2020 Presidential Election

Howie Hawkins

Defunding the police means to stop paying police to harass, exploit, and control poor communities of color over non-criminal behavior and low-level offenses like homelessness, drug possession, and mental health crises. It means investing the savings in real solutions.

Howie Hawkins, Twitter.com, June 12, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

As your President, I will defund federal involvement in policing, and the DEA. The federal government has created a police state, which instead of protecting and serving, imports nameless, faceless SWAT teams to our streets.

I will end the supplying of military equipment like tanks and tear gas to law enforcement (1033 program). Americans should not feel like enemy combatants in their own neighborhoods.

I will also end civil asset forfeiture, which is state-sanctioned highway robbery. Police are now able to steal assets from Americans (billions of dollars every year) and transfer the spoils to their own police budgets. This is wrong, and a massive conflict of interest.

I will end no-knock raids, which too often end up killing innocent bystanders like Breonna Taylor.

I will end the failed, destructive drug war used to justify such abuses.

And I will end qualified immunity so that citizens can take legal action against police brutality.

It will be up to each locality to decide what level of policing helps them balance public safety with sacred liberties. But getting federal money out, repealing draconian laws, and holding officers accountable, will make those choices far easier and our communities both safer and freer.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Joe Biden

I don’t want to defund police. I want to get police more money in order to deal with the things they badly need, from making sure they have access to community policing, that they have also in the departments social workers, psychologists, people who in fact can handle those god-awful problems that a cop has to have four degrees to handle.

Jonathan Easley, "Biden Says He Supports Additional Funding for the Police," thehill.com, Aug. 5, 2020

Editor’s Note: While Biden has stated he supports the urgent need for reform and has talked about redirecting police funds to other programs including those for mental health, a campaign spokesperson clarified that Biden is against defunding.

Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns, and Thomas Kaplan, “Biden Walks a Cautious Line as He Opposes Defunding the Police,” nytimes.com, June 8, 2020

Rafael Cabrera and Ali Swenson, "Joe Biden Did Not Call for Defunding the Police," apnews.com, July 10, 2020

Donald Trump

There won’t be defunding. There won’t be dismantling of our police, and there’s not going to be any disbanding of our police. Our police have been letting us live in peace, and we want to make sure we don’t have any bad actors in there.

Brett Samuels, “Trump: There Won’t Be Any Defunding of Police,” thehill.com, June 8, 2020

Joe Biden

The bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that Biden, along with Senator Feinstein, secured in 1994 reduced the lethality of mass shootings...

As president, Biden will:

Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines... While working to pass this legislation, Biden will also use his executive authority to ban the importation of assault weapons...

Biden will also institute a program to buy back weapons of war currently on our streets.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan to End Our Gun Violence Epidemic," joebiden.com (accessed Feb. 18, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

I defend the individual right of law-abiding citizens to own pistols, rifles, and shotguns for self-defense, hunting, and sport shooting while also supporting the public right to regulate the ownership and operation of guns in the interests of public safety.

I advocate the following specific gun safety and law enforcement reforms to address gun violence and white nationalist terrorism:

Ban and buy back military assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks.

Howie Hawkins, "How to Confront the US Culture of Violence," howiehawkins.us, Aug. 11, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

I support the repeal of every law that violates your right to self-defense.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

I certainly stand by my opposition to Gun Control when it comes to taking guns from law-abiding citizens. You mention that the media describes the AR-15 as an ’assault rifle,’ which is one example of the many distortions they use to sell their agenda. However, the AR-15 does not fall under this category. Gun-banners are unfortunately preoccupied with the AR-15, magazine capacity, grips, and other aesthetics, precisely because of its popularity.

To the Left every gun is an assault weapon.

Gun control does not reduce crime. It has consistently failed to stop violence. Americans are entitled to protect their families, their property and themselves.

Fredy Riehl, "Donald Trump Talks: Gun Control, Assault Weapons, Gun Free Zones & Self Defense," ammoland.com, July 7, 2015

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

I generally oppose gun control but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.

Donald Trump, The America We Deserve, 2005

Joe Biden

[T]he Biden Administration will expand on the Obama-Biden Administration’s ’ban the box’ policy by encouraging further adoption of these policies at the state and local level. This effort will not include any automatic restoration of firearms rights.

Joe Biden, "Justice," joebiden.com (accessed June 1, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

Ban the Box: End the practice of employers and public colleges such as SUNY using criminal history on initial applications, which automatically disqualifies applicants who are fully qualified. The right to know an applicant’s criminal history would be deferred until a conditional offer of employment or enrollment is made.

Howie Hawkins, "Issues: Criminal Justice Reform," howiehawkins.org, June 16, 2020

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: On Dec. 20, 2019, Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020. The law includes the Fair Chance Act, which will take effect on Dec. 20, 2021 and will prohibit the federal government and contractors from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal history prior to conditional job offers for most jobs.

House of Representatives, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, docs.house.gov, Dec. 2019

Donald Trump, "Statement by the President," whitehouse.gov, Dec. 20, 2019]

Jo Jorgensen

Employers should be free to ask potential employees, but I support the release of nonviolent criminals where there was no victim and efforts to expunge their criminal records that prevent so many from seeking employment.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign self-categorized as con. However, the answer states that employers should be free to ask about a job applicant’s criminal history, which would be a pro answer. ProCon has categorized the answer as not clearly pro or con.

Joe Biden

Cash bail is the modern-day debtors’ prison. The cash bail system incarcerates people who are presumed innocent. And, it disproportionately harms low-income individuals. Biden will lead a national effort to end cash bail and reform our pretrial system by putting in place, instead, a system that is fair and does not inject further discrimination or bias into the process.

Joe Biden, "Justice," joebiden.com (accessed Feb. 18, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

There are more just and equally effective ways than cash bail to ensure that a person charged with a crime shows up in court. Judges should have the leeway to detain those charged with very serious crimes and who pose a significant risk to society - so long as detainees are granted a speedy trial, as is guaranteed by the Constitution. We must immediately end the War on Drugs and any other law on the books for which there is no victim. This will help to unclog the justice system as well as end the injustice the drug prohibition causes. It’s time for a drug peace.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

So sad to see what is happening in New York where Governor Cuomo & Mayor DeBlasio are letting out 900 Criminals, some hardened & bad, onto the sidewalks of our rapidly declining, because of them, city. The Radical Left Dems are killing our cities. NYPD Commissioner is resigning!

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Nov. 5, 2019

Editor’s Note: Trump tweeted the above in response to New York ending the cash bail system that released people accused of low-level offenses from jail as of Jan. 1, 2020.

Joseph Spector, "President Trump Joins Critics of New York’s End to Cash Bail, while will Free Inmates Jan. 1," democratandchronicle.com, Nov. 5, 2019

Howie Hawkins

Bail Abolition: Abolish bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

Howie Hawkins, "Issues: Criminal Justice Reform," howiehawkins.org, June 16, 2020

Donald Trump

Today, I am also directing the Department of Justice to propose legislation ensuring that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the DEATH PENALTY - and that this capital punishment be delivered quickly, decisively, and without years of needless delay.

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Aug. 5, 2019

Editor’s Note: On July 25, 2019, Attorney General William Barr announced that the federal government, under the Trump administration, would again begin carrying out the death penalty for the first time since 2003.

Joe Biden

We need to confront racial and income-based disparities in our justice system and eliminate overly harsh sentencing for non-violent crimes. As president, Biden will... Eliminate the death penalty. Over 160 individuals who’ve been sentenced to death in this country since 1973 have later been exonerated. Because we cannot ensure we get death penalty cases right every time, Biden will work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example. These individuals should instead serve life sentences without probation or parole.

Joe Biden, "Justice," joebiden.com (accessed Aug. 26, 2019)

Biden previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

I support the death penalty. The Biden crime bill is the only reason why, if McVeigh is convicted in Oklahoma, he would be put to death. I wrote the law. If he is tried in Federal court without that law having been passed, he could not be put to death. I support the death penalty.

Joe Biden, "Congressional Record - Senate: S 7803," congress.gov, June 7, 1995

Howie Hawkins

No.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

No. From bad policies like the War on Drugs, that set the stage for injustice, to a flawed criminal justice system, such government incompetence precludes any moral justification for executions. No life should be taken when there is any chance of innocence, and governments in the United States have failed on this front far too often.

A 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences issued a conservative estimate that as many as one in every 25 citizens sentenced to death is actually innocent. The Innocence Project reports that as many as 367 people have been exonerated by DNA evidence after serving an average of 14 years in federal custody.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: On Feb. 21, 2017, the Trump Administration rescinded an order from the Obama Administration that had directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to reduce the use of private prisons. A memo titled "Rescission of Memorandum on Use of Private Prisons," written by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and available at bop.gov, stated, "The memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureau’s ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system. Therefore, I direct the Bureau to return to its previous approach [of using private prisons]."

Joe Biden

Stop corporations from profiteering off of incarceration. Biden will end the federal government’s use of private prisons, building off an Obama-Biden Administration’s policy rescinded by the Trump Administration. And, he will make clear that the federal government should not use private facilities for any detention, including detention of undocumented immigrants. Biden will also make eliminating private prisons and all other methods of profiteering off of incarceration – including diversion programs, commercial bail, and electronic monitoring – a requirement for his new state and local prevention grant program. Finally, Biden will support the passage of legislation to crack down on the practice of private companies charging incarcerated individuals and their families outrageously high fees to make calls.

Joe Biden, "Justice," joebiden.com (accessed Nov. 12, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

Most people care about right and wrong. The problem is that what most people want does not translate into public policy. We need system change that takes the profit-making and institutional racism out of the prison/industrial complex, including bail, private prisons, contracts for police equipment and public jails, and costly private lawyers. Bail bondsmen, private prison corporations, public contractors, and trial lawyers are among the biggest sources of private campaign financing, especially in local jurisdictions where the overwhelming majority of criminal prosecutions take place.

Howie Hawkins, "No Justice, from Jonny Gammage to Eric Garner," howiehawkins.us, July 18, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

Private prison contractors AND prison worker unions should both be banned. Both have a financial incentive to keep the incarceration rate high. They lobby to keep innocent people locked up to protect their jobs rather than allow them to go free. I would end the War on Drugs and stop prosecuting victimless crimes.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

In the months ahead, Biden will also detail his plan to tackle the public health epidemic of gun violence in America, starting with universal background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Biden’s plan to reduce gun violence will address not only mass shootings but also daily acts of gun violence that don’t make national headlines.

Joe Biden, "Justice," joebiden.com (accessed Aug. 27, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

I defend the individual right of law-abiding citizens to own pistols, rifles, and shotguns for self-defense, hunting, and sport shooting while also supporting the public right to regulate the ownership and operation of guns in the interests of public safety.

I advocate the following specific gun safety and law enforcement reforms to address gun violence and white nationalist terrorism:...

Universal background checks for gun and ammunition buyers, including closing the loophole for private sales and sales at gun shows, with sales and background check records maintained indefinitely in a central registry.

Howie Hawkins, "How to Confront the US Culture of Violence," howiehawkins.us, Aug. 11, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No. The right to protect yourself and your family is a fundamental right. I support the repeal of every law that violates your right to self-defense.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

Q: Your position on background checks.

Trump: So Congress is looking at it very strongly bipartisan. I put in certain parameters, which you somewhat know about. I’m also very very concerned with the Second Amendment. Moreso than most presidents would be. People don’t realize we have very strong background checks right now. You go in to buy a gun, you have to sign up. There are a lot of background checks that have been approved over the years. So I’ll have to see what it is. But Congress is meeting bipartisan. Lot of people want to see something happen. But just remember this big mental problem and we do have a lot of background checks right now.

Q: So you’re not willing to support universal background checks right now?

Trump: I’m not saying anything. I’m saying Congress is going to be reporting back to me with ideas. And they’ll come in from Democrats and Republicans and I’ll look at it very strongly. But just remember, we already have a lot of background checks.

Zack Ford, "Trump Drops Support for Enhanced Background Checks Two Weeks after Mass Shootings," thinkprogress.org, Aug. 19, 2019

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

We’re going to be very strong on background checks. We’re going to be doing very strong background checks. Very strong emphasis on the mental health of somebody. And we are going to do plenty of other things.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump and Vice President Pence at Listening Session with Students, Teachers, and Parents," whitehouse.gov, Feb. 22, 2018

A week later, then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders clarified Trump’s remarks:

Not necessarily universal background checks but certainly improving the background check system. He wants to see what that legislation, the final piece of it looks like. “Universal” means something different to a lot of people. He certainly wants to focus and improve on the background check system.

Aaron Blake, "Sarah Huckabee Sanders Clarifies: Trump Said Lots of Stuff This Week He May Not Mean," washingtonpost.com, Mar. 2, 2018

Joe Biden

The idea of bringing down all those Confederate monuments to Confederate soldiers and generals who strongly supported secession and maintaining slavery and going to war to do it, I think those statues belong in museums, they don’t belong in public place... I can understand the anger and anguish that people feel by having for years and years been under the statue of Robert E. Lee if you’re an African American. It’s always better to do it peacefully … the elected officials where those statues are have a responsibility to remove, put them in museums. Get them down … and don’t be surprised if someone pulls down the statue of Jefferson Davis.

Jonathan Easley, "Biden: Government Must Protect Monuments to Washington, Jefferson," thehill.com, June 30, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Where statues and other items on public property are offensive to some citizens who advocate for their removal, they should be preserved and moved to private property locations.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020

Donald Trump

This cruel campaign of censorship and exclusion violates everything we hold dear as Americans. They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose a new oppressive regime in its place.

Scottie Andrew and Anna Sturla, “A Statue of Frederick Douglass Was Toppled over the Fourth of July Weekend, the Anniversary of His Famous Speech,” cnn.com, July 6, 2020

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

We can take things down, too. I can understand certain things taken down. But they ought to go through a process legally. And then we take it down and in some cases put them in museums or wherever they may go.

Zachary B. Wolf, "Trump’s Going to Protect Confederate Statues," cnn.com, June 26, 2020

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of July 24, 2020.

Joe Biden

Interviewer: Do you support DC becoming the 51st state?

Biden: "Absolutely. I have for the past 28 years.

51 for 51, Twitter.com, Feb. 25, 2020

Howie Hawkins

DC Statehood: Taxation without representation is tyranny.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party of Colorado Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Donald Trump

DC will never be a state. You mean District of Columbia, a state? Why? So we can have two more Democratic Democrat senators and five more congressmen? No thank you. That’ll never happen...They want to do that so they pick up two automatic Democrat you know it’s 100 percent Democrat, basically so why would the Republicans ever do that? That’ll never happen unless we have some very, very stupid Republicans around that I don’t think you do. You understand that, right?... No, it’s not gonna happen. And how many House seats is it? Like four, three or four? Whatever it is. You’d have three or four more congressmen and two more senators, every single day of every single year. And it would never change. No, the Republicans would never do that.

Steven Nelson and Ebony Bowden, "Trump Says Washington, DC, Will Never Be a State--because of All the Democrats," nypost.com, May 5, 2020

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a NOT CLEARLY PRO OR CON opinion on this question:

Trump: I would like to do whatever is good for the District of Columbia because I love the people.

Chuck Todd: So you’re okay with either way? If they want statehood, you’re for statehood?

Trump: I mean, people are talking about that. I’d look at it. I’d certainly look at it.

Benjamin Freed, "Donald Trump Supports DC Statehood--Sort Of," washingonian.com, Aug. 17, 2015

Jo Jorgensen

Yes and No. Currently Congress governs the District of Columbia, which is wrong. The people of D.C. should be free to govern themselves. However, the District should not be given representation in the House or Senate because it is a conflict of interest. Most residents of D.C. profit directly or indirectly from federal government largess.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

Editor’s Note: A statement issued by the campaign said Biden "continues to support closing the detention center."

Carol Rosenberg, "Biden Still Wants to Close Guantánamo Prison," nytimes.com, June 27, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

No. I will do everything in my power to shut down Guantanamo Bay immediately. There are prisoners who’ve been held at Gitmo for 18 years who are innocent. This breeds resentment and heightens our risk of terrorist attacks. I will see that all detainees are tried in US courts, not military tribunals. And I will bring home troops from around the world, starting in Afghanistan and the Middle East. I will make American one giant Switzerland – armed and neutral.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of July 24, 2020.

Donald Trump

I think it’s crazy. It costs a fortune to operate, and I think it’s crazy. We’re looking at a lot of things. Look, President Obama said that Guantánamo Bay would be closed, and he never got it done... The big decision we have now is we have thousands of people. They came from other countries. We want those countries to take them back. We did them a big favor by stopping them. If they came from France, we want France to take them and to try and do whatever they have to do with them. But that’s a very expensive situation.

