DENVER — Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Ohio Senator JD Vance (R) and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) covered a wide variety of topics, from the developments in the Middle East to immigration to healthcare.
Denver7 Investigates fact-checked each candidate on a variety of statements.
Immigration
Roughly 15 minutes into the debate, Vance was asked if he would support separating parents from their children at the border. He went on to say that families are already separated, noting that the Department of Homeland Security has effectively “lost” 320,000 children.
In August, the Department of Homeland Security released a report revealing that over the past five years, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) has lost track of unaccompanied minors, mainly those who fail to show up for immigration court. That report states nearly 300,000 children are unaccounted for.
Fact check: True
On the topic of the U.S. border, Vance referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as the “border czar.” While that is an unofficial title Republicans like to use in reference to Harris after she was tasked with studying root causes of migration from countries in Central America, the person mostly responsible for the border is Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Fact check: False
Abortion
One item on top of mind for so many voters is abortion. During the debate, Walz said that the maternal mortality rate is skyrocketing in Texas, outpacing many other countries in the world. According to the Gender Equity Policy Institute, the rate of maternal mortality cases rose in Texas by 56% from 2019 to 2022. That’s compared to just 11% nationwide during the same time period.
Fact check: True
Walz also brought up Project 2025, claiming the plan would make it more difficult to to get contraceptives and limit access to fertility treatment.
Neither Trump nor Vance have openly supported Project 2025, despite links to the authors of the plan. In addition, the project does not call for the restriction of birth control pills, and the website PolitiFact did not find any mention of fertilization in the plan.
Fact check: Mostly False
Trump tax returns
Former President Donald Trump’s tax returns have been a point of contention for years — something Walz made sure to bring up during the debate. The Minnesota governor claimed Trump has not paid federal income taxes in 15 years.
In Dec. 2022, the House Ways and Means Committee released documents related to Trump's tax returns, showing he filed federal income tax returns from 2015 to 2020 and paid federal income taxes in four of those years.
Fact Check: False
Affordable Care Act
Vance brought up Trump and his role with the Affordable Care Act, claiming the former president helped save a program that was on the verge of collapse. However, during Trump's time in office, ACA enrollment declined by more than 2 million people, and the number of uninsured grew by roughly 2.3 million.
According to PolitiFact, the Trump administration cut millions of dollars in enrollment aid and asked the Supreme Court to overturn the law.
Fact Check: False
