FactChecking the Democratic Convention

For four days and nights, we tracked every word spoken at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

What we found were familiar claims from familiar people, notably President Joe Biden, who emptied out his 2024 campaign playbook for perhaps the last time.

On the first night, Biden, who ended his campaign on July 21, made nearly a dozen claims, which we fact-checked, while touting his accomplishments and taking shots at the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

On the second night of the convention, which featured former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as the headliners, fact-based claims took a back seat to hopeful pronouncements about the future. We still found some political spin, including from Barack Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The last two nights belonged to the nominees, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz. 

Here's our coverage of the historic convention that nominated the first Black woman as the nominee of a major party:

Opening Night of the Democratic National Convention

Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention

Third Night of the Democratic Convention 

Final Night of the Democratic National Convention

Reader: Is it true that Planned Parenthood partnered with the DNC to have a mobile abortion clinic setup outside the DNC this week?

FactCheck.org Staff Writer D'Angelo Gore: A branch of Planned Parenthood did operate a mobile health clinic near the site of the Democratic National Convention -- but it was not a collaboration with the DNC.

Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which is based in the St. Louis area, previously announced that it would provide free vasectomies, medication abortion and emergency contraception when its mobile clinic traveled to Chicago's West Loop neighborhood on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20. All services except emergency contraception were available by appointment only.

In a press release, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers said: "Meeting patients where they are by offering the mobile clinic’s services in busy areas is yet another continuation of Planned Parenthood’s unending efforts to improve accessibility and expand services for Illinois residents. It is also another way to address the influx of patients coming to Illinois for care as surrounding states continue to enact severe restrictions on reproductive care, including extreme abortion bans."

As for sponsors, the press release said that the health care services were being provided "at no cost in partnership with Chicago Abortion Fund and the Wieners Circle," a nonprofit and food vendor, respectively. There was no mention of the DNC.

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Walz Twists Some Labor Claims": Delivering remarks at a labor union conference in California, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stretched the facts with several labor-related claims. 
• "Bird Flu Pandemic Preparedness Activities Are Not Evidence of a Conspiracy": The circulation of H5N1 bird flu in animals and limited infections in humans have motivated flu preparedness activities, such as stockpiling vaccines. Social media posts have baselessly implied that these efforts are evidence that a new laboratory-derived version of the virus is going to cause a pandemic — or even that there is a conspiracy to release bird flu from a lab.
• "How Walz Responded to Riots in Minnesota After the Death of George Floyd": For years, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been criticized by some for his response to riots in his state after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. That criticism picked up again this month when Vice President Kamala Harris chose Walz to be her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket. Here we provide a brief timeline of events.
• "Trump Misleads on the Cost of Electric Vehicle Chargers": In recent speeches, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Biden administration has spent $9 billion to build only eight electric vehicle charging stations — or even, just eight chargers. That’s not accurate. 
• "Post Shares Bogus Lara Trump Quote about Use of Celine Dion Song": The Trump campaign showed a video of Celine Dion singing the theme from “Titanic” at a rally in Montana, sparking a rebuke from Dion for unauthorized use of the video. A post on Threads then shared a fake quote from Lara Trump responding to Dion saying, “We don’t give a damn” and “I’ll sing the song myself.” The quote originated on a satirical X account.