Peter Baker, "Trump Says ‘It’s Crazy’ to Spend $13 Million Per Inmate at Guantánamo," nytimes.com, Sep. 19, 2019

Joe Biden

For decades, Joe Biden has worked to foster tribal sovereignty and prosperity, and to ensure the United States follows through on the commitments it has made to Indian Country. He knows that Tribal Nations should be empowered to govern Native communities and that the United States must work harder to meet its solemn trust and treaty obligations. As president, Joe will build on the progress made under the Obama-Biden Administration to strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship and to support the sovereignty and prosperity of tribal nations.

oe Biden, "Joe Biden’s Commitment to Indian Country," joebiden.com (accessed July 21, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. The rights of American Indians have either been brutally abused, or were never fully acknowledged, by federal programs purported to help them. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (often said to stand for ’Bossing Indians Around’) should be abolished, as it has been an abysmal failure and keeps Native communities in cycles of dependence, poverty, unemployment, and poor health. Treaties that could return land or sovereignty to Native Americans should be honored.

Native Americans should be free to determine their own systems of governance and should have their property rights restored.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Howie Hawkins

We call for an Economic Bill of Rights to secure universal access to living-wage jobs, an income above poverty, affordable housing, comprehensive health care, lifelong public education, and a secure retirement. We also call for reparations for African Americans, decolonization of U.S. territories, and honoring the treaties with and the land rights of Native Indians and Mexican Americans.

Donald Trump

Thank YOU Indian Country for being such an IMPORTANT part of the American story! I recently signed 3 bills to support tribal sovereignty....

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Dec. 27, 2019

Editor’s Note: The three bills were "compensation to the Spokane tribe for the loss of their lands in the mid-1900s, reauthorization of funding for Native language programs and federal recognition of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana."

Anagha Srikanth, "Trump Signed Three Bills Affecting Native Americans. Here’s What They Do.," thehill.com, Dec. 27, 201

Howie Hawkins

Restore strong Net Neutrality protections, the bedrock of digital civil rights and equality online. The United States needs Net Neutrality the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should not be allowed to block, slow down, or discriminate against legal content. This requires the next FCC Chair and Commissioners to fully restore the 2015 Net Neutrality protections and legal framework, and the FCC’s ability to enforce those protections. The open Internet has been an incredible force for social and economic change. It has been used by Black Lives Matter to expose racist police violence, by Dreamers to advocate for their rights and by startup businesses and artists among others. Net neutrality is essential to prevent corporate interests from discriminating for profit and limiting what users can see or say online.

Howie Hawkins, "Time for the Internet to Be Controlled by the Public, Not Corporate Interests," howiehawkins.us, Sep. 15, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No, the government shouldn’t micromanage the Internet, nor should it give advantages to corporate giants. State and federal governments give Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T billions of dollars in subsidies and advantages over their competition. This must end.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

We just WON the big court case on Net Neutrality Rules [on Oct. 1, 2019 when a federal appeals court upheld the FCC repeal of net neutrality regulations]! A great win for the future and speed of the internet. Will lead to many big things including 5G. Congratulations to the FCC and its Chairman, Ajit Pai!

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Oct. 7, 2019

Joe Biden

No position found as of Jan. 17, 2020.

Joe Biden

It’s time for our federal government to get its priorities straight, so that workers can care for the people they love when they need it most. I was proud to fight for the Family and Medical Leave Act, landmark legislation that created important workplace protections and granted 12 weeks of [unpaid] leave to working families. But we need to go further—I believe the United States should guarantee 12 weeks of paid sick and family leave for workers.

Fortune, "Joe Biden," fortune.com, Jan. 28, 2020

Howie Hawkins

To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and be prepared for future pandemics, I am calling for:...--Enact a permanent, universal system of paid leave for sickness and family care.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party of Colorado Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Donald Trump

We have fought for families by securing a doubling of the Child Tax Credit, preserving the Child and Dependent Care Credit, signing into law the largest ever increase in child care and development block grants — a major new investment in child care affordability — and developing a tax credit for employers who offer paid family and medical leave. We continue to call on the Congress to pass a nationwide paid family leave program.

Donald Trump, "Presidential Proclamation on National Family Week, 2019," whitehouse.gov, Nov. 22, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No, businesses should negotiate with employees to decide the competitive incentives/benefits they offer. Market competition for good employees will put pressure on companies to allow time off for important needs.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

States have decimated the rights of public sector workers who, unlike private sector workers, do not have federal protections ensuring their freedom to organize and collectively bargain...

Provide a federal guarantee for public sector employees to bargain for better pay and benefits and the working conditions they deserve. Public sector unions provide the voice that workers – including educators, social workers, firefighters, and police officers – need to ensure they can serve their communities. And, public sector unions have been and continue to be an essential pathway to the middle class for workers of color and women, who disproportionately work in the public sector... As president, Biden will establish a federal right to union organizing and collective bargaining for all public sector employees, and make it easier for those employees who serve our communities to both join a union and bargain.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing, Collective Bargaining, and Unions," joebiden.com (accessed Apr. 27, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

Yes.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

I support the right of private sector unions to organize, I strongly oppose public sector unions and mandatory participation. Taxpayers have virtually no say in government union contracts for which they are forced to pay.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The national security interests of the United States require expedient and efficient decision making. When new missions emerge or existing ones evolve, the Department of Defense requires maximum flexibility to respond to threats to carry out its mission of protecting the American people. This flexibility requires that military and civilian leadership manage their organizations to cultivate a lethal, agile force adaptive to new technologies and posture changes. Where collective bargaining is incompatible with these organizations’ missions, the Department of Defense should not be forced to sacrifice its national security mission and, instead, seek relief through third parties and administrative fora.

White House, "Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense: Delegation of Certain Authority under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute," whitehouse.gov, Jan. 29, 2020

Donald Trump

Geraldo Rivera: How about statehood for Puerto Rico, isn’t that the only way to really fix them?

Donald Trump: Nobody’s mentioned that recently to me. Nobody’s mentioned it recently. I will tell you this, with the mayor of San Juan as bad as she is, and as incompetent as she is, Puerto Rico shouldn’t be talking about statehood until they get some people that really know what they’re doing... And if you have good leadership, Geraldo, that certainly could be something they talk about. But with people like that involved in Puerto Rico, I would be an absolute no.

FactBase Videos, "Interview: Geraldo Rivera Interviews Donald Trump on Geraldo in Cleveland - September 24, 2018," youtube.com, Sep. 24, 2018

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

There are 3.7 million American citizens living in Puerto Rico. As citizens, they should be entitled to determine for themselves their political status. I am firmly committed to the process where Puerto Ricans might resolve their status according to Constitutional and Congressional protocols. I believe the people of Puerto Rico deserve a process of status self-determination that gives them a fair and unambiguous choice on this matter. As president I will do my part to insure that Congress follows the Constitution. The will of the Puerto Rican people in any status referendum should be considered as Congress follows through on any desired change in status for Puerto Rico, including statehood.

Rafael Bernal, "Puerto Rico’s Representative Makes Renewed Push for Statehood," thehill.com, Jan. 6, 2017

Alexia Fernández Campbell, "Puerto Rico’s Push for Statehood, Explained," vox.com, Sep. 24, 2018

Joe Biden

Rebuilding also means confronting some hard truths about Washington’s legacy on the island. We must own past shortcomings and embrace a future of strength for Puerto Rico, with fair and equitable ties to Washington. I will engage Puerto Ricans — including representatives of every status option — in a process of self-determination, listening and developing federal legislation that outlines a fair path forward. Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans throughout our nation make the United States strong.

Joe Biden, "Joe Biden: Puerto Rico Deserves More Respect than Donald Trump Has Given / Commentary," joebiden.com, Dec. 5, 2019

Howie Hawkins

The status of Puerto Rico is for the Puerto Rican people to decide. The president should not interfere in self-determination by the people of any country.

What the president should do is encourage a fair process for Puerto Ricans to determine their status that is accepted by all parties in Puerto Rico so the referendum is seen as legitimate by the people of Puerto Rico, which has not been the case in the five previous referendums.

Howie Hawkins, "Latinx Caucus of the Green Party of the United States Presidential Candidates Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign declined to answer this question.

Howie Hawkins

The war on marijuana has caused tremendous damage. When we end the marijuana war we need to do so not only to create a policy that will work for the future but one that corrects the mistakes of the past. Some of the essential elements of a sensible marijuana policy includes: 

• Repeal criminal laws for marijuana offenses.
• Remove marijuana from the Schedules of the Controlled Substances Act so it can be used medically.
• Allow people to grow their own marijuana without any taxation.
• Tax marijuana like any other commodity without a special marijuana tax.
• Do not allow the liquor, tobacco, pharmaceutical and Big Ag industries, and corporations like Monsanto, to engage in the marijuana market.
• Prevent marijuana oligopolies with caps on limits of market share.

Howie Hawkins, "Legalize Marijuana and End the War on Drugs," howiehawkins.us, Apr. 19, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. I will work with Congress to end the failed War on Drugs, and ensure adults nationwide can make choices about their bodies without being criminalized. This will make drugs safer, encourage personal responsibility, and drive down violent crime.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

I think states should be able to make a judgment to legalize [recreational] marijuana, I think that’s okay. But let me tell you, the truth of the matter is there’s not nearly been enough evidence acquired as to whether or not it is a gateway drug. It’s a debate. Before I legalize it nationally, I want to make sure we know a lot more about the science behind it.

Rebecca Falconer, "Biden: There’s No Proof Marijuana Isn’t a Gateway Drug," axios.com, Nov. 17, 2019

Editor’s Note: Andrew Bates, a Biden spokesperson, clarified Biden’s statement to CNN:

As he said [Tuesday, May 14, 2019], Vice President Biden does not believe anyone should be in jail simply for smoking or possessing marijuana. He supports decriminalizing marijuana and automatically expunging prior criminal records for marijuana possession, so those affected don’t have to figure out how to petition for it or pay for a lawyer. He would allow states to continue to make their own choices regarding legalization and would seek to make it easier to conduct research on marijuana’s positive and negative health impacts by rescheduling it as a schedule 2 drug."

Arlette Saenz, "Joe Biden Supports Decriminalizing Marijuana, Stops Short of Calling for Legalization," cnn.com, May 16, 2019]

Donald Trump

Q: Thank you, President Trump. Many studies have shown that legal access to marijuana results in less opioid abuse and fewer overdose deaths. Many states have legalized marijuana. Do you think that it will happen federally during your presidency?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject. And right now we’re in — we’re allowing states to make that decision. And a lot of states are making that decision. But we’re allowing the states to make that decision.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump before Marine One Departure," whitehouse.gov, Aug. 30, 2019

Joe Biden

I’ve never been a fan of Facebook, as you probably know. I’ve never been a big [Mark] Zuckerberg fan. I think he’s a real problem…

[The New York Times] can’t write something you know to be false and be exempt from being sued. But he [Zuckerberg] can. The idea that it’s a tech company is that Section 230 [of the Communications Decency Act] should be revoked, immediately should be revoked, number one. For Zuckerberg and other platforms.

It should be revoked because [Facebook] is not merely an internet company. It is propagating falsehoods they know to be false, and we should be setting standards not unlike the Europeans are doing relative to privacy...There is no editorial impact at all on Facebook. None. None whatsoever. It’s irresponsible. It’s totally irresponsible."

New York Times Editorial Board, "Joe Biden," nytimes.com, Jan. 17, 2020

Donald Trump

[W]e [President Trump and his supporters] had a terrible bias [from social media companies]. We have censorship like nobody has any understanding or nobody can believe...

It’s a collusion between the Democrats and the media and social media and these platforms. It’s a disgraceful thing…

Two months ago, we created a new White House tool to report social media bias, censorship, and discrimination...

I’m directing my administration to explore all regulatory and legislative solutions to protect free speech and the free-speech rights of all Americans...

Big tech must not censor the voices of the American people… [T]his new technology is so powerful and so important, and it has to be used fairly.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at the Presidential Social Media Summit," whitehouse.gov, July 12, 2019

In Aug. 2019, President Trump drafted an executive order that would give the FCC legal oversight over social media platforms and a mandate to develop new rules about decisions to take down content.

Emily Birnbaum, "Barr Threatens Tech’s Prized Legal Shield," thehill.com, Feb. 20, 2020

MIT Techology Review, "The White House Wants to Regulate Social Media Moderation," technologyreview.com, Aug. 12, 2019]

Howie Hawkins

No. The state will then have the power to silence government critics. The ways to counter social media misinformation are the same ones we should employ in relation to any open, democratic news platforms such as print media and TV and radio broadcasters: teach critical thinking and news literacy in public schools, promote strong professional journalism, and expose misinformation in credible news sources.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

No. The government should not censor speech. Social media platforms should be free to set their own rules. So long as the government remains uninvolved, they will be subject competition. Competing platforms will eventually replace those whose policies are viewed to be unreasonable by their customers.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Howie Hawkins

Editor’s Note: Universal childcare is a budget line item in Hawkins’ "Socialist Green New Deal Budget."

Howie Hawkins and Jon Rynn, "The Socialist Green New Deal," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Joe Biden

As president, Biden will go to bat for American families by... [e]xpanding access to quality, affordable child care through a tax credit of up to $8,000 per family.

Joe Biden, "Women for Biden," joebiden.com (accessed Oct. 15, 2019)

Jo Jorgensen

No. Parents should be empowered to choose what’s best for their children, not bureaucrats. Taxpayers, many of whom forego having children because they can’t afford it, should not be forced to pay for the childcare of other families. My plan to dramatically lower taxes will give parents far more ability to shop around for the childcare of their choice.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

In 2018, President Trump signed into law a $2.4 billion funding increase for the Child Care and Development Fund, providing a total of $8.1 billion to States to fund child care for low-income families....

Tax benefits reduce the price of child care for middle and higher income families....

Ultimately, how families balance work and child rearing is a deeply personal decision. It also has major societal implications in terms of employment and economic growth, and just as importantly, for the long-term outcomes of children. Thus, creating a system that maximizes opportunity without interfering with personal family decisions is a vitally important goal for the economy and society as a whole.

Council of Economic Advisors, "Work and the Cost of Child Care," whitehouse.gov, Feb. 25, 2019

Joe Biden

David Muir: You’re sworn in, come January, and we have coronavirus and the flu combined, which many scientists have said is a real possibility. Would you be prepared to shut this country down again?

Joe Biden: I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives, because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw of this [Trump] administration’s thinking to begin with. In order to keep the country running and moving and the economy growing and people employed, you have to fix the virus. You have to deal with the virus.

Muir: So if the scientists say, shut it down?

Biden: I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists.

Savannah Behrmann, “‘I Would Shut It Down’: Biden Says If Scientists Recommended, He Would Lock Down Country to Curb COVID-19,” usatoday.com, Aug. 21, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

No. Blanket shutdowns of the economy are a drastic, devastating tool, and it isn’t clear locking down healthy, low-risk people does any good. We haven’t even begun to calculate the consequences of shutdowns, which include: raising rates of alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, and suicide; people skipping chemotherapy and other vital medical treatments; people with strokes and heart attacks avoiding emergency rooms; small business closures, unemployment, bankruptcy, eviction, increased poverty. The consequences of this coercive ’cure’ will likely be far more devastating than the disease itself.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

It’s important for all Americans to recognize that a permanent lockdown is not a viable path forward producing the result that you want or certainly not a viable path forward and would ultimately inflict more harm than it would prevent. Lockdowns do not prevent infection in the future. They just don’t. It comes back many times, it comes back.

Berkeley Lovelace, Jr. and Noah Higgins-Dunn, “Trump Says Nationwide Lockdown Would ‘Ultimately Inflict More Harm Than It Would Prevent,’” cnbc.com, Aug. 3, 2020

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of Aug. 27, 2020.

Howie Hawkins

We call for an Economic Bill of Rights to secure universal access to living-wage jobs, an income above poverty, affordable housing, comprehensive health care, lifelong public education, and a secure retirement. We also call for reparations for African Americans, decolonization of U.S. territories, and honoring the treaties with and the land rights of Native Indians and Mexican Americans.

Howie Hawkins, "Howie Hawkins for President," solidarity-us.org, Nov-Dec, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No. While I support restorative justice for victims of contemporary crimes, a new federal program which divides and categorizes people by their race - even in the name of offering restitution - is a step backward. We should focus instead on ending ongoing injustices, such as the failed War on Drugs, over-incarceration, no-knock raids, poverty traps, civil asset forfeiture, and qualified immunity.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

I don’t see it happening. I think it’s a very unusual thing. You have a lot of — it’s been a very interesting debate. I don’t see it happening, no.

