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** FactCheck.org's Weekly Update
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September 26, 2020


** SciCheck
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Trump Misleads on Reasons for Falling COVID-19 Fatality Rate ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2020
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For nearly two months, President Trump has touted an 85% decline in the nation’s COVID-19 case fatality rate since April — and has attributed the drop to improvements in treatment. But better treatment is only part of the story.


** FactCheck Posts
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Trump Has Not Been ‘Clear’ in Support of Masks ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2020
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Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says President Trump has been “clear” in calling for the public to “wear face coverings when you can’t social distance.” The official messaging from the White House has been clear. The president’s statements have been anything but.

Trump’s Repeated False Attacks on Mail-In Ballots ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2020
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The president repeatedly sows doubt about mail-in voting, echoing what intelligence officials have said is a Russian strategy to undermine public trust in the election. We review his statements this month and recap our stories on his false, misleading and unsupported claims.

Trump’s False Auto Industry Claims ([link removed]) Posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2020
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Continuing a yearslong trend, President Donald Trump made false and misleading comments about new auto plants in Michigan, and the industry at large.

Trump’s False Claim About Mail Ballot Signatures in Nevada ([link removed]) Posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2020
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At a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Nevada voters are not required to sign their mail ballots and, if they do sign them, the signatures don’t have to be verified.

Trump’s Nobel Nonsense ([link removed]) Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
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President Trump has repeatedly conflated winning a Nobel Peace Prize with being nominated for one, and has wrongly faulted the media for ignoring his nomination after making former President Obama’s nomination in 2009 “the biggest story I’ve ever seen.”

Trump Campaign Takes Biden’s ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ Remarks Out of Context ([link removed]) Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
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President Trump’s reelection campaign claims a video it posted on social media shows Joe Biden botching the Pledge of Allegiance. But Biden’s words were taken out of context. He wasn’t trying to recite the full pledge, as the post could lead some to believe.

Trump’s False Statement About Counting Ballots in Pennsylvania ([link removed]) Posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020
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At a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that a Pennsylvania court had permitted election officials “to take as long as they want” to count mail-in ballots.

Biden’s False and Exaggerated Supreme Court Claims ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, September 21st, 2020
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Joe Biden made false and exaggerated claims while arguing that the Senate should let the next president choose Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court replacement.

Biden’s Early Statements About the Coronavirus ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, September 21st, 2020
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President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have made competing claims about Biden’s early statements on the coronavirus.


** Debunking False Stories
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Viral Post Wrongly Ties Cost Drop to Trump’s ‘Prescription Bill’ ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2020
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A Facebook user claims the cost of her insulin dropped 75% thanks to “Trumps Prescription Bill.” There has been no such legislation passed, and actions by the Trump administration aimed at lowering prescription drug costs have yet to take effect.

Social Security Didn’t Stop Mailing Checks ‘Because It’s Not Secure’ ([link removed]) Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2020
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A social media post claims that Social Security checks have not been sent by mail “since 2013 because it’s not secure.” The Social Security Administration required electronic payment transfers in compliance with a 1996 federal law — not due to security concerns. Even so, about 850,000 checks are still mailed each month.

Biden Was Looking at a TV Screen, Not a Teleprompter ([link removed]) Posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2020
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A clip from a television interview with former Vice President Joe Biden is circulating online with the false claim that he is reading from a teleprompter. Actually, Biden was looking at a screen showing a viewer’s question before he looks at the interviewer in the room with him.

McDonald’s and the American Flag ([link removed]) Posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2020
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Social media posts — without evidence — have accused McDonald’s of taking down American flags in support of Black Lives Matter and antifa. The company says that is “not true.”

Contrary to Viral Claim, Trump OK’d Aid for California Fires ([link removed]) Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
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Facebook posts claim that President Donald Trump has withheld aid from California to fight wildfires, while offering help to Russia. That’s a rehash of a controversy in 2019, when Trump threatened to withhold aid from California, while offering help to Russia. The Trump administration has provided federal assistance to California for the recent wildfires.

False Attack on Ginsburg Is Reprised After Her Death ([link removed]) Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
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After Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, social media users reprised a false claim about the late Supreme Court justice — arguing she wanted to “lower the age of consent for sex to 12.” The old falsehood is a distortion of a report she co-authored in the 1970s on sex bias in federal laws.

Ginsburg Was Confirmed Years Before the 1996 Election ([link removed]) Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
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Facebook posts falsely claim that the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was “nominated and confirmed 43 days before an election.” She was nominated and confirmed more than three years before the next presidential election.

Nearly 10,000 COVID-19 Victims Died at Home ([link removed]) Posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020
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Viral social media posts falsely claim that no one has died at home from COVID-19, implying that poor medical care contributed to the deaths or that the disease is a hoax. Nearly 10,000 coronavirus victims have died in their homes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ginsburg Didn’t Tweet About Hillary Clinton ([link removed]) Posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020
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An image of a bogus tweet supposedly from the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about Hillary Clinton began circulating after Ginsburg’s death. Ginsburg does not have a personal Twitter account, and did not author the tweet claiming knowledge of “information that will lead to the arrest of Hillary Clinton.”

Trump Said ‘I Like Taking The Guns Early,’ Not Harris ([link removed]) Posted on Monday, September 21st, 2020
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Facebook posts claim that Sen. Kamala Harris said, “I like taking the guns early.” She didn’t say that, but President Donald Trump did.

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