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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Trump’s Misleading Ad on Coronavirus Testing

Trump’s Misleading Ad on Coronavirus Testing

A new Trump campaign ad claims that President Donald Trump took “fast action” in regard to testing for the novel coronavirus. While “fast action” is subjective, pandemic experts say the U.S. did not move quickly to set up an adequate system and in fact lagged behind other countries.

How Many COVID-19 Tests Are ‘Needed’ to Reopen?

How Many COVID-19 Tests Are ‘Needed’ to Reopen?

The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that there are enough COVID-19 tests for states to begin reopening their economies. While that may be true for select locations, experts say more tests are needed, even if they don’t agree on a particular number.

The Falsehoods of the ‘Plandemic’ Video

The Falsehoods of the ‘Plandemic’ Video

The first installment of a documentary called “Plandemic” stormed through social media this week. But the viral video weaves a grand conspiracy theory by using a host of false and misleading claims about the novel coronavirus pandemic and its origins, vaccines, treatments for COVID-19, and more.

Trump Falsely Claims COVID-19 Death Projection Assumes ‘No Mitigation’

Trump Falsely Claims COVID-19 Death Projection Assumes ‘No Mitigation’

Dismissing concerns that states are reopening too soon, President Donald Trump incorrectly said that a newly revised model projecting 134,000 COVID-19 deaths by August “assumes no mitigation.” In fact, the model assumes states will keep their existing social distancing measures in place, unless suspensions have already been announced.

Trump’s Flawed China Travel Conspiracy

Trump’s Flawed China Travel Conspiracy

President Donald Trump has twice now advanced the flawed theory that China nefariously continued to allow flights out of Wuhan, the city where the COVID-19 outbreak originated, to Western cities while blocking flights into other cities in China.

Trump Ad’s Misleading Use of CNN Interview

Trump Ad’s Misleading Use of CNN Interview

A Trump campaign ad misleadingly edits a CNN interview to suggest 2 million people would have died from the novel coronavirus were it not for President Donald Trump’s China travel restrictions.

Media Didn’t Misuse Boy’s Photo in Deaths of Three COVID-19 Victims

Media Didn’t Misuse Boy’s Photo in Deaths of Three COVID-19 Victims

Social media posts falsely suggest that news outlets are misusing a boy’s image to report the same child died of COVID-19 in three different countries. The posts actually refer to three different young people who died from the novel coronavirus in Portugal, Belgium and the UK.

Kudlow’s Claim About COVID-19 Spread

Kudlow’s Claim About COVID-19 Spread

Despite early warnings about how damaging COVID-19 could be for Americans, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow defended his late February statement that the U.S. had “contained” the virus, saying on May 3 that the novel coronavirus “spread exponentially in ways that virtually no one could have predicted.”

Gowdy Didn’t Author Viral Conspiracy Theory

Gowdy Didn’t Author Viral Conspiracy Theory

A viral Facebook post, spreading a political conspiracy theory about COVID-19, is wrongly attributed to former Rep. Trey Gowdy. Gowdy confirmed to us that he did not write the post in question.