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** FactCheck.org's Weekly Update
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June 13, 2020


** SciCheck
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Unpacking WHO’s Asymptomatic COVID-19 Transmission Comments ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2020
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At a June 8 press conference, a World Health Organization scientist confusingly suggested that asymptomatic transmission of the coronavirus is “very rare” — a statement that many scientists found problematic, and which some politicians and those on social media seized upon as evidence that certain public health measures were not necessary.

Does Vitamin D Protect Against COVID-19? ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2020
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Q: Does vitamin D help protect against COVID-19?

A: Some scientists have hypothesized vitamin D might be helpful, but there is no direct evidence that vitamin D can prevent COVID-19 or lessen disease severity. Nevertheless, it should be part of a healthy lifestyle.


** FactCheck Posts
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Trump’s Deceptive Ad on Biden and Defunding the Police ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2020
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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 ([link removed]) Posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2020
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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.

Misleading Ad Targets Biden on Fossil Fuels, Fracking ([link removed]) Posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2020
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A TV ad from a Republican super PAC uses video of Joe Biden inaccurately explaining his climate plan against him. Biden’s campaign has said he would not completely ban fossil fuels, specifically fracking, as the ad appears to show him saying.

Trump’s False Claim on Tijuana Coronavirus Cases ([link removed]) Posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2020
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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 ([link removed]) Posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
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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 ([link removed]) Posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
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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.

The Continuing ‘Tear Gas’ Debate ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2020
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The national semantics exercise over “pepper balls” and “tear gas” has continued. Attorney General William Barr objected to the description of “pepper spray” as a “chemical irritant.”


** Debunking False Stories
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Donations to Black Lives Matter Group Don’t Go to DNC ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2020
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Social media posts falsely claim donations made on the Black Lives Matter website go “directly” to the Democratic party, because the group uses ActBlue Charities — an online fundraising platform. Donations go to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. The funds first pass through a nonprofit that sponsors the group.

Bogus Claims of ‘Crisis Actors’ in Death of George Floyd ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2020
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False claims that nearly everyone involved in George Floyd’s death — including Floyd — are “crisis actors” have spread widely online. But the pictures that supposedly prove this theory actually show unrelated people.

Colorado Vaccine Bill Includes Nonmedical Exemptions for Children ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2020
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A Facebook meme falsely claims a Colorado bill is “removing exemptions” for parents who don’t want to vaccinate their children in order to attend school. The bill adds new requirements to opt out of vaccinations, but does offer medical and nonmedical exemptions for religious or personal beliefs.

Statue in Lincoln Memorial Was Not Defaced by Protesters ([link removed]) Posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
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A meme is spreading a doctored image of the Lincoln Memorial covered in graffiti to falsely claim that protesters defaced the Lincoln statue. The image was taken from a thumbnail for a video on the conservative website the Daily Wire and shared as if real.

Posts Distort Facts on Floyd Pathologist’s Role in Past Cases ([link removed]) Posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
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Instagram posts erroneously claim the “SAME DOCTOR” performed the autopsies on “JFK, MLK, Epstein, AND George Floyd.” The doctor referenced, pathologist Michael Baden, has connections to those four cases — but he only performed an autopsy on Floyd, as a secondary examination for Floyd’s family.

Video of Trump’s ‘Choke’ Quote Refers to Political Rivals ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2020
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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.

Nuremberg Code Addresses Experimentation, Not Vaccines ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2020
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A bogus claim that “[v]accines are in direct violation of The Nuremberg Code” has been circulating on social media. Actually, the Nuremberg Code addresses the treatment of human subjects in medical experiments and says nothing about the use of tested and approved vaccines on patients.


** Ask SciCheck
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Does Vitamin D Protect Against COVID-19? ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2020
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Q: Does vitamin D help protect against COVID-19?

A: Some scientists have hypothesized vitamin D might be helpful, but there is no direct evidence that vitamin D can prevent COVID-19 or lessen disease severity. Nevertheless, it should be part of a healthy lifestyle.

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