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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Trump Administration Incorrectly Claims Certainty About Origin of Coronavirus

Trump Administration Incorrectly Claims Certainty About Origin of Coronavirus

Since regaining power in January, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed with false certainty that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a lab. But there isn’t clear evidence that the virus came from a lab. A new government website promoting the claim also gets some basic facts wrong.

A False Claim About Illegal Immigration and Medicaid

A False Claim About Illegal Immigration and Medicaid

A House-passed reconciliation bill would reduce federal funding to states that provide state-funded health insurance to people in the U.S. illegally, resulting in 1.4 million people losing coverage, according to a preliminary Congressional Budget Office analysis. But President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have wrongly cast the bill as removing these immigrants from Medicaid.

Trump, Allies Spread Unfounded Claims About Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis

Trump, Allies Spread Unfounded Claims About Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis

Former President Joe Biden’s office announced on May 18 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer two days earlier, following the discovery of a prostate nodule. President Donald Trump and others have suggested, without evidence, that Biden’s diagnosis had been known much earlier and hidden from the public. 

Trump Video Doesn’t Show ‘Burial Sites’ in South Africa

Trump Video Doesn’t Show ‘Burial Sites’ in South Africa

In a salient moment with the leader of South Africa, President Donald Trump played a video that he said showed “burial sites” for a thousand white farmers — the victims of what he has called a genocide — along a roadside in South Africa. It actually showed a 2020 demonstration bringing attention to the issue of violence against farmers of all races in South Africa.

Trump’s Growing Exaggeration of U.S. Investments

Trump’s Growing Exaggeration of U.S. Investments

President Trump has repeatedly touted the value of announced financial investments in the U.S. and taken credit for attracting them. He started out citing $3 trillion in investments and, four months later, was claiming totals of more than $10 trillion. It’s unclear where, exactly, he’s getting these totals. But they appear to be an exaggeration of pledges to invest made by various companies and countries.

RFK Jr.’s Misleading Line on the Chickenpox Vaccine

RFK Jr.’s Misleading Line on the Chickenpox Vaccine

Speaking before Congress, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. misleadingly claimed that Europe doesn’t vaccinate children against chickenpox because a study shows that when you do, “you get shingles in older people.” While that is a theoretical concern, studies have not borne that out — and parts of Europe do vaccinate kids.

Trump’s South Africa ‘Genocide’ Spin

Trump’s South Africa ‘Genocide’ Spin

Asked by a reporter why he was welcoming white South Africans to the U.S. as refugees, President Donald Trump said there was “a genocide that’s taking place” against white farmers in the country. Experts say the president is misapplying that term.

Democrats Exaggerate Estimated Impact of GOP Bill on Uninsured

Democrats Exaggerate Estimated Impact of GOP Bill on Uninsured

A preliminary Congressional Budget Office analysis said that a Republican legislative proposal that makes changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act would leave “at least 8.6 million” people without health insurance by 2034. But many Democrats have exaggerated the figure, claiming that 13.7 million would lose their insurance under the proposal.

Q&A on Trump’s Prescription Drug Pricing Executive Order

Q&A on Trump’s Prescription Drug Pricing Executive Order

In signing an executive order aimed at reducing U.S. drug prices, President Donald Trump said some prices would be cut in half or more “almost immediately.” But the order is light on details of how the plan would be implemented.