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A Factual Guide to the Monday Night Debate

The final 2016 presidential debate series starts Monday night, and just like your wedding, everyone wants to weigh in on how to make it the perfect event.

Jane Elizabeth
4 min readSep 25, 2016

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A retired state employee from Boise thinks a “kill switch” would be a great idea. This high school debate team is sad that candidates are allowed to interrupt each other at a presidential debate. Media Matters is concerned about Donald Trump’s “debate trap.” Fast Company suggests that everyone in the debate room stand on their own two feet, literally.

But more than anything else — like the angst over how many bridesmaids there should be before they start upstaging the bride — people want to debate over how the moderator fits into the event. Specifically, should the moderator fact-check the candidates?

I’ve already discussed this in some detail. As I told a group of Ohio newspaper readers last week, I believe the most important of a moderator’s many jobs is to help ensure that debate-watchers don’t walk away even more puzzled about the truth than they were two hours earlier.

But here’s one more thought: If you want to know what a moderator-less, fact-check-free debate looks like, watch this CNN “discussion” between a Trump supporter and a Clinton supporter.

Or just accept my short take on this all-too-typical scene:

Trump supporter: “You’re a liar!”

Clinton supporter, screaming simultaneously: “No, you are!”

Moderator:

Repeat 87 times.

All this is to say, we debate viewers may be our own moderators. Don’t let that scare you away. This is important stuff: The September 26 debate just might be one of the rare ones that change the course of a presidential race. It likely will have a record-setting television audience. And if you’ve bothered to read this far, you’re probably going to be part of the 80-plus million viewers.

So, just like your best friend warned you he was having a dry wedding reception and therefore you should BYOB, you need to prepare.

First, know that the candidates have already set the fact table. Trump has warned that he will not be fact-checked. Clinton has warned everyone that they’d better fact-check her opponent.

Imagine … if 80 million people on Monday night each tweeted one true thing to correct one mangled fact on Twitter.

Fortunately, there are skilled political journalists who fact-check for a living and will be working a double shift on Monday into Tuesday. Below, I’ll leave you with a sampling of fact-checkers to follow, and a list of topics that have already been fact-checked and can be easily tweeted during the debate.

I’ll also leave you with a statistic: Our research at the American Press Institute shows that misinformation on Twitter outpaces anyone’s attempt to correct that misinformation by at least 3-to-1. Imagine how that could change if 80 million people on Monday night each tweeted one true thing to correct one mangled fact on Twitter.

Fact-checkers to follow

  • PolitiFact will be fact-checking on social media and on their web site. If you see something you want them to check, Tweet @PolitiFact with #PolitiFactThis. And they’re also urging Twitter users to “Help spread the truth.”

True or false? Check your facts here, fast.

Fact-checkers have identified some unfacts likely to be uttered by candidates during the debate. Here are just a few direct links to fact-checks on those statements:

Birtherism

FactCheck.org

PolitiFact

Slate

Washington Post

Crime

PolitiFact

Slate

Foundations

PolitiFact

Guns

PennLive

Slate

Hillary Clinton’s emails

FactCheck.org

Politico

Washington Post

Immigration

PennLive

Politico

PolitiFact

Slate

Washington Post

Iraq war

PennLive

Politico

Slate

Washington Post

Jobs, economy and poverty

PennLive

Politico

PolitiFact

Slate

Washington Post

NAFTA and TPP

Detroit Free Press

Taxes

PennLive

Detroit Free Press

Washington Post

Trump’s finances and businesses

Politico

Slate

Washington Post

Veterans’ issues

PolitiFact

Washington Post

(Journalists: Send me your fact checks and your Monday night plans and I’ll list them here.)

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Jane Elizabeth

Now: Media consultant. Priors: The Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Raleigh News & Observer, American Press Institute; Pitt, ODU, Point Park adjunct.