Bill Clinton became salesman in chief for a night at the Democratic National Convention, trying to win over voters for his wife.
And the nonpartisan fact-checkers from PolitiFact were there, assuring him a ride on the AJC Truth-O-Meter, courtesy of PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia.
Want to see how he fared? Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below.
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Bill Clinton said this of his wife:
Hillary Clinton helped “get done” the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The former president said that after health care reform failed in the 1990s because they couldn’t break a Senate filibuster, Hillary Clinton sought to tackle health care reform piece by piece, including expanding health insurance for children.
“In 1997, Congress passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program, still an important part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. It insures more than 8 million kids,” Clinton said in his speech on the second night of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. “There are a lot of other things in that bill she got done, piece by piece, pushing that rock up the hill.”
Her husband avoided specifying how much credit she should get for that and whether she worked with both parties to make that happen.
We rate this claim Mostly True.
Bill Clinton also said this:
“The approval of the United States was 20 points higher when (Hillary Clinton) left the secretary of state’s office than when she took it.”
The approval ratings for the United States did go up on Hillary Clinton’s watch.
We found Pew data for surveys taken in 20 countries between 2008 and 2013. Respondents were asked, “Please tell me if you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of the United States.”
Taking into account the whole list of 20 countries, the median change for the countries surveyed was a gain of 10 percentage points. That’s a significant increase, but it’s not the 20 percentage-point increase Clinton cited.
The increases in the BBC and Gallup polls were in the same ballpark.
We rate Clinton’s claim Half True.
Hillary Clinton said this in a video:
When an interviewer asked Donald Trump whether he treats women with respect, Trump replied, “I can’t say that.”
The four-second clip is an example of where context can be crucial and how political opponents can spin your words.
It omits Trump’s subsequent response that “I treat women with great respect.” Other context is also missing.
The claim is heavily spun to misconstrue what Trump said.
We rate Clinton’s claim Mostly False.
California U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer:
Said Donald Trump “said a woman should be punished for exercising her right to choose.”
Trump once said that but immediately clarified his position and said he meant doctors should be punished for providing abortions, not women who undergo the procedure.
There’s no evidence that punishing women for abortions was a long-held position by Trump.
Boxer’s statement is partially accurate but misleading.
We rate it Half True.
New York Congressman Joseph Crowley:
Says Donald Trump “cashed in” on Sept. 11, “collecting $150,000 in federal funds intended to help small businesses recover — even though days after the attack Trump said his properties were not affected.”
Trump did receive a grant for his building at 40 Wall St., which was less than a mile away from the Trade Center, but the property was eligible under the grant criteria.
He also did say in 2001 that his properties were not affected by the attack, although he likely meant physically. The grant also provided compensation for economic losses.
We rate Crowley’s claim Half True.