Jordan Fabian and Saagar Enjeti, "Exclusive: Trump on Reparations: ’I Don’t See It Happening,’" thehill.com, June 24, 2019

Joe Biden

The answer is it depends on what it was and will it include Native Americans as well.

Seth McLaughlin, "Joe Biden Wants Reparations for Blacks Expanded to Include Native Americans," washingtontimes.com, June 10, 2020

Editor’s Note: Biden previously expressed a con opinion on this question:

I do not buy the concept, popular in the ’60s, which said, ‘We have suppressed the black man for 300 years and the white man is now far ahead in the race for everything our society offers. In order to even the score, we must now give the black man a head start, or even hold the white man back, to even the ’race.’ I don’t buy that. I don’t feel responsible for the sins of my dather and grandfather. I feel responsible for what the situation is today, for the sins of my own generation. And I’ll be damned if I feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago.

Congressional Record - Senate, "Interview with Senator Joe Biden," Oct. 2, 1975 (accessed via "Transcript of Then-Sen. Biden’s Interview with The People Paper," washingtonpost.com, Mar, 7, 2019)

Joe Biden

The Biden Plan will make health care a right by getting rid of capital gains tax loopholes for the super wealthy. Today, the very wealthy pay a tax rate of just 20% on long-term capital gains. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the capital gains and dividends exclusion is the second largest tax expenditure in the entire tax code: $127 billion in fiscal year 2019 alone. As President, Biden will roll back the Trump rate cut for the very wealthy and restore the 39.6% top rate he helped restore when he negotiated an end to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in 2012. Biden’s capital gains reform will close the loopholes that allow the super wealthy to avoid taxes on capital gains altogether. The Biden plan will assure those making over $1 million will pay the top rate on capital gains, doubling the capital gains tax rate on the super wealthy.

Joe Biden, "Health Care," joebiden.com (Aug. 29, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

Rather than failing to build the economy by reducing taxes on the wealthy, we need to actually build the economy by creating a strong foundation of purchasing power in the working class by ending poverty and economic insecurity.

First, we need to end the regressive payroll tax by lifting the $128,400 cap on Social Security taxes... Second, put in place more a progressive income tax, especially on the wealthiest... Third, institute a wealth tax... Fourth, increase the inheritance tax, reversing the trend of reducing such taxes... Fifth, tax wealth at the same rates we tax work... Sixth, put in place a progressive carbon tax as a tool to combat the climate crisis.

Howie Hawkins, "Tax Day 2019: Time to End Taxes to Confront Inequality and Implement an Ecosocialist Green New Deal," howiehawkins.us, Apr. 15, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

Absolutely not! I will work towards ending the income tax, which will give back an average of over $12,000 to each working family in America, every year. Cutting taxes is far and away the best way to stimulate the economy and create jobs, as well as give relief to families who desperately need it to take care of their families.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

Look, when I’m negotiating with the Democrats, I’m putting in... my optimum plan. It’s going to be negotiated...

[W]hat I really want is lower on business, because business -- we’re the highest taxed nation in the world. And I want lower in the middle class. The middle class in this country is getting decimated. I want -- and I will fight like hell for that.

And I’ll tell you what the real concept is. Lower taxes for business, lower taxes for the middle class, lower taxes for everybody and then we’re going to start negotiating.

So if I want to get lower taxes, which is very important for me, I’m not going to put in high taxes and I’m not even going to put in what I necessarily want. I’m going to put in lower than I want and we’re going to negotiate.

ABC News, "‘This Week’ Transcript: Donald Trump," abcnews.go.com, May 8, 2016

Joe Biden

The American middle class built this country. Yet today, CEOs and Wall Street are putting profits over workers, plain and simple. It’s wrong. There used to be a basic bargain in this country that when you work hard, you were able to share in the prosperity your work helped create. It’s time to restore the dignity of work and give workers back the power to earn what they’re worth.

It’s well past time that we increase the federal minimum wage to $15.

 Joe Biden, "Joe’s Vision for America: Restoring the Basic Bargain for American Workers," joebiden.com (accessed July 24, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

Yes.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

No. Minimum wages cut off the bottom rungs of the employment ladder, making it impossible for the most disadvantaged in our society to get jobs and support their families. This leaves them trapped in poverty. In contrast, unskilled workers in Hong Kong, which once had the freest economy in the world, were able to get jobs, develop skills, and quickly earn pay raises - with no forced minimum wage.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The Administration opposes H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act...

Through its successful pro-growth economic agenda, the Administration has ensured that American workers are taking home bigger paychecks... This strong economy has prompted businesses to remain competitive by raising wages. Compensation is rising at near its fastest pace in a decade. Median household income has reached an all-time high. Wages are also rising faster for production and non-supervisory workers than for workers overall.

A $15.00 an hour minimum wage would reverse this economic progress and hurt workers."

Office of Budget and Management, “Executive Office of the President, Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 582 – Raise the Wage Act," whitehouse.gov, July 15, 2019

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed pro and con opinions on this question:

Goofy Elizabeth Warren lied when she says I want to abolish the Federal Minimum Wage. See media—asking for increase!

Donald Trump, Twitter post, twitter.com, May 11, 2016

CHUCK TODD: Minimum wage. Minimum wage. At a debate, you know. You remember what you said. You thought you didn’t want to touch it. Now you’re open to it. What changed?

DONALD TRUMP: ...I have seen what’s going on. And I don’t know how people make it on $7.25 an hour. Now, with that being said, I would like to see an increase of some magnitude. But I’d rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide. Because don’t forget, the states have to compete with each other. So you may have a governor --

CHUCK TODD: Right. You want the fed-- but should the federal government set a floor, and then you let the states--

DONALD TRUMP: No, I’d rather have the states go out and do what they have to do. And the states compete with each other, not only other countries, but they compete with each other, Chuck. So I like the idea of let the states decide. But I think people should get more. I think they’re out there. They’re working. It is a very low number. You know, with what’s happened to the economy, with what’s happened to the cost. I mean, it’s just-- I don’t know how you live on $7.25 an hour. But I would say let the states decide.

NBC News, "Meet the Press - May 8, 2016," nbcnews.com, May 8, 2016

Jo Jorgensen

We need to phase out welfare, which has failed disadvantaged Americans.

From 1959 to 1969, the poverty rate was nearly cut in half while government did little to address poverty. However, after the war on poverty was fully implemented in the early seventies, progress stopped. Fifty years of federal anti-poverty programs – zero impact.

Government anti-poverty programs don’t work. The real cure for poverty is a vibrant economy that generates plentiful jobs and high wages, combined with an affordable cost of living.

As President, I will work to eliminate policies that cripple economic growth. I will give special attention to regulations driving up the cost of housing and health care, as well as those creating barriers to creating new businesses or entering professions.

Finally, I will work to repeal laws and regulations that prevent individuals and charitable organizations from helping those in need, including free healthcare clinics. Until we have successfully replaced failed welfare programs with a vibrant economy, we should require beneficiaries to work, and make exceptions for situations such as legitimate disability.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign self-categorized as not clearly pro or con. However, the following portion of the answer puts Jorgensen in the pro category: "Until we have successfully replaced failed welfare programs with a vibrant economy, we should require beneficiaries to work, and make exceptions for situations such as legitimate disability."

Donald Trump

[W]elfare reform — I see it and I’ve talked to people. I know people, they work three jobs and they live next to somebody who doesn’t work at all. And the person who’s not working at all and has no intention of working at all is making more money and doing better than the person that’s working his and her ass off. And it’s not going to happen. Not going to happen.

White House, "Remarks by President Trump on Tax Reform," whitehouse.gov, Nov. 29, 2017

Editor’s Note: On Apr. 10, 2018, Trump signed "Executive Order Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility." The order includes that

the Federal Government must first enforce work requirements that are required by law. It must also strengthen requirements that promote obtaining and maintaining employment in order to move people to independence," in order to prevent "delayed economic independence, perpetuated poverty, and weakened family bonds.

White House, "Executive Order Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility," whitehouse.gov, Apr. 10, 2018]

Joe Biden

Editor’s Note: In response to a CBS News article about the Trump administration’s expansion of work requirements for SNAP (food stamp) benefits, Biden tweeted on Dec. 26, 2019,

Donald Trump is cutting food assistance for 700,000 people, but somehow found $1.4 billion for his sham of a border wall. This administration is morally bankrupt.

Editor’s Note: Biden previously expressed a PRO opinion on this question:

[S]ince 1987, when I first proposed an overhaul of the welfare system, I have argued that welfare recipients should be required to work… The culture of welfare must be re- placed with the culture of work. The culture of dependence must be replaced with the culture of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility.”

Congressional Record, "Senate,” congress.gov, Aug. 1, 1996

Editor’s Note: As a senator, Joe Biden voted for the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which had the requirement that "recipients must work after two years on assistance, with few exceptions.

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," aspe.hhs.gov, Sep. 1, 1996

Howie Hawkins

Welfare reform should also include a guaranteed job for all those who want to work...

The TANF program should be reformed in a number of ways: more emphasis on job creation, including transitional jobs that include education and training; stronger support for those making the transition to work, such as universal child care and health care; expanded access to job and skills training; expanded access to both basic education (e.g., GED, English as Second Language, adult literacy) and college; and better assessment of individuals’ barriers to employment. If work participation is to be mandated, the number of required hours must be dramatically scaled back to reflect the reality that almost all of the participants are engaged in child rearing activities. In addition, the safety net, starting with higher benefits, should be dramatically increased for those unable to work, starting with those who have disabilities and/or who are caregivers for other family members.

Howie Hawkins, "Welfare Reform," howiehawkins.com, 2006

Joe Biden

I noted that some in Silicon Valley whose fortunes are built on automation have proposed a universal basic income on the theory that there will no longer be enough work to go around. But that misses the point. Americans have always defined themselves by what they do and how they provide for their families. What the idea of a universal basic income misses is that a job is about more than a paycheck. It is about dignity and one’s place in their community. What Americans want is a good job and a steady paycheck, not a government check or a consolation prize for missing out on the American dream.

The American people are willing to work and when they work they’re entitled to be justly rewarded. That’s the American promise.

Joe Biden, "A Plan to Put Work - And Workers - First," bidenschool.udel.edu (accessed Nov. 25, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

The income guarantee we will enact is often called the Negative Income Tax (NIT). We prefer it to the Universal Basic Income (UBI) because it targets the benefits to those who need it, provides a sufficient benefit to end poverty, and costs a fraction of a UBI.

Howie Hawkins, "The Bill of Economic Rights," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

No. UBI will create disincentives to work and is the wrong approach to addressing those in need.

Government anti-poverty programs don’t work. The real cure for poverty is a vibrant economy that generates plentiful jobs and high wages, combined with an affordable cost of living.

As President, I will work to eliminate policies that cripple economic growth. I will give special attention to regulations driving up the cost of housing and health care, as well as those creating barriers to creating new businesses or entering professions.

Finally, I will work to repeal laws and regulations that prevent individuals and charitable organizations from helping those in need, including free healthcare clinics.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

No position found as of Dec. 10, 2019

Howie Hawkins

Rather than failing to build the economy by reducing taxes on the wealthy, we need to actually build the economy by creating a strong foundation of purchasing power in the working class by ending poverty and economic insecurity... [I]nstitute a wealth tax, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California, Berkeley, proposed taxing wealth in excess of $50 million at 2 percent per year and wealth above $1 billion at an additional 1 percent tax. This would affect only seventy-five thousand households and would raise some $2.8 trillion over a decade.

Howie Hawkins, "Tax Day 2019: Time to End Taxes to Confront Inequality and Implement an Ecosocialist Green New Deal," howiehawkins.us, Apr. 15, 2019

Joe Biden

Erin Burnett: Vice President Biden, you have warned against demonizing rich people. Do you believe that Senator Sanders and Senator Warren’s wealth tax plans do that?

BIDEN: No, look, demonizing wealth -- what I talked about is how you get things done. And the way to get things done is take a look at the tax code right now. The idea -- we have to start rewarding work, not just wealth. I would eliminate the capital gains tax -- I would raise the capital gains tax to the highest rate, of 39.5 percent.

The Fix Team, "The October Democratic Debate Transcript," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 15, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No. Claims that taxing the rich will solve our problems never turn out to be true. They disincentive the entrepreneurs we need to generate jobs and prosperity. They usually generate less wealth and therefore lower total tax revenues. Cutting government spending, regulations, and taxes across the board is the best way to create jobs and raise the level of all Americans’ financial wellbeing.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

This is truly an extraordinary time for America. Our economy is booming like never before, and our people are thriving...

[Y]ou have to vote for me; you have no choice. You’re not going to vote for [Elizabeth Warren], I can tell you that. You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax. ’Yeah, let’s take 100 percent of your wealth away.’ No, no. Even if you don’t like me... And you’re going to be my biggest supporters because you’ll be out of business in about 15 minutes, if they get it. So I don’t have to spend a lot of time on that.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at the Israeli American Council National Summit 2019," whitehouse.gov, Dec. 8, 2019

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

"[Savannah Guthrie:] Do you believe in raising taxes on the wealthy?

[Donald Trump:] I do. I do, including myself. I do.

Today Show, "Trump on Today Town Hall: Abortions Exceptions, Immigration, Raising Taxes," today.com, Apr. 21, 2016

Editor’s Note: On an Nov. 10, 1999 appearance on Good Morning America (GMA), Trump stated:

Well, basically, this would be a one-time tax, 14.25 percent against people with a net worth of over 10 million… It would pay off in its entirety the national debt of $5.7 trillion, and you’d save $200 billion a year. So taxes for the middle class would go way down, the estate and inheritance tax totally wiped out, and the Social Security system would be saved.

In a 2011 GMA interview, Trump said of his earlier proposal:

Well, at that time, it would have paid off the deficit. I mean, you wouldn’t have a deficit at that time. Unfortunately, the world has changed. Today, you can’t do it. Today, and I’m very strongly against tax increases.

Jonathan Karl, "Donald Trump Once Proposed the Biggest Tax Hike Ever," abcnews.go.com, Aug. 6, 2015]

Joe Biden

Everyone wants schools to fully reopen for in-person instruction. Creating the conditions to make it happen should be a top national priority. Joe Biden believes that the decision about when to reopen safely should be made by state, tribal, and local officials, based on science and in consultation with communities and tribal governments. It should be made with the safety of students and educators in mind. And, it should be made recognizing that if we do this wrong, we will put lives at risk and set our economy and our country back.

Joe Biden has a simple five-step roadmap to support local decision-making on reopening schools safely and to help students whose learning was interrupted:

Get the Virus Under Control…

Set National Safety Guidelines, Empower Local Decision-Making: The Trump Administration’s chaotic and politicized response has left school districts to improvise a thousand hard decisions on their own. Schools need clear, consistent, effective national guidelines, not mixed messages and political ultimatums...

Provide Emergency Funding for Public Schools and Child Care Providers…

Ensuring High-Quality Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic... Biden would mobilize a large-scale U.S. Department of Education effort to work with practitioners to develop, adopt, and share the latest tools and best practices to ensure high-quality learning during this pandemic.

Closing the COVID-19 Educational Equity Gap: Despite the best efforts of educators, students, and families, this crisis, coupled with long-standing racial inequities, has led many students, especially low-income students and students of color, to struggle and fall behind. New research shows that some students could even lose an entire year of academic gains.”

Joe Biden, “Joe Biden’s Roadmap to Reopening Schools Safely,” joebiden.com (accessed Aug. 27, 2020)

Donald Trump

President Donald J. Trump is taking action to ensure schools safely reopen in the fall and empower parents to make decisions about their children’s education.

• President Trump is calling for legislation to ensure that schools have the funding and incentives they need to safely reopen this fall and to empower families with school choice...
• It is vital that parents be allowed to weigh both the benefits and risks of sending their child back to school, including the level of community spread and the makeup of their household, especially for multi-generational households…
• Lengthy time away from school both harms a student’s ability to advance academically and prevents educators from best ensuring the wellbeing of students.
• Furthermore, school closures make it difficult for parents to work, potentially hampering the financial security of millions of working American families...
• While studies have shown that long-term school closures adversely impact students from all backgrounds, they are especially harmful for those with fewer resources…
• Without in-person learning, educators are also unable to monitor important learning deficits, as well as report signs of abuse and address mental health problems…
• Lack of in-person learning also deprives students, especially the most disadvantaged students, of access to important services.

