Fact check: Trump falsely claims Harris used notes in CNN interview

Washington (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump delivered his usual assortment of long-debunked false claims in an appearance on Fox News in Pennsylvania on Wednesday night. But one of the false claims was new.

Trump, who has repeatedly insulted the intelligence of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, claimed that Harris used speaking notes to assist her in her interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash last week.

Trump said: “If you watch that that interview, she had notes. That means she knew the questions. And she had notes. She kept looking down – ‘uhhh.’ Nobody wants to cover it.” He continued, “I know all about notes. I mean, you know, it’s all right if people know that. But she wasn’t supposed to have notes.”

Facts First: Trump’s claims are false. Harris did not use notes during the CNN interview. Photos and videos of the interview make clear that the only notes on the table belonged to Bash, as CNN staffers who were present confirm. And CNN did not inform Harris of any questions in advance; a CNN spokesperson called Trump’s claim that Harris had prior knowledge of the questions “categorically false.”

Here are some of the other false claims Trump made at the Fox News event on Wednesday.

Terror during Trump’s presidency: Trump repeated his previous false claim that there were “no” terror attacks by Islamic extremists during his presidency.

Trump’s own Justice Department alleged that a mass murder in New York City in 2017, which killed eight people and injured others, was a terrorist attack carried out in support of ISIS; Trump repeatedly lamented this attack during his presidency. Trump’s Justice Department also alleged that a 2019 attack by an extremist member of Saudi Arabia’s military, which killed three US servicemembers and injured others at a military base in Florida, “was motivated by jihadist ideology” and was carried out by a longtime “associate” of al Qaeda.

You can read more here.

Iran during Trump’s presidency: Trump repeated his previous false claim that Iran was so “broke” during his presidency that “they didn’t have the money for Hamas and for Hezbollah, they didn’t have the money for anybody.” Iran’s funding for Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups continued throughout his presidency, as Trump’s own administration acknowledged in 2020, though experts say Iran did make funding cuts when its economy was squeezed by Trump sanctions.

You can read more here.

Trump’s tax cuts: Trump repeated his previous false claim that “I gave you the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country.” His major 2017 tax cut was not the biggest in history either in percentage of gross domestic product or inflation-adjusted dollars.

You can read more here.

Harris’ immigration role: Trump repeated his previous false claims that Harris was “border czar” and “in charge” of the border. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is the official in charge of border security; President Joe Biden gave Harris a more limited immigration-related assignment in 2021, asking her to lead diplomacy with El Salvador, Guatemala and Hondurasin an attempt to address the “root causes” that prompted their citizens to try to migrate to the United States.

You can read more here,

Migrants and mental health facilities: Trump repeated his previous false claim that foreign countries are “emptying out their prisons and jails, they’re emptying out their mental institutions and insane asylums” so people can travel to the US as migrants. His own campaign has been unable to substantiate such claims, and experts say they have seen no evidence for them.

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