Category: Fact Check

An article in the blog “The Federalist” by staff writer Jordan Davidson (and widely shared on social media) claims that a CDC study released in September shows that masks and face coverings are not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and may cause people to become ill. It states a study that showed that the majority infected were mask wearers. It draws this distinction simply because of the fact that the study included many more people who wear masks as compared to people who never wore masks to begin with. The reasoning is flawed since it assumes that masks are mainly intended to protect the wearer from infection.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC director Robert Redfield testified on the coronavirus response before the Senate on September 23. In questioning Dr. Fauci, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul misleadingly suggested that much of the U.S. population has immunity to the coronavirus due to previous exposure to similar viruses. But scientists say any possible protection is theoretical and can’t be relied upon to control the pandemic.

On Oct. 8th, in a interview on Fox News, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that the state of Michigan is “closed.” Trump specifically referred to churches and schools being closed. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lifted the state’s stay-at-home order on…

On Monday, October 12, at President Donald Trump’s first rally since he was hospitalized for the coronavirus, he continued to claim that Vice President Joe Biden would “destroy protections for pre-existing conditions.” This is a continuation of the claim he made at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan, where Trump claimed Biden, “will destroy your protections for pre-existing conditions.” Trump went on to say that he would himself preserve these protections. This claim is entirely false.

On October 12, LA-ist, along with other media reported that “unofficial” ballot drop boxes set up at churches, political party offices and retail locations in the populous Southern California area. It was later confirmed that these fake ballot drop-off boxes were put there by California Republicans. California’s Republican Party has acknowledged owning unofficial ballot drop boxes that state election officials say are illegal.

Although it is true that Texas has nearly twice as much forestland as California, the notion of Texas having zero fire now is false. Comparing their climates as it relates to forest management is also misleading.

This is claim is misleading. Although these jobs were slowly added after the intitial drop of 22 millions jobs at the start of the pandemic, most of these jobs were added because businesses were able to bring back employees who were previously furloughed or end temporary shutdowns. There is no evidence that the job growth was because of the adminstration’s fiscal and regulatory policies. In fact, if anything, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, inacted by congress (not the president) in March, helped some small businesses bring back lost positions or keep workers who would otherwise have been laid off.

Althouigh the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 214,000 Americans as of October 2020, a Trump ad first aired on October 10th on Youtube touts President Trump’s handling of the pandemic. It uses an out-of-context quote from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.

The drug Pres. Trump is referring to is REN-COV2, an experimental “monoclonal antibody cocktail.” But the cocktail is still considered experimental because clinical trials are ongoing and it hasn’t been approved for market by the FDA.

A proposed law for the state of New Jersey requires enrolling public school students to receive the influenza vaccine and to end religious exemption. Instagram posts opposing the proposed law claim that the influenza immunization raises one’s risk of coronavirus infection. Large studies in the US and Canada found no evidence that flu shots increase the odds of contracting a coronavirus, and public health agencies recommend the inoculation to help prevent serious illness, as well as to avoid additional burdens on health care systems during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The New York Times reported in April that nearly 40,000 people had flown to the US from China since the restrictions went into effect in early February.

The number of manufacturing jobs grew from 12.37 million to 12.81 million from Jan. 2017 to March 2020 (an increase of about 437,000). However, Pence, by focusing on the 450,000 manufacturing jobs added during the first three years of the Trump administration, leaves out the job-killing effect of the pandemic. By August 2020, the number of manufacturing jobs had fallen to 12.13 million. That is 237,000 less than what it started with.

A tweet by Donald Trump’s campaign “Trump War Room” and shared thousands of times shows a video clip of Joe Biden calling the US president’s supporters the “dregs of society.” However, Biden was not calling Trump supporters “dregs of society. This clip is an edit of a speech where Biden was condemning discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

The CDC estimates that 22,000 people in the U.S. died from the flu during the last flu season. As of October 6th, the U.S. surpassed 210,000 deaths from COVID-19. Some models suggests twice that number by end of the year.

