President Trump was heavily criticized by people on social media for something he did not say about the coronavirus during his interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
In video clips that went viral, people on Twitter claimed Trump said it was okay for people with the COVID-19 virus to still go to work. However, that's not what he said. Trump was explaining that because the symptoms of COVID-19 in most people will be mild, they will still go to work without seeing a doctor and get better without realizing they had the virus in the first place.
The narrative was pushed by Vox's Aaron Rupar, who has a long history of spreading misinformation by inaccurately describing what is being said in video clips, and a Twitter account belonging to Matt Rogers.
In this clip, Trump:
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 5, 2020
1. Denies WHO's coronavirus death rate based on “hunch"
2. Calls coronavirus "corona flu"
3. Suggests it's fine for people w/ Covid-19 to go to work
4. Compares coronavirus to "the regular flu," indicating he doesn't get the difference pic.twitter.com/uC9c03zX31
Here is the President of the United States telling the country it's okay to go to work with Coronavirus.
— Matt Rogers ?? (@Politidope) March 5, 2020
I'm not kidding. pic.twitter.com/Tz4kKbyear
While this misinformation virus spread among regular people, it was amplified by verified accounts that belong to people who work in the media, Democratic politicians, and liberal activists.
Not a doctor or a virologist or anything but DEFINITELY DO NOT GO TO WORK IF YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS PLEASE AND THANK YOU. https://t.co/CpSxbvCHGs
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 5, 2020
These are really dangerous lies. https://t.co/LAQpiOOPPG
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) March 5, 2020
The politician responsible for leading America's response to a global pandemic is spreading dangerous misinformation for what he hopes is his own political benefit. This will backfire, and he will try 19 different self-contradicting approaches. But regular people will suffer. https://t.co/mlVLjTUAJZ
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) March 5, 2020
Oh God https://t.co/6HhQK8bcSr
— Noah Smith ?? (@Noahpinion) March 5, 2020
The only way Trump’s staff will get him to stop talking like this is to point out that it increases the likelihood that his base will get sick and die and therefore lose the election in November. https://t.co/gOY3ajWKeX
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) March 5, 2020
Dear @foxnewsdesk: You have the right to invite misinformed people, including @realDonaldTrump, to spew false information on your opinion shows about the #coronavirus. But understand that this may endanger people’s lives, including those of your viewers.#ThursdayThoughts https://t.co/2sd29F6jvD
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 5, 2020
The public’s health would best be advanced by quarantining @realDonaldTrump in communicado. https://t.co/9WKElhgvYN
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 5, 2020
Terrifying stuff ... the conservative movement has taught its people to ignore reliable sources of information and listen to this guy instead https://t.co/XNM3dmGIgQ
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 5, 2020
We just held a @HouseScience hearing on coronavirus with infectious disease experts.
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) March 5, 2020
I asked: "Should Americans who have coronavirus symptoms or believe they are sick go to work and risk spreading the disease?"
Dr. Sell of Johns Hopkins replied "No." https://t.co/aiwW8YRr8J https://t.co/A87W8aXkqa
Japan: Close the schools
— subscribe to my newsletter (@brianbeutler) March 5, 2020
Italy: Close the schools
China: Close fucking everything
DONALD TRUMP'S AMERICA: Go to work, infect your colleagues, it's chill bro. Stock market! https://t.co/sI5XmYgngo
And @JoyVBehar repeated the false claim today as well on the View pic.twitter.com/YS0ZQBAPbZ
— ALX ???? (@alx) March 5, 2020
Subsequent comments on the misleading captions on their videos got thousands of likes and retweets, further spreading the false narrative. In other words, it's just another day where liberals are pushing misinformation on Twitter, despite being able to easily see how it's not true, because "Orange Man Bad."
