PolitiFact | Get the facts from tonight's Senate debate

The Poynter Institute

Facts are under assault in 2020.

We can't fight back misinformation about the election and COVID-19 without you. Support trusted, factual information with a tax deductible contribution to PolitiFact

I would like to contribute

Get the facts from tonight's Senate debate

Virginia

Ed Gillespie, left, and Mark Warner will debate at 7 p.m.

Nancy Madsen

By Nancy Madsen October 13, 2014

PolitiFact Virginia is ready for the third and final U.S. Senate debate tonight between incumbent Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Republican Ed Gillespie.

We'll be live fact-checking the hour-long debate, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Our tweets, from @PolitiFactVA will help viewers quickly discern when the candidates are telling the truth or twisting the facts.

The debate, organized by the League of Women Voters and AARP Virginia. It will be televised and streamed live by WCVE PBS, WTVR-TV, and C-SPAN. We suggest that you make it a two-screen affair: watch the live-streamed event and follow us on your Twitter feed.

And keep following us after the debate -- we’ll have new fact checks on this race up to Election Day on Nov. 4.

If there’s something you would like to see fact-checked, email us your suggestion.

see hyperlinks.

Read About Our Process

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

stated on November 22, 2014 a Facebook post.:

Graduation rates of players at major football colleges "are still twenty points below their male campus peers and worsened in the past three years."

half-true

half-true

stated on November 22, 2014 a Facebook post:

Only 20 colleges and universities "have athletic departments with revenue exceeding expenses."

true

true

stated on November 22, 2014 a Facebook post:

"We have a system now where in 40 states, the highest-paid public employee is the state university’s head football or basketball coach."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on December 2, 2014 a news release.:

"Bill Howell has been the consistent force behind every major tax increase in Virginia in the last decade."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on November 20, 2014 a news release.:

"Every president since Eisenhower has taken executive action to address immigration issues."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on November 12, 2014 a forum:

In rural Virginia, "Sen. Warner ran 8-10 points ahead of a traditional Democrat -- ahead of Senator Kaine, ahead of Governor McAuliffe."

false

false

stated on October 20, 2014 a TV ad.:

Dave Brat said "the best way to fix Social Security would be to give seniors back what they paid in and no more."

barely-true

barely-true

stated on October 28, 2014 a debate:

"In K-12 education, our kids are scoring at the bottom of science and mathematics right now in the industrialized world -- at the bottom."

false

false

stated on October 20, 2014 a TV ad.:

Ed Gillespie’s "firm even lobbied for five foreign governments, including a dictator now awaiting trial for war crimes."

half-true

half-true

stated on September 30, 2014 a TV ad.:

Says PolitiFact has ruled that Ed Gillespie’s ads are false and misleading.

half-true

half-true

National Rifle Association

stated on September 8, 2014 a mailer.:

Says Mark Warner "has supported restrictions on veterans’ second amendment rights."

mostly-true

mostly-true

Democratic Party of Virginia

stated on September 16, 2014 a news release.:

"Hospitals have already begun layoffs, a direct result of Republican inaction" on Medicaid expansion.

half-true

half-true

stated on September 29, 2014:

On opposing legislation that would take away existing health care plans.

half-flip

half-flip

stated on August 13, 2014 a newsletter.:

Virginia Democrats recently enforced voter ID rules that were "considerably more stringent than those contained in the state law they denounce."

half-true

half-true

stated on August 20, 2014 a tweet.:

Pinnacle Overlook in Southwest Virginia is "closer to eight other state capitals than to Richmond."

mostly-true

mostly-true

Roy Cooper
stated on October 14, 2020 in a debate:

Says Dan Forest wants to use tax dollars “to help rich people send their kids to private school using vouchers.”

By Paul Specht • October 21, 2020
Donald Trump
stated on October 20, 2020 in a rally in Erie, Pa.:

“Phony” ballots “were printed without my name on it.”

By Amy Sherman • October 21, 2020
Donald Trump
stated on October 21, 2020 in an ad:

Says Joe Biden repeatedly told Americans he's going to raise their taxes.

By Bill McCarthy • October 21, 2020
Viral image
stated on October 17, 2020 in a Facebook post:

In the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, “the perps were ANTIFA and BLM anarchists.”

By Ciara O'Rourke • October 21, 2020
Gwen Moore
stated on October 20, 2020 in a virtual rally:

You can vote in Wisconsin with a photo ID "even if that ID is expired or you've moved."

By Eric Litke • October 21, 2020
Facebook posts
stated on October 19, 2020 in a Facebook post:

Says Dr. Anthony Fauci wrote a paper blaming 1918-19 flu deaths on masks.

By Samantha Putterman • October 21, 2020
Left Action
stated on October 20, 2020 in a Facebook post:

“Hunter Biden was chairman of the World Food Program, which just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Eric Trump, Donald J Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump are banned from ever operating a charity again because they stole donations to children with cancer."

By Daniel Funke • October 21, 2020
Facebook posts
stated on October 5, 2020 in a Facebook post:

Photo shows Joe Biden next to a man seen in a sex sting video.

By Noah Y. Kim • October 21, 2020
Emails
stated on October 20, 2020 in email threat to Florida Democrats:

Says “we will know which candidate you voted for.”

By Amy Sherman • October 21, 2020
Donald Trump
stated on October 15, 2020 in a town hall on NBC News:

“We saved 2 million people” from dying of COVID-19.

By Victoria Knight • October 21, 2020