2024 RNC Day 2 fact check of the Republican National Convention

CBS News is fact checking some of the statements made by speakers during the 2024 Republican National Convention, which is taking place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through Thursday, July 18. On Tuesday, the theme is security, and the evening’s speakers include Kari Lake, who’s running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, also running for Senate, and top members of congressional leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, former primary opponent Nikki Haley and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Monday’s theme was the economy, so several of the statements checked relate to U.S. economic concerns. Former President Donald Trump made a surprise appearance at the convention Monday night.

CBS News is covering the RNC live. 

Fact check on Senate candidate Eric Hovde’s statement that Biden, Harris opened border, allowing criminals to enter U.S.: False

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde: “Biden, with his ‘Border Czar’ Vice President Harris, opened our southern border, allowing criminals and terrorists to enter our country.”“

Details:

On immigration policies: President Biden has never endorsed or implemented an “open borders” policy. Mr. Biden has reversed a number of Trump-era immigration policies, including a program that required migrants to await their asylum hearings in Mexico, but the president has also embraced some restrictive border policies that mirror rules enacted by Trump. In June, Mr. Biden enacted a proclamation that has partially shut down asylum processing along the border. His administration also carried out over 4 million deportations, expulsions and returns of migrants since 2021, according to Department of Homeland Security data.

On immigration and crime: Some migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally through the southern border in recent years have been charged with serious crimes — this includes the suspect in the high-profile murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. But available studies show that undocumented migrants in the U.S. do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans. Government statistics indicate that a small fraction of migrants processed by Border Patrol have criminal records in the U.S. or in other countries that share information with American officials.

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Fact check on House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s claim that Biden, Harris want $5 trillion tax hike: True, but needs context

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana: “Biden and Harris want a $5 trillion tax hike.”

Details: This number comes from a Treasury analysis of the White House’s 2025 budget, which would raise tax revenues by about $4.9 trillion over a decade if the plan is passed by Congress.

But the White House budget shows Mr. Biden plans to raise tax revenues through policies that include bumping up the corporate tax rate and increasing taxes on high-income earners.The Biden administration has said that no one earning less than $400,000 would face higher taxes.

By Laura Doan

Fact check on Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s claim that 11.5 million people have illegally crossed the southern border under Biden: Misleading

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz: “There’s an invasion on our southern border, a literal invasion: 11.5 million people have crossed our border illegally under Joe Biden.”

Details: U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported about 8.1 million encounters with migrants at the southern border since President Biden took office. Nationwide, CBP has reported about 10 million migrant encounters. The number of encounters do not represent individual people, since some migrants cross the border multiple times.

Not every migrant who is processed is allowed to stay in the U.S. Under Biden, the U.S. has carried out more than 4 million deportations, expulsions and returns of migrants since the start of fiscal year 2021, according to Department of Homeland Security data.

By Laura Doan

Fact check on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claim that Democrats want to ban gas vehicles: False

Gov. Ron DeSantis: “They [Democrats] want to ban gas automobiles.”

Details: President Biden has not proposed banning gas automobiles. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency announced new tailpipe emission standards for new passenger cars beginning in model year 2027 and aimed at cutting carbon emissions. The EPA estimates that the industry could meet the standards if 56% of new vehicle sales are electric by 2032. But the Biden administration has said this rule is not an electric vehicle mandate, not a gas vehicle ban, and new gas-powered vehicles may still be sold after 2032. 

By Mikayla Denault and Laura Doan

Fact check on RNC co-chair Lara Trump’s claim that during Trump’s tenure, the U.S. saw the largest tax cuts in U.S. history: False

Lara Trump: “Remember what life was like under President Trump…The largest tax cuts in American history.”

Details: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does not rank as the largest tax cut in U.S. history when measured by two commonly used metrics. By percentage GDP, the 2017 tax cuts rank as the eighth largest since 1918, according to a 2017 report by the independent Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the cuts were the fourth-largest since 1940, according to the same report. 

By Laura Doan