AP FACT CHECK: Trump's voting wrongs; Biden's trade miss
WASHINGTON (AP) — The actual crisis of the coronavirus pandemic and a manufactured crisis over voting fraud featured heavily in President Donald Trump’s misstatements during the 2020 campaign’s final week. Democrat Joe Biden went astray on trade as he assailed the president’s record on China.
A sampling from the week:
VIRUS
TRUMP: “In California, you have a special mask. You cannot under any circumstances take it off. You have to eat through the mask.” — Arizona rally on Wednesday.
THE FACTS: Those statements are false.
California residents are not required to wear “special” masks Nor are they required to wear them all the time and “eat through the mask.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide mask order allows Californians to wear basic coverings such as homemade ones and people are not required to wear them when at home, outdoors more than 6 feet from others or when eating and drinking.
His office this month did tweet out a graphic advising people to “keep your mask on in between bites” when going out to eat at restaurants. That was mocked because Californians were also advised to minimize the amount of times they touch their masks. Newsom told reporters that one of his staffers had sent out the tweet, which the governor said was intended to indicate that if people start to read a book at the table, they may want to put their mask back on.
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TRUMP: “We have a spike in cases ... And you know why we have so many cases? Because we test more.” — Michigan rally Tuesday.
THE FACTS: No, increased testing does not fully account for the rise in recorded cases, and Trump is contradicted by his own top health officials. People are also infecting each other more than before as distancing rules recede, some shun masks and community spread picks up.
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