Going into the Iowa Caucus, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz top the polls on the Republican side, while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders lead the Democratic field. But before voicing your vote, here's a look back at some of the candidates' most controversial remarks this campaign season.
Donald Trump argued America's problem is its lack of strength, in the wake of last month's San Bernardino shooting. Trump said, "We have to be much stronger than we've been. We have people that know what is going on. You take a look at just the attack in California the other day. There were numerous people, including the mother, that knew what was going on. They saw a pipe bomb sitting all over the floor. They saw ammunition all over the place. They knew exactly what was going on."
This is misleading. Neither Trump, nor anyone, knows if the terrorists' parents knew about the San Bernardino attack ahead of time. More than one month later, the FBI is still investigating what, if anything, the mother of one of the shooters (Syed Farook) knew prior to the attack. The mother did live in the same home where her son and his girlfriend built several bombs.
Hillary Clinton has been cementing her stance on gun control throughout her campaign. Before the shooting, she said, "I believe, and there's vast evidence to support this, that the majority of Americans support universal background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of people with serious mental illness, people who have records."
This is false. At the time of Clinton's argument, a recently-released Gallup poll showed that less than half of Americans, 47%, say they want stricter gun laws. But as current events change, so do the poll numbers. A CNN poll released earlier this year following President Obama's gun control town hall showed that 67% of Americans favor stricter gun control. The last time the majority of Americans supported tighter gun control before that was in 2012, immediately following the Sandy Hook school shooting.
Ted Cruz has been focusing on the issue of national security. In the fourth GOP debate, the senator said, "Border security is national security, and you know one of the most troubling aspects of the Rubio-Schumer 'Gang of Eight' bill was that it gave President Obama blanket authority to admit refugees, including Syrian refugees, without mandating any background checks whatsoever."
This is false. News 8 dug deeper and read the bill, which says background checks are still required. The immigration bill, that was co-sponsored by Cruz' challenger Marco Rubio back in 2013, does allow the president to admit refugees into our country. But in order to qualify for refugee status, they must prove they're a member of the refugee group. And they would still be subject to the required screening process coming to the U.S.
Bernie Sanders pushed his policies for both abroad and at home in his campaign ads. One ad narrates, "He stood up for families, opposing the Iraq War, and supporting veterans."
This is true. As a representative, Sanders fought to increase both the minimum wage and social security payments. He voted against the Iraq invasion not only in 2003, but all the way back in 1991, under George H.W. Bush. After elected to the Senate in 2006, Sanders served on the committee on veterans' affairs, voting to increase funds to V.A. hospitals nationwide.