Donald Trump, “President Donald J. Trump Is Working to Give Students and Parents Flexibility and Schools the Support They Need to Reopen This Fall,” whitehouse.gov, July 23, 2020

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of Aug. 27, 2020.

Jo Jorgensen

It’s not possible to answer this for any single school district, much less for all schools. That’s why I reject one-size-fits-all federal mandates, and will return control of education choices to parents, teachers, and communities.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

Charter schools empower families to pursue the right educational fit for their children...

Because of the success of and demand for public charter schools, each year since taking office, I have proposed to increase and improve funding for them as a key part of my Administration’s ambitious efforts to expand every family’s access to all types of high-quality education opportunities. In my fiscal year 2020 budget request, I called on the Congress to increase funding for the Federal Charter Schools Program to $500 million.

Donald Trump, "Proclamation on National Charter Schools Week, 2019," whitehouse.gov, May 10, 2019

Editor’s Note: The Trump admininstration’s 2020 budget would eliminate federal funding for charter schools but would allow states to fund charter schools with other federal funding. A report published by the Network for Public Education found 357 charter schools run by for-profit companies listed in the US Department of Education database of schools that received grants from the federal Charter Schools Program for which Trump previously increased funding.

Network for Public Education, "Still Asleep at the Wheel," networkforpubliceducation.org, Dec. 2019

Lauren Camera, "Trump Administration’s Budget Would Eliminate Federal Funding for Charter Schools," usnews.com, Feb. 10, 2020

Joe Biden

I do not support any federal money ... for for-profit charter schools — period. The bottom line is it siphons off money from public schools, which are already in enough trouble.

Patrick Svitek, "Biden Makes First Texas Trip as a 2020 Presidential Candidate, Pitching New Education Plan," texastribune.org, May 28, 2019

Howie Hawkins

I would end federal policies and incentives that support the privatization of public schools in the form of privately-managed charter schools. I would end high-stakes testing that is the leading edge of the privatization policy. The charter schools are undermining public school finances and increasing race and class segregation.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party National Women’s Caucus Presidential Candidate Questionnaire for 2020," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

No - all schools are better off without federal funding. Regulations imposed by the Department of Education cost schools far more in compliance than they receive in subsidies. As president, I will end federal government involvement in education and return control to local parents, teachers, and students.

 Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign provided the same text in answer to this question and the Should the Federal Funding to Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBCUs) Be Increased? question.

Joe Biden

Editor’s Note: Joe Biden authored the Crime Control Act of 1990, which includes the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and became law on Nov. 29, 1990. The Act made it illegal to knowingly posses a firearm on school grounds.

Joe Biden, "S.3266 - Crime Control Act of 1990," congress.gov, Nov. 29, 1990

Jo Jorgensen

No. ’Gun-free zones’ turn school grounds into killing fields.

Most mass shootings occur where guns are prohibited. A murderous criminal isn’t stopped by a ’gun free zone,’ and will often head specifically for a gun-free zone where there will be fewer armed people who could stop him.

Law-abiding citizens who leave their guns at home, including teachers in classrooms, are left defenseless. Gun-free zones give mass murderers time to slaughter even more children before anyone can bring them down.

Because I want an end to horrific school shootings, I call for the repeal of ’Gun-Free’ Safety Zone laws.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

Very strong improvement and strengthening of background checks will be fully backed by White House. Legislation moving forward. Bump Stocks will soon be out. Highly trained expert teachers will be allowed to conceal carry, subject to State Law. Armed guards OK, deterrent!....... If schools are mandated to be gun free zones, violence and danger are given an open invitation to enter. Almost all school shootings are in gun free zones. Cowards will only go where there is no deterrent!

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Mar. 12, 2018

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of July 24, 2020.

Joe Biden

As president, Biden will take steps to rectify the funding disparities faced by HBCUs, TCUs [Tribal Colleges and Universities], and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) so that the United States can benefit from their unique strengths. Students at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs will benefit from Biden’s proposals to double Pell grants, slash the income-based repayment of loans to 5% of income, and provide free tuition for students at all community colleges, including those that are MSIs. In addition, Biden will invest over $70 billion in these colleges and universities to:

• Make HBCUs, TCUs, and under-resourced MSIs more affordable for their students...
• Invest in the diverse talent at HBCUs, TCUs and MSIs to solve the country’s most pressing problems...
• Build the high tech labs and facilities and digital infrastructure needed for learning, research, and innovation at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs...
• Provide support to continuously improve the value of HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs by investing $10 billion in programs that increase enrollment, retention, completion, and employment rates...
• Expand career pathways for graduates of HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs in areas that meet national priorities, including building a diverse pipeline of public school teachers...
• Triple and make permanent the capacity-building and student support for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs in Title III and Title V of the Higher Education Act... -Reduce disparities in funding for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan for Education beyond High School," joebiden.com (accessed Nov. 25, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

We will enact federal policies and programs to ensure that every person has equal access to high-quality, lifelong, tuition-free public education, from pre-K through university, technical, and continuing adult education. Each of us should be able to go to school as far as our interests and abilities take us.

We will... [f]ully fund historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and tribal colleges and universities.

Howie Hawkins, "The Economic Bill of Rights," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Donald Trump

For more than 180 years, HBCUs have strengthened our country and called America to greatness. Your institutions have been pillars of excellence in higher education and the engines of advancement for African American citizens. They’ve been incredible, the job they’ve done.

I signed legislation to increase federal funding for HBCUs by a record 13 percent. That was the highest ever done...

In total, over the last two and a half years, through the Capital Financing Program, we have provided more than $500 million in loans to HBCUs.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at the 2019 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference," whitehouse.gov, Nov. 22, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No - all schools are better off without federal funding. Regulations imposed by the Department of Education cost schools far more in compliance than they receive in subsidies. As president, I will end federal government involvement in education and return control to local parents, teachers, and students.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign provided the same text in answer to this question and the Should For-Profit Charter Schools Receive Federal Funding? question.

Joe Biden

The concept I’m announcing today will align my student debt relief proposal with my forward-looking college tuition proposal. Under this plan, I propose to forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities for debt-holders earning up to $125,000, with appropriate phase-outs to avoid a cliff. The federal government would pay the monthly payment in lieu of the borrower until the forgivable portion of the loan was paid off. This benefit would also apply to individuals holding federal student loans for tuition from private HBCUs and MSIs.

This proposal would be in addition to my existing student debt proposals:

• Immediately cancel a minimum of $10,000 of student debt per person, as proposed by Senator Warren in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
• Those earning less than $25,000 per year will not have to make monthly payments and will accrue no interest
• Those earning more than $25,000 per year will pay no more than 5% of discretionary income toward payments
• After 20 years, the remainder of federal student loans will be forgiven without any tax burden
• Those who participate in public service will be eligible for additional federal loan forgiveness, including $10,000 per year of forgiveness for up to five years.

Joe Biden, "Joe Biden Outlines New Steps to Ease Economic Burden on Working People," medium.com, Apr. 9, 2020

Editor’s Note: Biden previously expressed a not clearly pro or con opinion on this question:

Student debt is something that you should not have to pay back unless, when you graduate, you’re making more than 25 to 30 thousand dollars. When that debt gets paid back it should not be at a 10% rate, it should be at 5%. And if you go into public service, the debt could be forgiven.

C-Span, "Joe Biden in Keene, New Hampshire," c-span.org, Aug. 24, 2019

Editor’s Note: As a senator, Joe Biden supported the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), which exempted student loan debts from discharge in bankruptcy.

Alan Collinge, "Joe Biden Has No Plan for Student Loans," goodmenproject.com, Aug. 28, 2019

Julia Kagan, "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA)," investopedia.com, Apr. 7, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No - federal subsidies in the form of student loans have caused college tuitions to skyrocket, and forgiving loans will make it worse. This takes away colleges’ incentive to provide value at a reasonable cost, and takes away students’ responsibility for shopping around for a good education with reasonable tuition rates, as well as considering the many alternatives to college that are emerging.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign provided the same text in answer to this question and the Should Public College Be Tuition-Free? question.

Howie Hawkins

Relieve student debt by enacting a federal student loan program that will provide relief from existing student loan debts and provide affordable zero-interest loans going forward.

Howie Hawkins, "The Economic Bill of Rights," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Donald Trump

I am proud to announce that I am taking executive action to ensure that our wounded warriors are not saddled with mountains of student debt.

In a few moments, I will sign a memorandum directing the Department of Education to eliminate every penny of federal student loan debt owed by American veterans who are completely and permanently disabled. Incredible.

Nobody can complain about that, right? Nobody can complain about that. The debt of these disabled veterans will be entirely erased. It’ll be gone. And you’ll sleep well tonight.

Altogether, this action will wipe out an average of $30,000 in debt owed by more than 25,000 eligible veterans who have made immense sacrifices — the ultimate sacrifice, in many — in many ways, for our nation.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at the American Veterans (AMVETS) 75th National Convention | Louisville, KY," whitehouse.gov, Aug. 21, 2019

Editor’s Note: The Executive Office of the President wrote in its Aug. 15, 2018 "Statement of Administration Policy: Substitute Amendment to H.R. 6157 — Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019," available at whitehouse.gov:

The Administration opposes the wasteful $350 million funding level for a temporary benefit in the Federal Direct Student Loan program that expands Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligibility. In contrast, the Administration proposes to eliminate the PSLF program, which unfairly favors certain career choices over others, and instead focuses assistance on undergraduate student borrowers from all professions through a single income-based repayment plan.

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Universities receiving federal funds have a legal obligation to protect students from gender-based violence and harassment – including sexual assault. Universities are under equal obligation to provide access to education for those who are accused - but have not been convicted - of sexual assault. False reports and mistaken identity are relatively rare, but they do happen. The rights of accused students to education and facilities must also be protected. Disciplinary measures and due process must uphold the rights of all students. We can (and must) support survivors without creating new victims with unjust systems.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: The Trump Adminstration published the rule giving more protection to college students accused of sexual misconduct. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stated,

Too many students have lost access to their education because their school inadequately responded when a student filed a complaint of sexual harassment or sexual assault... This new regulation requires schools to act in meaningful ways to support survivors of sexual misconduct, without sacrificing important safeguards to ensure a fair and transparent process. We can and must continue to fight sexual misconduct in our nation’s schools, and this rule makes certain that fight continues.

Jonathan Easley, "Biden Says He’ll Reverse DeVos Rule Bolstering Protections for Those Accused of Campus Sexual Assault," thehill.com, May 6, 2020

Joe Biden

It’s wrong. And, it will be put to a quick end in January 2021, because as president, I’ll be right where I always have been throughout my career — on the side of survivors, who deserve to have their voices heard, their claims taken seriously and investigated, and their rights upheld... It lets colleges off the hook for protecting students, by permitting them to choose to investigate only more extreme acts of violence and harassment and requiring them to investigate in a way that dissuades survivors from coming forward. Survivors deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. Today, Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump published a rule that flies in the face of that belief and guarantees that college campuses will be less safe for our nation’s young people

Jonathan Easley, "Biden Says He’ll Reverse DeVos Rule Bolstering Protections for Those Accused of Campus Sexual Assault," thehill.com, May 6, 2020

Howie Hawkins

Credible allegations of sexual assault should always be investigated with due process, no matter how rich or powerful the accused is. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue - it’s a question of basic justice. #MeToo

Howie Hawkins, Twitter.com, Apr. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

We can pay for this with the [Trump administration] tax cut that we’re going to reverse as well as eliminating some of these loopholes that make no sense. Let me give you one example. I don’t want to be generic about it. I want to give you an example. For example, you could send everyone in this state [New Hampshire] to a community college for free. And the entire United States for free, if they’re qualified. Cutting in half the cost of... a four-year degree, because in every state you’re able to transfer these community college credits to the state university, cutting in half the cost of education, a four-year education if that’s what you desire. But, here’s the deal, it costs six billion dollars a year. There goes that big-spending Democrat Biden, man, look at him. I can eliminate one of the 1.6 trillion dollars in loopholes. It’s called stepped-up basis... If you just eliminate that one out of one trillion six hundred plus billion dollars, every single solitary kid could go to qualify to go to community college for free, cutting in half the cost of their four-year education, increasing productivity by 2/10 of one percent by most studies, as well as having eleven billion dollars to put toward the deficit.

C-SPAN, "Joe Biden in Hampton, New Hampshire," c-span.org, May 13, 2019

Howie Hawkins

We will enact federal policies and programs to ensure that every person has equal access to high-quality, lifelong, tuition-free public education, from pre-K through university, technical, and continuing adult education. Each of us should be able to go to school as far as our interests and abilities take us.

Howie Hawkins, "The Economic Bill of RIghts," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

No - federal subsidies in the form of student loans have caused college tuitions to skyrocket, and free tuition will make it worse. This takes away colleges’ incentive to provide value at a reasonable cost, and takes away students’ responsibility for shopping around for a good education with reasonable tuition rates, as well as considering the many alternatives to college that are emerging."

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign provided the same text in answer to this question and the Should Student Loan Debt Be Forgiven? question.

Donald Trump

Well, there’s no such thing as free education, because you know that ultimately somebody else is going to be paying for that education. And, so, as a, I can’t believe I’m saying this as a politician, I’m not a politician, but as somebody that’s now in politics, in the political world, I’d love to say ’free education!’ but, again, if somebody gets free education, all of the people paying their rates are going to go up… You take a look at how college costs are rising and there’s no reason for it. They are letting them go up and the problem is the students are getting crushed because, again, the government just keeps giving them more and more money and the students give them to the college. So it’s not fair. We’re going to really look into that because we have to keep it down. We have to keep it down. Some of the colleges do a good job. Many of them, I don’t think they even care what the costs are because they get so much money. We’re going to do something for the students. We’re going to have something with extensions and lower interest rates and a lot of good things.

Fox News Insider, "Trump: ’There’s No Such Thing as Free Education,’ Bernie," insider.foxnews.com, Apr. 3, 2016

Howie Hawkins

We do not have real political democracy, let alone economic democracy. To have a democratic society, we need to restructure government and elections. Voter suppression policies need to be reversed, starting with restoring the pre-clearance provisions of the Civil Rights Act. We would put in place automatic voter registration, same-day registration, extended voting days, Election Day as a National Holiday, and other reforms, including mandatory voting (vote or pay a moderate fine) as practiced in Australia, Belgium, and much of Latin America, with a None of the Above option that would trigger a new election if it wins.

Howie Hawkins, "Perspectives and Policies for a Green Presidential Campaign," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Joe Biden

No position found as of Sep. 30, 2019.

Jo Jorgensen

While it is the purview of the states to set election rules, I will encourage them to make voting fair and easily accessible for all voters.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

No position found as of Sep. 30, 2019

Howie Hawkins

In two of the last five presidential elections, the Electoral College has given us presidents who lost the popular vote. We will call for a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.

Howie Hawkins, "Perspectives and Policies for a Green Presidential Campaign," howiehawkins.us (Accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

No. The electoral college was designed to protect representation of all states.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The brilliance of the Electoral College is that you must go to many States to win. With the Popular Vote, you go to just the large States - the Cities would end up running the Country. Smaller States & the entire Midwest would end up losing all power - & we can’t let that happen. I used to like the idea of the Popular Vote, but now realize  the Electoral College is far better for the U.S.A.

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Mar. 19, 2019

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.

 Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Nov. 6, 2012

Joe Biden

No position found as of Sep. 30, 2019.

Joe Biden

The Biden Administration will incentivize states to automatically restore voting rights for individuals convicted of felonies once they have served their sentences.

Joe Biden, "Justice," joebiden.com (accessed Jan. 13, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

Voting Rights for Felons: End the loss of voting rights for felons and parolees and make participation in civic affairs can part of rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Howie Hawkins, "Issues: Criminal Justice Reform," howiehawkins.org, June 16, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. This is especially true because we over-incarcerate in this country. There are almost 80,000 inmates in federal prisons, and hundreds of thousands in state prisons, convicted of non-violent, victimless crimes.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

They’re [the state of Virginia] giving 200,000 people that have been convicted of heinous crimes, horrible crimes, the worst crimes, the right to vote because, you know what? They know they’re gonna vote Democrat. They’re gonna vote Democrat and that could be the swing [in the 2016 presidential election]. That’s how disgusting and dishonest our political system is.

Fox 10 Phoenix, "FULL: Trump Rally in Rhode Island - First Event Since Cruz-Kasich Strategy Announced - FNN," YouTube.com, Apr. 25, 2016

Howie Hawkins

But public campaign finance will still be overwhelmed by SuperPAC independent expenditures, Dark Money spent by nonprofits using undisclosed donors’ money, and super-rich people spending unlimited funds on their own campaigns. In order to establish that we, the people, through our elected representatives, can fully regulate election finances, we need to enact HJR 48, the We The People Amendment. HJR 48 will end corporate personhood by establishing that only natural persons have constitutional rights. It will end the judicial doctrine that money is speech in elections.

