CLEVELAND — While speaking at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, U.S. Senator from Ohio and now GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance presented a few claims as facts.
So let’s take a look at those, to VERIFY.
CLAIM 1
First up, he said this: "The average Ohio family is about $10,000 poorer today than they were four years ago."
SOURCE
- U.S. Census Bureau reports
EXPLANATION
We checked the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, and the most recent numbers (adjusted for inflation) are from 2022.
We looked at the five-year estimate reports because those are the most precise, and for at least the last four years where data is available, the average household income in Ohio has consistently gone up. Those numbers are as follows:
- 2019: $76,958
- 2020: $78,797
- 2021: $83,820
- 2022: $90,958
These same reports for 2023 won't come out until December.
ANSWER 1
Based on the data available, we can VERIFY that Vance's claim that the average Ohio family is about $10,000 poorer today than they were four years ago is false.
CLAIMS 2 AND 3
Vance also said, "Joe Biden has been a politician in Washington for longer than I've been alive — 39 years old. Kamala Harris is not much further behind."
SOURCE
- Congress.gov, the official website for U.S. federal legislative information
EXPLANATION 2
Let’s start with President Joe Biden. He served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, was vice president under Barack Obama for eight years, and has now been President of the United States for almost four years.
ANSWER 2
So Vance's claim that Biden has been a politician in Washington for longer than the 39 years Vance has been alive is obviously true.
EXPLANATION 3
As for Vice President Harris, she was first elected to federal office in 2016 when she became the second African American woman and first South Asian American to serve in the U.S. Senate. She became Biden's vice president in 2021, for a combined total now of almost eight years in federal office.
ANSWER 3
That's nowhere near the 39 years Vance has been alive, so his claim that Harris "is not much further behind" Biden for time serving in Washington, D.C. if false.
Before becoming a senator, Harris served in a state office as Attorney General for California from 2011-17, and before that was San Francisco's district attorney for seven years. Even with those jobs giving her just over 20 years as an elected official, that's still not close to Biden's career or Vance's lifespan.
If you come across something that you're unsure about being true or false, you can send it to us to VERIFY by emailing us at verify@wkyc.com, or texting us at (216) 344-3300.