On Wednesday, Nov. 8, five Republican presidential candidates appeared on the debate stage in Miami, Florida. It was the third GOP primary debate ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina took part in Wednesday’s debate.
Former President Donald Trump qualified for the debate but chose to skip it. He did not attend the first two primary debates, either.
During the third primary debate, the presidential candidates discussed foreign policy, including the Israel-Hamas war, Social Security and the economy.
VERIFY fact-checked several claims from the debate.
THE CLAIM
Nikki Haley: President Biden gave Iran $6 billion to get five hostages home.
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
The U.S. did agree to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian assets as part of a prisoner exchange. But that money did not come from the U.S. government.
The Biden administration has also imposed temporary restrictions on Iran’s access to those funds.
WHAT WE FOUND
In September 2023, President Joe Biden’s administration agreed to release nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets as part of a deal to release five hostages who were imprisoned in Iran.
That $6 billion did not come from the U.S. government. It is a payment from South Korea to Iran for oil and gas, which U.S. sanctions effectively froze mid-transaction.
When the U.S. agreed to unfreeze that money as part of prisoner negotiations, it allowed those funds to be transferred to a Qatari account.
Officials with the U.S. Treasury Department and the National Security Council stated publicly on Oct. 7 that Iran had yet to actually use any of that money.
After Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, Qatar agreed to a Biden administration request to temporarily restrict Iran’s access to the funds, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 12.
THE CLAIM
Ron DeSantis: American life expectancy is declining.
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, data shows that over the last two years, average life expectancy in the United States has declined to its lowest levels since 1996.
WHAT WE FOUND
In December 2022, the CDC published its annual report on U.S. life expectancy. It revealed that the average American in 2021 lived to just 76.4 years old, down from 77 years in 2020, and 78.8 years in 2019.
That is the lowest life expectancy the U.S. has had since 1996, and it places it significantly below other developed nations.
Two consecutive years of decline is also extremely rare in modern American history; a drop like this hasn’t been seen since the 1920s, according to the CDC.
DeSantis’s claim was made in the context of raising the retirement age for Social Security. He argued that since life expectancy is going down, it doesn’t make sense to raise the retirement age and withhold benefits from seniors until they get older.
However, lowered life expectancy does not simply mean seniors are dying sooner. The statistic is an overall average, meaning if more young people are dying, the overall life expectancy will be brought down.
Experts say the decrease in life expectancy is the result of numerous factors – most significantly COVID-19 and opioid overdoses – but also including poverty and structural issues in the healthcare system.
THE CLAIM
Nikki Haley: Social Security will go bankrupt in 10 years.
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, Social Security is not going to go bankrupt in 10 years, or anytime in the near future. But the program faces legitimate funding challenges that could lead to lower monthly benefit payments in the future.
WHAT WE FOUND
Social Security is often referred to as a “pay as you go” program. That’s because benefits are primarily funded through a dedicated payroll tax, which is deducted from every paycheck you receive. Both workers and employers are required to pay Social Security payroll taxes.
As long as workers and employers keep paying payroll taxes, Social Security recipients will continue to receive monthly benefit payments, AARP and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) explain.
The program also receives funding from income taxes that some beneficiaries have to pay on a portion of their benefits. That means it will not completely run out of cash for monthly benefit payments since it always receives income from taxes.
However, future Social Security benefit payments could be lower than expected due to legitimate funding challenges. The program’s trust fund reserves could be depleted within the next decade, according to the most recent estimates.
If the trust funds run out of cash reserves, beneficiaries will see less money in their checks, with Social Security relying only on incoming tax revenue to make payments.
The Old-Age Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which pays monthly benefits to retired workers, their spouses and survivors of deceased workers, is expected to be able to pay full benefits until 2033, according to the most recent annual trustees report. At that point, the program could only pay out 77% of scheduled benefits.
THE CLAIM
Tim Scott: There have been 70,000 deaths in the last 12 months due to fentanyl.
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
This is true. In May 2023, the most recent month for which data is available, more than 70,000 people died from synthetic opioid overdoses. This mainly includes fentanyl.
WHAT WE FOUND
The CDC collects death records from across the country and compiles them in the National Vital Statistics System. That information includes cause of death, and each month the CDC publishes how many people died of certain types of drug overdoses in the last 12 months.
In May 2023, the most recent month for which that data is available, the number was 73,765 for synthetic opioids other than methadone. This mainly includes fentanyl, as well as a few other far less commonly abused drugs such as tramadol.
In other words, in a one-year span more than 70,000 Americans died from primarily fentanyl overdoses. There were more than 70,000 synthetic opioid deaths the year before, too.
THE CLAIM
Vivek Ramaswamy: After Nikki Haley left her post at the United Nations, she worked for a defense contractor by taking a seat on the board of directors at Boeing.
THE SOURCES
- Boeing
- Letter authored by Nikki Haley, included in SEC filing
THE ANSWER
Yes, Nikki Haley sat on the board of directors at Boeing between 2019 and 2020.
WHAT WE FOUND
Nikki Haley served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for the first two years of President Donald Trump's term, resigning in 2018.
In 2019, Haley was appointed to the board of directors at Boeing, which is one of the largest defense contractors in America.
But only one year into that role, Haley resigned, citing her distaste for the company’s decision to seek government bailout money during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ramaswamy suggested that Haley had grown wealthy as a result of her work in the defense contracting field. But Haley’s financial disclosure reports show her income comes from a variety of sources, many unrelated to defense.
Haley currently sits on the board of Great Southern Homes, a homebuilding company based in her home state of South Carolina. She also makes significant income from speaking fees, royalties from her book, and consulting. She does retain a significant amount of Boeing stock, in addition to numerous other companies.
It’s not unusual for former high-profile government officials to sit on corporate boards after their time in office.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, for example, currently sits on the board of Pacira Biosciences, a pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey. He’s also on the board of the New York Mets.
Ramaswamy has not held elected office. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis do not sit on corporate boards, as they are still in office.
The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, text alerts and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Learn More »
The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, text alerts and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Learn More »
