Opening Night of the Democratic National Convention

Summary

In a torch-passing speech, President Joe Biden vowed that he would be “the best volunteer” to help the campaign of his vice president, Kamala Harris. Biden also touted his accomplishments and took shots at the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. Several claims by Biden, and some from other Democrats at the Chicago convention, missed the mark.

• Biden misleadingly cited “historic joblessness” in talking about his Inauguration Day in 2021. The economy was still struggling then, but many of the jobs lost in the early months of the pandemic had been regained.

• Sen. Dick Durbin claimed that former President Trump “lost millions of jobs in America.” But that ignores the reason for the job losses: a global pandemic.

• Biden said he created “a record 16 million new jobs.” That’s a record number increase for any president in their first 43 months. But on a percentage basis, which accounts for population growth, there was a slightly larger increase in employment under President Jimmy Carter.

• Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said Trump is “threatening to slash Medicare,” while Biden claimed that Trump wants to cut Medicare and Social Security. But Trump has consistently said he will not cut either program.

• Biden claimed that Trump “will do everything to ban abortion nationwide,” even though Trump said in April that he would not sign a national abortion ban if Congress passed one.

• Durbin suggested that in “Trump’s America,” in vitro fertilization treatment would be “shut down.” But Trump has said that he “strongly” supports “the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby.”

• Biden misleadingly suggested his administration had prompted a drop in the murder rate. Experts say presidents have little to do with the changes in murder or violent crime while they are in office.

• Biden boasted that “inflation [is] down, way down, and continuing to go down.” Growth in inflation has been steadily declining from its peak of 9.1% for the 12 months ending in June 2022, but overall, it is still up 19.4% since the start of Biden’s presidency.

• The president claimed that his administration is “removing every lead pipe from schools and homes.” That’s a goal of the administration, and it has made progress — but it doesn’t have the funding to complete the job.

• Biden claimed that Trump “created the largest debt any president had in four years with his $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy.” But Trump alone was not responsible for all the debt added during his presidency.

• The president misleadingly claimed that investments in semiconductor manufacturing in the United States will create factory jobs that pay $100,000 a year for those without a college degree.

• Raising the specter of Jan. 6, Biden said Trump is “promising a bloodbath if he loses” the upcoming election. But in context, Trump seemed to be talking about the possibility of an economic bloodbath if he is not elected.

• Biden claimed that Trump said he wants to be a dictator on “Day 1.” Trump said he wouldn’t be a dictator — “except for Day 1,” when he would close the southern border and drill for oil. Trump later said he was joking.

• Biden boasted that “border encounters have dropped over 50%” and that “there are fewer border crossings today than when Donald Trump left office.” Apprehensions of those trying to cross the southern border illegally plummeted in July, but illegal border crossings skyrocketed for most of Biden’s presidency.

• The president repeated his misleading claim that billionaires pay an