A popular tweet alleges that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested President Donald Trump “probably” knows more about medicine and viruses than the NIH and the CDC.
The tweet, which has been deleted, is circulating on other social media platforms and reads:
“CAPITOL HILL: @LindseyGrahamSC says @realDonaldTrump “probably knows more about medicine and specifically viruses than any of the so-called scientists at the NIH and CDC. If anyone is going to eradicate this plague it’ll be the president.”
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
This is not a genuine quote by Graham. No credible news reports have published the statement, and we couldn’t find it on any of the senator’ s social media pages.
Graham released a statement on Feb. 26 praising Trump’s response to the current coronavirus outbreak, but he doesn’t suggest in that statement that he believes Trump knows more about the virus than medical professionals.
We reached out to Graham’s office for comment but did not hear back in time of publication.
The person who tweeted the made-up quote, Dan Lyons, describes himself on his Twitter account as an “inventor of fake news.” But this context is lost on people who viewed the tweet on other platforms and those who didn’t visit his profile.
Pants on Fire!
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
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Sen. Lindsey Graham didn’t say that President Trump probably knows more about medicine and viruses than medical professionals.
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The quote was fabricated by a Twitter account that has posted fake statements in the past.
Statement
Context
a Facebook postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Facebook post, March 2, 2020
Archive.is, tweet, Feb. 26, 2020
Senate.gov, Graham on Coronavirus Response, Feb. 26, 2020
Sen. Lindsey Graham, Twitter, Facebook, Accessed March 4, 2020
Reuters, False claim: Sen. Lindsey Graham said Donald Trump probably knows more about medicine and viruses than any scientist at the NIH and CDC, March 4, 2020
Snopes, Did US Sen. Graham Say Trump Knows More Than CDC About Medicine?, March 2, 2020
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