Former President Donald Trump gave a speech on Wednesday filled with repeated false claims, including one about insulin prices for seniors.
During the speech in North Carolina, Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, accused Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden of lying about their success in reducing insulin prices for Medicare recipients to $35 per month. Trump claimed they were taking credit for his achievements.
Trump stated, “Kamala and Joe tried to take credit for $35 insulin. You know who did that? I did that. I did the insulin, and it kicked in. I remember when I did it – it had to be a statute, it was a certain statute that took a certain period of time. I said, ‘I hope I’m elected because somebody’s going to get a lot of credit for doing what I got done.’ I got it done, $35 insulin. And now they take credit for it. It’s terrible. Terrible.” He further complained that they had not acknowledged his work, adding, “Instead, they say, ‘We brought insulin in at $35.’ It’s a lie.”
**Facts First:** Trump's claim is misleading. While he did introduce a $35-per-month cap on insulin for some Medicare recipients through a voluntary program that prescription drug plans could choose to join, he did not pass a law to secure the program's future. In contrast, Biden and Harris did pass legislation that established a permanent $35-per-month insulin policy for all Medicare users. This law ensures that over 3.4 million insulin users on Medicare benefit from the cap, covering more people and a broader range of insulin products than Trump’s initiative, which disappeared at certain drug spending levels.
Trump can reasonably argue that he contributed to lowering insulin costs and that Biden and Harris do not deserve all the credit. The Biden administration has acknowledged that their mandatory $35 monthly cap closely aligns with the voluntary cap introduced during Trump’s presidency in 2020. However, Trump's suggestion that Biden and Harris are merely claiming credit for his work is inaccurate. The Biden administration’s policy not only builds on but also significantly expands Trump’s policy through legislation.
The Biden policy applies the $35-per-month cap to all insulin users in Medicare Part D, whereas Trump’s policy did not; it extends the cap to Medicare Part B, which Trump’s policy did not cover; it mandates a $35 cap on all covered insulin products, while Trump’s policy only applied to some; and it eliminates insulin payments for patients at the "catastrophic" level of drug spending, a level where Trump’s cap did not apply.
Trump also made several other false claims during his Wednesday speech. Here’s a brief fact-check of 13 such claims, many of which have been debunked before:
- He claimed that the price of bacon “went up by four or five times” under Biden and Harris. In reality, it’s up 18%, far less than the 300% or 400% increase Trump suggested.
- He alleged that Harris’ policy proposals would result in taxes quadrupling. Experts say there is no basis for this claim.
- Referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he claimed Biden is “letting him have the whole thing.” In fact, Biden has led an international effort to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, which has only managed to seize about 18% of Ukraine’s territory.
- He said Covid-19 was “ending all over the world, it was pretty much ending” when Biden and Harris took office in January 2021. This was not the case.
- He claimed his tax cuts were the largest ever. They were not.
- He said he took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China through tariffs on Chinese products, claiming no previous president had taken in “10 cents” from tariffs on China. Both claims are incorrect, as Americans bore most of the cost of Trump’s tariffs, and the US was already generating billions in revenue from tariffs on China before Trump’s presidency.
- He claimed Biden appointed Harris as “border czar” and put her in charge of the border. In reality, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has overseen border security under Biden, with Harris focusing on diplomacy with Central American countries to address the root causes of migration.
- He said he built 571 miles of border wall. Official records show it was 458 miles, mostly replacement barriers.
- He claimed he built more border wall than he initially promised. In fact, he repeatedly said during his 2016 campaign that “we need” 1,000 miles of wall, far more than he ended up building.
- He said he forced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, to deploy the National Guard during the civil unrest in Minneapolis in 2020. In truth, Walz deployed the National Guard before Trump pressured him.
- He claimed Venezuela is “taking all of their criminals” and people from mental institutions and “bringing” them to the US. Experts say there is no evidence to support this claim.
- He said Houston has the only refinery in the world that can handle Venezuelan oil. In reality, several other refineries in the US process Venezuelan oil.
