Fact-checking the GOP debate: Claims on CRT, Hunter Biden, schools, Ukraine, COVID-19

Chris Mueller, Joedy McCreary, Brad Sylvester and Eric Litke, USA TODAY
Updated ·15 min read
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The leading Republican presidential candidates – most of them, at least – are on stage tonight in Milwaukee for their first debate ahead of the 2024 primary.

Follow along here with the USA TODAY Fact Check Team as we dig into candidates' claims and add context on expected campaign themes, including election fraud, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the war in Ukraine and more.

Former President Donald Trump's decision to skip the debate means eight candidates will participate, including Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely seen as Trump's most formidable challenger. The other candidates expected on the debate stage are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

Republican debate live updates: GOP primary candidates take stage − without Donald Trump

Here's some background from our archives on key topics we expect to see through the campaign and perhaps tonight:

DeSantis claimed: He eliminated critical race theory from Florida K-12 schools

Ron DeSantis: “We eliminated critical race theory from our K-12 schools.”

This is misleading, because teachers, school officials and districts across Florida have said critical race theory was not being taught in their elementary, middle or high schools in the first place, PolitiFact reported.

It is taught primarily in colleges and universities, including in law schools and other levels of graduate study.

“CRT is a law-school concept, and teachers have been saying all along, it isn’t taught in K-12 here and never was," Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, wrote in an email to PolitiFact.

Critical race theory is an academic concept that examines the role systems and policies have in perpetuating racism. While it has existed for more than 40 years, in recent years it has been co-opted by conservatives as a synonym for anti-racism work taking place in institutions like schools.

-Joedy McCreary

Pence claimed: Indiana had nation’s largest school choice program when he was governor

Mike Pence: “When I was governor, we doubled the size of the largest school choice program in America.”

This depends on how you measure program size.

There were nearly 35,000 students in Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program in the 2016-17 academic year, up from about 9,000 in 2012-13, according to the 2017 edition of The ABCs of School Choice, published by the school-choice advocacy group EdChoice.

The total did double during Pence’s term as governor.

But while Indiana does have the single largest education voucher program in any state, Ohio had more students who receive vouchers, the Washington Post reported. That state had a total of 47,000 students participating in its five voucher programs as of 2017.

-Joedy McCreary

Haley claimed: 11 European countries have given more aid to Ukraine in terms of GDP than the U.S.

Claimed by Nikki Haley

While outlining why she would continue giving aid to Ukraine, Haley claimed that 11 European countries have given more in terms of GDP than the U.S. This is true.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker shows that while the U.S. has provided by far the most support to Ukraine in terms of dollars, with more than $75 billion committed, that only equates to about 0.3% of total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

Nearly a dozen European countries have provided more in terms of GDP. They include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Czech Republic, Norway and the U.K. Estonia leads the way and has provided support that equates to about 1.3% of its GDP.

-Brad Sylvester

Scott claimed: DOJ labels school parents ‘domestic terrorists’

Tim Scott: “We keep seeing not only the weaponization of the Department of Justice against political opponents, but also against parents who show up at school board meetings. They’re called domestic terrorists.”

This is false and mischaracterizes an exchange starting with a September 2021 letter written to Attorney General Merrick Garland by an education group asking the federal government to help with threats of violence against school officials.

The letter from the National School Boards Association claimed that some of those threats “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism.” The group later apologized for its word choice.

Garland did not use that phrase in his response.

Instead, he discussed the increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school officials and directed the FBI to meet with leaders across the country to talk about ways to deal with those threats.

Read more:

– Joedy McCreary

DeSantis claimed: Florida's crime rate is at a 50-year low

Ron DeSantis: "Crime is at a 50-year low in Florida."

This is misleading. DeSantis has made the claim before, but it's based on incomplete data, according to The Marshall Project, a news organization that covers criminal justice issues.

About half of the law enforcement agencies that police more than 40% of Florida's population aren't included in statewide crime statistics. Less than 10% of the state's police departments were included in a federal crime database.

