Debunking claimed accomplishments of the Trump Administration

In the summer of 2020, a list of supposed accomplishments of the Trump administration's nearly four years in power was circulating on social media. The original list had been modified by probably many different people and had become enormously long.

While appearing at first glance to be largely inaccurate, many people were too overwhelmed by the sheer size of the list to bother challenging it when encountering the list on Facebook. I spent about three days fact checking each claim in the list, which was the genesis of the Fact Check Librarian project.

As the administration of Donald Trump comes to a close in a few short weeks, it is worth reflecting on this list of approximately 80 "accomplishments", most of which are either patently false, exaggerated, or misattributed to Trump. In four years in power, two of which included complete control of all three branches of government, very little was accomplished that can truly be credited to this presidential administration.

The full, fact checked, cited list can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q6BzPc-OIp_nJTU1FJUjhTnsGqTOxksd/view

Article claiming a prominent Canadian doctor declared Covid a hoax is misleading

Claim: A man named Dr. Rodger Hodkinson, claiming to be chairman of the Royal College of Physicians in Canada and a biotech executive, said Covid-19 is a hoax, is just a flu, and that masks are useless, among other things.

Rating: ***Misleading***

This claim has been investigated by a number of fact checking organizations including the Associated Press and Snopes, all of which have both debunked the claims made by Hodkinson and also his supposed credentials. 

All legitimate medical organizations and professionals agree that Covid-19 is real, is much more serious than standard strains of flu, has killed well over 1M people worldwide, and can be significantly controlled by universal mask wearing and social distancing.

Hodkinson, meanwhile, has never been a Chairman of the Royal College of Physicians (according to that organization) and there is no evidence that his biotechnology company is legitimate beyond simply having a business license in North Carolina. 

Sources:

https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-9785042487

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dr-roger-hodkinson-covid-hoax/

https://newsroom.royalcollege.ca/clarification-on-statements-made-regarding-covid-19-by-dr-roger-hodkinson/

Statement on the credibility of Snopes as a fact-checking resource

Someone asked me about the quality of Snopes.com in the comments of one of my posts so I thought I would cross-post my reply here as well in case anyone is interested. I have referenced fact checking from Snopes as well as posting links to Snopes articles, so this is a fair question.

Snopes is different from most other fact checking websites or organizations I use as a source because it is a privately owned website rather than being run by a news organization (AP, AFP, Reuters) or affiliated with a university or nonprofit organization (factcheck.org, Politifact). 

Snopes started in the 1990s as a page to debunk urban legends on the internet and evolved into the multipurpose fact checking site that it is today. It is considered by journalists and other credible folks to be a reliable source and its integrity and neutrality has not come under serious question (other than by extremist individuals and organizations that disagree with the facts in general).

Snopes came under some scrutiny about 4 years ago when the two founders of the site, Barbara and David Mikkelson, underwent a divorce and the ownership of the site was contested between David and a company to whom Barbara sold her share of the site. However, this did not raise specific concerns about the quality or neutrality of the site, just the ownership and the potential for it to be shut down.

One article I read from Forbes (referenced below) tried to cast aspersions on Snopes because David Mikkelson wouldn't divulge specific information about his divorce to the author, but I investigated the author himself and he seems to have personal biases against fact checkers based on articles he's written, so there are some issues with that analysis.

I will say that Snopes has a less formal tone and appearance (and name, frankly) than most other fact checking organizations and because of that I will often make an effort to use them as a secondary or supporting source rather than rely on them entirely, but this isn't always possible. Because Snopes started as an internet page investigating online phenomena, they sometimes fact check stories and viral content that loftier fact checkers aren't as interested in, including many things circulating on Facebook.

Long story short, they are considered credible and non-partisan and I trust their reporting. If more information ever comes to light that suggests otherwise, I will of course cease to use them as a source for my posts, but they've been at it for over 25 years so hopefully that won't happen.