Howie Hawkins, "Exploratory Committee Announcement Event," howiehawkins.us, Apr. 3, 2019

Joe Biden

Editor’s Note: Although Biden has made statements opposing Super PACs, an Oct. 24, 2019 statement from his campaign spokesperson, Kate Bedingfield, indicated either a reversal or softening of his position:

As president, Joe Biden will push to remove private money from our federal elections. He will advocate for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end the era of unbridled spending by Super PACs. Until we have these badly needed reforms, we will see more than a billion dollars in spending by Trump and his allies to re-elect this corrupt president.

John Verhovek and Molly Nagle, "Amid Trump Attacks, Lagging Fundraising, Biden Campaign Drops Discouragement of an outside Super PAC," abcnews.go.com, Oct. 24, 2019

Editor’s Note: Biden previously expressed a con opinion on this question:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. To speak to the middle class, we need to reject the super PAC system. That’s exactly what this campaign is doing.

Editor’s Note: The above tweet included a retweet of an Apr. 27, 2019 tweet from Kate Bedingfield, Biden campaign spokesperson, stating: "@JoeBiden does not welcome support from super PACs"

Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 28, 201995

candidate

The limits set on individual donations to political campaigns violate our right to freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. PACs will be unnecessary when this restriction is lifted.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign self-categorized as pro to this question. However, the provided answer does not directly answer the question of whether candidates should accept Super PAC money, so ProCon must categorize the answer as not clearly pro or con.

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: The Trump campaign formally endorsed the Super PAC American First Action following reports that other groups were raising money from Trump supporters but not spending all of it on political activities. The Trump campaign encouraged authorities to investigate "alleged scam groups for potential illegal activities.”

Trump previously expressed a CON opinion on this question:

All Presidential candidates should immediately disavow their Super PAC’s. They’re not only breaking the spirit of the law but the law itself.

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Oct. 26, 2015

Joe Biden

I think we should be looking to all-mail ballots across the board to begin with because it’s an easier way for people to vote. But whether or not that’s required across the board in all 50 states and territories, I’m not sure yet. I think we can make that. But we should be beginning to plan that in each of our states… I think it’s worth looking at, quickly.

Meet the Press, Twitter.com, Mar. 29, 2020

Howie Hawkins

The uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic make mail-in balloting the only way to ensure all voters can vote in November. The federal government should enact a program with funding and standards to mail all registered voters a mail-in ballot for the November election. The program should provide sufficient funding to print and pay postage for tens of millions of mail-in ballots and envelopes, including postage for pre-paid return envelopes. It should ensure that all registered voters receive a ballot automatically, can request a replacement if they don’t, and can return it by Election Day. It should provide sufficient funding to ensure that the human and technological resources, like ballot scanners to count votes quickly and accurately are in place. This program should be enacted immediately in order to get the system in place by the November election. The mail-in ballot program will have the added benefit of creating an auditable paper trail for recounts.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party of Colorado Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Donald Trump

I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting... It shouldn’t be mail-in voting. It should be: You go to a booth and you proudly display yourself. You don’t send it in the mail where people pick up — all sorts of bad things can happen by the time they signed that, if they sign that — if they signed that by the time it gets in and is tabulated.No, it shouldn’t be mailed in. You should vote at the booth. And you should have voter ID, because when you have voter ID, that’s the real deal.

White House, "Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus

Jo Jorgensen

While it is the purview of the states to set election rules, I will encourage them to make voting fair and easily accessible for all voters. Voting methods should be transparent and provide a means for voters to ensure their vote was properly counted.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Jorgensen

No debate on Election Security should go forward without first agreeing that Voter ID (Identification) must play a very strong part in any final agreement. Without Voter ID, it is all so meaningless!

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Aug. 13, 2019

Joe Biden

On the civil rights front, we see renewed attacks on voting rights across the nation. This year alone [2014], there were 83 initiatives in 29 states to limit access to the ballot box in the name of preventing corruption where no corruption was found. In the name of preventing widespread fraud where none was occurring. States like Wisconsin, which passed a voter ID law in the name of combating voter impersonation. That was the rationale. According to the federal court, the state, and I quote, ’could not point to a single instance of known voter impersonation occurring in Wisconsin at any time in the recent past.’ Or, in my native state of Pennsylvania, where a state court judge ruled that the state ’wholly failed to show any evidence of in-person voter fraud.’ But the fiction of widespread voter fraud continues to persist. Because, without it, no American worth their salt could ever defend these new laws in limiting the franchise.

CBS News, "Joe Biden: Voter ID Laws Aim to ’Repress Minority Turnout,’" cbsnews.com, July 24, 2014

Howie Hawkins

America is currently in the midst of a new wave of disenfranchisement. Since 2000, the number of states requiring voter ID has increased from 14 to 33. A 2013 Supreme Court decision struck down provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that required pre-clearance by the federal government of changes to election laws in jurisdictions that had historically disenfranchised blacks and other people of color. In the wake of that decision, 17 states adopted laws requiring stricter voter ID requirements. Most of these laws require government-issued photo ID, which often requires a birth certificate to obtain. The time and cost of obtaining these documents discourages low-income people from registering to vote... Obviously, the fight against onerous voter ID laws must continue.

Howie Hawkins, "Voter Disenfranchisement Is a Working Class Issue," peacecouncil.net, Sep/Oct. 2016

Jo Jorgensen

While it is the purview of the states to set election rules, I do not object to requirements that voters show an ID in order to vote, but only if it is easy to get one.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

Getting to a 100% clean energy economy is not only an obligation, it’s an opportunity. We should fully adopt a clean energy future, not just for all of us today, but for our children and grandchildren, so their tomorrow is healthier, safer, and more just.As president, Biden will lead the world to address the climate emergency and lead through the power of example, by ensuring the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

Joe Biden, "Climate: Joe’s Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice," joebiden.com (accessed July 21, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

• Zero-to-Negative Carbon Emissions by 2030
• 100% Clean Energy by 2030"

Howie Hawkins, "Platform Summary," howiehawkins.us (accessed July 21, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Protecting the environment is a key element of my campaign, and critical to a future world that is free, prosperous, safe, and at peace. Cronyism and federal subsidies have warped the economics of energy production and made it difficult to reduce our use of fossil fuels.

But we have a recipe for 100% clean, zero-emission energy: nuclear power. We haven’t had a new nuclear power plant in this country in 30 years. The rest of the world is way ahead on this. We’re losing all the benefit of modern technology and the emissions-free energy that nuclear power can produce.

Many attempts at environmental reform have actually slowed our progress, bogging down innovation in cronyism and inefficiencies. I want a level playing field for energy production - voters and consumers can choose the low-emission solutions that will realistically improve our economy AND our planet

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: Trump announced that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement on Oct. 23, 2019. The agreement primarily focused on clean energy, however Trump stated he was withdrawing for financial reasons.

Joe Biden

Anderson Cooper: Would you support a carbon tax? Some other candidates say they would.

Joe Biden: Yeah, no, I would. But here’s what we have to do. Look, the bottom line of this is, what we have to do is we have to understand that you need to be able to bring people and countries and interests together to get anything done. You can have -- plans are great, but executing on those plans is a very different thing. We make up -- it’s the existential threat of not this generation, but the whole world, the existential threat that exists, if we don’t move on it, number one.

CNN Transcripts, "Climate Crisis Town Hall with Joe Biden (D), Presidential Candidate. Aired 8-8:40p ET," transcripts.cnn.com, Sep. 4, 2019

Howie Hawkins

Progressive Carbon Tax: Enact a progressive state carbon tax with rebates to low- and moderate-income households. The carbon tax will make polluters pay for their damages and make private investments in clean energy pay off.

Howie Hawkins, " Issues: Progressive Taxation," howiehawkins.org (accessed July 20, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

No. I don’t like the idea of a huge carbon tax, because it’s passed on in utility rates and prices – yet another tax that will burden every family and business in America. The Green New Deal is even more onerous, and should be scrapped. The solution is to stop subsidizing energy producers and allow solutions to emerge through competition.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: A White House official stated, "The Trump Administration is not considering a carbon tax" after Trump met with Republicans calling for a $40 per ton carbon tax on Feb. 8, 2017.

Reuters, "Trump Administration Not Considering a Carbon Tax: White House Official," reuters.com, Mar. 21, 2017

Joe Biden

Ensuring clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities – rural to urban, rich and poor – investing in the repair of water pipelines and sewer systems, replacement of lead service pipes, upgrade of treatment plants, and integration of efficiency and water quality monitoring technologies. This includes protecting our watersheds and clean water infrastructure from man-made and natural disasters by conserving and restoring wetlands and developing green infrastructure and natural solutions.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan to Build a Modern, Sustainable Infrastructure and Equitable Clean Energy Future," joebiden.com (accessed July 21, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

Access to clean water is a human right. Our #Ecosocialist #GreenNewDeal will ensure clean, reliable drinking water for all, sanitary waste water disposal systems, and invest in water management infrastructure.

Howie Hawkins, Twitter.com, May 21, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Individuals have rights, not communities. Government shouldn’t stand in the way of individuals or businesses or communities to clean their water supplies or to make clean water more accessible. Wherever governments grant a monopoly on water delivery - allow only one company to deliver water through the pipes - that government has a responsibility to ensure the water is clean and accessible. When monopolistic government programs fail to deliver clean water, control should be removed from government and replaced with fully privatized solutions.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

I want clean air and clean water and have been making great strides in improving America’s environment.

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Dec. 4, 2018

Editor’s Note: On July 16, 2020, the Trump Administration rolled back rules within the Clean Water Act to limit the definition of federal waterways. The revisions were enacted to "[stop] the egregious abuse of the Clean Water Act, which extreme activists have used to shut down construction projects all across our country." according to Trump. Now, people and companies will no longer need to apply for federal permits to dump potentially harmful substances into some waterways.

Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport, "Trump Administration Rolls Back Clean Water Protections," nytimes.com, Sep. 19, 2019

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump on Rolling Back Regulations to Help All Americans," whitehouse.gov, July 16, 2020]

Donald Trump

The previous administration tried to put America’s vast energy resources under lock and key. ’We don’t want energy.’ I don’t know what they were thinking. And they tried to put energy producers out of business. But no more. It’s a great business. It’s a vital business for our country.

We’re opening up ANWR in Alaska, one of the biggest sites anywhere in the world...

We’re unlocking the full oil and gas potential of the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico...

Since I took office, the United States has increased oil production by over 3.2 million barrels per day. That’s an incredible number...

Unfortunately, politicians in California, New York, and other states risk our economy and our national security by blocking vital energy resources from being developed and energy infrastructure, like this, from being built. These states could be ports for shipping energy to our friends and allies, but instead of helping our partners, they’re hurting America.

I have a simple message for these politicians that do such damage to our country: We should be producing energy at home, not enriching foreign adversaries abroad."

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump on Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth | Hackberry, LA," whitehouse.gov, May 14, 2019

Joe Biden

On day one, Biden will use the full authority of the executive branch to make progress and significantly reduce emissions. Biden recognizes we must go further, faster and more aggressively than ever before, by... [p]rotecting America’s natural treasures by permanently protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other areas impacted by President Trump’s attack on federal lands and waters, establishing national parks and monuments that reflect America’s natural heritage, banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters, modifying royalties to account for climate costs, and establishing targeted programs to enhance reforestation and develop renewables on federal lands and waters with the goal of doubling offshore wind by 2030

Joe Biden, "Climate," joebiden.com (accessed Oct. 10, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

On July 29, I signed the 350 Action’s Day One Pledge, which asks presidential candidates to take four steps their first day in office:

• Reject all new federally-approved coal, oil, gas, and other fossil fuel project permits.
• Phase out oil and gas drilling and fracking on public lands and off our coasts.
• Rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.
• Ask Congress to investigate the fossil fuel industry’s role in misleading the public and stalling climate action, and to prepare to hold the industry accountable.

I am still the only presidential candidate to have signed the pledge to date.

Howie Hawkins, "8/22/19: On Day One, the next President Should Declare a Climate Emergency," howiehawkins.us, Aug. 22, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

We should sell land owned by the federal government wherever feasible and use the proceeds to liquidate large taxpayer liabilities such as Social Security. This will also force fuel companies to pay market rates for use of the land.

I aim to create an even more level playing field by ending federal government subsidies of all forms of energy. Nuclear energy gets the least. The fossil fuel industry gets many billions of dollars every year. Wind and solar get huge subsidies, relative to the kilowatts of energy they produce. The whole energy industry is driven by crony capitalism, with very little competition.

Nuclear energy is likely to do very well in a competitive marketplace to the detriment of fossil fuels.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Joe Biden

I’ve argued against any more oil drilling or gas drilling on federal lands that we can -- and to stop that. I think we should, in fact, be looking at what exists now and making a judgment whether or not the -- those, in fact, that are there, those wells that are there, whether or not they’re dangerous, whether or not they’ve already done the damage, and what we can do from there by trying to change the attitude of the members of the governors of the various states and the state legislatures.

Now, we could pass national legislation, but I don’t think we’d get it done, in terms of getting the votes to get it done, to say all fracking that’s going on now ends unless you can show there’s some physical security need or worried about explosions, et cetera, which is a legitimate thing to worry about. But I would not allow any more.

[Anderson] COOPER... So just to be clear, you would not call for a ban statewide on fracking or nationwide? You said stop new oil and gas drilling on federal lands?

BIDEN: Yes.

CNN, "Climate Crisis Town Hall with Joe Biden (D), Presidential Candidate. Aired 8-8:40p ET," cnn.com, Sep. 4, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

Fracking should be allowed so long as the rights of surface property owners are balanced with those of mineral owners. Government should not subsidize any form of energy production, including gas and oil.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The last administration tried to shut down Pennsylvania coal and Pennsylvania fracking. If they got in, your fracking is gone, your coal is gone, you guys — I don’t know what the hell you’re going to do... We have the greatest resources, which really came about over the last few years. Nobody knew this. Fracking made it possible. Other new technologies made it possible. And now we’re the number-one — think of it, as I said — the number-one energy producer in the world.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump on American Energy and Manufacturing | Monaca, PA," whitehouse.gov, Aug. 13, 2019

Editor’s Note: In Dec. 2019, the Trump administration announced plans to open over one million acres of public land in California to fracking.

Howie Hawkins

The watered-down Green New Deal non-binding resolution from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey falls short in many respects, including:

1. It fails to support the immediate frontline demand of the grassroots climate movement—a nationwide ban on fracking and new fossil fuel infrastructure. If we don’t win that demand, we will be locked into four more decades more of fracked gas and oil burning, which means a climate holocaust.

Howie Hawkins, "The Sunrise Movement Needs to Demand More in the Green New Deal," howiehawkins.us, Aug. 26, 2019

Joe Biden

Vice President Biden knows there is no greater challenge facing our country and our world. Today, he is outlining a bold plan – a Clean Energy Revolution – to address this grave threat and lead the world in addressing the climate emergency.

Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face. It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.

Joe Biden, "Climate: Joe’s Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice," joebiden.com (accessed Aug. 29, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

Our ecosocialist Green New Deal encompasses two major programs, an Economic Bill of Rights and a Green Economy Reconstruction Program. The Economic Bill of Rights will finally fulfill President Roosevelt’s 1944 call upon Congress to develop programs to secure basic economic human rights for all.

The Green Economy Reconstruction Program will not only build a 100% clean energy system by 2030, but will reconstruct all economic sectors for ecological sustainability, from agriculture and manufacturing to housing and transportation.

The Economic Bill of Rights will be realized through ongoing programs of public provision. The Green Economy Reconstruction Program will be realized through a plan of public capital investments of 10 to 20 years depending on the sector.

Howie Hawkins, "An Ecosocialist Green New Deal," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

No. The Green New Deal is the wrong approach and will do great harm to the economy

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The United States does not have to sacrifice our own jobs to lead the world on the environment...

While we’re focused on practical solutions, more than 100 Democrats in Congress now support the so-called Green New Deal. Their plan is estimated to cost our economy nearly $100 trillion — a number unthinkable; a number not affordable even in the best of times. If you go 150 years from now and we’ve had great success, that’s not a number that’s even thought to be affordable. It’ll kill millions of jobs, it’ll crush the dreams of the poorest Americans, and disproportionately harm minority communities.

