AP FACT CHECK: Trump, Dems and their tale of 2 countries

WASHINGTON (AP) — The country described by the Democrats running for president is mired in child poverty, riven with economic unfairness and broken in its approach to health care, crime and guns. The country presented by President Donald Trump is roaring and ascendant — and, hey, how about those moderating prescription drug prices?

The reality, of course, is more complex than this tale of two nations.

After three turns on the debate stage by the Democratic candidates, it's become clear that for the most part they hew to actual statistics and other fundamentals more closely than does Trump, who routinely says false things and repeats them as if willing them into being.

That's not to say the Democrats are beacons of accuracy. Some will use older statistics when newer ones don't suit their argument or give a selective reading of history when that fits the story they want to tell. Sometimes what they don't say speaks loudly, as when they won't acknowledge the cost of their plans or the likely tax hit on average people.

All of that was seen in the past week of political rhetoric. A look:

GUNS

TRUMP: "Democrats want to confiscate guns from law-abiding Americans so they're totally defenseless when somebody walks into their house with a gun." — remarks Thursday to House Republicans in Baltimore.

THE FACTS: That's a vast overstatement. No Democratic candidates have proposed stripping all guns from Americans. One of the top 10 candidates, former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, has proposed confiscating assault-type weapons such as the AK-47 through a mandatory buyback program.

___

MIGRANTS

JOE BIDEN, on the treatment of migrants in his time as Barack Obama's vice president: "We didn't lock people up in cages." — Democratic presidential debate Thursday.

THE FACTS: Yes they...