First Presidential Debate: Hillary Shows She’s Most Qualified Candidate in a Generation, Trump Fails Commander-in-Chief Test
(BISMARCK, ND) – Following the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it is more apparent than ever that the 2016 general election is a choice between the most qualified presidential candidate in a generation, and the least fit presidential candidate in American history.
“The choice before North Dakotans this November could not be more clear,” said Dem-NPL Executive Director Robert Haider. “What we saw in the debate tonight is that Hillary Clinton has the experience, the vision, and the steadiness to bring people together and get results that will make a real difference in our lives. Donald Trump, on the other hand, offers lies and half-truths, dangerous policy ideas, and divisive rhetoric that threatens to pull our country apart.”
There can no longer be any question: Donald Trump has built his entire presidential campaign on a foundation of falsehoods. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has presented real, substantive policy proposals since Day One.
Yesterday, Politico published an exhaustive fact-checking exposé on every single statement made by both Trump and Clinton over the previous week. According to the article:
“We subjected every statement made by both the Republican and Democratic candidates — in speeches, in interviews and on Twitter — to our magazine’s rigorous fact-checking process. The conclusion is inescapable: Trump’s mishandling of facts and propensity for exaggeration so greatly exceed Clinton’s as to make the comparison almost ludicrous.
Though few statements match the audacity of his statement about his role in questioning Obama’s citizenship, Trump has built a cottage industry around stretching the truth. According to POLITICO’s five-day analysis, Trump averaged about one falsehood every three minutes and 15 seconds over nearly five hours of remarks.
In raw numbers, that’s 87 erroneous statements in five days.”
“Donald Trump has an incompatible relationship with the truth,” added Haider. “Debates are about standing by your record and offering forward-thinking ideas to voters. Hillary Clinton has an exhaustive and accomplished record, and she has the leadership qualities needed to move our country forward. Donald Trump simply does not.”
-30-
