PolitiFact: How good, those statements from the 'Commander-in-Chief' forum?

September 11, 2016 at 3:38AM

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded jabs about their records during NBC's "Commander-in-Chief Forum" on Sept. 7. We fact-checked several of their claims.

Hillary Clinton

Assertion: Donald Trump is "on record extensively supporting [the] intervention in Libya."

Our finding: Mostly True. Not so extensive, but emphatic.

Assertion: "Classified material has a header which says 'top-secret, secret, confidential.' Nothing — and I will repeat this, and this is verified in the report by the Department of Justice — none of the e-mails sent or received by me had such a header."

Our finding: Mostly True. Careful wording leaves out context.

Assertion: Donald Trump supports "an agenda out there" to privatize the Veterans Affairs health care system.

Our finding: Mostly False. He backs access to private care — not the same thing.

Donald Trump

Assertion: Hillary Clinton said the Veterans Affairs scandal is "over-exaggerated." "She said she was satisfied with what was going on."

Our finding: Mostly False. She's acknowledged problems, urged reforms.

Assertion: "I was totally against the war in Iraq."

Our finding: False. His pre-war comments didn't amount to opposition.

Assertion: Vladimir Putin "does have an 82 percent approval rating."

Our finding: True. Multiple polls confirm, even when adjusting for respondents' fear, social pressure.

PolitiFact.com is a project operated by the Tampa Bay Times, in which reporters and editors from the Times and affiliated media outlets "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups." The Star Tribune opinion pages periodically republish these reports.

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about the writer

Linda Qiu, POLITIFACT

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