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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Posts Wrongly Conflate U.S.-China Prisoner Swap with Biden’s Recent Pardons

Posts Wrongly Conflate U.S.-China Prisoner Swap with Biden’s Recent Pardons

President Joe Biden granted pardons and commutations to more than 1,500 individuals on Dec. 12. Social media posts wrongly claim those pardoned included a Chinese national, Shanlin Jin, imprisoned for child pornography. Jin was granted clemency as part of a prisoner swap last month that freed three Americans held for years in China.

Fox News Commentator Had Aggressive Cancer Before COVID-19 Vaccines Were Available

Fox News Commentator Had Aggressive Cancer Before COVID-19 Vaccines Were Available

Fox News health commentator Dr. Kelly Powers was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in July 2020, months before COVID-19 vaccines were made available in the U.S. But social media posts are baselessly linking her death on Dec. 4 to the vaccines. There is no evidence that the vaccines cause or worsen cancer.

Posts Falsely Question Citizenship of Trump’s Children Under His Birthright Plan

Posts Falsely Question Citizenship of Trump’s Children Under His Birthright Plan

President-elect Donald Trump has renewed his call to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. whose parents are not in the country legally. Online posts falsely claim this would strip four of Trump’s children of citizenship because of their mothers’ citizenship status when they were born.

FactChecking Trump’s ‘Meet the Press’ Interview

FactChecking Trump’s ‘Meet the Press’ Interview

In his first post-election, sit-down broadcast interview, President-elect Donald Trump outlined his priorities for a second term. But in the interview, Trump continued to repeat inaccurate information related to immigration, crime, trade, health care and the election.

Sen. Mullin’s Misleading Vaccine Testing Claim

Sen. Mullin’s Misleading Vaccine Testing Claim

Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s suggestion that vaccines might cause autism because “there’s not been a direct study on each individual vaccine” misunderstands what’s known about autism, the extensive research on the subject and how science works.

Bush, Carter Didn’t Pardon Relatives, Contrary to Posts

Bush, Carter Didn’t Pardon Relatives, Contrary to Posts

President Joe Biden is one of only a few presidents who have granted pardons to a relative. But social media posts falsely claim that former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush also pardoned family members. While Billy Carter and Neil Bush faced controversies, neither was criminally charged nor received a pardon.

What Biden Left Out of Pardon Statement

What Biden Left Out of Pardon Statement

On Dec. 1, President Joe Biden provided a blanket pardon for his son Hunter for any potential crimes committed over nearly an 11-year period. In the statement Biden provided to justify his reversal of position, he left out a few inconvenient facts.

No Evidence Musk Threatened to Ban X Users Celebrating Hunter Biden’s Pardon

No Evidence Musk Threatened to Ban X Users Celebrating Hunter Biden’s Pardon

Elon Musk trolled President Joe Biden on X after Hunter Biden’s pardon, sharing a community note mocking the president’s previous post that said, “No one is above the law.” Soon after, a Threads post falsely claimed Musk threatened “anyone glorifying” the pardon “will be suspended from X permanently.” There’s no evidence Musk made such a statement.

Trump Won the Popular Vote, Contrary to Claims Online

Trump Won the Popular Vote, Contrary to Claims Online

President-elect Donald Trump is the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote in 20 years. Social media users have wrongly claimed that Trump lost the popular vote, but they are confusing the popular vote with a majority of votes. The unofficial results show Trump received slightly less than a majority, but more votes than any candidate.