I will not stand for it. We will defend the environment, but we will also defend American sovereignty, American prosperity, and we will defend American jobs.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump on America’s Environmental Leadership," whitehouse.gov, July 8, 2019

Donald Trump

GREAT news this week regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline – moving forward with fantastic paying CONSTRUCTION jobs for hardworking Americans. Promises Made, Promises Kept! #MAGA

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Apr. 3, 2020

Editor’s Note:  On Nov. 6, 2015, Trump tweeted:

So sad that Obama rejected Keystone Pipeline. Thousands of jobs, good for the environment, no downside!"

Joe Biden

Editor’s Note: Stef Feldman, Biden campaign Policy Director, stated:

Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as President and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit.. Stopping Keystone was the right decision then and it’s still the right decision now.

Rebecca Beitsch, "Biden Says He Would Revoke Keystone XL Permit, Campaign Says," thehill.com, May 18, 2020]

Howie Hawkins

No.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Government should neither block nor subsidize the pipeline or its protection.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

Biden will establish ARPA-C, a new, cross-agency Advanced Research Projects Agency focused on climate. This initiative will target affordable, game-changing technologies to help America achieve our 100% clean energy target... [including] small modular nuclear reactors at half the construction cost of today’s reactors...

Identify the future of nuclear energy. To address the climate emergency threatening our communities, economy, and national security, we must look at all low- and zero-carbon technologies. That’s why Biden will support a research agenda through ARPA-C to look at issues, ranging from cost to safety to waste disposal systems, that remain an ongoing challenge with nuclear power today.

Joe Biden, "Climate," joebiden.com (accessed Nov. 12, 2019)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Reducing pollution worldwide requires cost-efficient, safe, zero-emission energy sources like nuclear power plants.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

Today, I am proudly announcing six brand-new initiatives to propel this new era of American energy dominance. First, we will begin to revive and expand our nuclear energy sector — which I’m so happy about — which produces clean, renewable and emissions-free energy. A complete review of U.S. nuclear energy policy will help us find new ways to revitalize this crucial energy resource.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at the Unleashing American Energy Event," whitehouse.gov, June 29, 2017

Howie Hawkins

A rapid phaseout of nuclear power. Nukes are not clean energy. They are not cost-effective. They are subject to catastrophic accidents. No nukes

Howie Hawkins, "Overview: The Ecosocialist Green New Deal Budget," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Joe Biden

Biden will rejoin the Paris Agreement, but simply rejoining is not enough. Biden will use every tool of American foreign policy to push the rest of the world to raise their ambitions alongside the United States. A Biden Administration will:

Re-enter the Paris Agreement on day one of the Biden Administration and lead a major diplomatic push to raise the ambitions of countries’ climate targets. The Paris Agreement was a historic breakthrough for the world, and reflected the power of patient, strategic diplomacy in service of America’s long-term national interests. The core of the agreement relies on countries continually increasing the ambition of their climate targets over time. But since President Trump came into office, America has abdicated its own commitment to this agreement, and other major emitting nations have not moved fast enough to achieve their own goals.

Joe Biden, "Climate," joebiden.com (accessed Jan. 13, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

On July 29, I signed the 350 Action’s Day One Pledge, which asks presidential candidates to take four steps their first day in office:

• Reject all new federally-approved coal, oil, gas, and other fossil fuel project permits.
• Phase out oil and gas drilling and fracking on public lands and off our coasts.
• Rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.
• Ask Congress to investigate the fossil fuel industry’s role in misleading the public and stalling climate action, and to prepare to hold the industry accountable.

I am still the only presidential candidate to have signed the pledge to date.

Howie Hawkins, "8/22/19: On Day One, the next President Should Declare a Climate Emergency," howiehawkins.us, Aug. 22, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

No. The Paris Climate agreement gives unelected, unaccountable international bureaucrats authority over the US. We must maintain sovereign control of our energy future. My plan to reduce and streamline nuclear energy regulations will allow the construction of many more plants, providing a safe and zero-emissions form of energy.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

I withdrew the United States from the terrible, one-sided Paris Climate Accord. It was a total disaster for our country. And I thought when I did that, it would be very tough. And all I do is get applauded for that move, so much. It would’ve been so bad for our country. They were taking away our wealth. It was almost as though it was meant to hurt the competitiveness — really, competitiveness of the United States. So, we did away with that one.

The Paris Accord would’ve been a giant transfer of American wealth to foreign nations that are responsible for most of the world’s pollution. Our air right now and our water right now is as clean as it’s been in decades. The Paris Accord would’ve been shutting down American producers with excessive regulatory restrictions like you would not believe, while allowing foreign producers to pollute with impunity. They were allowed to do what they were doing.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at 9th Annual Shale Insight Conference | Pittsburgh, PA," whitehouse.gov, Oct. 23, 2019

Donald Trump

China has already started buying. They want to buy. They want to make a deal. They really have to make a deal. Their economy has been hurt very badly by what we’ve done and by the tariffs that we’ve charged.

And we’ve taken in tremendous amounts of tariffs. A small portion of them we’ve given to the farmer, which — the farmers — which has more than made up for what they’ve lost...

And because of the newfound economic power of the United States, because of the fact that we’ve made so many trillions — many, many trillions of dollars in worth of the United States — I call it the ’newfound economic power’ — if my opponent would’ve won, China would right now be the most powerful nation, economically, in the world. And, right now, they’re not even close.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump and President Mattarella of the Italian Republic before Bilateral Meeting," whitehouse.gov, Oct. 16, 2019

Joe Biden

America’s farmers have been crushed by his [President Trump’s] tariff war with China. He thinks he’s being tough. Well, it’s easy to be tough when someone else is feeling the pain. How many farmers across this state and across this nation have had to face the prospect of losing their business, of losing their farm because of Trump’s tariffs? ...And how about manufacturing? Trump’s tariffs and trade wars are hitting a lot of American manufacturing—especially the American automobile industry—choking it to within an inch of its life.

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, "Biden Takes on ’Trump’s Tariffs,’" wsj.com, June 12, 2019

Howie Hawkins

No.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

No. Tariffs are taxes on Americans, and free trade benefits all involved.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

Jim DeFede: Cuba policy. Would you go back to the Obama policy with regard to Cuba if you were... elected President?

Biden: Yes, I would. In large part, I would go back [to the policy set by President Obama that loosened sanctions]. I’d still insist they keep the commitments they said they would make when we, in fact, set the policy in place... [T]here’s no reason why we cannot still sanction them, but failing to recognize them at all is a different thing than sanctioning them.

Jim DeFede, "Joe Biden Confident He’ll Turn Florida Blue, Says He’ll Restore Obama-Era Cuba Policies in Exclusive CBS4 Interview," miami.cbslocal.com, Apr. 27, 2020

Howie Hawkins

The US should lift the embargo of Cuba immediately and normalize relations.

Howie Hawkins, "Latinx Caucus of the Green Party of the United States Presidential Candidates Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Lift all restrictions on travel and trade between the U.S. and Cuba.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

If Cuban Troops and Militia do not immediately CEASE military and other operations for the purpose of causing death and destruction to the Constitution of Venezuela, a full and complete … embargo, together with highest-level sanctions, will be placed on the island of Cuba. Hopefully, all Cuban soldiers will promptly and peacefully return to their island!

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Apr. 30, 2019

Editor’s Note: On June 16, 2017, Trump announced:

[E]ffective immediately, I am canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba... Our new policy begins with strictly enforcing U.S. law... We will not lift sanctions on the Cuban regime until all political prisoners are freed, freedoms of assembly and expression are respected, all political parties are legalized, and free and internationally supervised elections are scheduled...

We will very strongly restrict American dollars flowing to the military, security and intelligence services that are the core of Castro regime. They will be restricted. We will enforce the ban on tourism. We will enforce the embargo. We will take concrete steps to ensure that investments flow directly to the people, so they can open private businesses and begin to build their country’s great, great future — a country of great potential."

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump on the Policy of the United States Towards Cuba," whitehouse.gov, June 16, 2017

Joe Biden

The historic Iran nuclear deal, negotiated by the Obama-Biden administration alongside our allies and other world powers, blocked Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Yet Trump decided to cast it aside, prompting Iran to restart its nuclear program and become more provocative, bringing the region to the cusp of another disastrous war. If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, President Biden would re-enter the agreement, using hard-nosed diplomacy and support from our allies to strengthen and extend it, while more effectively pushing back against Iran’s other destabilizing activities.

Joe Biden, "American Leadership," joebiden.com (accessed Sep. 30, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

The United States must rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated between Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The US violated the JCPOA, informally known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement, unilaterally withdrawing from it and escalating sanctions. These actions were a unilateral escalation of conflict with Iran by the United States. If the US had lived up to the agreement and removed previous sanctions as was required, then the United States and Iran would be able to address their differences and regional and global problem issues by diplomacy instead of war. The JPCOA was working to stop nuclear proliferation as all parties, including the US State Department, agreed at the time Trump pulled out on his own.

Howie Hawkins, "US Path to War in Iran Must Be Reversed," howiehawkins.us, June 27, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Iran has a right to peaceful, civilian nuclear technology under the terms of the Non-Proliferation Agreement. An agreement that helps create harmony is better than continued hostility.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The Iran Deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. In just a short period of time, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons. At the heart of the Iran Deal is a giant fiction that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful nuclear energy program. Therefore, I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. We will not allow a regime that chants ’Death to America’ to gain access to the most deadly weapons on earth.

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 8, 2018

Donald Trump

Before I came into office, the military endured deep and devastating budget cuts. Our military, quite frankly, was very depleted.

As a candidate for President, I promised to reverse these crippling cuts, and to ensure our military remains unchallenged and unrivaled anywhere in the world...

The law I am signing today provides $738 billion — that’s with a ’B.’ Seven hundred and thirty-eight billion dollars in defense funding for the 2020. That’s an all-time record. In the history of our country, that’s the highest amount we’ve ever spent on our military.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at Signing Ceremony for S.1790, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020," whitehouse.gov, Dec. 20, 2019

Joe Biden

The United States has the best-trained and best-equipped military force the world has ever seen, but our superiority is being challenged in ways not seen since the Cold War. With the return to great power competition posed by the rise of China and a revanchist Russia, we need to maintain our superiority, but we must do so affordably and by preparing for the wars of tomorrow...

We can maintain a strong defense and protect our safety and security for less. The real question is not how much we invest — it’s how we invest...

And we have to invest in our other elements of national power. Our military is one tool in our toolbox. We have become over-dependent on the military to advance our security interests overseas.

Leo Shane III, "Military Times Questionnaire: Former Vice President Joe Biden," militarytimes.com, Nov. 18, 2019

Howie Hawkins

In addition to a more progressive tax system, we need to get our spending priorities straight. The U.S. military budget is greater than those of the next 10 largest military powers combined and eight of them are US allies. The military budget takes more than 60 percent of federal discretionary spending totaling $989 billion annually. $21 trillion of Pentagon financial transactions between 1998 and 2015 cannot be traced, documented, or explained.

The U.S. can cut its military budget by 75 percent and still spend more on the military than any other nation. We can invest the resulting peace dividend in a Global Green New Deal to meet basic needs like clean water and preventive health care around the world as well as help developing countries leap over the fossil fuel age into the solar age. By acting as the world’s humanitarian superpower instead of its global military occupation force we can make friends instead of enemies. A Global Green New Deal will build a sustainable peace where the world’s nations work cooperatively to solve our common problems of the climate and poverty.

Howie Hawkins, "Tax Day 2019: Time to End Taxes to Confront Inequality and Implement an Ecosocialist Green New Deal," howiehawkins.us, Apr. 15, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

Absolutely not. As president, I will make America like One Giant Switzerland: Armed and Neutral. I will immediately order our troops home from Afghanistan and the Middle East, which will allow us to substantially cut the military budget. Our military will be armed, trained, able, and ready to defend American soil and shores against foreign aggressors.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: In a statement from Secretary of State Pompeo the Trump administration announced:

Tomorrow [May 22, 2020], the United States will submit notice of its decision to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies to the Treaty Depositaries and to all other States Parties to the Treaty. Effective six months from tomorrow, the United States will no longer be a party to the Treaty. We may, however, reconsider our withdrawal should Russia return to full compliance with the Treaty....

At its core, the Treaty was designed to provide all signatories an increased level of transparency and mutual understanding and cooperation, regardless of their size. Russia’s implementation and violation of Open Skies, however, has undermined this central confidence-building function of the Treaty – and has, in fact, fueled distrust and threats to our national security – making continued U.S. participation untenable."

Michael R. Pompeo, "On the Treaty on Open Skies," state.gov, May 21, 2020

Joe Biden

In announcing the intent to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, President Trump has doubled down on his short-sighted policy of going it alone and abandoning American leadership. With the world confronting the health and economic consequences of a global pandemic, the United States should be leading the international community, working with allies, and avoiding destabilizing actions....

The Trump Administration says it is withdrawing from the Treaty because Russia is cheating. There are real concerns that Russia is not complying fully with the Treaty. It has improperly imposed restrictions on overflights over certain regions (Kaliningrad and the Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia), to which the United States and other parties have objected. These Russian violations should be addressed not by withdrawing from the Treaty, but by seeking to resolve them through the Treaty’s implementation and dispute mechanism. That is exactly how other disputes over Russian implementation have been resolved, including altitude restrictions over Chechnya.

Joe Biden, "Statement on Vice President Joe Biden on President Trump’s Decision to Withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty," medium.com, May 22, 2020

Howie Hawkins

Even worse than Trump’s contemptible tweeting has been his pro-war policies and actions and his callous disregard for servicemembers. In the last two weeks alone, the Trump administration has... [w]ithdrawn the US from the Open Skies Treaty, which allows its remaining 33 signatories to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over each others’ territories to observe military forces and nuclear weapons installations in order to verify arms control and peace treaty obligations.

Howie Hawkins, "Memorial Day: Honor the Warriors, Not the Wars," howiehawkins.us, May 25, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

The treaty reduces the chances of international incidents and accidental war, so we should not have withdrawn.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

The first thing I would do as president of the United States of America is to make sure that we brought all combat troops home, entered into a negotiation with the Taliban. But I would leave behind special forces in small numbers to be able to deal with the potential threat unless we got a real good negotiation accomplished to deal with terrorism.

The Fix, "Transcript: The December Democratic Debate," washingtonpost.com, Dec. 19, 2019

Howie Hawkins

We all need to take to the streets tomorrow, Saturday, January 4 [2020], to demand that the US stop its war on Iran and that the US military get out of the Middle East now – out of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Howie Hawkins, "Green POTUS Candidate Hawkins Says Stop the Us War on Iran! Us out of the Middle East Now!," howiehawkins.us, Jan. 3, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. I will use my authority as commander in chief to bring our troops home. We will stop fighting undeclared foreign wars. This will keep our service men and women out of harm’s way and allow us to be at peace with our world neighbors.

I will make America like one giant Switzerland: Armed and neutral.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The United States has spent EIGHT TRILLION DOLLARS fighting and policing in the Middle East. Thousands of our Great Soldiers have died or been badly wounded. Millions of people have died on the other side. GOING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE..... ....IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY! We went to war under a false & now disproven premise, WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. There were NONE! Now we are slowly & carefully bringing our great soldiers & military home. Our focus is on the BIG PICTURE! THE USA IS GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Oct. 9, 2019

Jo Jorgensen

We should never have been in Iraq or Syria, and we should bring all troops home as soon as possible.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

After defeating 100% of the ISIS Caliphate, I largely moved our troops out of Syria. Let Syria and Assad protect the Kurds and fight Turkey for their own land. I said to my Generals, why should we be fighting for Syria …

and Assad to protect the land of our enemy? Anyone who wants to assist Syria in protecting the Kurds is good with me, whether it is Russia, China, or Napoleon Bonaparte. I hope they all do great, we are 7,000 miles away!Some people want the United States to protect the 7,000 mile away Border of Syria, presided over by Bashar al-Assad, our enemy. At the same time, Syria and whoever they chose to help, wants naturally to protect the Kurds ...

I would much rather focus on our Southern Border which abuts and is part of the United States of America.

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Oct. 14, 2019

Joe Biden

Donald Trump sold out the Syrian Democratic Forces — the courageous Kurds and Arabs who fought with us to smash ISIS’s caliphate — and he betrayed a key local ally in the fight against terrorism. But that’s not all — he betrayed our brave troops, who sacrificed alongside them. He betrayed our word as a nation — raising doubts among our allies around the world about America’s security commitments. And he betrayed our security by green lighting a Turkish incursion that will create chaos and destruction, setting conditions for ISIS to regrow.

