covers who’s up, who’s down. We don’t do the "he said, she said" unless it’s a fact-check. That’s because our journalists are carefully selecting claims, running the numbers, speaking with experts and thoughtfully weighing the claims’ accuracy using our Truth-O-Meter rating system. Learn more about our on-the-record sourcing and rating system.

5. There’s some claims we won’t check. We don’t check opinions, and we recognize that speechmaking and political rhetoric leaves license for hyperbole. We avoid minor "gotchas" on claims that are obviously a slip of the tongue. 

6. We can’t fact-check it all, so we have to be choosy. Very often, we let these questions guide what we fact-check: 1) Is the statement likely to be passed on and repeated by others? 2) Would someone hear or read the statement and wonder: Is that true?

We know it can be hard to follow who said what and figure out if it’s even true. PolitiFact’s goal is to publish helpful journalism that holds politicians and disinformers accountable.

Support the truth today with a donation to our independent, nonprofit newsroom.

What is PolitiFact’s role?

We serve our readers by providing facts and calling out spin in U.S. politics. The 2024 election is our fifth presidential election since our founding in 2007.

PolitiFact fact-checks statements of people in power, regardless of political party. We’ve rated claims with a variety of Truth-O-Meter ratings from the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, and the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. This is how we choose claims to check. 

We also fact-check viral political claims from social media and hold influential pundits to account.

How accurate is Kamala Harris?

PolitiFact has fact-checked Harris more than 45 times since 2012. About 41% of her claims have landed on our rating scale’s bottom half: Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire!

Here’s a look at Harris’ fact-checked comments on topics including abortion and the economy and the 2024 Republican presidential tickets, Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

How accurate is Donald Trump? 

PolitiFact has fact-checked Trump more than 1,000 times since 2011, with an uptick in 2015, with his surprise primary ascent and his 2016 defeat of Hillary Clinton. About 76% of his claims have landed on our rating scale’s bottom half: Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire! 

Here’s a look at Trump’s fact-checked comments on topics including immigration, the economy, the 2020 election and more.

What goes into a fact-check? 

A carefully selected statement, on-the-record sourcing and a Truth-O-Meter rating a panel of editors determines. Learn more about our process and rating system. 

How do you live fact-check debates? 

We have a deep archive of fact-checked statements to tap during debates. When we hear a checkable and dubious claim, we’ll first check our database and ask,  "Is this something we’ve seen before?" "What does the information say?" "Has that information changed?"

If there’s a match to our previous coverage, we’ll let you know almost immediately via our live blog and other social media.

Our debate night ratings look instant, but we’re usually drawing on reporting that can take one or two days — or longer — to complete.

Our team is carefully selecting claims we hear, running the numbers, speaking with experts and thoughtfully weighing the accuracy of the claim using our Truth-O-Meter rating system. Learn more about our on-the-record sourcing and rating system.

Are you funded by a political party? Who pays for PolitiFact?

Our nonprofit, independent newsroom is funded through grants, partnerships, advertising and donations from readers like you. 

We don’t accept donations from anonymous sources; political parties; elected officials or candidates; or any other source we would consider a conflict of interest. We disclose any donation that exceeds $1,000 on our website. 

Most importantly, no one who gives PolitiFact money tells us what to check or how to rate it. Our contracts and grant agreements have clauses asserting our editorial independence.

How do you decide what to fact-check? 

We select statements about topics that are in the news. Without keeping count, we try to select facts to check from both Democrats and Republicans. At the same time, we more often fact-check the party that holds power or people who repeatedly make attention-getting or misleading statements.

When we're deciding whether we should check a statement, we consider a few different questions:

• Is the statement rooted in a fact that is verifiable? We don’t check opinions, and we recognize that in the world of speechmaking and political rhetoric, there is license for hyperbole.

• Does the statement seem misleading or sound wrong?

• Is the statement significant? We avoid minor "gotchas" on claims that are obviously a slip of the tongue.

• Is the statement likely to be passed on and repeated by others?

• Would a typical person hear or read the statement and wonder: Is that true?

How long have you been fact-checking? 

PolitFact was born  in an election year and has been in the game for more than 16 years. At the Saint Petersburg Times in 2007, there was a desire to skip the horse race politics and avoid the simple regurgitation of political talking points from the primary campaign trail. 

So, our founders said, "What if we could identify the salient claims from candidates, and deliver on our audience’s question: ‘Is that true?’" Since then, PolitiFact’s journalists have committed to sorting through rhetoric to give readers the facts about what they’re hearing from politicians.

Read more: 

PolitiFact fact-checks and stories on elections

Fact-Check Scorecards: 

Republican Donald Trump (VP pick JD Vance)

Democrat Kamala Harris (VP pick Tim Walz)