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Fact Check: Clinton Falsely Claims Trump Was Not Asked Debate Questions About Job Creation in 2016

AP
May 3, 2017

Hillary Clinton criticized 2016 debate moderators on Tuesday for not asking her Republican opponent and current President Donald Trump questions about job creation.

Clinton's criticism was false because Trump was asked about job creation twice during two different debates by moderators Chris Wallace and Lester Holt, according to FactCheck.org.

In the first debate at Hofstra University, NBC News' Lester Holt devoted a segment to what he called "Achieving prosperity." Holt opened by generally asking both candidates how they would create jobs, and then he followed up twice by pressing Trump to specifically explain how he planned to bring back manufacturing jobs.

Fox News' Chris Wallace also asked both candidates about their jobs plans in the final debate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He asked Trump "why will your plan create more jobs and growth than Secretary Clinton's?" Wallace also pressed Trump to defend his promise that he would create 25 million jobs and grow the energy industry at a time of low oil prices.

Holt divided the first 90-minute debate into six segments that covered achieving prosperity, America's direction, and securing America, which focused on job growth and creation. Holt's first debate question was about job creation and asked both candidates how they were a going to create more jobs than their opponent.

While the third debate focused on a wider range of issues, Wallace asked Trump why his job creation plan would create more jobs than Clinton, according to FactCheck.

The moderator also pressed Trump to defend his job-creation promises, telling the GOP nominee that "even conservative economists" believe it's unrealistic for Trump to expect that he can grow the economy at an annual rate of 4 percent, create 25 million jobs and grow the energy industry at a time of low oil prices.

View the full transcripts of the relevant sections of the debates pertaining to job creation questions here.