In one of the more memorable exchanges of the Republican debate, Sen. Marco Rubio said he was “puzzled” by Sen. Ted Cruz’s attacks on his immigration position, because Cruz himself “supports[s] legalizing people who are in this country illegally.”
The Republican field meets for its final debate of 2015.
This week’s fact-checking video by CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews Sen. Marco Rubio’s claim about the U.S. government’s terrorist watch lists.
Sen. Ted Cruz falsely claims the 2013 immigration bill Sen. Marco Rubio co-sponsored “would have dramatically expanded President Obama’s authority to admit Syrian refugees with no background checks whatsoever,” making it “easier to bring Syrian Muslim refugees” to the U.S.
A Democratic super PAC claims that Republican candidates for president are “all on the same page” with Donald Trump. But the ad invites a false conclusion that both Marco Rubio and Trump favor deporting millions of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
Several Republican presidential candidates cite Ted Kennedy as a reason why they oppose President Obama’s proposal to block the sale of guns to known or suspected terrorists on the no-fly list. But the TSA says it’s a “myth” that Kennedy was on the no-fly list.
Sen. Marco Rubio vastly overstated the number of Americans on government terrorist watch lists. He said there are “700,000 Americans on some watch list,” but the number is actually in the tens of thousands.
The fourth Republican presidential debate featured fewer candidates, but no shortage of factual missteps.
Jeb Bush derided the legislative accomplishments of GOP primary rivals, Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, saying they “have a combined two bills that became law that they’ve sponsored.” True, but he ignores the way things work in the Senate.
Several Republicans have claimed that business deaths outnumber business births in the U.S. That was accurate for individual firms for 2009 to 2011, but no longer.