PHILADELPHIA — In their first-ever face-to-face meeting, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris took to the stage in Philadelphia, debating for more than an hour and a half.
Let's jump right in with this claim from the former president while he was discussing illegal immigration.
"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats," said former President Donald Trump. "They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame."
This claim is false.
It began with an unsubstantiated rumor that was shared online by many including Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance making the claim of Haitian migrants in the Ohio city, but there’s no evidence to support it.
The City of Springfield, the Springfield Police Division and the Clark County Park District have all issued statements saying they’ve had no reports of pets being stolen or eaten.
Next, a claim from the vice president.
"He bypassed the Afghan government," said Vice President Kamala Harris. "He negotiated directly with a terrorist organization called the Taliban. The president at the time invited the Taliban to Camp David."
This claim is true.
In September 2019 the former president tweeted: “Unbeknownst to almost everyone the major Taliban leaders and separately the President of Afghanistan were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight.”
He went on to say he called off the meeting.
The U.S. reached a peace agreement with the Taliban months later.
Next, a Trump claim about the vice president.
"She did things that nobody would ever think of. Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison," Trump said.
This claim needs context.
A recent CNN report revealed Kamala Harris’s answers to an ACLU candidate survey from 2019 before the Democratic primary.
The survey asked, “As President will you use your executive authority to ensure that transgender and nonbinary people who rely on the state for medical care — including those in prison and immigration detention — will have access to comprehensive treatment associated with gender transition, including all necessary surgical care?”
Harris responded “Yes.”
While she’s in favor of LGBTQ rights, the campaign has not said if she’s still holds that position.
Finally, here’s the vice president’s claim about her opponent’s stance on abortion.
"He will sign a national abortion ban. Understand in his Project 2025 there would be a national abortion ban," Harris said. "Understand in his Project 2025 there would be a national abortion -- a monitor that would be monitoring your pregnancies, your miscarriages."
This claim is undetermined.
The former president has sent mixed signals about his plans for abortion policy, saying in a March radio interview that he was “leaning towards” a 15-week abortion ban.
Since then, he’s repeatedly said the decision would be left to the states and did not give a direct answer when asked if he would sign a national ban during the debate.
Project 2025, a policy document from a conservative think tank made up of former Trump Administration officials does not call for a national ban on abortion but suggests taking steps to limit access.
It does suggest the CDC require “monitoring and reporting for complications due to abortion.”
The plan is not an official Republican platform and Trump again distanced himself from the document in the debate.