CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews four claims from the third and final presidential debate in his latest fact-checking video as part of our weekly series with the host of “State of the Union.”
Donald Trump denied saying that the women who have accused him of sexual harassment are “not attractive enough for them to be assaulted.” Trump did not use those words, but he did make that suggestion.
For example, Trump said of one woman: “Take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so.” Of another woman, Trump said: “Yeah, I’m gonna go after her. Believe me, she would not be my first choice.”
Trump also wrongly said that $6 billion was “missing” from the State Department when Clinton was secretary of state. The State Department’s Office of the Inspector General said that department records of $6 billion in contracts — not the money — were missing or incomplete.
For her part, Clinton claimed that her campaign proposals would “not add a penny to the debt,” while Trump’s tax cuts would “add $20 trillion to the debt.” However, the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that what she has detailed thus far would add $200 billion to the debt over 10 years and Trump’s proposals would add $5.3 trillion to the debt over 10 years, which is the time frame traditionally used when producing budget estimates.
The $20 trillion figure used by Clinton is an estimate by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center for what Trump’s tax plan alone would add to the debt. But that’s over 20 years, not 10 years, and it doesn’t account for Trump’s spending cuts.
The video is based on our debate stories, “FactChecking the Final Presidential Debate” and “Clinton’s Misleading Debt Claims.” Previous videos, as part of our collaboration with Tapper, can be found on our website.