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.
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.
To commemorate his first 100 days in office this term, President Donald Trump gave a speech in Michigan and granted interviews to several news outlets. In our review of his remarks, we found false and misleading claims, including quite a few Trump has made before.
In announcing new autism prevalence data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. distorted scientific research to argue that there is an “epidemic” of autism that must be due to an “environmental toxin.”
On four separate occasions, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services secretary, has suggested that the measles outbreak in Texas, which is now over 500 cases, is beginning to subside and grow more slowly. But a review of state data indicates there’s no decline yet in the pace of cases.
The measles vaccine uses a weakened virus that’s never been shown to spread to others. Samples from the outbreak in Texas also show that a wild-type virus is responsible. Yet, social media posts have falsely claimed that the outbreak is due to a vaccine strain. Without evidence, other posts have blamed immigrants crossing the southern border illegally.
En una entrevista con Sean Hannity, de Fox News, el secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hizo varias afirmaciones infundadas o engañosas sobre la vacuna contra el sarampión, que los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) han calificado como segura y “la herramienta más importante para prevenir” la enfermedad. Mientras tanto, el brote de sarampión en Texas continúa creciendo.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made several unsupported or misleading claims about the measles vaccine, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said is safe and “the most important tool to prevent” the disease. Meanwhile, a measles outbreak in Texas continues to expand.
El sarampión es una enfermedad extremadamente contagiosa y prevenible, que puede llevar a la muerte o discapacidad. La enfermedad puede además borrar la memoria inmunológica por varios años. Mientras un brote en Texas continúa expandiéndose, publicaciones en redes sociales han afirmado sin suficiente respaldo que las infecciones por sarampión son beneficiosas en el transcurso de la vida para luchar contra el cáncer y otras enfermedades, una idea que el secretario de salud Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ha repetido.
Measles is an extremely contagious vaccine-preventable disease that can lead to death or disability. It also wipes out immune memory for several years after an infection. As an outbreak in Texas continues to expand, social media posts have claimed without sufficient support that measles infections are beneficial later in life against cancer and other diseases, an idea health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has echoed.