(CNN) Welcome to CNN’s fact check coverage of the Democratic presidential debate hosted by NBC News and MSNBC and held in Las Vegas ahead of Saturday’s Nevada caucuses.
Tonight was the ninth presidential debate, and the first that presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg qualified for. Many of the other candidates on stage attacked the former New York mayor and billionaire on his previous policies, like “stop and frisk” and his campaign’s significant ad spending .
For Candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, the debate offered a chance to turn around their poor showings in New Hampshire and Iowa, while Sen. Bernie Sanders looke to keep his lead in national polling and overtake former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s delegate lead.
CNN fact checked candidate’s claims raging from policy projections, their work history and alleged accolades and attacks on those sharing the stage.
- Warren’s claim about Bloomberg calling women ‘horse-faced lesbians’
Warren accused Bloomberg of saying derogatory things about women.
“I’d like to talk about who we’re running against,” Warren said, “a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no , I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg. ”
Facts First : It’s not clear whether Bloomberg ever said these specific words, but they have been attributed to him. The quote Warren is referencing is from a booklet of alleged Bloomberg quotes given to him by an employee as a gift for his birthday in 2001. While the introduction of the book says “these are all actual quotes,” Bloomberg has denied that he actually said any of them.
The Washington Post recently uploaded a copy of the booklet of alleged Bloomberg quotes , which includes a criticism of the British Royal family, calling them “a bunch of misfits – a gay, an architect, that horsey faced lesbian, and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad.”
Bloomberg’s presidential campaign spokesman Stu Loeser told the Post that “Mike.” simply did not say the things somebody wrote in this gag gift, which has been circulating for years and has been quoted in every previous election Mike has been in. ”
The Post also reported that a Bloomberg spokesman said in that “‘some of the things he might have said’ and Bloomberg apologized to ‘anyone that was offended by’ the comments.”
However, as CNN has reported , Bloomberg has been accused of sexist and misogynistic behavior in the past. His campaign chairwoman responded to new questions about those accusations to CNN, saying in part, “In any large organization, there are going to be complaints – but Mike has never tolerated any kind of discrimination or harassment, and he’s created cultures that are all about equality and inclusion. ”
Biden’s claim about Bloomberg calling Obamacare a “disgrace “
Biden said Bloomberg called Obamacare” a disgrace “after it passed.
“The mayor said, when we passed it, the signature piece of this administration, it’s a disgrace,” Biden said. “They’re the exact words. It was a disgrace. Look it up, check it out, it was a disgrace.”
Bloomberg did call the final Obamacare bill “a disgrace” during (a July) event
at Dartmouth College, just months after the law’s passage. Bloomberg added that the law did “absolutely nothing to fix the big health care problems” calling it just “another program that’s going to cost a lot more money.”
Bloomberg defended himself at the debate, saying, “I was in favor of it. I thought it did not go as far as we should,” comments his campaign also made to CNN’s KFile on Sunday . His campaign pointed to comments he made in on a radio program after the bill’s passage as a sign of his support. “Congress passed this, so let’s try it at least,” Bloomberg said.
“Some parts of Obamacare I don’t think will work, I don’t think is fair, I don’t think is intelligent, whatever. But I don’t have a better answer other than let’s try this, “Bloomberg also said.
– Andrew Kaczynski )
Biden on Bloomberg’s use of “stop and frisk”
Biden said that Bloomberg, as mayor of New York City, had “stop and frisk – throwing close to five million young black men up against a wall.”
Facts First: There were approximately 5 million total “stop and frisk” stops during Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor between and , but Biden was inaccurate when he said that this was the number of young black men stopped. Of about 5. million total stops under Bloomberg, about half, approximately 2.6 million stops, were of black people – men and women of all ages, according to police data compiled by the New York Civil Liberties Union .
Biden spokesman Michael Gwin said Biden meant to refer to the total number of stops. Gwin correctly noted that the stops disproportionately targeted young African-American and Hispanic men.
Bloomberg advocated stop and frisk even after a federal judge ruled in 2020 that the way New York was using stop and frisk was unconstitutional. He began apologizing for stop and frisk in November , the Month he launched his presidential campaign, saying he only belatedly realized that too many innocent people were being harmed. However, his account of what happened has left out important information.
You can click here for a detailed fact check.
Klobuchar on her record in red districts
As she has in prior debates, Klobuchar asserted Wednesday that she’s won elections in Republican-held areas.
