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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Trump Distorts the Facts in Attacks on Harris

Trump Distorts the Facts in Attacks on Harris

At a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, former President Donald Trump rattled off several criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris, his presumptive opponent in the presidential race. But some of Trump’s attacks ran afoul of the facts.

FactChecking Vice President Kamala Harris

FactChecking Vice President Kamala Harris

In about 48 hours, Vice President Kamala Harris went from No. 2 on the Democratic presidential ticket to the presumptive presidential nominee, after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her. Here, we fact-check some of Harris’ recent speeches — before and after Biden dropped out.

Misinformation Swirls After Attempted Assassination

Misinformation Swirls After Attempted Assassination

Conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media began clouding coverage of the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump almost immediately after it happened. We addressed several of those claims.

Posts Baselessly Suggest Others Were Involved in Trump’s Assassination Attempt

Posts Baselessly Suggest Others Were Involved in Trump’s Assassination Attempt

Viral online posts make the unfounded claim that a woman at former President Donald Trump’s July 13 rally acted “suspicious,” suggesting that she might have been involved in a plot to assassinate Trump, and that a QAnon-related character may have also been involved. The FBI has said that the “investigation to date indicates the shooter acted alone.”

Posts Make Unsupported Claims About Trump’s Wound and Secret Service Response

Posts Make Unsupported Claims About Trump’s Wound and Secret Service Response

Extensive media coverage of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally shows his injury and the immediate response of Secret Service agents. But social media posts make the unsupported claims that Trump wasn’t shot and the agents’ response indicates the incident was “staged.”

Second Night of the GOP Convention

Second Night of the GOP Convention

On a night when the focus was on safety and unity at the Republican convention, a number of GOP leaders also offered up some misleading and false claims we have seen before.