The five Democratic candidates will debate Oct. 13, 2015. (AP Photos)
The five Democratic candidates will debate Oct. 13, 2015. (AP Photos)

How have the Democratic candidates fared on the Truth-O-Meter?

The Democratics take the debate stage Oct. 13, 2015. Here's how Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the gang have done so far on the Truth-O-Meter. 

The Latest from PolitiFact

Half-True

Polling's tough but it's not this bad yet

Steve Deace
Steve Deace

Pollsters say "don't actually believe our own data" and Gallup stopped primary polling "because they don't trust their methodology."  

— PunditFact

Mostly True

And the Benghazi committee makes 8

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton

"There have been seven investigations (of Benghazi) led mostly by Republicans in the Congress" that concluded "nobody did anything wrong, but there were changes we could make."

Mostly True

For sure since 1980

Bee Moorhead
Bee Moorhead

Texas has "outstripped the national poverty rate" since "at least 1959."

— PolitiFact Texas

Mostly True

The worst months out of very bad year

Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Debbie Wasserman Schultz

"When we had a conservative Republican president we were losing 750,000 jobs a month."  

False

Disinvited to the party? Not by Dent

Dave Brat
Dave Brat

Says Republican Rep. Charlie Dent wants to kick the Freedom Caucus out of the Republican conference "for voting our conscience."     

Half-True

A data point that shouldn't weigh into the discussion

Matt Gaetz
Matt Gaetz

"In the states that allow open carry, violent crime was 23 percent lower."  

— PolitiFact Florida

Pants on Fire!

There was no 1968 bad guys club

Ben Carson
Ben Carson

"In the class of 1968 at Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, Mahmoud Abbas was one of the members of that class, and so was Ali Khamenei. And that's where they first established relationships with the young Vladimir Putin."

Mostly True

Recycled claim, with an overheated twist

League of Conservation Voters
League of Conservation Voters

Says U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson "led the fight to let polluters release unlimited amounts of carbon pollution and took nearly $225,000 from polluters."

— PolitiFact Wisconsin

Half-True

Depends on your definition of mass shooting

Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Debbie Wasserman Schultz

"380 Americans have been killed in 294 mass shootings in 2015 alone."  

— PolitiFact Florida

Mostly True

Only "willful" violation leads to license loss

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton

"While 38 percent of (firearms) dealers that were inspected in 2011 were noncompliant with federal law, only 0.05 percent of inspected dealers had their licenses revoked."

Full Flop

No longer the "gold standard"

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton

On the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Mostly True

Planned Parenthood affiliates, not the organization itself

Sean Duffy
Sean Duffy

"Millions of dollars are spent by Planned Parenthood to elect Democrats to the House of Representatives and the Senate."  

— PolitiFact Wisconsin

Pants on Fire!

Made in the USA

Tweets
Tweets

Says Donald Trump’s "Make America Great Again" hats were made in China.

— PunditFact

True

He's proud of it

Club for Growth
Club for Growth

Says Donald Trump "supports eminent domain" and the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision. 

False

State affiliates don't donate fetal tissue

John Stemberger
John Stemberger

Planned Parenthood has "now (been) found to also illegally sell baby parts."

— PolitiFact Florida

Mostly True

Private arbitrator, not state commission, made decision

Scott Walker
Scott Walker

A state agency wanted to fire an employee who spent four hours per day watching pornography, but the state "employment commission reinstated the person."

— PolitiFact Wisconsin

Pants on Fire!

What would Kanye drive?

Viral image
Viral image

Pope Francis uses a modest compact car to get around, while Creflo Dollar drives an expensive sports car.

— PolitiFact Georgia

Mostly True

When measured as a percentage of GDP

Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Today, the deficit is "below the average deficits over the past 40 years."

Mostly True

A correlation, but maybe not causation

Barack Obama
Barack Obama

"States with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths."

Pants on Fire!

Backup 'gibberish'

Dan Patrick
Dan Patrick

"100 percent of the crime is committed, in estimate, by about 15 percent of the population."

— PolitiFact Texas