Joe Biden, "Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on the Consequences of Donald Trump’s Decision to Remove Troops from Syria," medium.com, Oct. 10, 2019

Howie Hawkins

Not then. Not because Turkey’s President Erdogan told Trump to remove US troops so Turkey could invade and attack the Syrian Kurds. Trump then moved US troops south to take Syria’s oil fields. That was wrong. All US troops should now withdraw from Syria.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Joe Biden

As president, Biden will be a champion for improving access to health care and the health of all by:

Expanding access to contraception and protect the constitutional right to an abortion...

Reverse the Trump Administration and states’ all-out assault on women’s right to choose. As president, Biden will work to codify Roe v. Wade, and his Justice Department will do everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that so blatantly violate the constitutional right to an abortion, such as so-called TRAP laws [Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers], parental notification requirements, mandatory waiting periods, and ultrasound requirements.

Joe Biden, "Healthcare," joebiden.com (accessed Aug. 7, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

I support the legal framework established in the Roe v. Wade decision. During the first trimester, it is up to the pregnant woman to decide whether to get an abortion. During the second trimester laws can only regulate abortion to protect the health of the mother. During the third trimester, or after fetal viability pursuant to Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), laws can restrict or prohibit abortions except in cases where it was necessary to protect the mother’s health. This framework should be codified into federal law by an act of Congress. I oppose targeted regulation of abortion clinics and providers through laws or policies that go beyond what is necessary to ensure patients’ safety. I support laws that allow physicians as well as non-physician health professionals, including physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives, to perform abortion procedures.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party National Women’s Caucus Presidential Candidate Questionnaire for 2020," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Reasonable and well-meaning people disagree on this issue. We should keep the government out of it. There should be no government regulation, nor government subsidies, of abortions. There should be no regulation or laws against it."

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

As most people know, and for those who would like to know, I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions - Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother - the same position taken by Ronald Reagan. We have come very far in the last two years with 105 wonderful new Federal Judges (many more to come), two great new Supreme Court Justices, the Mexico City Policy, and a whole new & positive attitude about the Right to Life. The Radical Left, with late term abortion (and worse), is imploding on this issue. We must stick together and Win for Life in 2020. If we are foolish and do not stay UNITED as one, all of our hard fought gains for Life can, and will, rapidly disappear!

Donald Trump, twitter.com, May 18, 2019

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed not clearly pro or con and pro opinions on this question:

"And I am pro-life. And if you look at the question, I was in business. They asked me a question as to pro-life or choice. And I said if you let it run, that I hate the concept of abortion. I hate the concept of abortion. And then since then, I’ve very much evolved.

And what happened is friends of mine years ago were going to have a child, and it was going to be aborted. And it wasn’t aborted. And that child today is a total superstar, a great, great child. And I saw that. And I saw other instances.

And I am very, very proud to say that I am pro-life."

Washington Post, "Annotated Transcript: The Aug. 6 GOP Debate," washingtonpost.com, Aug. 6, 2015

Trump: I’m very pro-choice. I hate the concept of abortion. I hate it. I hate everything it stands for. I cringe when I hear people debating the subject, but, you still, I just believe in choice.

Tim Russert: But you would not ban it?

Trump: No.

tpmtv, "Trump on Abortion in 1999," youtube.com, Apr. 19, 2011

Joe Biden

Too many Americans cannot afford their prescription drugs, and prescription drug corporations are profiteering off of the pocketbooks of sick individuals...

To create more competition for U.S. drug corporations, the Biden Plan will allow consumers to import prescription drugs from other countries, as long as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has certified that those drugs are safe.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan for Older Americans," joebiden.com (accessed Mar. 3, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

Yes.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Special interests should not block individuals and doctors from getting care at the best price. We should also dismantle FDA regulatory control and allow the free market to resume drug testing, as it did before the FDA was formed. This will drive down all drug prices.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

@SecAzar and I will soon release a plan to let Florida and other States import prescription drugs that are MUCH CHEAPER than what we have now! Hard-working Americans don’t deserve to pay such high prices for the drugs they need. We are fighting DAILY to make sure this HAPPENS......

While we had the first prescription drug price decrease in 50 years, Americans still pay far too much for drugs – other countries pay far less – that is WRONG! We will soon be putting more options on the table...

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Nov. 22, 2019

Howie Hawkins

I support Medicare for All as a community-controlled National Health Service. It would adopt National Health Insurance for all in the first year, which provides a single public payer for all medically necessary services delivered largely by private hospitals and medical practices. Over the next decade, the system would be converted to a fully socialized medical system, with public ownership of hospitals and clinics, health care providers as salaried public employees, and the whole system controlled democratically by a federation of locally-elected health boards.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party National Women’s Caucus Presidential Candidate Questionnaire for 2020," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Joe Biden

I believe we have to protect and build on Obamacare. That’s why I proposed adding a public option to Obamacare as the best way to lower costs and cover everyone. I understand the appeal of Medicare for All. But folks supporting it should be clear that it means getting rid of Obamacare, and I’m not for that...

I know how hard it is to get that [healthcare legislation] passed. I watched it. Starting over makes no sense to me at all. I knew the Republicans would do everything in their power to repeal Obamacare, they still are. But I’m surprised that so many Democrats are running on getting rid of it.

Joe Biden, "Healthcare," joebiden.com (accessed Dec. 10, 2019)

Editor’s Note: On Oct. 30, 2019, Biden referred to his healthcare plan as "Medicare for all who want it." However, on Nov. 1, 2019 in an interview with PBS NewsHour, when asked about Medicare for All, Biden stated:

Look, we don’t have to go that route. All we have to do is go back, restore Obamacare, make it — provide a public option, further subsidize the ability to get into a gold plan. My plan will cost about $750 billion over 10 years. We can pay for that.

Stephen Gruber-Miller, "Joe Biden Describes His Health Care Plan Using Pete Buttigieg’s Term ’Medicare for All Who Want It,’" desmoinesregister.com, Oct. 30, 2019

Judy Woodruff, "Watch Our Interview with Joe Biden," pbs.org, Nov. 1, 2019 ]

Jo Jorgensen

Absolutely not! Government-managed healthcare (like the VA [Veteran Affairs]) has been a costly disaster.

Let’s be clear: We don’t have anything close to a free-market in health care, which is why it is vastly overpriced and mired in red tape. As president, I will work with Congress to remove every barrier to a free-market in healthcare. This will allow us to lower costs by at least 75% while driving up the quality, safety, innovation, and convenience of healthcare services.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

Dishonestly called ’Medicare for All,’ the Democratic proposal would establish a government-run, single-payer health care system that eliminates all private and employer-based health care plans and would cost an astonishing $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years...

I also made a solemn promise to our great seniors to protect Medicare. That is why I am fighting so hard against the Democrats’ plan that would eviscerate Medicare...

The Democrats’ plan means that after a life of hard work and sacrifice, seniors would no longer be able to depend on the benefits they were promised. By eliminating Medicare as a program for seniors, and outlawing the ability of Americans to enroll in private and employer-based plans, the Democratic plan would inevitably lead to the massive rationing of health care.

Donald Trump, "Donald Trump: Democrats ’Medicare for All’ Plan Will Demolish Promises to Seniors," usatoday.com, Oct. 10, 2018

Joe Biden

Biden will invest $10 billion to provide local communities with the tools needed to prevent overdoses and respond to emergencies emanating from this crisis.

Ensure local communities have a sufficient supply of overdose prevention drugs. Naloxone (also known as Narcan) is a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, making it a critical tool in the fight to save lives. Biden will expand grants to states for the purchase of Naloxone to be distributed to local community actors called upon to respond to overdoses, including first responders, public health providers, and the staff at homeless shelters and public libraries.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan to End the Opioid Crisis," joebiden.com (accessed Apr. 27, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. Government bureaucrats should never be allowed to stand in the way of individuals and their health choices.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The Administration has taken steps to expand the supply of lifesaving naloxone to first responders nationwide

• There has been a 484 percent increase in naloxone dispensed monthly since President Trump took office.
• Naloxone prescriptions jumped 27 percent immediately following the Surgeon General’s advisory recommending that more Americans carry it.
• The VA alone dispensed 121,448 naloxone prescriptions, used to help 321 veterans during an overdose.

White House, "President Donald J. Trump Is Fighting to End the Opioid Crisis That Has Devastated Too Many American Communities," whitehouse.gov, Apr. 24, 2020

Howie Hawkins

Decriminalization and drug treatment on demand are the best way to stem the epidemic of deaths from opioid overdoses.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party of Colorado Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed July 2, 2020)

Joe Biden

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, with Vice President Biden standing by his side, and made history...

Because of Obamacare, over 100 million people no longer have to worry that an insurance company will deny coverage or charge higher premiums just because they have a pre-existing condition – whether cancer or diabetes or heart disease or a mental health challenge. Insurance companies can no longer set annual or lifetime limits on coverage. Roughly 20 million additional Americans obtained the peace of mind that comes with health insurance. Young people who are in transition from school to a job have the option to stay covered by their parents’ plan until age 26.

Joe Biden, "Health Care," joebiden.com (accessed May 8, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Absolutely not! Obama promised that it would reduce healthcare insurance premiums by 25%, but instead, they doubled! Obamacare has stretched Americans’ ability to pay for medical care to the limit and beyond. We can reduce the cost of healthcare 75% by allowing free market competition.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

Obamacare is a disaster, but we’ve run it very well... It was a disaster under President Obama, and it’s very bad healthcare.

But what we are doing is we want to terminate healthcare for — under Obamacare, because it’s bad, and we’re replacing it with a great healthcare at far less money, and it includes preexisting conditions...

But running it [Obamacare] great, it’s still lousy healthcare.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at Signing of a Proclamation in Honor of National Nurses Day," whitehouse.gov, May 6, 2020

Howie Hawkins

MEDICARE FOR ALL WOULD WORK BETTER THAN OBAMACARE

There are many ways in which improved Medicare for All would protect public health from COVID-19 far better than Obamacare with its complicated patchwork of thousands of public and private insurance plans that leave gaping holes in access and coverage.

Howie Hawkins, "Listen, Biden! Covid-19 and Medicare for All," howiehawkins.us, Mar. 18, 2020

Joe Biden

Too many Americans cannot afford their prescription drugs, and prescription drug corporations are profiteering off of the pocketbooks of sick individuals. The Biden Plan will put a stop to runaway drug prices and the profiteering of the drug industry by:... Limiting price increases for all brand, biotech, and abusively priced generic drugs to inflation. As a condition of participation in the Medicare program and public option, all brand, biotech, and abusively priced generic drugs will be prohibited from increasing their prices more than the general inflation rate. The Biden Plan will also impose a tax penalty on drug manufacturers that increase the costs of their brand, biotech, or abusively priced generic over the general inflation rate.

Joe Biden, "Health Care," joebiden.com (accessed Nov. 25, 2019)

Howie Hawkins

We will enact Medicare for All as a Community-Controlled National Health Service. The Natonal Health Service will provide comprehensive health care for all residents of the United States at no cost to patients at the point of health care delivery and free choice of doctors for patients. It will cover all medically necessary services, including doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug, and medical supply costs.

Howie Hawkins, "The Economic Bill of Rights," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes, but not by forcing price reductions. Rather, it should end government regulations that cause prices to be high in the first place. We should immediately end the FDA’s authority to regulate drug manufacturers. Allow it to serve in an advisory capacity until the free-market proves superior ability to keep us safe, which will happen quickly, then phase it out. This will allow drug prices to go way down.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

While we had the first prescription drug price decrease in 50 years, Americans still pay far too much for drugs – other countries pay far less – that is WRONG! We will soon be putting more options on the table.

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Nov. 22, 2019

Joe Biden

The Biden Plan will: Stop ’surprise billing.’ Consumers trying to lower their health care spending often try to choose an in-network provider. But sometimes patients are unaware they are receiving care from an out-of-network provider and a big, surprise bill. ’Surprise medical billing’ could occur, for example, if you go to an in-network hospital but don’t realize a specialist at that hospital is not part of your health plan. The Biden Plan will bar health care providers from charging patients out-of-network rates when the patient doesn’t have control over which provider the patient sees (for example, during a hospitalization).

Joe Biden, "Healthcare," joebiden.com (accessed Apr. 27, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes, by removing barriers to competition. In a free-market, healthcare providers who pop surprise bills on their customers would quickly lose business to their competitors.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

For too long, surprise billings — which has been a tremendous problem in this country — has left some patients with thousands of dollars of unexpected and unjustified charges for services they did not know anything about and, sometimes, services they did not have any information on. They weren’t told by the doctor. They weren’t told by the hospitals in the areas they were going to. And they get, what we call, a ’surprise bill.’ Not a pleasant surprise; a very unpleasant surprise.

So this must end. We’re going to hold insurance companies and hospitals totally accountable...

And I’ll go a step further: No American mom or dad should lay awake at night worrying about the hidden fees or shocking unexpected medical bills to come.

Today I’m announcing principles that should guide Congress in developing bipartisan legislation to end surprise medical billing.

White House, "Remarks by President Trump on Ending Surprise Medical Billing," whitehouse.gov, May 9, 2019

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of July 2, 2020.

Jo Jorgensen

Yes, and it is already scheduled to leave the WHO in 2021. The WHO advocates socialized medicine as part of its charter, and has proven itself both politicized and incompetent on numerous occasions.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

On April 14, 2020, I suspended United States contribution to the World Health Organization pending an investigation by my Administration of the organization’s failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This review has confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month and identified others that the World Health Organization should have addressed, especially the World Health Organization’s alarming lack of independence from the People’s Republic of China... I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving American interests.

Donald Trump, Letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Twitter.com, May 18, 2020

Editor’s Note: On July 6, 2020, the Trump Administration sent a letter formally withdrawing from the World Health Organization, effective July 6, 2021. To leave the organization, a member country must give one-year notice and pay outstanding dues. The US owes $198 million as of June 30, 2020.

Pien Huang, "Trump Sets Date to End WHO Membership over Its Handling of Virus," npr.org, July 7, 2020

Joe Biden

Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health. On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage.

Joe Biden, Twitter.com, July 7, 2020

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of July 24, 2020.

Donald Trump

My administration has presented Congress with a detailed proposal to secure the border and stop the criminal gangs, drug smugglers and human traffickers. It’s a tremendous problem...

[A]s part of an overall approach to border security, law enforcement professionals have requested $5.7 billion for a physical barrier. At the request of Democrats, it will be a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall. This barrier is absolutely critical to border security. It’s also what our professionals at the border want and need. This is just common sense.

The border wall would very quickly pay for itself. The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year — vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress. The wall will also be paid for, indirectly, by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico...

Some have suggested a barrier is immoral. Then why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences, and gates around their homes? They don’t build walls because they hate the people on the outside, but because they love the people on the inside.

Donald Trump, "President Donald J. Trump’s Address to the Nation on the Crisis at the Border," whitehouse.gov, Jan. 8, 2019

Joe Biden

There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration. I’m gonna make sure that we have border protection, but it’s going to be based on making sure that we use high-tech capacity to deal with it and at the ports of entry — that’s where all the bad stuff is at.

Justine Coleman, "Biden Says He Would Stop Border Wall Construction as President," thehill.com, Aug. 6, 2020

Editor’s Note: Biden previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

I voted for a fence, I voted, unlike most Democrats — and some of you won’t like it — I voted for 700 miles of fence [by voting for the Secure Fence Act]. But, let me tell you, we can build a fence 40 stories high, unless you change the dynamic in Mexico and — and you will not like this, and — punish American employers who knowingly violate the law when, in fact, they hire illegals. Unless you do those two things, all the rest is window dressing.

Now, I know I’m not supposed to say it that bluntly, but they’re the facts, they’re the facts. And so everything else we do is in between here. Everything else we do is at the margins. And the reason why I add that parenthetically, why I believe the fence is needed does not have anything to do with immigration as much as drugs... And let me tell you something folks, people are driving across that border with tons, tons, hear me, tons of everything from byproducts for methamphetamine to cocaine to heroin and it’s all coming up through corrupt Mexico."

Brad Warthen, "Joe Biden at Rotary," youtube.com, Nov. 27, 2006

Howie Hawkins

No.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

No. Trump’s use of emergency military funds to build a wall was unconstitutional, a gross expansion of presidential powers, and will prove ineffective at stopping illegal immigration.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

Imagine a young girl, age 4 or 5, traveling with her parents into the United States as they make the hard decision to pursue a better life here. Imagine that child growing up as your student, your co-worker, your friend. Because of the president’s decision today [to rescind DACA], she now must live in fear that she will soon be thrown out and sent back to a country she has never known.

