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An update from FactCheck.org


** FactChecking the First GOP Debate
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Eight Republicans officially qualified for the first debate of the 2024 GOP presidential primary, which was hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee on Aug. 23.

Our staff fact-checked the candidates who were on the debate stage, and found they made false and misleading claims on a variety of subjects.

For instance, several candidates claimed that Democrats support allowing abortions “up to the moment of birth.” What Democrats support is an exception for bans on abortion after fetal viability if the mother’s health is at risk.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy blamed the closure of mental health institutions for “a spike in violent crime,” a claim not supported by evidence. And when talking about climate change, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley again said that China and India are “where our problem is” -- even though the U.S. emits more carbon dioxide than India and emits more CO2 per capita than both countries.

For the full analysis, read "FactChecking the First GOP Debate ([link removed]) ."

Former President Donald Trump -- whom debate co-moderator Bret Baier called "the elephant not in the room" -- skipped the debate for a pretaped interview with Tucker Carlson that was posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

We fact-checked Trump in a separate story. See, "FactChecking Trump’s Interview with Carlson ([link removed]) ."
HOW WE KNOW
For a story on the Maui wildfires, SciCheck Editor Jessica McDonald interviewed University of California Los Angeles climate scientist Daniel Swain about the contributing role of climate change on the fires. Swain said that climate change "may not have been the dominant factor." But it “probably did play a role in why the vegetation was as dry as it was, even though in this case, there were multiple other aggravating factors that probably contributed to … a large degree to why this event was so catastrophic." Read more ([link removed]) .
FEATURED FACT
In the context of infectious disease, the word vaccine is generally understood to describe a weakened or partial version of a microbe, or genetic instructions for making part of this microbe, given to someone to induce an immune response. This teaches a person’s immune system to mount a defense the next time it encounters the threat. Rather than teaching the body to make antibodies, an antibody injection for babies to protect them from respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, provides the child with the antibodies directly. Read more ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
In the ever-expanding world of social media, we can now be found on Threads ([link removed]) -- the new app that Meta has created to compete with X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Threads is available in the app store for mobile devices. It can be accessed through Instagram. You can find us on Instagram here ([link removed]) .
REPLY ALL

Reader: Did mail-in ballots result in fraud in the 2020 election?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: As we’ve written ([link removed]) on ([link removed]) multiple ([link removed]) occasions ([link removed]) -- both before and after the 2020 election -- election experts say voter fraud is rare.

In every election, there are typically isolated cases of people casting a mail ballot illegally, and that certainly happened in 2020. I wrote about a few of them last year in "Republican TV Ad Makes False Claim About 'Dead' Voters ([link removed]) ."

However, there was no widespread, coordinated fraud of the kind alleged by former President Donald Trump that would have changed the outcome.

For example, Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to look into instances of people casting ballots in the names of dead Georgia residents. In that Jan. 2, 2021, phone call, Trump told Raffensperger, "So dead people voted and I think the number is close to 5,000 people." Raffensperger, a Republican, responded, “Well Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong. … The actual number were two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted. So that’s wrong.” (Nearly a year after that call, the State Election Board in late December 2021 referred two other cases ([link removed]) to the state attorney general's office for prosecution, bringing the number to four.)

In Michigan, two Republican state leaders -- Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House of Representatives Speaker Lee Chatfield -- issued a joint statement after meeting with Trump in the Oval Office about election fraud. Their joint statement said: “We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors.”

We wrote about those and other examples in "Indictment Details Trump's Attempts to Overturn Swing State Election Outcomes ([link removed]) ."

Another Republican, Trump's former Attorney General Bill Barr, said this in an interview ([link removed]) with the House committee that investigated the attack on Jan. 6, 2021: “My opinion then and my opinion now is that the election was not stolen by fraud.”


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Viral Video Repeats Bogus Claim About Vaccines and Visible Ailments ([link removed]) ": A video repeating the claim that COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for the sudden onset of various visible ailments — such as fainting and facial paralysis — is making the rounds, again. But, just like the other, similar posts we’ve addressed, there’s no support for this one, either.
* "High Winds, Drought Conditions Led to Maui Fires, No Evidence Intentionally Set ([link removed]) ": It’s not known what sparked the wildfires in Maui, although some evidence points to downed power lines. The conditions were ripe for fire, as large amounts of invasive grasses were dry due to drought and high winds helped to rapidly spread flames. Bogus posts on social media, however, are baselessly claiming the fires were intentionally set.
* "Injection Protects Babies from RSV Hospitalization, Has Not Been Linked to Deaths ([link removed]) ": Each year, respiratory syncytial virus hospitalizes 58,000 to 80,000 children under age 5 in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved an antibody injection for babies to protect them during the RSV season. There isn’t evidence the shots have killed any babies, contrary to social media claims.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Publicaciones exageran la importancia de un estudio suizo sobre el riesgo cardiaco y la vacunación contra el COVID-19 ([link removed]) ": Un estudio suizo descubrió que luego de recibir una vacuna de refuerzo contra el COVID-19, menos del 3% de las personas presentaron un ligero y breve aumento en los niveles de la sangre de una proteína que puede ser un marcador de lesión cardiaca. Ninguno de los participantes del estudio sufrió lesiones cardiacas graves y otros expertos aseguran que es improbable que los hallazgos sean clínicamente significativos. Sin embargo, publicaciones virales tergiversan los resultados para afirmar falsamente que el estudio muestra que el riesgo de las vacunas es “inmenso”.
* "Publicaciones difunden una cita inventada sobre ‘confinamientos climáticos permanentes ([link removed]) ’": Durante los primeros meses de la pandemia del COVID-19, el Foro Económico Mundial (FEM) propuso una iniciativa para reformar sistemas sociales y económicos llamada el “Gran Reinicio”. Pero un video de 2020 donde Nicole Schwab, ejecutiva del FEM, habla sobre esta iniciativa nunca la muestra diciendo que se avecinaban “confinamientos climáticos permanentes”, al contrario de lo que afirma un artículo muy difundido.

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