During a visit to Iowa, Vice President Mike Pence made several false claims about President Donald Trump’s handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Pence’s False Claims About Trump’s Handling of Coronavirus
Person: Donald Trump
Ahead of Trump Rally, Republicans Spin COVID-19 Metrics
In the days leading up to President Donald Trump’s first campaign rally since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, Trump and his supporters are making false and misleading claims about COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and testing.
Trump’s Deceptive Ad on Biden and Defunding the Police
A Trump for President ad deceptively suggests that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden supports a campaign to “defund the police.” But Biden has said explicitly that he doesn’t.
Trump Wrong on Crime Record
President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that “our crime statistics are at a level that they haven’t been at,” calling the numbers “record setting.” The U.S. murder rate was lower in 2014, and the violent crime rate overall has been lower in several past years, with the lowest levels decades ago, according to FBI data.
Trump’s False Claim on Tijuana Coronavirus Cases
President Donald Trump falsely claimed, “Tijuana is the most heavily infected place anywhere in the world, as far as the plague is concerned,” referring to the novel coronavirus.
Trump Tweets Baseless Claims About Injured Buffalo Protester
With no evidence, President Donald Trump promoted a conspiracy theory that Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old man who was hospitalized after being pushed by police during a June 4 protest in Buffalo, New York, was an “ANTIFA provocateur” who was trying to “black out” police equipment.
China Didn’t Stop Virus ‘Cold’ Outside Wuhan
In remarks about SARS-CoV-2, President Trump wrongly said China “stopped it cold” from spreading from Wuhan to other parts of China “but they didn’t stop it cold from coming to the United States … and the rest of the world.” It did spread in China beyond Wuhan, but China also took extreme measures to slow the spread of the disease that the U.S. did not.
Video of Trump’s ‘Choke’ Quote Refers to Political Rivals
Video clips of President Donald Trump pretending to choke while saying “I can’t breathe” have been circulating with the misleading suggestion that he was mocking George Floyd. The videos pre-date Floyd’s death and show the president mocking his political rivals — not Floyd.
Trump Touts Strong Jobs Report, Flubs Some Facts
In a Rose Garden address to comment on a surprisingly strong May jobs report, President Donald Trump continued to repeat false, misleading and exaggerated claims about the economy, the administration’s response to COVID-19, the border wall, veterans programs and trade with China.
The Semantics of ‘Tear Gas’ Versus ‘Pepper Spray’
Democratic politicians have criticized President Donald Trump for the use of “tear gas” to disperse protesters near the White House on June 1 before Trump walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church to pose for photos with a Bible. The president countered, “They didn’t use tear gas.”