FactCheck.org Roundup
Leading up to Election Day on Tuesday, November 3, Almanac will run a bi-weekly FactCheck.org roundup. Here are some of the latest stories:
"Video: FactChecking Trump’s Big Speech" (August 28, 2020) This video reviews five false, misleading or exaggerated claims from President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech on August 27 at the Republican National Convention.
https://tinyurl.com/TrumpRNCSpeech
“Trump, Hahn Mischaracterize Data on COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma” (August 26, 2020) In a press briefing the eve before the RNC, President Trump falsely said that convalescent plasma had been “proven to reduce mortality by 35%,” even though the therapy has not yet been shown to be effective for COVID-19.
https://tinyurl.com/ConvalescentPlasma
“Trump Touts Misleading and Flawed Excess Mortality Statistic” (August 24, 2020) On six separate occasions, President Trump has claimed that Europe’s excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic is 33% to 40% higher than America’s. But that’s only possible when cherry-picking numbers or ignoring Europe’s larger population.
https://tinyurl.com/TrumpExcessMortalityStat
“Trump’s Talking Points” (August 24, 2020) A compendium of the president’s factual distortions that were anticipated talking points for the convention.
https://tinyurl.com/TrumpTalkingPoints
“New ‘Plandemic’ Video Peddles Misinformation, Conspiracies” (August 21, 2020) The second part of “Plandemic”—a documentary-style video that presents a sweeping conspiracy theory about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, patents and vaccines—landed on August 18, spinning together many of the falsehoods about the disease, plus some new misleading claims.
https://tinyurl.com/NewPlandemicVideo
“Video: FactChecking the Democratic National Convention” (August 21, 2020) This video reviews some of the statements that were fact-checked during the DNC, which ended August 20 with former Vice President Joe Biden accepting his party’s nomination for president.
https://tinyurl.com/DemNationalConvention
“Biden’s Greatest Hits” (August 17, 2020) A compendium of the top false and misleading claims by the Democratic presidential candidate.
https://tinyurl.com/BidenGreatestHits
“Trump Campaign Exaggerates Potential for Mail-In Voting Fraud After Election” (August 14, 2020) The Trump campaign claims there’s a potential for “massive fraud” in Nevada because the Postal Service doesn’t postmark the state’s prepaid return ballot envelopes. That’s false. USPS policy is to postmark all ballots.