A shakey viral video on Facebook claims to show former Vice President Joe Biden wearing a wire during the first presidential debate. It’s not a wire but a crease in his shirt.

Speaking in Wisconsin on Sept. 21, 2020, Biden said Trump started a trade war that “led to a surge in farm bankruptcies.” This claim is partly true. Although farmers were particularly hard hit by retaliatory tariffs imposed on the U.S., farm bankruptcies have been rising each year since 2014. Experts say the trade wars were just one factor driving the increase, along with low commodity prices and natural disasters.

Diamond and Silk—the former Fox Nation online personalities, claim that the recently discovered nine discarded ballots in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania were tossed out by anti-Trump United States Postal Service mail carriers. The pair shared the article on social media where it received thousands of likes and shares.

In the first debate between incumbant President Donald Trump and the Democratic nominee, Former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump reiterated that mail-in ballots lead to voter fraud and will lead to a rigged election. This claim is false. There is no evidence that mail-in ballots are rigging the election. “Unsolicited” mail-in ballots have been used for years in several states, with little to no evidence of voter fraud.

Trump’s Claim that he has the support of Portland’s Sheriff is False

At a rally in 2019, Biden claimed he got his “start” at Delaware State University, a historically Black university — but he wasn’t implying he attended DSU.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nominated by president Bill Clinton on June 14, 1993 and confirmed by the Senate 50 days later, on August 3, 1993. 1993 was not a Federal election year.

There is no evidence that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines will use hydrogels. There is no evidence of a hydrogel chip that will connect you to the internet or alter your DNA.

Republicans have the legal power to reverse the order by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers that extends the mask mandate.

Only since 1869 have there consistently been nine justices appointed to the Supreme Court. The U.S. Constitution is silent about how many justices should sit on the Supreme Court.

At a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Nevada voters are not required to sign their mail ballots and, if they do sign them, the signatures don’t have to be verified.

A Pew Research Center analysis found that Obama granted clemency to more people convicted of federal crimes than any president in 64 years.

The quote reads: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new President is installed.” Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter, Clara Spera, in the days before her death.

At a rally in North Carolina on September 19, 2020, Pres. Trump said that he persuaded former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to get car companies to bring manufacturing to Michigan. This claim is false. No Japanese auto-assembly plants have opened in Michigan and their doesn’t seem to be any plans for the near future.

Widely shared posts on social media claim members of Antifa, the unstructured far-left movement, have been arrested for setting wildfires in Oregon. This misinformation was even spread by the popular Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan (who has since appologized). These claims are false. law enforcement officers from areas where the arrests were allegedly made have denied they took place, and said calls about the claims are hampering operations.

Although the numbers stated by the viral post are accurate (as confirmed by the World Health Organization), the context of the message is misleading, since it attempts to downplay the need for coronavirus safety precautions like mask wearing. COVID-19 is far more prevalent in the United States than TB.

Posts widely shared on social media suggest that Joe Biden is responsible for taxes on Social Security in 1983. Those posts mislead on the details.

The claims rely on the faulty assumption that there is no method to distinguish COVID-19 from the common cold and the flu.

Fact Check By: Tara Subramaniam, CNN, Newswise Claim: “There’s no more secret vote, there’s no secret vote,” Barr said. “Your name is associated with a particular ballot. The government and the people involved can find out and know how you…

Fact Check By: Jessica McDonald at Factcheck.org, Newswise Claim: But if you look at the European Union right now, they’re having breakouts like you’ve never seen before,” he said at the briefing. “And, frankly, their numbers are at a level…

Biden actually played the 2019 hit “Despacito” in the unedited video, after being introduced at the event by Luis Fonsi, singer of the popular Latin dance anthem Claim: President Trump Tweets Doctored Video of Opponent, Edited to Replace Audio to…

Fact Check By: Kashmira Gander on Newsweek , Newswise Claim: Covid-19 is not from nature. It was created in a lab in Wuhan. The Chinese government intentionally unleashed it on the world. Claim Publisher and Date:Dr. Li-Meng Yan on the…