Late Thursday night, President Trump said on Twitter that he and first lady Melania Trump had both been diagnosed with Covid-19. The news came on the heels of reports that senior aide Hope Hicks had been symptomatic and tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19.
Just two days earlier, on Tuesday night, Trump had mocked mask wearing during a debate with Democratic candidate Joe Biden, saying “I don’t wear masks like him.” Members of Trump’s delegation at that debate, including his family members, reportedly removed their masks on arrival and were photographed without masks at the debate.
Earlier on Thursday, researchers at Cornell University released a study finding that President Donald Trump was linked to nearly 38 percent of the misinformation they identified in 38 million articles about the pandemic. “The biggest surprise was that the president of the United States was the single largest driver of misinformation around Covid,” Sarah Evanega, the study’s lead author, told The New York Times.
DeSmog has been tracking connections between opponents of climate action and the so-called Reopen Movement and today is publishing archives of comments by individuals and groups that historically have circulated messages that denied or downplayed climate change and who also pushed for inaction on Covid-19 or circulated misinformation about the virus.
