Disinfo: Dr. Fauci, an admirer of Hillary Clinton, threatened Trump with a major epidemic before 2020

Summary

In 2017, a few days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in an Interview to Healio threatened the new president that a major epidemic will hit the US by 2020. Furthermore Wikileaks revealed that Anthony Fauci was an admirer of Hillary Clinton. Those strange prophecies materialized before 2020 elections, what a coincidence!

Disproof

This is yet another unfounded conspiracy theory about the coronavirus pushed by pro-Kremlin outlets as part of their disinformation campaign around COVID-19, which also involves attempts to undermine expert medical guidelines and the public health response. In this case, the focus is on discrediting Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has been the leading expert voice of the US administration's pandemic response, by falsely and absurdly suggesting that he "threatened" President Trump with an epidemic as a result of personal sympathies towards Hillary Clinton. The article thus insinuates that the coronavirus may have been intentionally engineered by the US Deep State - a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation trope - in order to undermine Donald Trump. Dr. Fauci, a career immunologist, has led the NIAID for more than three decades. In this capacity, he has dealt with the outbreaks of multiple infectious diseases, advising six US presidents on HIV/AIDS and many other domestic and global health issues. He was one of the main architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world. Since becoming the face of the US pandemic response, Dr. Fauci has become popularly known as America’s Doctor. The article in Healio doesn't involve an interview with Dr. Fauci, contrary to the claim above, but reports on his public comments at a forum on pandemic preparedness at Georgetown University in 2017. Here, Dr. Fauci said that the Trump administration will not only be challenged by ongoing global health threats such as influenza and HIV, but likely also a surprise disease outbreak, as had occurred in years past with the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and the Ebola and Zika outbreaks. “The history of the last 32 years that I have been the director of the NIAID will tell the next administration that there is no doubt they will be faced with the challenges their predecessors were faced with,” he said. The context of these remarks evinces their purpose as a public expert warning rather than a "threat" to the Trump administration, as the Sputnik article falsely tries to suggest. In addition, the technique of presenting unrelated facts as a strange coincidence is commonly used by conspiracy theorists in order to manufacture non-existent causality links and induce cognitive biases in the reader's mind (i.e., the reference to Dr. Fauci's admiration of Hillary Clinton). This technique is based on formulations and insinuations that encourage readers to connect the dots by themselves, rather than making explicit claims which can be more easily debunked. For similar cases regarding conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, see here, here and here.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 190
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 30/03/2020
  • Outlet language(s) French
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US
  • Keywords: coronavirus, Democratic Party (US), Deep state, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Conspiracy theory
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Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the disintegration of the European Union. The European Union is supporting the Member States in addressing the crisis, and mitigating the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. To cushion the blow to people’s livelihoods and the economy, the European Commission has adopted a comprehensive economic response to the outbreak, applied the full flexibility of the EU fiscal rules, has revised its State Aid rules and proposed to set up a EUR 37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to provide liquidity to small businesses and the health care sector. To support scientific research into the COVID-19, the European Commission earmarked 47,5 million EUR for shortlisted research projects that can improve epidemiology and public health, including preparedness and response to outbreaks. The EU has also created first ever stockpile of medical equipment. Read more about the EU's response here and here.

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Disproof

An unfounded conspiracy theory, sharing a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about "secret elites" controlling world leaders. The novel coronavirus, which cases the COVID-19 disease, belongs to a family of viruses originating in animals that include others such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the city of Wuhan in central China in late 2019 and has been rapidly spreading across the world, with cases being reported in 190 countries, territories and areas. The number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 777,000 globally with over 37,000 deaths as of 31 March 2020. See more examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation about the coronavirus here.

Disinfo: 380 Belgians caught COVID-19 through a massive act of group sex

The Health Minister of Belgium has declared that she will forbid group sex activities, including more than three persons. The reason behind the decision is the highly contagious coronavirus. The minister had to act resolutely, as Belgium had a reputation of “the binge drinking and group sex capital of Europe”. The minister decided to forbid sexual acts, including three or more, as last week 500 people were taking part in a coronavirus party that turned into a mass orgy, and 380 of the participants caught the deadly infection.

Disproof

This is a satire which was misrepresented as factual information. The Belgium minister said no such thing. The parody text first appeared in the World News Daily Report and was extensively debunked by the international media. It was relayed by a Russian humor account, and then uncritically reprinted by Nationalist Zavtra. See a previous instance when the pro-Kremlin media has presented satire as facts. See more examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation about the coronavirus.