FactCheck.org's Weekly Update

With some states posting record numbers of new COVID-19 cases, President Donald Trump continues to downplay the concern, falsely asserting that cases are up “only because of our big number testing,” and pointing to the falling number of daily COVID-19 deaths. 

FactCheck.org has won a 2019 Sigma Delta Chi Award for fact-checking from the Society of Professional Journalists. 

Then-President Barack Obama’s 2016 designation of a marine monument off the New England coast grandfathered in lobster and crab harvesting for seven years — so there has been absolutely no impact as of yet on the lobster industry.

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, claimed without evidence that President Donald Trump “wants to cut off money for the post office so they cannot deliver mail-in ballots.”

President Donald Trump has ramped up his rhetoric about voting fraud to include foreign interference — specifically making the unfounded claim that “MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES,” resulting in a “RIGGED” election.

At his rally in Tulsa on June 20, President Donald Trump asserted without evidence that $100 billion had been invested in opportunity zones under a federal program that provides tax incentives to encourage development in low-income neighborhoods.

Contrary to President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he inherited a Strategic National Stockpile with “empty” or “bare” cupboards, the federal government had more ventilators in stock than it ended up distributing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, FactCheck.org has learned.

A meme making the bogus claim that wearing a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic “REMOVES YOUR CONCEAL CARRY ability” is spreading widely online. Laws regulating concealed weapons vary by state, but sheriffs in many states have debunked the rumor.

A fabricated tweet attributed to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advocates extending COVID-19 restrictions on businesses “until after the November Elections.” There is no evidence Ocasio-Cortez sent the bogus tweet, which was shared — and later deleted — by a Florida congressional candidate and a Fox News host.

A Facebook post posing as a news story falsely claims that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace had mistaken an automotive belt in his garage for a noose, citing a June 21 NASCAR statement as its source. In fact, the NASCAR statement issued that day said nothing about an automotive belt or Wallace being “mistaken.”

Social media accounts supportive of President Donald Trump have been sharing a photo of a large outdoor crowd with the false claim that it shows the scene outside of Trump’s Tulsa rally. It actually shows the Rolling Thunder event near Washington, D.C. in 2019.