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Debunking The Lies Told At The Republican Debate

Alex Constantine - August 9, 2015

A breakdown of the lies said by the Republican presidential candidates during the first debate on Thursday night.

Thursday night’s first Republican presidential debate was hellish chaos of right-wing hypocrisy, fear-induced war-mongering and blatant threats to hamper social security and cut off abortion access. While clown candidate Donald Trump left no allies as he insulted public figures and nations, showing off his crude misogyny and racism once again, the reality star wasn’t the only presidential nominee to spew out lie after lie. Other candidates also had a few dishonest remarks that were either so sly they swept right pass our radar, or were so conspicuously ridiculous they blew our minds that well-educated politicians can really be that ignorant. To help you recover from the political hangover from last night’s ruthless  cocktail of pure dishonesty and stupidity, below is a breakdown of the noteworthy lies said and the truth behind them.

Chris Christie On 9/11

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie claimed to have been appointed U.S. attorney after the 9/11 attacks, a statement he has repeatedly made for the past five years.

“I was appointed U.S. Attorney by President Bush on September 10th, 2001, and the world changed enormously the next day, and that happened in my state. This is not theoretical to me,” Christie said.

But reports from the time indicate that George W. Bush did not nominate Christie for the position until December 7, 2001 and he did not take office until 2002. Even Christie’s campaign website states he served from 2002 to 2008.

Christie’s error was not a nervous flub but a flat-out lie meant to boost up his own career and connection to the American people. By appealing to Americans’ emotions and trauma and establishing himself as a high-up politician in the wake of the terrorist attacks, Christie is trying to display himself not only as a strong leader that can fight off terrorism, but a trusted politician as well. Too bad  his trustworthiness goes amiss with his conniving manipulation.

Donald Trump On His Money

Trump is very keen on toting his billions around as that is some kind of applicable criteria for presidency. During the debate, Trump said two rather off comments (subtle compared to his other egregious remarks) about his financial success.

“I built a net worth of more than $10 billion," Trump said.

Reports have alleged that Trump’s brand is not nearly as high as he claims.

Documents filed with the Federal Election Commission place his net worth at $8.7 billion, but these forms are not very exact given they form just require value ranges instead of precise sums.

Bloomberg News and Forbes Magazine have both valued Trump’s worth at $2.9 billion and $125 million, respectively.

"I have never gone bankrupt, by the way," Trump said. "I have never."

"But your companies have gone bankrupt," Moderator Chris Wallace told Trump.

Trump continues to wave around his money  as necessary qualification that he can get the U.S. out of financial turmoil, yet with four bankruptcies under his belt since 1991 that sure doesn’t make him seem at all capable.

Marco Rubio On Abortion

Florida Senator Marco Rubio clearly does not know how to interpret the Constitution.

Fox News host Megyn Kelly challenged Rubio on allowing an abortion when conception occurs through rape or incest.

“If you believe that life begins at conception, as you say you do,” she asked, “how do you justify ending a life just because it begins violently through no fault of the baby.”

“I don’t think that’s an accurate accounting of my view,” Rubio replied.

“You don’t favor a rape and incest exception?” Kelly asked.

“I have never said that,” Rubio responded. “I’ve never advocated that. I’ve advocated passing a law that says that all human life, at every stage of its development, is worthy of protection — in fact, I believe that law already exists. It’s called the Constitution of the United States.”

Rubio identifies with a small sect of legal conservatives who don’t adhere to judicial review, which gives the Supreme Court sole power to interpret the Constitution, and instead believe that the president or Congress can challenge Supreme Court rulings — an opinion favorable among anti-abortion activists.

But many legal scholars unanimously agree that the Supreme Court’s ruling that laws preventing a woman in getting an abortion violate her privacy under the 14TH Amendment (Roe v. Wade) stands, so unless the high court overturns that ruling, the president cannot outlaw abortion.

Carly Fiorina On Foreign Policy

The majority of the candidates were eager to tear apart the Iran deal, although their qualms with it demonstrated more of their ignorance on foreign policy rather than their knowledge.

The noted victor of Thursday night’s debate, Carly Fiorina declared how the moment she steps foot into the Oval Office, she will rip up the agreement and then call for a summit with Arab allies. These actions will convey that “America is back in leadership business.” However, what Fiorina seemed to forget was that ambassadors from Britain, France and Germany were meeting that night to urge Congress to not oppose the deal, warning a rejection will breed “catastrophe.” Fiorina does not understand that American leadership will be eviscerated if the Iran deal doesn’t go through.

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  1. What really, really bothers me about the media spectacles conducted by both
    parties is that they seem largely unconcerned with the survival, health, quality
    of life, well being, and safety of homeless, unemployed, elderly, and disabled
    people. If you are not an enfranchised, white, middle class, upwardly mobile single
    person, it is as if you don’t exist; your life doesn’t count. This is even more true if
    you have been persecuted by the judicial system; people say, what did you do
    wrong? When actually you were targeted for your principles, or your message, or exposed abuse or corruption. Whistleblowing in america has been fatal for
    more than a few. Mumia abu-jamal-innocent, Leonard Peltier – innocent; Chelsea Manning-real American hero; all in prison for life for doing the right thing.

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