This story speaks to the experience of roughly 800,000 people known as DREAMers here in America today. These children didn’t choose to come here, but now many of them are grown with families of their own. They’re paying taxes. They’ve joined the workforce. They went to college. Some of them joined the military. Now, they’ll be sent to countries they don’t even remember.

These people are all Americans. So let’s be clear: throwing them out is cruel. It is inhumane. And it is not America. Congress and the American people now have an obligation to step up and show our neighbors that they’re welcome here, in the only place they’ve ever called home.

Jeff Stein, "Joe Biden: Rescinding DACA Is ’Cruel’ and ’Inhumane,’" vox.com, Sep. 5, 2017

Howie Hawkins

The federal government should end its defense in court of Trump’s executive order attempting to end the DACA program. The federal government should start properly administering the program.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party of Colorado Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

I oppose the deportation of peaceful U.S. residents, but DACA should have been passed by legislators rather than decreed by Obama by executive order. The existing DACA program should be maintained and easier paths to legal, long-term residence, including citizenship, should be established for all.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

The deal was done. DACA is going to be just fine. We’re putting it in. It’s going to be just fine. And I am going to be, over the next few weeks, signing an immigration bill that a lot of people don’t know about. You have breaking news, but I’m signing a big immigration bill...I’m going to do a big executive order. I have the power to do it as president and I’m going to make DACA a part of it. But, we put it in, and we’ll probably going to then be taking it out. We’re working out the legal complexities right now, but I’m going to be signing a very major immigration bill as an executive order, which Supreme Court now, because of the DACA decision, has given me the power to do that...[W]hat I’m going to do is that they’re going to part of a much bigger bill on immigration. It’s going to be a very big bill, a very good bill, and merit-based bill and it will include DACA, and I think people are going to be very happy... But one of the aspects of the bill is going to be DACA. We’re going to have a road to citizenship.

Rafael Bernal, "Trump Says He’ll Sign Order with ’Road to Citizenship’ for DACA Recipients," thehill.com, July 10, 2020

Editor’s Note: Trump previously expressed a pro opinion on this question:

In June of 2012, President Obama bypassed Congress to give work permits, social security numbers, and federal benefits to approximately 800,000 illegal immigrants currently between the ages of 15 and 36. The typical recipients of this executive amnesty, known as DACA, are in their twenties. Legislation offering these same benefits had been introduced in Congress on numerous occasions and rejected each time...

The temporary implementation of DACA by the Obama Administration, after Congress repeatedly rejected this amnesty-first approach, also helped spur a humanitarian crisis – the massive surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America including, in some cases, young people who would become members of violent gangs throughout our country, such as MS-13...

Therefore, in the best interests of our country, and in keeping with the obligations of my office, the Department of Homeland Security will begin an orderly transition and wind-down of DACA...

As I’ve said before, we will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion – but through the lawful Democratic process – while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve.

Donald Trump, "Statement from President Donald J. Trump," whitehouse.gov, Sep. 5, 2017

Howie Hawkins

I support a policy of Open Borders where movement between nations is free, like it is within the European Union. International borders should be authentic fair-trade zones where people are free to travel across borders for work, shopping, recreation, and residence. People crossing international borders would be required to present their identification at a border crossing. Only people wanted for criminal charges would be detained. People who cross without checking in at a border crossing would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Open borders will benefit the US and Latin American economies and will uphold the basic human right of freedom of movement.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party of Colorado Questionnaire," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. It should be easy for peaceful people to visit, work, or reside in the United States.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Joe Biden

The fact of the matter is... if you cross the border illegally, you should be able to be sent back. It’s a crime... I have guts enough to say his [Julian Castro’s decriminalization] plan doesn’t make sense. Here’s the deal. The fact of the matter is that, in fact, when people cross the border illegally, it is illegal to do it unless they’re seeking asylum. People should have to get in line. That’s the problem.

NBC News, "Democratic Debate Transcript: July 31, 2019," nbcnews.com, July 31, 2019

Editor’s Note: Biden raised his hand during the June 27, 2019 Democratic debate when Jose Diaz-Balart asked "If you’d be so kind, raise your hand if you think it should be a civil offense rather than a crime to cross the border without documentation?" Diaz-Balart followed-up to clarify Biden’s position, however Biden did not give a direct response to the question of decriminalization verbally.

Donald Trump

It is the policy of this Administration to rigorously enforce our immigration laws. Under our laws, the only legal way for an alien to enter this country is at a designated port of entry at an appropriate time. When an alien enters or attempts to enter the country anywhere else, that alien has committed at least the crime of improper entry and is subject to a fine or imprisonment under section 1325(a) of title 8, United States Code. This Administration will initiate proceedings to enforce this and other criminal provisions of the INA [Immigration and Nationality Act] until and unless Congress directs otherwise.

Donald Trump, "Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation [Executive Order 13841]," whitehouse.gov, June 20, 2018

Donald Trump

We’ve issued 40 million green cards since 1970, which means the permanent residency and a path to citizenship for many, many people. But we will not allow our generosity to be abused by those who would break our laws, defy our rules, violate our borders, break into our country illegally. We won’t allow it.

Mass, uncontrolled immigration is especially unfair to the many wonderful, law-abiding immigrants already living here who followed the rules and waited their turn. Some have been waiting for many years. Some have been waiting for a long time. They’ve done everything perfectly. And they’re going to come in. At some point, they’re going to come in. In many cases, very soon. We need them to come in, because we have companies coming into our country; they need workers. But they have to come in on a merit basis, and they will come in on a merit basis.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump on the Illegal Immigration Crisis and Border Security," whitehouse.gov, Nov. 1, 2018

Joe Biden

Pursue a humane immigration policy that keeps families together, strengthens our economy, and secures our border: As vice president, Joe backed comprehensive immigration reform, and the Obama-Biden Administration took historic steps to create the DACA program so DREAMers could pursue their lives free from fear of deportation. Joe also led the administration’s work with Central America—securing $750 million to boost prosperity and security in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, easing the root causes of migration. As president, Joe will prioritize a comprehensive immigration reform to finally give 11 million undocumented immigrants a roadmap to citizenship.

Joe Biden, "Highlights from Joe Biden’s Vision for America," joebiden.com (accessed Jan. 13, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

The status of undocumented immigrants would be legalized and immigrants provided a timely path to citizenship.

Howie Hawkins, "Green Party of Colorado Questionairre," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

No. Nonviolent immigrants should be given a path to legal status.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

I am tired of seeing our taxpayer[s] paying for people to come into the country and immediately go onto welfare and various other things.

Michael D. Shear, Miriam Jordan and Caitlin Dickerson, "Trump’s Policy Could Alter the Face of the American Immigrant," nytimes.com, Aug. 14, 2019

Editor’s Note: On Aug. 12, 2019, the Trump Administration issued a final rule that stated:

An alien who receives public benefits above a certain threshold is known as a ’public charge.’

• Aliens will be barred from entering the United States if they are found likely to become public charges.
• Aliens in the United States who are found likely to become public charges will also be barred from adjusting their immigration status.

White House, "President Donald J. Trump is Ensuring Non-Citizens Do Not Abuse Our Nation’s Public Benefit," whitehouse.gov, Aug. 12, 2019

Joe Biden

In the first 100 days, a Biden Administration will... Reverse Trump’s public charge rule, which runs counter to our values as Americans and the history of our nation. Allowing immigration officials to make an individual’s ability to receive a visa or gain permanent residency contingent on their use of government services such as SNAP benefits or Medicaid, their household income, and other discriminatory criteria undermines America’s character as land of opportunity that is open and welcoming to all, not just the wealthy.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan for Securing Our Values as a Nation of Immigrants," joebiden.com (accessed Apr. 27, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

No.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

I will work to build a vibrant economy by lowering taxes and dismantling thousands of unneeded government regulations. And I will work to eliminate all government barriers to charitable giving and charitable health care. This will eliminate the need for most government welfare programs. As President, I will work to repeal arbitrary quotas on the number of people who can legally enter the United States to work, visit, or reside.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Yes. We need as many children as possible to find loving homes, and LGBTQ individuals can and do provide those ‘forever families’ for children. At the same time, freedom of association is a sacred right that is as guaranteed by the First Amendment, and must not be abridged.

As President, I will fully support LGBTQ adoption and parenthood, and remove all federal barriers that have made a mess of the adoption process. But I would stop short of forcing private or religious adoption agencies to change their policies. I also support the rights of LGBTQ-supportive agencies to refuse to let bigoted or discriminatory couples adopt.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Sep. 8, 2020.

Donald Trump

Editor’s Note: The Trump administration’s Justice Department filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of the religious nonprofit adoption agency Catholic Social Services in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. The adoption agency barred same-sex couples from adoption, which the City of Philadelphia argued was in violation of the city’s non-discrimination ordinances and stopped referring children to the agency. The Justice Department wrote: “Philadelphia has impermissibly discriminated against religious exercise" and the actions of the City “reflect unconstitutional hostility toward Catholic Social Services’ religious beliefs.

Aaron Reich, "Trump Administration Argues Adoption Orgs. Allowed to Refuse LGBT Couples," jpost.com, June 7, 2020

Joe Biden

Along with the freedom to marry comes the freedom to build a family. Biden believes that LGBTQ+ people and same-sex couples should be able to build and protect their families. Yet many government-funded foster care and adoption agencies still discriminate against LGBTQ+ families or place additional burdens on these families during the foster care or adoption process. Similarly, these agencies often put LGBTQ+ youth in care at risk by failing to place them with safe and affirming families. In November 2019, the Trump-Pence Administration proposed a rule that will permit adoption and foster care agencies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ families to receive government funding. As President, Biden will repeal the rule, if implemented, and work to ensure that qualified families are not discriminated against based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex, marital status, disability, or religion and that child welfare agencies put the interests of children first, including those who are LGBTQ+.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan to Advance LGBTQ+ Equality in America and around the World," joebiden.com (accessed July 20, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

No position found as of July 24, 2020.

Joe Biden

Biden will... [a]ffirm one’s gender marker and expand access to accurate identification documents. Transgender and non-binary people without identification documents that accurately reflect their gender identity are often exposed to harassment and violence and denied employment, housing, critical public benefits, and even the right to vote. The Obama-Biden State Department led the way by updating its gender change policies for passports. As President, Biden will build on this action to ensure all transgender individuals have access to identification documents that accurately reflect their gender identity. Biden believes every transgender or non-binary person should have the option of changing their gender marker to “M,” “F,” or “X” on government identifications, passports, and other documentation. He will support state and federal efforts to allow for this accurate representation.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan to Advance LGBTQ+ Equality in America and around the World," joebiden.com (accessed Mar. 24, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

Yes.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Jo Jorgensen

Gender is not the government’s business and should be removed from documents. As long as these illegitimate licenses are issued, individuals should be permitted to choose the gender or decline to answer.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

No position found as of Apr. 3, 2020.

Editor’s Note: In a 2018 draft memo from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration stated:

Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth. The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.

Because the final memo did not include this caveat, ProCon did not use the statement as Trump’s position.

Erica L. Green, Katie Benner, and Robert Pear, "’Transgender’ Could Be Definted out of Existence under Trump Administration," nytimes.com, Oct. 21, 2018

Joe Biden

Vice President Biden’s full support for LGBTQ employment protections, and more broadly, LGBTQ equality, has been clear over the years through his vocal support of the Equality Act, early support for marriage equality, hate crimes legislation, the right for our transgender brothers and sisters to serve openly in the military, and more. As a supporter of the Equality Act, Vice President Biden believes that LGBTQ people are entitled to equal protection in the workplace under Title VII. And as an out gay man, myself, I am deeply appreciative of Biden’s advocacy and impact over the years.

Kate Sosin and Nico Lang, "SCOTUS Will Rule on LGBTQ Job Discrimination. Here’s What the 2020 Candidates Stand," thedailybeast.com, May 3, 2019

Editor’s Note: Jamal Brown, national press secretary for Biden for President, issued the above statement via email to The Daily Beast on behalf of Biden.

Howie Hawkins

Yes.

Email from Kevin Zeese with the Hawkins campaign, July 2, 2020

Donald Trump

We’ve taken action to defend the religious conscience of doctors, nurses, teachers, students, preachers, faith groups, and religious employers.

Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump at Dinner with Evangelical Leaders," whitehouse.gov, Aug. 27, 2018

Editor’s Note: The above quote references the Trump administration’s support for religious organizations being allowed to make employment decisions that are in line with their religious beliefs. We were unable to find a direct statement from President Trump on the issue of firing protections. However, since Trump has been in office, his administration has sought to limit protections for LGBTQ employees, as shown by proposed rules, amicus briefs, and other statements and actions taken by the Department of Labor and Department of Justice.

Jo Jorgensen

Government should not intervene in hiring or firing decisions. However, so long as non-discrimination laws are on the books, all individuals should be treated equally under the law.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Editor’s Note: The Jorgensen campaign self-categorized as "con qual[ified]." The categorization combined with the answer stating the government should not intervene, means ProCon must categorize the answer as not clearly pro or con.

Jo Jorgensen

The First Amendment right to freedom of association should protect businesses who deny service to any individual, just as LGBTQ+ business owners should be allowed to deny service to bigots.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

No American — whether a nun, nurse, baker, or business owner — should be forced to choose between the tenets of faith or adherence to the law.

Donald Trump, "President Donald J. Trump Proclaims January 16, 2018, as Religious Freedom Day,” whitehouse.gov, Jan. 16, 2018

Editor’s Note: The Trump administration’s Department of Justice filed a brief in the supporting Jack Phillips in the Supreme Court case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Phillips is the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding, citing a violation of his religious beliefs.

Robert Barnes, "Trump Administration Sides with Colorado Baker Who Refused to Make Wedding Cake for Gay Couple," denverpost.com, Sep. 7, 2017

Joe Biden

Biden will... [e]nd the misuse of broad exemptions to discriminate. Religious freedom is a fundamental American value. But states have inappropriately used broad exemptions to allow businesses, medical providers, social service agencies, state and local government officials, and others to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. The Trump-Pence Administration has deliberately and systematically attempted to gut protections for the LGBTQ+ community by carving out broad religious exemptions to existing nondiscrimination laws and policies across federal agencies. Biden will reverse Trump’s policies misusing these broad exemptions and fight so that no one is turned away from a business or refused service by a government official just because of who they are or who they love.

Joe Biden, "The Biden Plan to Advance LGBTQ+ Equality in America and around the World," joebiden.com (accessed Mar. 24, 2020)

Howie Hawkins

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act has been used to justify discrimination outside of religious institutions, particularly against women and LGBTQIA people. The US rejected the claims of religious institutions that “religious freedom” gave them the right to practice racial discrimination. We need to extend these civil rights to protect women and LGBTQIA people against discrimination by religious institutions.

Church and state should be separated. Freedom of religious belief and practice in religious institutions should be protected. However, if a religious institution, including hospitals and clinics controlled by a religious institution, receives public money, it is now a public accommodations and the government has the right to and should enforce civil rights laws, including reproductive freedom and abortion rights and laws against discrimination. The same rule should apply to private businesses engaged in commerce with the public—the government has the right and duty to prosecute violations of civil rights, reproductive freedom, and anti-discrimination laws by private businesses.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act should be amended by the Do No Harm Act (H.R. 1450; S. 593), which would ensure that federal law protects religious liberty but does not let religion be misused to harm others, including the RFRA to discriminate, to ignore wage and labor protections, to avoid compliance with laws protecting against child abuse, or to thwart access to health care guaranteed by law.

Howie Hawkins, "GPUS Lavender Caucus: National Lavender Green Caucus – Questionnaire for Presidential Candidates," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Joe Biden

Shannon Scott: I served over ten years in the United States military and two combat tours in Iraq, and after that service, I was forced to make one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever been forced to make, and that was to choose between serving my country and my true identity as a transgender woman.

Joe Biden: If I were President, you would not have to choose. Not a joke. You would not have to choose. The fact of the matter is that we’re in a position where transgender men and women are in a position where they should be able to do anything anybody else in the world can do. There should be no difference.

Veronica Rocha and Brandon Tensley, "CNN’s LGBTQ Town Hall: Biden: Transgender People Should Be Allowed to Serve in the Military," cnn.com, Oct. 10, 2019

Howie Hawkins

We need to start at home by rescinding Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces and Department of Defense funding of gender reassignment surgeries.

Howie Hawkins, "GPUS Lavender Caucus: National Lavender Green Caucus – Questionnaire for Presidential Candidates," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)

Jo Jorgensen

Yes, absolutely.

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon on Aug. 26, 2020

Donald Trump

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow...

Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming...

victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you

Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 26, 2017