“I’m the one on this stage that had the highest voter turnout of any state in the country when I led the ticket, as well as bringing in rural and suburban voters. And I’ve done that as well, “she said. “And I’m the only one with the receipts to have done that in Republican congressional districts over and over again.”
Facts First
: Partly true. Minnesota had the highest voter turnout rate of any state during each of her Senate campaigns, but Klobuchar is not the only candidate who has won Republican-held congressional districts
Biden, who spent most of his career as the senator for Delaware, won in Republican congressional districts.
Biden first won the 1983 election to be senator from Delaware and was repeatedly re-elected to serve in that position by significant margins until he became vice president in . During that time, Delaware’s sole congressional district was held by Republicans from to 1993, and from 2009 to 2019.
Warren accused Bloomberg of saying derogatory things about women.
“I’d like to talk about who we’re running against,” Warren said, “a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no , I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg. ”
Facts First : It’s not clear whether Bloomberg ever said these specific words, but they have been attributed to him. The quote Warren is referencing is from a booklet of alleged Bloomberg quotes given to him by an employee as a gift for his birthday in 2001. While the introduction of the book says “these are all actual quotes,” Bloomberg has denied that he actually said any of them.
The Washington Post recently uploaded a copy of the booklet of alleged Bloomberg quotes , which includes a criticism of the British Royal family, calling them “a bunch of misfits – a gay, an architect, that horsey faced lesbian, and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad.”
Bloomberg’s presidential campaign spokesman Stu Loeser told the Post that “Mike.” simply did not say the things somebody wrote in this gag gift, which has been circulating for years and has been quoted in every previous election Mike has been in. ”
The Post also reported that a Bloomberg spokesman said in that “‘some of the things he might have said’ and Bloomberg apologized to ‘anyone that was offended by’ the comments.”
However, as CNN has reported , Bloomberg has been accused of sexist and misogynistic behavior in the past. His campaign chairwoman responded to new questions about those accusations to CNN, saying in part, “In any large organization, there are going to be complaints – but Mike has never tolerated any kind of discrimination or harassment, and he’s created cultures that are all about equality and inclusion. ”
Biden’s claim about Bloomberg calling Obamacare a “disgrace “
Biden said Bloomberg called Obamacare” a disgrace “after it passed.
“The mayor said, when we passed it, the signature piece of this administration, it’s a disgrace,” Biden said. “They’re the exact words. It was a disgrace. Look it up, check it out, it was a disgrace.”
Bloomberg did call the final Obamacare bill “a disgrace” during (a July) event
at Dartmouth College, just months after the law’s passage. Bloomberg added that the law did “absolutely nothing to fix the big health care problems” calling it just “another program that’s going to cost a lot more money.”
Bloomberg defended himself at the debate, saying, “I was in favor of it. I thought it did not go as far as we should,” comments his campaign also made to CNN’s KFile on Sunday . His campaign pointed to comments he made in on a radio program after the bill’s passage as a sign of his support. “Congress passed this, so let’s try it at least,” Bloomberg said.
“Some parts of Obamacare I don’t think will work, I don’t think is fair, I don’t think is intelligent, whatever. But I don’t have a better answer other than let’s try this, “Bloomberg also said.
– Andrew Kaczynski )
Biden on Bloomberg’s use of “stop and frisk”
Biden said that Bloomberg, as mayor of New York City, had “stop and frisk – throwing close to five million young black men up against a wall.”
Facts First: There were approximately 5 million total “stop and frisk” stops during Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor between and , but Biden was inaccurate when he said that this was the number of young black men stopped. Of about 5. million total stops under Bloomberg, about half, approximately 2.6 million stops, were of black people – men and women of all ages, according to police data compiled by the New York Civil Liberties Union .
Biden spokesman Michael Gwin said Biden meant to refer to the total number of stops. Gwin correctly noted that the stops disproportionately targeted young African-American and Hispanic men.
Bloomberg advocated stop and frisk even after a federal judge ruled in 2020 that the way New York was using stop and frisk was unconstitutional. He began apologizing for stop and frisk in November , the Month he launched his presidential campaign, saying he only belatedly realized that too many innocent people were being harmed. However, his account of what happened has left out important information.
You can click here for a detailed fact check.
- Klobuchar on her record in red districts
As she has in prior debates, Klobuchar asserted Wednesday that she’s won elections in Republican-held areas.
“I’m the one on this stage that had the highest voter turnout of any state in the country when I led the ticket, as well as bringing in rural and suburban voters. And I’ve done that as well, “she said. “And I’m the only one with the receipts to have done that in Republican congressional districts over and over again.”
Facts First
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