Fact checking CNN’s GOP debate in Iowa

While the Republican front-runner, former President Donald Trump, skipped the event, DeSantis and Haley took questions from likely GOP caucusgoers and CNN moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper on issues ranging from the economy to immigration.

Here is a fact check of some of the claims both candidates made on the debate stage. 

DeSantis on Haley’s position on a gas tax

With the economy one of the key issues among voters, Gov. Ron DeSantis aimed to position himself as the best candidate to address those concerns, claiming that Haley supported policies that hurt her constituents’ wallets, like raising the gas tax.

“Nikki Haley when she was governor she promised she would never do the gas tax, then tried to raise the gas tax on hardworking South Carolinians,” DeSantis said.

Facts First: This needs context. While Haley initially said that as governor she would not support an effort to raise the gas tax, she later said she would if it was paired with a cut to the state income tax.

In responding to DeSantis during Wednesday’s debate, Haley acknowledged as much, saying: “We said if you want to raise the gas tax, you have to reduce the income tax by five times that amount. They didn’t want to do it.”

It’s worth noting that this proposal was in response to state legislator’s efforts to raise the gas tax and did not constitute support for a standalone gas tax increase.

Furthermore, Haley’s proposal was not received favorably by the Republican-held state legislature and ultimately the gas tax remained the same during her tenure as governor. The gas tax was later raised under her successor, after South Carolina state legislators overrode a gubernatorial veto.

From CNN’s Tara Subramaniam. CNN’s Arit John contributed reporting.

Nikki Haley on immigration from Central America

Nikki Haley claimed during Wednesday night’s CNN GOP debate that while at the United Nations, she stopped the flow of migration from certain parts of Central America.

Haley recalled a previous trip to Honduras and Guatemala, saying, “We had our military go and train them on how to deal with gangs.”

“We went and put drug boats on the water to keep the drugs from coming. But we said you have to have them processed from here. You can’t have them come. We were able to stop that flow,” Haley said.

Facts First: It’s unclear what operation Haley was referring to, though the United States does have a presence in Central American countries and often works in partnership with those countries to stem the flow of migration. While migration from different regions ebbs and flows, it hasn’t altogether stopped from Honduras and Guatemala.

In fiscal year 2023, border authorities encountered 433,771 migrants from Guatemala and Honduras at the US southern border, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

From CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez

DeSantis on aid to Ukraine

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued against further US funding for Ukraine by saying that “tens of billions of dollars” have been used “to pay salaries for Ukrainian government bureaucrats,” and that US taxpayers have “paid pensions for Ukrainian retirees.”

Facts First: This needs context.

Although the US has provided Ukraine with around $23 billion in direct budget support since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, it cannot be said that all of that funding is going to “bureaucrats” or “pensions.”

The money, which is disbursed through the World Bank, has gone to pay “wages for hospital workers, government employees, and teachers as well as social assistance for the elderly and vulnerable,” according to a statement from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. It has also been provided to the Ukrainian government to “supply emergency services for internally displaced persons,” the US Agency for International Development said in February of last year.

From CNN’s Jennifer Hansler

DeSantis on Biden helping evacuate Americans from Israel

In response to a question about Israel, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that Florida rescued Americans from the country in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack because “Biden wasn’t helping Americans get out of the war zone.”

Facts First: DeSantis’s claim is false. The Biden administration helped Americans evacuate from Israel after the attack.

The US government did charter flights for Americans seeking to leave Israel, with the first flight taking place on October 13. The State Department stopped the flights by the end of October due to lack of demand, signaling that the program was successful at helping the Americans who wanted to leave.

DeSantis argued that the federal government didn’t do enough, which is why he organized flights from Israel to Florida for Americans looking to return home. But his flights only began after the State Department-led evacuations had started.

CNN previously fact-checked a similar claim that DeSantis made at a CNN town hall in December.

From CNN’s Marshall Cohen and Haley Britzky

Haley on DeSantis’ energy record

Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis once again had a back-and-forth on fracking and off-shore oil drilling during CNN’s GOP debate Wednesday night. The former South Carolina governor once again claimed DeSantis “banned fracking” on his second day in office. Haley also accused DeSantis of writing a bill that would have reversed the Renewable Fuel Standard, which blends corn-based ethanol (a big Iowa export) with gasoline.

“Why did he run on the fact that he wanted to ban fracking and ban offshore drilling? Why did he go and author that legislation to eliminate the renewable fuel standard that matters so much?” Haley said.

DeSantis accused Haley of “beating that dead horse.”

Facts First: Haley is largely right. DeSantis has previously suggested his ban on off-shore drilling as Florida governor came from a state constitutional amendment. DeSantis did not unilaterally ban fracking before the constitutional amendment passed, but an executive order he signed just days after taking office as governor of Florida called for the state to “adamantly oppose all off-shore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.”  As a member of congress, DeSantis also co-sponsored a bill to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Haley’s broader argument about DeSantis’ position on off-shore drilling and fracking is supported by his past comments and actions. During DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he was asked if he supported a ban on fracking and he emphatically said yes. In January 2020, he also oversaw the purchase of 20,000 acres of Everglades wetlands by the state of Florida to permanently protect them from oil drilling, which wasn’t prompted by the constitutional amendment in any way.

From CNN’s Ella Nilsen and Tara Subramaniam 

DeSantis on anti-transgender bathroom bills

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley opposed a bill in her state while governor that would have banned people from using public bathrooms that didn’t correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificate.

“She just said she’s always fought to protect kids but when she was governor of South Carolina, they had a bill to protect girls from men going into the bathroom. She killed it and she’s bragged about it for years that that happened,” DeSantis said.

Facts First: DeSantis’ attack left out critical context about himself. He correctly described Haley’s stance on a proposed anti-transgender bathroom bill while she was governor of South Carolina in 2016 – but he didn’t mention that he also took a hands-off position on bathroom policy while running for governor of Florida two years later.

In 2016, a Republican legislator in South Carolina introduced a bill that proposed to require people to use public bathrooms corresponding to their “biological sex.” The legislator made the proposal during a national controversy over a similar bill that had recently been signed into law in North Carolina; numerous businesses had announced that they were canceling planned investments and events in North Carolina due to the legislation.

In response to the South Carolina proposal, Haley said “I don’t believe it’s necessary.” She said she was not aware of “one instance” of bathroom-related problems in the state, and she said, “We’re not hearing of anybody’s religious liberties that are being violated, and we’re again not hearing any citizens that are being violated in terms of freedoms.”

Last year, DeSantis signed a Florida law that prohibits transgender people from using bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity while in government buildings, such as public schools, prisons and universities. While running for governor in 2018, however, DeSantis was dismissive of the idea of state bathroom legislation – saying, at a Republican primary forum hosted by a Christian conservative organization, that “getting into the bathroom wars, I don’t think that’s a good use of our time” and that people should be able to set up bathrooms “how they want.”

“I would not pass a law; I would leave it as it is and stay out of that,” he said.

It’s fair to note that DeSantis was speaking in 2018 during a discussion about how the candidates would respond to a proposal allowing someone to use the bathroom of their choice. Still, his comments conveyed opposition to Florida’s state government getting involved in the matter – two years after Haley expressed opposition to South Carolina’s state government getting involved in the matter.

–From CNN’s Kaanita Iyer and Daniel Dale 

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