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Actual mailbag

Mailbag: ‘Show me your better side,’ and other reader reactions

July 28, 2021

Falsehoods about the 2020 election results, voting laws and misinformation about COVID-19 continue to be frequent topics of our fact-checking. Here’s a selection of our reader reactions in emails and on our Facebook page to our fact-checks, lightly edited for length and clarity. Readers can email us fact-check ideas and feedback at truthometer@politifact.com Some readers […]

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Unraveling the mysterious mutations that make delta the most transmissible COVID virus yet

July 28, 2021

Upon first inspection, the mutations in the highly contagious delta covid variant don’t look that worrisome. For starters, delta has fewer genetic changes than earlier versions of the coronavirus. “When people saw that the epidemic in India was driven by delta, they did not suspect it would be so bad or overtake other variants,” said […]

EVers-O-Meter 3

Updating Evers’ promises on tax cuts, education spending, expanding broadband and more

July 28, 2021

Earlier this month, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed his second state budget into law, an $87.3 billion spending plan charting the state’s path over the next two years.  Much has happened since he headed out on the campaign trail and first took office, but Politifact Wisconsin is still monitoring 27 of his campaign promises using […]

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10 types of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation swirling online, fact-checked

July 26, 2021

Since the coronavirus pandemic erupted last year, PolitiFact has fact-checked hundreds of misleading statements about the development, deployment, content, safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Even as the U.S. sees a rise in cases among unvaccinated populations, the unsupported claims keep coming. False narratives that the vaccines are mandatory and that they result in widespread […]

Kevin Faulconer campaign photo

Kevin Faulconer Wants To Tackle California’s Homelessness Crisis. What Did He Do As San Diego Mayor?

July 23, 2021

Recall candidate Kevin Faulconer says his record on homelessness as San Diego’s mayor is a model for how he would tackle California’s crisis as governor.  Faulconer, a moderate Republican who was mayor from 2014 through 2020, claims on his campaign website that he “transformed San Diego into the only big city in California where outdoor […]

people in voting line in montana nov 2020

Are there 28 new, restrictive voting laws? Not exactly

July 21, 2021

As President Joe Biden seeks to enact national voting rights legislation, he has turned his attention to attacking new state laws that he says will restrict voting. ​​”This year alone, 17 states have enacted — not just proposed, but enacted — 28 new laws to make it harder for Americans to vote,” Biden said during […]

Trump supporters rally in Arizona 11-7-20

Are state legislators really seeking power to overrule the voters?

July 14, 2021

In a speech on voting rights in Philadelphia, President Joe Biden vowed that his administration would fight back against new voting restrictions pushed by allies of former President Donald Trump. State legislators are now engaged in a “broad assault against voting,” Biden said July 13. Among the threats he cited were efforts to move power […]

Donald Trump with supporters at CPAC 2021

Suspended from social media, Donald Trump turns to traditional media avenues to push falsehoods

July 14, 2021

Donald Trump’s social media posts in the aftermath of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol got him suspended from Facebook and Twitter amid concerns that his false claims about a stolen election would provoke more violence. His Facebook or Twitter accounts have been off limits to him for more than […]

Baltimore police on scene

Murders spiked in 2020. Why?

July 14, 2021

Completely apart from the bipartisan blame game over crime, there is the stark reality that in most American cities, murders have gone up.  One survey of America’s larger cities found that between 2019 and 2020, homicide deaths rose more than 30%. An analysis of 34 cities found a “historic increase.” Some Republicans say rising homicides […]

Michigan will investigate people who spread election disinformation

July 9, 2021

Michigan’s chief law enforcement officer agreed to launch an investigation into allegations that people spread disinformation about the state’s Nov. 3 election for their own financial gain. The inquiry comes at the recommendation of a Republican-led legislative committee that found no evidence of widespread fraud in the election. A report by the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, […]

The coronavirus variants: What you need to know

July 7, 2021

If you’ve been paying attention to recent news reports about the coronavirus pandemic, you’ve probably heard public health officials say they’re pleased about the dropping rates of cases and deaths due to vaccination in the United States — but that they’re also worried that continued spread of the delta variant could reverse some of those […]

New research finds J&J vaccine has muscle against COVID’s delta variant

July 6, 2021

In recent weeks, many medical experts started to question whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is administered in a single dose, would be as effective as the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine in protecting against the new, highly transmissible delta variant that is poised to become the dominant strain in the U.S. The reason […]

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