Twitter flags misleading Trump tweet claiming he's "immune" from COVID-19
11 October 2020
Twitter flagged a tweet from President Trump on Sunday morning in which he claimed, without evidence, that he is now "immune" to the coronavirus.
Why it matters: Trump continues to be one of the most prominent sources of coronavirus misinformation, eight months into the pandemic.
Details: While Trump's doctors have said that he is no longer transmitting the virus, they have not said when the president's last negative test was.
- The science on immunity for people who recover from the virus is still unclear.
- The CDC says a person infected with COVID-19 may not need to get tested again in the three months after recovery, but it "does not imply a person is immune to reinfection."
Background: Trump has repeatedly claimed that he now immune to the coronavirus, saying the same in an interview with Fox Business' Maria Baritomo earlier on Sunday.
- Back in May, Twitter stated they would flag any misleading coronavirus tweets. The policy covers "anyone sharing misleading information that meets the requirements of our policy, including world leaders."
Screenshot: Twitter
Go deeper: Twitter will flag premature claims about who won the 2020 election
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.