Here’s what the president said in public remarks, interviews and tweets from Jan. 22 through March, often likening the novel coronavirus to the flu as a way of downplaying the danger.
Trump’s Deceptive Comparison of the Coronavirus to the Flu
Issues: coronavirus
Politicians Have Died of COVID-19
A meme circulating on Facebook falsely claims, “Not one politician has died from the virus.” Actually, at least five current or former politicians across the country have died due to COVID-19.
Q&A on Coronavirus Vaccines
We give an overview of the vaccine development efforts underway and answer some questions about the testing process, the likelihood and timing of a vaccine in the U.S., and what to expect from a COVID-19 vaccine.
FactChecking Trump’s Fox News Interview
In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that aired over two days, President Donald Trump made several false, misleading and unsubstantiated claims.
CDC Did Not ‘Admit Only 6%’ of Recorded Deaths from COVID-19
The CDC hasn’t drastically reduced the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19, but that bogus claim has been circulating widely — boosted by President Trump.
Video: FactChecking Trump’s Big Speech
In this video, we review five false, misleading or exaggerated claims from President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech on Aug. 27 at the Republican National Convention.
Trump, Hahn Mischaracterize Data on COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma
In a hyped press briefing the eve before the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump falsely said that convalescent plasma had been “proven to reduce mortality by 35%,” even though the therapy has not yet been shown to be effective for COVID-19.
Trump Touts Misleading and Flawed Excess Mortality Statistic
On six separate occasions, President Donald Trump has claimed that Europe’s excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic is 33% to 40% higher than America’s. But that’s only possible when cherry-picking numbers or ignoring Europe’s larger population.
Trump’s Talking Points
A compendium of the president’s falsehoods and factual distortions that may be repeated during the convention.
New ‘Plandemic’ Video Peddles Misinformation, Conspiracies
The second part of “Plandemic” — a documentary-style video that presents a sweeping conspiracy theory about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, patents and vaccines — landed on Aug. 18, spinning together many of the falsehoods about the disease that we’ve been debunking for months, plus some new misleading claims.