CNN Harris Pennsylvania town hall fact check

Vice President Kamala Harris joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper for a town hall in the critical state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday night, where she directly faced the questions of persuasive and undecided voters less than two weeks before the North- Americans go to the polls on election day. Former President Donald Trump was invited but declined to participate in a CNN town hall.

Here is a verification of some of the observations made by Harris:

Harris on Trump’s tariff plan

Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump has a plan to impose a “national sales tax of at least 20 percent on goods and necessities” that would cost American consumers an extra $4,000 a year. year

First facts: The statement is reasonable enough, but it’s worth explaining that Harris is referring to Trump’s proposal to implement new tariffs if he returns to the White House.

Trump has repeatedly said he plans to impose a blanket tariff of 10% or 20% on every import coming into the US, as well as a tariff of more than 60% on all Chinese imports. It has also placed a 100% or 200% tariff on cars made in Mexico or products made by companies that move manufacturing from the US to Mexico.

Combined, a 20% blanket tariff with a 60% tariff on goods made in China would mean an annual tax increase of about $3,900 for a middle-income family, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund , a liberal thought. tank

If the 20 percent tariff were only 10 percent, as Trump sometimes suggests, the total impact to middle-class families could be $2,500 a year, according to CAP.

Separate studies estimate that the impact of Trump’s proposed tariffs would also raise prices for families, but by a smaller amount. The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimated that the new duties would cost the average middle-class household about $1,700 a year. And the Tax Policy Center said the impact could be $1,350 a year for middle-income households.

By CNN’s Katie Lobosco

Harris on his fracking record

In a back-and-forth with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “No, Anderson, I made a promise that I wouldn’t ban fracking,” when she was campaigning as a 2020 vice presidential candidate.

First facts: This is false. Harris did not make his personal position on fracking clear during his only debate in 2020, the general election vice presidential debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence. Harris never explicitly stated a personal position on fracking during this debate.

Rather, he said that Joe Biden, the head of the Democratic ticket at the time, would not ban fracking if elected president. Harris said during the 2020 vice presidential debate, “Joe Biden will not end fracking” and “I will repeat, and the American people know this, that Joe Biden will not ban fracking.”

When Harris referenced his own views on fracking earlier in the cycle during the 2019 Democratic presidential primaries, he went so far as to say that “there’s no question that I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

It made sense that Harris was addressing Biden’s plans at the time, given that the president sets administration policy. But contrary to her claim Wednesday, none of her 2020 debate comments made it clear that she personally had a different view on the issue than she did the year before.

By CNN’s Daniel Dale and Ella Nilsen

Harris claims Trump only built 2% of the border wall

In a CNN town hall with Kamala Harris on Wednesday, the vice president claimed that only 2 percent of the US-Mexico border wall was built during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

“How much of that wall did he build? I think the last number I saw was about 2 percent,” he said.

The facts first: This statement is exaggerated. according to a 2021 report of US Border and Consumer Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers, nearly 52 miles of “new primary wall” and 33 miles of “new secondary wall” were built during Trump’s presidency. More than 370 miles of broken or obsolete primary and secondary wall were also replaced.

During his campaign and during his presidency, Trump pledged to build a wall with parameters that would evolve from 1,000 miles to more than 500 miles. Using the “new primary wall” numbers from the 2021 report, one could estimate that 5.2% of their 1,000-mile pledge was met, or 10.4% of their 500-mile goal was completed .

Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, made a similar claim earlier this month at the CBS vice presidential debate.

The entire US-Mexico border is approximately 2,000 miles. The 52 miles of the new primary wall would be 2.6% of that total length, but as CNN previously reported, Trump had pledged to build more wall, not a new wall along the entire southern border.

By CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn

Harris’ claim about Trump’s tax cuts

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized her opponent, former President Donald Trump, for putting policies in place that benefited the wealthy during his first term.

“Donald Trump, when he was president, gave tax cuts to the richest, to billionaires and to big corporations,” he said at the CNN town hall.

First facts: This claim needs context. While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, to which Harris refers, benefited the wealthy far more than others, it cut taxes for most people, according to the nonpartisan. Center for Tax Policy.

The 2017 law made many changes to the tax code, including temporarily lowering many personal income tax rates, notably the top rate from 39.6% to 37% for the highest earners.

The Tax Policy Center took a look at who the law would help most. He found that taxes would decrease, on average, for all income groups.

According to the analysis, middle-income taxpayers earning between $49,000 and $86,000 were expected to see a tax cut of about $800, on average, or 1.4 percent of their income after taxes

Even so, more than 60% of the benefits were expected to go to those with incomes in the top 20%. More than 40% of the profits were expected to go to those in the top 5%.

Those earning between $500,000 and $1 million were expected to get an average tax cut of about $21,000, raising their after-tax income by 4.3 percent, according to the center’s estimates. Those earning $1 million or more will enjoy an average tax cut of about $70,000, increasing their after-tax income by 3.3%.

Just over a quarter of those living in the lowest-income households would see their taxes cut. Your tax cut would be about $200, on average. However, most would see little or no benefit.

From CNN’s Tami Luhby

For more CNN news and bulletins, create an account at CNN.com