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The Truth-O-Meter scorecard for the third 2016 presidential debate

By Katherine Burns October 25, 2016

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met in the third and final presidential debate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 20, 2016. We published 16 fact-checks from that debate and cross-referenced another 20 previous fact-checks of similar statements to see how they compared on the Truth-O-Meter. See the full scorecard below followed by brief summaries of the fact-checks that make up the scorecard.

Hillary Clinton

True - 6 fact-checks

During the third presidential debate, Clinton said Trump "used undocumented labor to build the Trump Tower." We rated this True.

Clinton said, "We have 17 intelligence agencies, civilian and military, who have all concluded that these espionage attacks, these cyberattacks, come from the highest levels of the Kremlin, and they are designed to influence our election." We rated this True.

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Clinton said of Trump, "He’s going to advocate for the largest tax cuts we’ve ever seen, three times more than the tax cuts under the Bush administration." Clinton made a similar claim in the second debate, which we rated True.

Clinton said that Trump "was getting sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination in his apartment buildings." She’s made this claim before, and we rated it True.

Clinton said, "The Clinton Foundation made it possible for 11 million people around the world with HIV-AIDS to afford treatment." Previously, Clinton said, "Nine million people have lower-cost HIV/AIDS medicine because of the work of the Clinton Foundation and my husband."  We checked that and found the number was closer to 11 million. True.

Clinton said that the Trump Foundation "took money from other people and bought a six-foot portrait of Donald." President Barack Obama made a similar statement that we rated True.

Mostly True - 4 fact-checks  

Clinton said that Trump "said as recently as a few weeks ago in Phoenix that every undocumented person would be subject to deportation." We rated this Mostly True.

Clinton said, "We have 33,000 people a year who die from guns." Mostly True.

Clinton said Obama "has cut the deficit by two-thirds." When Obama made a similar statement, we rated it Mostly True.  

Clinton said that Trump "is the first candidate ever to run for president in the last 40-plus years who has not released his tax returns." Sen. Tammy Baldwin made the same statement earlier this year, which we rated Mostly True.

Half True - 5 fact-checks

Clinton said, "There was even a time when (Trump) didn't get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged." We rated this Half True.

Clinton said, "What the District of Columbia was trying to do (with its handgun ban) was to protect toddlers from guns." We rated this Half True.

Clinton said that Trump "said women should be punished, that there should be some form of punishment for women who obtain abortions."  We rated a similar claim from Sen. Barbara Boxer Half True.

Clinton said, "I want us to have the biggest jobs program since World War II." Previously, Clinton said her platform would include the "biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II." We rated this Half True.

Clinton said, "What I have put forward does not add a penny to the debt." We rated this Half True.

Donald Trump

True - 2 fact-checks

Trump said during the third debate, "Heroin .. pours across our southern borders."  We rated that True.

Trump said Clinton "wants 550 percent more people than Barack Obama." We rated this True when Mike Pence made the same point at the vice presidential debate.

Mostly True - 1 fact-check

Trump said Clinton "did call it the gold standard," referring to the Trans Pacific Partnership. When he made this statement at the first debate we rated it Mostly True.

Half True - 5 fact-checks

Trump said that Clinton "wanted the wall." We rated this Half True.

Trump said that Clinton "destroyed 33,000 e-mails criminally, criminally, after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress." He made this claim at the previous debate, and we rated it Half True.

Trump said to Clinton, "These are people that push gays off business — off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money." Previously he said Clinton has been given tens of millions of dollars by countries that "treat women horribly ... and countries that kill gays." Half True.

Trump said, "The premiums are going up 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent" under Obamacare. We checked a similar claim by Trump before, and found it to be Half True.

Trump said, "ISIS is in 32 countries."  Half True.

Mostly False - 5 fact-checks

Trump said Clinton's "plan is going to raise taxes and even double your taxes." We rated this Mostly False.

Trump said Clinton "wants to have open borders." We rated this Mostly False.

Trump said, "She wants to give amnesty" to undocumented immigrants. Previously he said, "Hillary Clinton has pledged amnesty in her first 100 days, and her plan will provide Obamacare, Social Security, and Medicare for illegal immigrants, breaking the federal budget." We rated this Mostly False.

Trump said, "ICE last week, endorsed me." He made that statement at the second presidential debate, and we rated it Mostly False.

Trump said, "I know Buffett took hundreds of millions of dollars, Soros, George Soros, took hundreds of millions of dollars" in deductions. At the second debate he said "Many of (Hillary Clinton's) friends took bigger deductions (than me). Warren Buffett took a massive deduction. (George) Soros, who is a friend of hers, took a massive deduction." We rated this Mostly False.

False - 6 fact-checks

Trump said the stories from women saying he groped or forced himself on them "largely have been debunked." We rated this False.

Trump said Clinton was "wrong" to say he mocked a disabled reporter. We rated this False.

Trump said the Second Amendment "is under absolute siege. I believe if my opponent should win this race, which I truly don’t think will happen, we will have a Second Amendment which will be a very, very small replica of what it is right now." Previously he said Clinton would abolish the Second Amendment; we rated this False.

Trump said, "She wants to have open borders." We checked this claim and rated it False.

Trump said, "She gave us ISIS," in reference to Clinton. We’ve rated this repeated talking point False.

Trump said Clinton was "wrong" in saying he supported the Iraq War. We’ve checked his repeated claim that he opposed the war and rated it False.

Pants on Fire - 2 fact-checks

Trump said when Clinton "ran the State Department, $6 billion was missing. How do you miss $6 billion? You ran the State Department, $6 billion was either stolen — they don't know." Pants on Fire.

Trump said, " I say it’s rigged" in reference to the election. Earlier this year, we rated that statement Pants on Fire.

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The Truth-O-Meter scorecard for the third 2016 presidential debate