COVID-19

Are masks not effective in preventing COVID-19?

October 12, 2020 diepthought

Claim: President Donald Trump has claimed that masks are unnecessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as long as people receive frequent testing. Consequently, he refuses to wear masks at public events or to institute a national mask mandate.
Rating: This claim is FALSE. Public health experts, including experts in the Trump administration, state that masks are a powerful weapon to protect against COVID-19. Despite testing staffers daily for COVID-19, Trump, along with the First Lady and several top Trump advisors (all of whom do not wear masks regularly), have now contracted COVID-19. On Oct. 2, Trump was hospitalized for his illness and began receiving treatment. Currently, COVID-19 has killed over 214,000 Americans.

Is the U.S. economy under Trump the best it’s ever been?

September 24, 2020 diepthought

Claim: President Trump has repeatedly claimed that American economy under his leadership has been the best in history.
Rating: This claim is MOSTLY FALSE. Prior to COVID-19, even though the economy was generally fine under Trump, the economy was stronger in other periods in history. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, America has experienced record unemployment and job loss, the highest of any developed country in the world.

Are Vietnamese Americans really doing better economically under Trump?

September 24, 2020 diepthought

Claim: Many Vietnamese-Americans believe that Trump’s economic policies have helped the Vietnamese community.
Rating: This claim is FALSE. The lack of leadership from the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic has left state governments scrambling for funding to support small businesses and ensure the health and safety of their citizens. Consequently, many Vietnamese-owned small businesses, like nail salons and restaurants, are struggling to stay afloat.

Will there be a COVID vaccine by October?

September 21, 2020 enderminh

Claim: President Trump has repeatedly said that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine by October.
Answer: This claim is FALSE. According to multiple public health officials, there is low likelihood that a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial could complete Phase 3 and be available for mass distribution by the end of the year. After that, distribution of the vaccine would take several months. In summary, President Trump is not being factual about a COVID-19 vaccine timeline.

Did Trump say COVID-19 will “go away” or “disappear”?

September 16, 2020 enderminh

Claim: Several news outlets reported that Trump has repeatedly made public statements that COVID-19 was going to go away or disappear as the cases and deaths in the US increased.
Rating: This claim is TRUE. We reviewed a handful of news reports and confirmed that Trump told the public more than 30 times that COVID-19 was going away.

Did Trump intentionally downplay the dangers of COVID-19 to the public?

September 13, 2020 dedetran

Claim: In early September, journalist Bob Woodward disclosed that Trump told him that he intentionally downplayed COVID-19 to the public.
Rating: This claim is TRUE. CNN released recordings of private conversations between Trump and Woodward, in which Trump explicitly said he wanted to downplay the coronavirus.

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