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Fact-checking VP debate claims from the 2024 Walz-Vance showdown

Fact-checking VP debate claims from the 2024 Walz-Vance showdown

The CBS News Confirmed team reviews the biggest claims Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota And Ohio Senator JD Vance this evening 2024 Vice Presidential Debate in New York City.

CBS News is hosting the only scheduled vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz on Tuesday, October 1, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and CBS News 24/7. Download the free CBS News app for live coverage, post-debate analysis, comprehensive fact-checking and more.

The Debate moderators are “CBS Evening News” anchor and editor-in-chief Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” anchor and chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan.

Find CBS News' live coverage of the vice president debate here.


TRUE: Walz claims that former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly called Trump “the most flawed person he's ever met.”

Walz: “It is those who were closest to Donald Trump who understand how dangerous he is when the world is so dangerous. His chief of staff, John Kelly, said he was the “most flawed person he had ever met.”

Details: John Kelly, a retired Marine general and chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, told family members in 2020 that Trump was “the most flawed person” he had ever known, according to CNN.

Kelly confirmed to CNN several stories that leaked from the Trump administration during his presidency, including Trump's inflammatory comments about service members in which he called them “losers” and “idiots.” Kelly said: “A person who thinks that those who defend their country in uniform, are shot down or seriously wounded in battle, or are tortured for years as prisoners of war are all 'idiots' because 'there's nothing in it for them.' “

Trump denies making the comments.

By James LaPorta

Partially True: Walz claims, “The last 12 months saw the largest decline in opioid deaths in our nation’s history – 30% decline in Ohio.”

Walz: “This is a crisis – the opioid crisis. And the good news is that the last 12 months have seen the largest decline in opioid deaths in our country's history. 30% decline in Ohio.”

Details: Opioid deaths have fallen Preliminary figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest deaths have fallen to their lowest level in three years. This marks the first major decline since deaths in this way began to be recorded in 2015.

The CDC estimates that there were 77,461 deaths related to opioids such as heroin and fentanyl in the year ending March 2024, down 7% from the previous year nationwide.

The agency estimates there were 3,462 opioid-related deaths in March 2024 — and for Ohio alone, an 18% decrease from March 2023.

By Alexander Tin

Wrong: Vance says Vice President Harris has been 'appointed border czar'

Details: Vice President Kamala Harris was not asked to be the government's “border czar” or to oversee immigration policy and enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border. Much of the responsibility fell on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and his department, which oversees the country's three main immigration agencies, including Customs and Border Protection.

President Biden tapped Harris to lead the administration's diplomatic campaign to address the “root causes” of migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, including poverty, corruption and violence. The region known as the Northern Triangle of Central America has been a major source of migration to the U.S.-Mexico border over the past decade.

In reality, Roberta Jacobson, a longtime diplomat who served as Southwest Border Coordinator until April 2021, served in the role of “border czar” for just a few months under the Biden administration.

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Partially true, needs context: Vance claims housing is unaffordable because “millions of illegal immigrants… compete with Americans for scarce housing.”

Vance: “You have housing that is completely unaffordable because we have recruited millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce housing.”

Details: Research suggests a surge in immigration under the Biden administration is a factor driving housing demand. However, the U.S. housing shortage of an estimated 1.5 million to 7 million units has been a long-standing problem since the Great Recession, when the number of homes built plummeted. According to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, fewer new homes were built in the decade ending in 2018 than in any decade since the 1960s.

By Laura Doan and Emma Li

This article will be updated with additional fact-checks as the debate progresses.


How CBS News fact-checks the Vance-Walz VP debate

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