Fact checking Ron DeSantis’ CNN town hall in Iowa

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participated in a CNN town hall Tuesday in Iowa ahead of the state’s caucuses next month.

The GOP presidential contender — who’s been in a race with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to be the main alternative to former President Donald Trump for the party’s nomination — made some claims that deserve scrutiny.

Oil drilling

DeSantis pledged to “open up” domestic energy production “so that you pay less for gas.”

Facts First: As he did on Tuesday, DeSantis’ frequent campaign claim that the US can lower gas prices by producing more domestic oil is misleading.

Under President Joe Biden, US oil production has reached a new record this year, even surpassing output under former President Donald Trump. As CNN has reported, the US currently produces more oil than any other country on the planet, at about half a million barrels per day more than the prior annual record set in 2019.

Prices at the pump in the US are highly dependent on the global oil market and the US cannot be truly energy independent when it comes to gas prices, energy experts have told CNN. Oil is a global commodity; the global price of oil determines US gas prices and it’s simply impossible to separate that price from shifting global dynamics like Russia’s war on Ukraine or OPEC’s recent decisions to cut oil production.

There’s also the fact that the US consumes a different kind of oil than it produces, Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, and a former George W. Bush White House official, told CNN last year. McNally compared the light crude the US produces to champagne, and the heavy crude it imports to coffee. US oil refineries are specifically built to separate out the “heavy and gunky” crude we consume, McNally said.

From CNN’s Aaron Pellish and Ella Nilsen

Florida’s economy

DeSantis claimed Florida’s economy is “ranked number one of all 50 states” and that the state’s “unemployment rate is 60% lower than states like California.”

Facts First: DeSantis’ first claim is accurate – at least based on one source: CNBC declared Florida the nation’s top economy in a July article. It’s worth noting, of course, that various media rankings use differing subjective methodologies. But he’s exaggerating how much lower Florida’s unemployment rate is when compared to California’s.

In October, Florida’s unemployment rate was 2.8% – tied for the 11th-best unemployment rate in the nation. That’s roughly 42% lower than California’s unemployment rate at 4.8%.

Here are some other official figures. In October, Florida was tied for the 3rd-strongest year-over-year job growth of all 50 states. The state had the country’s 11th-best increase in real GDP growth, 3.5%, between the final quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.

However, the state is struggling with inflation, with two metro areas, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, high on the list of the metros with the worst inflation rates in the country over the last year. That’s in part because strong population growth has pushed up housing prices in these areas, but it is an economic problem nonetheless.

From CNN’s Daniel Dale and Katie Lobosco

Grocery prices

DeSantis claimed that grocery prices have gone up “way more than 10%,” saying they’ve gone up “50%, 75% and maybe 100%.”

Facts first: DeSantis’ claim about grocery price increases is false.

While the price of food has risen significantly over the last few years amid rising inflation, grocery prices have not gone up between 50% and 100%. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices in the US increased 2.9% for the year ended in November. Overall, food prices have risen 26% since November 2019.

From CNN’s Samantha Delouya

Rescuing people from Israel

DeSantis claimed he rescued people in Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack because the US State Department and embassy in Israel “wasn’t helping them.”

Facts first: DeSantis’ claim is both untrue and needs context.

It is inaccurate to say that the State Department did not help Americans in Israel after Hamas’ October 7 attack. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced on October 12 that the US government would begin arranging charter flights for Americans seeking to leave Israel on October 13. The first US government flight out of Israel landed in Athens on October 13.

Separately, DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Florida on October 12, allowing him to access a $500 million fund that does not require legislative approval, to evacuate people from Israel to Tampa. He told reporters in New Hampshire in October that he anticipated the first evacuation flight would land in Florida on October 15 — two days after the first US government flight came out of Israel.

From CNN’s Haley Britzky

Life expectancy

Asked about the need to reform Social Security, DeSantis criticized Haley for wanting to raise the retirement age. He pointed to the nation’s demographic trends.

“Life expectancy is declining in this country. It’s tragic, but it’s true,” he said.

Facts First: It’s true that life expectancy suffered historic drops during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, but DeSantis’ claim needs context. Life expectancy started to rebound last year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2022, life expectancy at birth rose by 1.1 years to 77.5 years, according to provisional CDC data. But it’s still lower than it’s been in roughly 20 years. The recent increase offset less than half of the 2.4 years of life lost in the first two years of the pandemic.

A decline in mortality from Covid-19 was a main reason why life expectancy rose last year. About 245,000 people died from Covid-19 in 2022, down from more than 462,000 deaths in 2021 and from about 385,000 deaths in 2020, according to CDC data.

From CNN’s Tami Luhby and Deidre McPhillips

Social Security

When asked how he would protect Social Security for future generations, DeSantis blamed Congress for the entitlement program’s financial troubles.

“Congress has taken money out of the Social Security fund for decades. They used to have surpluses there – Congress needed more money to do its spending so they take it and they spend it and then they’d write IOUs. That’s the main reason why Social Security is having fiscal challenges,” DeSantis said.

Facts First: DeSantis’ explanation here is inaccurate. The federal government has essentially borrowed from Social Security, but that is not the main reason why the program is facing insolvency in just over a decade. The primary problem is demographics – there are not enough workers to support the growing number of Social Security beneficiaries.

Even after all the borrowed funds have been paid back, the Social Security trust fund for retirees and survivors is projected to run dry in a decade, said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a government watchdog organization. At that time, beneficiaries could face a 23% cut in benefits.

Social Security is on shaky financial ground in large part because of the aging of the American population. Fewer workers are paying into the program and supporting the ballooning number of beneficiaries, who are also living longer.

From CNN’s Tami Luhby

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