A Pre-Debate Cheat Sheet for Fact-Checking Trump's Urban Whoppers

The three major topics up for debate tonight between Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and GOP nominee Donald Trump at Hofstra University are prosperity, security, and the direction of America’s future. These are all pertinent topics for the future of cities, both within and outside of America, and we anticipate cities will come up a lot in at least one of the debater’s answers—that one person being Trump, because, well, he likes to beat up on cities (the feeling is often mutual).

Trump’s most reliable talking points revolve around what he believes is America’s ruined condition, and he’s usually quick to invoke a shortlist of economically struggling cities to illustrate his point. He often bully-pulpits from cities with large black and/or Latino populations, which he presents as avatars of America’s decline in stature as opposed to the symptoms of racist urban policies and Wall Street-driven financial disasters.