Sources

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48867870

https://www.npr.org/2017/07/26/539576135/fact-checking-website-snopes-is-fighting-to-stay-alive 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2016/12/22/the-daily-mail-snopes-story-and-fact-checking-the-fact-checkers/?sh=408ac618227f 

https://www.snopes.com/team/

 

Claims Pfizer Covid Vaccine Causes Infertility are False

Claim: An article claims that the head of research at Pfizer (maker of one coronavirus vaccine) said that the vaccine causes female sterilization and he and a colleague demanded a halt to testing. 

Rating: ***False News/Misleading***

This article originated on the website/blog Health and Money News, which is a fake news site trafficking in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Information shared from this site should be considered unreliable and should be verified from more reputable sources before sharing or posting. 

The doctor the article claims is a head of research at Pfizer in fact has not worked for Pfizer since 2011 and had a role of chief scientist for allergy and respiratory diseases, not head of research. He is not involved in the company’s current development of the Covid-19 vaccine. 

He and another doctor did send a letter to the European agency in charge of vaccine trials asking for the trial of the Pfizer vaccine to be halted, citing the potential for the vaccine to block a protein that could inhibit placenta growth in mammals, potentially leading to infertility in female recipients of the vaccine. Their letter, however, did not claim that the vaccine causes infertility or sterilization. 

Furthermore, both doctors have previously been known to disseminate incorrect information about Covid-19, including prematurely declaring the pandemic over and stating that the virus is no more dangerous than seasonal flu, both of which are false. 

Pfizer has publicly released documentation about the efficacy and safety of its vaccine, including that the only side effects observed during the vaccine trials were fatigue and headache in a small number of patients. (See image). 

Given the dubious source of this claim, the misleading credentials given for the doctors, the doctors’ own damaged credibility, and a lack of scientific evidence that the Pfizer vaccine causes sterility, I am rating this claim False News/Misleading.

Sources:

https://www.wthr.com/mobile/article/news/verify/will-the-covid-19-vaccine-cause-infertility-in-women/531-3cb5340a-b3d0-4224-8a52-cfb24e9984a9 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/covid-vaccine-female-sterilization/

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-conclude-phase-3-study-covid-19-vaccine

Nashville Bombing Conspiracy Theories

Several online conspiracy theories have arisen in the wake of the suicide bombing that took place on Christmas morning in Nashville, Tennessee. I investigated a few of these and all are, unsurprisingly, false. Police and the FBI have not yet revealed a motive for the bombing, as of this writing. Law enforcement has identified Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, as the suspect in the attack.

Claim: AT&T had a contract to audit Dominion Voting Systems machines and the bombing was intended to disrupt this process.

Rating: ***False***

Several fact check organizations including the Associated Press, AFP, and Snopes.com have determined that AT&T had no such contract and no Dominion machines were present in the building which may or may not have even been a direct target of the bombing. Both companies have also confirmed that this claim is false.

Claim: The blast was the result of a missile strike or “directed energy weapon”.

Rating: ***False***

Fact Checkers at Reuters news agency and Snopes investigated this claim and there is zero evidence that this is the case. In fact, many witness reports and surveillance cameras show the RV/Motorhome explode after emitting a warning that it would shortly do so. DNA evidence shows that the owner of the RV was killed in the blast that also injured three people.

Claim: A man pictured in a Trump 2020 hat is the Nashville Bomber

Rating: ***False***

A photo circulated on social media of a man wearing a Trump 2020 hat does not resemble the photo released by law enforcement of Anthony Quinn Warner, the suspect in the bombing case and owner of the RV.

Sources:

https://apnews.com/article/nashville-explosion-anthony-warner-rv-2cc36514764d302b9fd5e0781a3c31f4 

https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9898209641

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/att-nashville-dominion-audit/

https://factcheck.afp.com/conspiracy-theory-links-false-claim-att-election-audit-bombing

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-nashville-missile/fact-check-nashville-blast-was-not-caused-by-a-missile-strike-idUSKBN2921OW

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/missile-strike-nashville-explosion/

https://factcheck.afp.com/photo-man-trump-hat-does-not-show-nashville-bomber