The first presidential debate between major party candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump aired Monday night after months of build up. The two-hour long debate provided the candidates the opportunity to talk about their policies, their differences and why they should be elected Nov. 8.
Here’s a look at some of tonight’s major claims and their veracity:
Clinton and Trade agreements
Trump went after Clinton’s record on supporting trade agreements, specifically the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trump said that she called the TPP, which could be the largest trade agreement in history and include countries with developed economies, like the U.S., and developing economies, like Singapore, the “gold standard” in trade agreements. That’s true — as Secretary of State she said the partnership, which she now opposes, could be the gold standard of trade agreements, but her opinion shifted between the first deliberations on the bill and the first primary debate.
She credits her change in opinion to “absorbing new information,” she said during the Oct. 13, 2015 primary. Citing her hopes for building the economy and growing the middle class, Clinton said that she could not support that agreement.
Trump and Iraq
Trump’s record on the Iraq war invasion also came up during the debate as the candidates talked about security and the Middle East. Clinton said that Trump supported the 2002 invasion of Iraq — to which Trump replied with a hearty “wrong.”
In an interview with Howard Stern a year after 9/11, Trump said he did support the invasion — “yeah, I guess so” — and that he wished it was done correctly the first time.
Clinton & ISIS
While talking about the security of the U.S., as well as fight against ISIS, Trump said that Clinton and Obama are directly responsible for the growth of ISIS in the Middle East. Trump said that Clinton “tells you how to fight ISIS on her website.”
A look at the national security portion of her site does show a game plan, but the content of her plan is specific and concise without giving too many details away (no dates, no maps, no
blueprints etc.). Just as Trump’s website goes into detail about foreign policy and the fight against ISIS, so does Clinton’s site.
Trump on Climate Change
During the segment on climate change and how to address it, Clinton said that Trump views climate change as a concept created by China, which the candidate took fault with. However, Trump tweeted something along those lines in 2012.
The next presidential debate is Oct. 9 and will take the form of a town hall meeting, which means more crowd input and questions.