How US President has fueled misinformation through false claims

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President Trump has been widely recognised as a perpetrator of dangerous falsehoods but these false claims have gathered steam during the pandemic. Below are some instances when he made dubious claims, misleading people into believing statements that could prove dangerous for them.

Misinformation about how many people die each year of the flu

Oct 6, 2020

"Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!"

Truth is that over the past decade, the number of Americans killed by the flu has never exceeded 61,000 in a given year

On being asked about the pandemic worries

Jan 22, 2020

"No, not at all. We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine."

Children are immune to the virus

"Children are almost immune to the virus. It's a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation." Studies show that children can get the virus as easily as anyone else.

Trump on black Americans

June 3, 2020

"The fact is I've done more for the Black community than any President since Abraham Lincoln," Trump said. "Nobody can dispute it. It's true."

Trump talking about tariffs on China

October 8, 2020

"Nobody ever even heard of tariffs. They never even heard of tariffs. Nobody. In fact, when I first started doing it, they didn't even know what it meant." That was a tall claim indeed.

Trump on job creation during pandemic

September 7, 2020

"In the past four months, we've added a record-smashing 10.6 million jobs -- never been close to that. Four months, 10.6 million jobs."

'Disinfectant' can kill COVID-19

April 24, 2020

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that."

This was a dangerous falsehood by the most powerful person in the world and was immediately negated by doctors.

Sunlight kills COVID

April 24, 2020

"So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous - whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light - and I think you said that hasn't been checked because of the testing. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way, and I think you said you're going to test that, too".