Authors
Days after United States President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19 related fake news has been circulating on social media platforms.
In one such example, a Twitter user shared an image allegedly from President Trump’s account which says he took the Russian COVID-19 vaccine shot and that it’s safe with no side effects. The user’s caption read, “Positive news everyone! We can relax.”
In another image we received on our Whatsapp number, it alleged that Trump said, “The doctors said they’ve never seen a body kill the Coronavirus like my body. They tested my DNA and it wasn’t DNA. It was USA.”
Fact Check/ Verification
We looked through President Trump’s Twitter profile and could not find any tweet which said he got the Russian vaccine shot. Nor could we find any White House correspondence about the same.
Note that the claim includes grammatical errors as well as some gibberish in its last two lines which adds to its discredibility.
However, on 2 October, (the same day as the initial claim was shared) he tweeted about Melania Trump and himself testing positive for COVID-19 and quarantining.
With regards to the second claim in context, we could not find any evidence that Trump said this. The alleged quote does not appear on his social media profiles or in any speech or interview he’s given.
We found that the image with the claim was taken from a video the president released on 4 October, while he was admitted at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after testing positive for COVID-19.
In this video, Trump thanked the medical professionals at Walter Reed and said he’s doing well. He also thanked the leaders of the world for their condolences, and said he appreciates the support of the American people. He did not, however, say anything about his body killing the coronavirus or his DNA being USA.
Earlier today, President Trump tweeted news about him testing negative for COVID-19 with a link to an article which includes official correspondence from the White House physician.
In Related News
A few days back President Trump tweeted that he’s immune to the Coronavirus as well not contagious. His 11 October tweet read, “A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it. Very nice to know!!!”
A short while later, Twitter removed his tweet stating, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
This isn’t the first time President Trump’s tweets have been flagged for violating their rules and flaunting misinformation. You can read more about it in Mashable India’s article here.
Conclusion
The claims in context about President Trump taking the Russian COVID-19 vaccine shot and saying that his DNA is USA are fabricated. He did not say these things on his Twitter account or in any interview or speech he’s given.
Result: False
Our Sources
President Donald Trump: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1311892190680014849?s=20
President Donald Trump: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1312525833505058816?s=20
Mashable India: https://in.mashable.com/culture/17567/donald-trump-flagged-by-twitter-after-tweeting-false-claim-that-hes-not-contagious-and-is-now-immune
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