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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton debated for the second time on Oct. 9, 2016, at Washington University in St. Louis. We fact-checked 15 claims from the debate and cross-referenced an additional 9 statements that were similar to previous fact-checks to see how the candidates compared on the Truth-O-Meter. See the full scorecard below followed by brief summaries of the fact-checks that make up the scorecard.
Hillary Clinton
True - 4 fact-checks
Clinton said during the second presidential debate, "Right now we are at 90 percent health insurance covered. That's the highest we've ever been in our country." We rated this True.
Clinton said Trump’s tax plan gives the wealthy and corporations "more than the Bush tax cuts by at least a factor of two." We rated this True.
Clinton said, "We've had Muslims in America since George Washington." We rated this True.
Clinton said, "You can look at the propaganda on a lot of the terrorists sites, and what Donald Trump says about Muslims is used to recruit fighters." We rated this True.
Mostly True - 2 fact-checks
Clinton said, "I’ve heard from lots of teachers and parents about some of their concerns about some of the things that are being said and done in this campaign." Previously she has said "Parents and teachers are already worrying about what they call the ‘Trump Effect.’ They report that bullying and harassment are on the rise in our schools, especially targeting students of color, Muslims and immigrants." We rated this Mostly True.
Clinton said, "Eight million kids every year have health insurance, because when I was first lady I worked with Democrats and Republicans to create the Children’s Health Insurance Program." In a TV ad, she said she won "health care for 8 million children." We rated this Mostly True.
Half True - 1 fact-check
Clinton said that she "negotiated a treaty with Russia to lower nuclear weapons." We looked at this claim at the last debate. Clinton overstated the impact of New START on Russia’s nuclear arsenal. We rated it Half True.
Mostly False - 1 fact-check
Clinton said, "I was gone," when there was a red line against Syria. We rated this Mostly False.
False - 1 fact-check
Clinton said, "We are now, for the first time ever, energy independent." We rated this False.
Donald Trump
True - 2 fact-checks
Trump said during the debate, "Last year, we had almost $800 billion trade deficit." He has made this claim previously and we rated it True.
Trump said, "Hillary Clinton wants to allow a 550 percent increase over Obama." We’ve previously rated this claim True.
Mostly True - 3 fact-checks
Trump said "We have an increase in murder within our cities, the biggest in 45 years." We rated this Mostly True.
Trump said that "Hillary was going to bring back jobs to upstate New York, and she failed." He previously claimed Clinton "promised, running for the Senate years ago, 200,000 jobs for upstate New York. ... Not only didn't they come, but they lost so many jobs." We rated this Mostly True.
Trump said Clinton "called (TPP) the gold standard." He made this claim in the first debate, and we rated it Mostly True.
Half True - 1 fact-check
Trump said, "You (Hillary Clinton) get a subpoena, and after getting the subpoena you delete 33,000 emails." We rated this Half True.
Mostly False - 5 fact-checks
Trump said Clinton "viciously" attacked women abused by Bill Clinton. We rated this Mostly False.
Trump said that "Ambassador (Christopher) Stevens sent 600 requests for help" in Benghazi. We rated this Mostly False.
Trump said, "They want to leave those lines, because that gives the insurance companies essentially monopolies." Previously, he said with Obamacare, "You have no options .. you can't get competitive bidding." We rated this Mostly False.
Trump said, "ICE just endorsed me." We rated this Mostly False.
Trump said, "Our taxes are so high, just about the highest in the world." Previously, he’s said, "America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world." We’ve rated this Mostly False.
False - 5 fact-checks
Trump said Clinton "wants to go to a single-payer plan" for health care. We rated this False.
Trump said after Clinton helped legally defend a man accused of raping a 12-year-old, "she's seen laughing on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl who was raped." We rated this False.
Trump said, "I've gotten to see the commercials that they did on you. And I've gotten to see some of the most vicious commercials I've ever seen of Michelle Obama talking about you, Hillary." We rated this False.
Trump said that "your campaign, Sidney Blumenthal — he’s another real winner that you have — and he’s the one that got this (birtherism) started." We’ve rated the claim that the Clinton campaign started the birther movement False.
Trump said, "I was against — I was against the war in Iraq." He’s made this claim multiple times, and we’ve rated it False.
Pants on Fire - 1 fact-check
Trump said a tweet he sent out "wasn’t saying, ‘check out a sex tape.’ It was just ‘take a look at’" the background of Alicia Machado. We rated this Pants on Fire.
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