In Miami, the state's second-most populous city, violent crime has declined so far this year, with murders down more than 30%, according to WTVJ/NBC 6, a local television news station.

Read more:

-Chris Mueller

Christie claimed: Hunter Biden was charged with a gun crime that had a 10-year mandatory minimum

Claimed by Chris Christie

This is inaccurate. Hunter Biden was charged in June by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. The charge claims the president’s son possessed a firearm while “knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance” in October 2018.

If convicted Hunter Biden would face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, not a minimum, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Here are a few of the other Hunter Biden-related claims we’ve previously addressed:

-Brad Sylvester, Chris Mueller

Hutchinson claimed: I cut Arkansas government workforce by 14%

Asa Hutchinson: “We had 14% fewer state employees in Arkansas after I left government than when I took over as governor eight years ago.”

This isn't quite right according to state figures. It's a variation on a claim Hutchinson has made before. In announcing his presidential bid in April, he said he cut the state’s executive workforce by 14%, KARK-TV reported.

There were nearly 3,000 fewer employees in the executive branch of the state’s government when he left office in 2023 than there were when he took office in 2015, the El Dorado News-Times reported in January.

That workforce total fell from 26,108 in 2015 to 23,111 earlier this year, according to the newspaper. But that works out to a drop of just over 11% – not the 14% he claimed.

– Joedy McCreary

DeSantis claimed: Florida's COVID-19 policies 'led the country'

Ron DeSantis: "We led the country out of lockdown."

This description ignores the fact that Florida's lack of lockdowns led to more than 86,000 deaths and a death rate that was among the highest in the nation.

In April 2020, DeSantis did issue a safer-at-home order, but by the end of the month, he announced that most of the state could begin its reopening process. DeSantis issued another order months later that claimed Florida "suffered economic harm as a result of COVID-19 related closures.”

DeSantis has more recently pushed lawmakers to make state bans on vaccine passports and mask requirements permanent.

Read more:

We’ve previously debunked numerous claims stemming from the Sunshine State:

-Chris Mueller

Scott claimed: Bidenomics cost $10,000 spending power per family

Tim Scott: “Joe Biden’s Bidenomics has lead to the loss of $10,000 of spending power for the average family.”

While there are a number of ways to examine average spending power, two economic reports show Scott is more or less correct.

A recent report from Casey Mulligan, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, found that Biden administration regulations have cost Americans about $10,000 per household as of the end of 2022.

A separate analysis published in January by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, found that the average American family has lost about $7,400 in annual income since Biden took office.

-Brad Sylvester

Ramaswamy claimed: Climate change is a 'hoax'

Vivek Ramaswamy: "The climate change agenda is a hoax."

Scientists from all disciplines say climate change is very real and having a very real impact.

The rate of warming has more than doubled since 1981, rising at a rate of more than .3 degrees per decade for a total of nearly 2 degrees since 1880.

The global warming trend has resulted in an overall increase of nearly 2 degrees in the annual global average surface temperature. This amount of global warming has already caused consequential environmental changes, including sea-level rise, decreased sea ice, and changes in weather patterns like drought and flooding, according to experts.

That level of increase is historically significant, with the current global warming trend “occurring at a rate that is more than 10 times greater than seen in historical climate cycles coming out of ice ages,” Howard Diamond, senior climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Air Resources Laboratory, previously told USA TODAY.

Global warming causes global sea level rise because warming ocean water expands. Additionally, melting glaciers and ice sheets have increased the amount of water in the oceans.

Read more: Timing of ice ages is connected to CO2, but not how this viral post claims | Fact check

Read more: Fact check: Experts say extreme weather events are increasing in severity, not decreasing

-Eric Litke

Haley claimed: Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our national debt

Claimed by Nikki Haley

Haley touted this stat in asserting a lack of fiscal restraint by Republicans. The figure is correct.

