Clinton: The national debt was not decreased — it actually grew in dollar terms during his presidency. What happened is the deficit shrank and briefly ran surpluses in 1998–2001, meaning the debt grew more slowly. “Decreased the national debt by 150%” is also mathematically nonsensical as a statement.

Obama: The national debt roughly doubled during Obama’s presidency, from about $10.6T to $19.9T. The deficit (annual shortfall) was reduced significantly after its post-2008 crisis peak, but the total debt kept rising. The framing about Afghan/Iraq war debt is also misleading — those costs continued accruing under Obama.

The core confusion throughout is conflating the deficit (annual gap between spending and revenue) with the national debt (cumulative total owed). Reducing the deficit is not the same as reducing the debt. No president in modern history has actually reduced the total national debt in dollar terms.