One of how many comments fact checked?
Via Politifact:
Hillary Clinton was involved in a decision as secretary of state that “was laughed at all over the world,” Donald Trump said at the second debate between the two presidential candidates.
Trump, referring to a “line in the sand,” brought up President Barack Obama’s so-called “red line” in Syria: That Obama would change his calculus on armed intervention in Syria if dictator Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons. Assad later used chemical weapons, crossing the red line, but Obama did not intervene with force.
Clinton “was there as secretary of state with the so-called line in the sand,” Trump said, his statement abruptly cut off by Clinton.
“No I wasn’t. I was gone,” she said. “I hate to interrupt you, but at some point we need to do some fact-checking.”
Trump replied, “You were in total contact with the White House, and perhaps sadly Obama probably still listened to you, I don’t think he’ll be listening to you very much anymore. Obama draws the line in the sand. It was laughed at all over the world what happened.”
Since there was a call for some fact-checking, we decided to find out who’s correct on the timeline — Clinton or Trump.
Basically, Obama drew the chemical weapons “red line” in August 2012 when Clinton was secretary of state. But by the time the White House confirmed that Assad crossed it about a year later, she had been replaced by John Kerry.
August 2012: Obama draws the “red line.”
Obama first made the “red line” comment Aug. 20, 2012, when a reporter asked Obama whether he envisioned using the military in Syria, “if simply for nothing else, the safekeeping of the chemical weapons.”
Obama responded (emphasis added):
“I have, at this point, not ordered military engagement in the situation. But the point that you made about chemical and biological weapons is critical. That’s an issue that doesn’t just concern Syria; it concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us. We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people.
“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”
At this point, Clinton was secretary of state. She endorsed Obama’s position, specifically using the phrase “red line” in a Dec. 3 2012, press conference in Prague.
“We have made our views very clear. This is a red line for the United States,” she told a reporter. “I’m not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against his own people, but suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur.”