Using Treasury Department data, the total public debt, which includes intragovernmental holdings and public debt, increased by approximately $7.8 trillion from the start of Trump’s presidency on Jan. 20, 2017, to when he left office on Jan. 19, 2021.

Read more: False claim Trump increased debt more than any president | Fact check

-Eric Litke

US aid to Ukraine divides Republican candidates

Nearly a year and a half after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, there remain differing views among Republican presidential candidates when it comes to continuing U.S. support for Ukraine's defense.

Former President Donald Trump, who isn’t on the debate stage, has repeatedly suggested the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine. He has also refused to say whether he wants Russia or Ukraine to prevail in the conflict.

Ron DeSantis has also been skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine, and Vivek Ramaswamy said the U.S. has done enough to help. Mike Pence, who visited Ukraine in June, has said he supports providing Ukraine with military aid to fight back against Russia. Chris Christie too has said he supports continuing U.S. support for Ukraine, as does Tim Scott and Asa Hutchinson. Nikki Haley said support should be through collaborating with allies to be sure Ukraine has "the equipment and the ammunition to win."

Public debate over the best approach in Ukraine has also sparked a wide array of misinformation:

– Chris Mueller

Jan. 6 riots play key role in Trump, Pence campaigns

The Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots loom large during the campaign because several of that day’s central figures – Trump and Pence – are in the race.

Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that Pence had the power to overturn the 2020 election results while he presided over the ceremonial certification process. Pence has made his handling of the day’s events a central theme of his campaign, saying he chose loyalty to the Constitution over demands from Trump to give him the election.

In the worst attack on the Capitol in 200 years, a mob of thousands of Trump supporters overwhelmed police and raided the building on the day lawmakers formalized Biden’s victory. Some rioters chanted that they wanted Pence hanged.

Other candidates have brought up the attacks, with DeSantis calling it not an insurrection but a “protest” that “ended up devolving, you know, in a way that was unfortunate.” Ramaswamy blamed the riots on “pervasive censorship” and called it “unproductive” to point the finger at Trump.

The attacks have been a consistent source of misinformation during the past 2½ years. Here are some we’ve previously debunked:

– Joedy McCreary

Debate comes amid indictments of Trump, allies

Trump won't be on the debate stage, but the former president looms large over the debate in light of both his commanding lead in the polls and his unprecedented legal troubles.

Most recently, Trump and several allies were indicted Aug. 14 by a Georgia grand jury that accused them of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, where Trump lost to President Joe Biden by about 12,000 votes.

The charges against Trump in Georgia are only the latest in a series of prosecutions against him that began in March, when he was indicted for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush-money payments intended to silence two women before the 2016 election. Trump also faces charges for allegedly mishandling classified documents and allegedly conspiring to steal the 2020 presidential election, including his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Trump's legal woes have been the subject of an array of false or misleading claims on social media:

– Chris Mueller

Election integrity critical issue in GOP race

One key issue for the candidates is whether they will trust – and abide by – the elections that will decide the winners and losers.

State-level reviews of the 2022 midterm elections found no indication of systemic problems with voter fraud, in line with reviews of the 2020 election. That’s significant because baseless allegations from Trump and his allies have penetrated the Republican Party and eroded confidence in the process.

Several candidates have pushed election-related changes in their home states.

DeSantis created Florida’s Office of Election Crimes and Security. A year ago, his administration accused 20 felons ineligible to vote in 2020 of illegally casting ballots and charged them with third-degree felonies.

Haley as governor signed a law in 2011 that requires South Carolina voters to show photo ID. Christie vetoed a bill in 2016 that would automatically register New Jerseyans to vote when they obtain or renew their driver’s license, calling it “a cocktail of fraud,” NJ.com reported.

What none of these agencies found, of course, is any sign that election outcomes had been compromised or votes had been miscounted. But claims to the contrary have circulated widely online. Here are a few of our recent debunks:

-Joedy McCreary

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP debate live fact check: What the candidates get right -- and wrong