Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

$

Live fact-check: Ed Markey, Seth Moulton debate in MA Senate Democratic primary

2026 Midterms
Markey-Moulton composite for debate 7-8-26
Ed Markey, left, and Seth Moulton, right, are competing in the 2026 Massachusetts Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. (AP)
By PolitiFact Staff
August 3, 2026

Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Seth Moulton will debate ahead of the Sept. 1. Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Monday, Aug. 3, at 7 p.m. at the Boston 25 studios in Dedham, Massachusetts.

The debate will be moderated by Boston 25 news anchor Kerry Kavanaugh and GBH politics reporter Adam Reilly.

PolitiFact will fact-check the debate in real time in collaboration with our Massachusetts partner, WCVB. We fact-checked the Democrats’ first debate in July.


Our Sources

See links in live blog.

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by PolitiFact Staff
Donald Trump
stated on December 8, 2021 in an interview with Hugh Hewitt:
Gas prices were “$1.86 when I left” the White House.
False
By PolitiFact Staff • December 8, 2021
Louise Slaughter
stated on September 5, 2017 in a tweet:
Rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program “will harm our economy.”
True
By PolitiFact Staff • September 10, 2017
Bloggers
stated on March 2, 2017 in a headline:
“Doctors who discovered cancer enzymes in vaccines all found murdered.”
Pants on Fire!
By PolitiFact Staff • April 4, 2017
David Menchetti
stated on November 28, 2016 in testimony before the Illinois House Labor and Commerce Committee:
“The causation standard in Indiana is exactly the same as it is in Illinois.”
True
By PolitiFact Staff • December 19, 2016
Kasim Reed
stated on September 16, 2016 in a White House press conference:
“If you look at any real analysis,” the Trans-Pacific Partnership is “going to generate better-paying jobs that are more stable.”
Half-True
By PolitiFact Staff • September 30, 2016
Kasim Reed
stated on November 17, 2015 in press release:
While the smoking rate nationally has fallen, more than 18 percent of Georgians still light up.  
Mostly True
By PolitiFact Staff • November 30, 2015
NextGen Climate Action Committee
stated on August 8, 2014 in a campaign ad:
Says Rick Scott “is letting Duke (Energy) keep collecting billions” despite troubled power plants.
Half-True
By PolitiFact Staff • August 13, 2014
Georgia Department of Transportation
stated on July 19, 2011 in a press release:
The Northwest Corridor highway project in Cobb and Cherokee counties “is expected to create over 9,700 jobs statewide.”
False
By PolitiFact Staff • August 10, 2011
Republican National Committee
stated on June 5, 2008 in in a news release:
Obama couldn’t have afforded his home without Rezko’s help.
False
By PolitiFact Staff • June 17, 2008

Live fact-check: Ed Markey, Seth Moulton debate in MA Senate Democratic primary

Clear
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
Jon Ossoff
stated on June 27, 2026 in a campaign speech:
President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Mike Collins “doubled health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians and threw 300,000 Georgians off their insurance altogether.”
Mostly True
By Ben Brasch • July 16, 2026
Donald Trump
stated on July 8, 2026 in remarks at a press conference:
The AI industry needs “more energy than the entire country produces right now … In fact some people say almost double.”
Mostly False
By Louis Jacobson • July 14, 2026
X posts
stated on July 12, 2026 in X posts:
A photo showing Mitch McConnell and his wife is from his 2023 hospitalization or is AI generated.
False
By Caleb McCullough • July 13, 2026
Donald Trump
stated on July 8, 2026 in remarks to reporters:
President Joe Biden “raised the cost of housing by 40 and 50% — the cost of (a) rental — because they were housing illegal aliens in all of those empty units.”
Mostly False
By Carsten Oyer • July 10, 2026
Load More