Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is Kamala Harris’ running mate, officially accepted the nomination for vice president during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
Walz’s speech came after former President Bill Clinton, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg addressed the convention on its third night.
Walz spoke about various policy issues during his speech, including health care as well as entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.
VERIFY fact-checked these claims from Walz’s speech.
THE CLAIM
Walz: “[Trump and Vance] will repeal the Affordable Care Act.”
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Former President Donald Trump has said this year that he is not running to end the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is also known as Obamacare. But Trump did run for president in 2016 on the promise of repealing the ACA, and has said as recently as December 2023 that he wants to find an “alternative” for it.
Vice presidential nominee JD Vance also suggested in an August 2024 interview with NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit Allbritton Journalism Institute, that overhauling Obamacare would remain a priority.
In a Truth Social post shared on March 26, 2024, Trump wrote, “I’m not running to terminate the ACA, AS CROOKED JOE BUDEN DISINFORMATES AND MISINFORMATES ALL THE TIME, I’m running to CLOSE THE BORDER, STOP INFLATION, MAKE OUR ECONOMY GREAT, STRENGTHEN OUR MILITARY, AND MAKE THE ACA, or OBAMACARE, AS IT IS KNOWN, MUCH BETTER, STRONGER, AND FAR LESS EXPENSIVE.”
Trump also suggested in late 2023 that he was still looking to replace Obamacare.
In November 2023, he said on Truth Social that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to Obamacare. One month later, he wrote that “the cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare,” adding that he will come up with a “better and less expensive alternative.”
While on the campaign trail in 2017, Trump also promised to “convene a special session” of Congress as soon as he was sworn in so that lawmakers could “immediately repeal and replace Obamacare,” the Washington Post reported. All of this would happen “very, very quickly,” Trump said.
Later that year, late Sen. John McCain ultimately blocked Republicans’ efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, garnering criticism from Trump at the time.
THE CLAIM
Walz: “They will gut Social Security and Medicare.”
THE SOURCES
- Agenda47, the official platform of Trump’s 2024 campaign
- Republican Party Platform
- CNBC interview with Donald Trump
- Trump interview with Breitbart
THE ANSWER
While we cannot predict the future, we can VERIFY that Trump does not currently support cutting Social Security and Medicare.
Trump has his own policy plan, which is called Agenda47. This plan does mention Social Security. It says, “Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security.”
The official Republican Party Platform adopted at the Republican National Convention contains similar language. It calls for the GOP to “fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, including no changes to the retirement age.”
So where did the claims come from? The Harris campaign in the past has pointed to an interview Trump did earlier this year with CNBC, during which he said "there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting."
But Trump quickly walked back that statement, saying in a later interview with Breitbart that he meant cutting back on fraud.
Trump has also proposed eliminating any income taxes on Social Security benefits. Since some of those taxes go to the Social Security trust fund, some experts say Trump’s proposal could speed up the impending funding challenges for the program.
While he was president, Trump proposed annual budgets that would have reduced federal spending on Medicare. But it’s unclear exactly how these proposals would have affected seniors’ benefits, and multiple experts say the bulk of them were focused on reducing payments to health care providers.
THE CLAIM
Walz: “Take Donald Trump and JD Vance…their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives.”
THE SOURCES
- The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025
- Former President Trump’s Truth Social posts
- Statement from Trump’s presidential campaign
- Amazon listing for the book “Dawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America”
THE ANSWER
Project 2025 is an initiative launched by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, not Donald Trump and JD Vance’s campaign. Though the Trump campaign has repeatedly distanced itself from Project 2025 in recent months, both Trump and Vance have connections to multiple people involved with the initiative.
Trump has denied any connection to Project 2025 multiple times on his Truth Social account. Last month, the Trump campaign also released a statement that said “Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or the President in any way.
Although Trump has dismissed any link between Project 2025 and his campaign, several members of his presidential administration and campaign either contributed to or shared support for the plan.
This includes Paul Dans, who was Trump’s chief of staff in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and director of Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation until he stepped down in late July, and Trump’s current campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who made an appearance in a promotional video for a Project 2025 initiative last year.
Vance also has ties to Project 2025. He wrote the foreword for Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts’ book, “Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America.” The book’s description says it will identify “institutions that conservatives need to build, others that we need to take back, and more still that are too corrupt to save.”
THE CLAIM
Walz: “We passed paid family and medical leave.”
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
In May 2023, Gov. Walz signed a bill into law that created paid family and medical leave, making Minnesota the 12th state to require such benefits.
The paid family and medical leave program will allow Minnesota workers up to 12 weeks off per year with partial pay to care for newborns or sick family members, and up to 12 weeks off to recover from their own serious illnesses. There will be a cap of 20 weeks a year for workers who take advantage of both the family and medical leave programs.
People will also be able to take leave to “support a family member called to active duty,” or if they or a family member are “facing a significant personal safety issue,” Minnesota’s official paid leave website says.
Those on leave would receive a paycheck from the state based on a formula that’s capped at the statewide average weekly wage.
To be eligible, participants need to get certification from a doctor or other professional that the leave is necessary.
The paid family and medical leave program hasn’t started yet. These benefits will be available to Minnesotans beginning Jan.1, 2026.
This story is also available in Spanish / Lee este artículo también en español: Verificamos afirmaciones del discurso de Tim Walz en la Convención Nacional Demócrata
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