Virginia hopeful Terry McAuliffe repeats misleading and false statements about budget

Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, is being called out for false and misleading statements regarding the state's budget.

The Democrat is now coming under fire due to a series of inaccurate statements he has made over the years regarding the state's budget. During his term as governor, McAuliffe repeatedly claimed that he "inherited a large deficit" of $2.4 billion from the previous Republican administration.  Independent fact-checker Politifact has rated his claims as "False" three separate times – twice in 2015 and most recently in 2019 – stating that it was not possible for the Democrat to inherit a deficit when Virginia's state constitution requires a balanced budget. "No doubt, McAuliffe faced tough financial conditions. But he did not inherit a $2.4 billion deficit from Republicans, as he’s been saying for years. We rate his statement False," said Politifact.