Despite a mostly civil debate between Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the two disagreed repeatedly not just on policy, but also on the facts. We referee some of those competing claims, and other factual missteps by the vice presidential candidates.
Responding to rising mpox cases in Africa, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on Aug. 14. Social media posts subsequently repeated a plethora of false or baseless claims, including that COVID-19 vaccines cause the viral disease or that the current outbreak is part of a global conspiracy.
Case numbers for the global mpox outbreak have decreased since 2022, but the situation in Africa has noticeably worsened. On Aug. 14, the World Health Organization once again declared an mpox public health emergency of international concern. Here, we answer questions about the current increase in mpox cases, the international public health emergency and what this means for people in Africa and globally.
The highly anticipated debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris was a combative event in which facts were repeatedly trampled and distorted.
In Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech, we found familiar claims about taxes, abortion, birth control, and Social Security and Medicare.
The circulation of H5N1 bird flu in animals and limited infections in humans have motivated flu preparedness activities, such as stockpiling vaccines. Social media posts have baselessly implied that these efforts are evidence that a new laboratory-derived version of the virus is going to cause a pandemic — or even that there is a conspiracy to release bird flu from a lab.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted his party’s vice presidential nomination, and repeated claims he has made before about the Republican ticket. Other speakers tried to link former President Donald Trump to Project 2025, among other claims.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has given children’s health and the “chronic disease epidemic” a prominent role in his campaign. Diagnoses of a variety of chronic conditions in children have increased in recent decades, but likely not to the extent that Kennedy claims or for the reasons he gives.
We fact-checked former President Donald Trump’s speech accepting his party’s nomination.
Former President Donald Trump’s newly selected running mate, JD Vance, accepted the Republican Party’s vice presidential nomination on the convention’s third night, which featured claims about the economy, immigration and foreign policy.