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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

FactChecking Trump’s CPAC Speech

FactChecking Trump’s CPAC Speech

Former President Donald Trump’s keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference included several false and misleading claims, some of which we’ve fact-checked before. Here we focus on assertions about foreign policy and energy.

Rick Scott Proposed ‘All Americans’ Should Pay Income Tax, Then Denied That He Did

Rick Scott Proposed ‘All Americans’ Should Pay Income Tax, Then Denied That He Did

A multipart policy plan released by Sen. Rick Scott on Feb. 22 says “all Americans” should have to pay “income tax,” while saying that “over half of Americans” currently do not. But in an interview later that day, after criticism from congressional Democrats, the Florida senator falsely claimed that he had not suggested increasing federal income taxes for that many people.

Latest CDC Data: Unvaccinated Adults 97 Times More Likely to Die from COVID-19 Than Boosted Adults

Latest CDC Data: Unvaccinated Adults 97 Times More Likely to Die from COVID-19 Than Boosted Adults

As of early December, unvaccinated adults were about 97 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people who had received boosters, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. But a Twitter user falsely implied that the death rate for the unvaccinated included people who had only one or two doses of a vaccine. The CDC said “unvaccinated” means someone has “not been verified to have received COVID-19 vaccine.”

Biden Repeats False Claims at Gun Violence Meeting

Biden Repeats False Claims at Gun Violence Meeting

In remarks at a Feb. 3 gun violence prevention task force meeting, President Joe Biden repeated claims about gun rights and gun manufacturing that fact-checkers have previously found to be false.

Social Media Posts Repeat Inaccurate Reporting on Ivermectin and Omicron

Social Media Posts Repeat Inaccurate Reporting on Ivermectin and Omicron

A Japanese company found that the antiparasitic drug ivermectin showed an “antiviral effect” against the omicron variant in a lab setting. Reuters has corrected a story in which it “misstated” that the drug was effective in a phase 3 clinical trial with human subjects. Some social media users have repeated Reuters’ reporting error but have not repeated the correction.

Scientist Misleads on COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness and Vaccine Safety for Children

Scientist Misleads on COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness and Vaccine Safety for Children

The approved and authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. are effective at preventing severe disease, and experts say the benefits of vaccination for children outweigh any known or potential risk. But social media users have shared video of Dr. Robert Malone misleadingly asserting that the COVID-19 vaccines are “not working” and claiming without evidence that many children “will be hospitalized” and may experience brain damage and infertility due to the vaccines.

FactChecking Biden’s Press Conference

FactChecking Biden’s Press Conference

In a nearly two-hour press conference, President Joe Biden stretched the facts and left out important context on vaccinations, funding for lead pipe removal, child poverty and more.

Biden’s Numbers

Biden’s Numbers

Statistical measures of the president’s term to date.

Viral Story Takes Fauci COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Comments Out of Context

Viral Story Takes Fauci COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Comments Out of Context

The COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. were found to be safe and effective in clinical trials and real-world conditions. Dr. Anthony Fauci did not admit that “Covid Vaccines May Actually Make People ‘Worse,'” as a viral headline misleadingly claims. Fauci’s March 2020 remarks about testing future vaccines were taken out of context.

The Whoppers of 2021

The Whoppers of 2021

COVID-19 misinformation, election fraud whoppers and false claims by and about the new administration dominate our annual list of the most egregious falsehoods of the year.