During the first and only vice presidential debate on Wednesday night, Senator Kamala Harris echoed Joe Biden’s claim that President Donald Trump called the coronavirus a hoax.
This is false.
Time and again, fact checkers like Chicago Tribune, CNN, and reputable sources like AP have noted that Team Biden continues to distort the President’s words in order to promote this “misleading” and false narrative.
Even Snopes went on record to say that while The President’s words created some confusion, “Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax”.
Kamala Harris just told the lie that President Trump called the coronavirus a hoax. #VPDebate
This lie has been debunked by 8 independent fact checkers: https://t.co/nN4lj5OtVt
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) October 8, 2020
Related: Fact Check: No, Trump Hasn’t Made 20,000 ‘False or Misleading’ Claims
Kamala Harris Repeats Trump Calling the Coronavirus a ‘Hoax’ Talking Point
When discussing the topic of the coronavirus pandemic, Democrat Kamala Harris said of the Trump administration, “They knew and they covered it up. The president said it was a hoax.”
Kamala Harris just lied. President Trump NEVER called coronavirus a hoax. CNN, BBC and Washington Post have all said this is a lie. #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/duwOgd8jHF
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 8, 2020
The Biden campaign persists with promoting the false claim – even in “misleading” campaign ads – despite countless fact checks to to contrary.
Here is the context of President Trump’s “hoax” comment. This is what President Trump actually said in South Carolina on February 28 during a campaign rally.
“Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus,” Trump said. “You know that, right? Coronavirus. They’re politicizing it.”
He continued, “We did one of the great jobs. You say, ‘How’s President Trump doing?’ They go, “Oh, not good, not good.’ They have no clue. They don’t have any clue.”
Next it was the hot button issue of voting.
“They can’t even count their votes in Iowa; they can’t even count,” Trump continued. “No they can’t. They can’t count their votes.”
President Trump then touched on Democrats’ allegations that he colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.
“One of my people came up to me and said, “Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.’ That didn’t work out too well. They couldn’t do it.”
“They tried the impeachment hoax,” he added. “That was on a perfect conversation.”
Senator Harris repeating the fiction that President Trump called the virus a hoax. That is not true. He called the coverage of the virus a hoax. Also, Ms. Harris is accusing the Trump administration of a cover up. It will be interesting to see how Pence responds to that.
— Bill O'Reilly (@BillOReilly) October 8, 2020
Trump Says ‘Hoax’ – But NOT In The Way Kamala Harris Suggests
Trump would add on February 28th, “They tried anything; they tried it over and over. They’ve been doing it since you got in. It’s all turning, they lost, it’s all turning. Think of it. Think of it.”
“And this is their new hoax,” Trump added.
You can see the context for Trump’s use of the word “hoax.”
He mentioned it with respect to the Democrats’ accusations of Russian collusion and their criticism of his early response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Not coronavirus.
Despite what Democratic nominees Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want you to believe.
Related: President Trump Says He Doesn’t Want His Supporters Confronting Rioters
FACT-CHECK! Kamala Harris claims Donald Trump called the coronavirus a "hoax." Trump was saying the politicization of coronavirus was the Democrats' "new hoax." False. https://t.co/AXxfEyL5nY pic.twitter.com/jZVxyIIzh2
— PolitiFact Live (@politifactlive) October 8, 2020
Democrats Continue To Fleece The Truth
Again, use of this word was preceded by discussion of alleged Russian collusion and Democrat’s attacking his administration’s coronavirus response.
It’s a stretch for Kamala Harris or Joe Biden to say President Trump called coronavirus a hoax. Let alone put it on repeat. And they know it.
They know it because they’ve been called out for their duplicity time and again.
As the Associated Press noted in their fact check calling called Biden’s claim false, “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is presenting a distorted account of President Donald Trump’s words on the coronavirus, wrongly suggesting Trump branded the virus a hoax.”
“In fact, Trump pronounced Democratic criticism of his pandemic response a hoax,” AP reported.
That’s exactly what happened – but don’t expect to hear this truth from Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
Trump never called Covid a hoax. Harris makes things up.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) October 8, 2020
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