From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Facebook pulls Trump post downplaying virus
Facebook has removed a post by US President Donald Trump for downplaying COVID-19 danger by saying the seasonal flu is more deadly, in a rare step against the American leader by the leading social network.
A day after checking out of a hospital where he received first-class treatment for COVID-19, Trump used Twitter and Facebook to post messages inaccurately contending that people have more to fear from the flu.
“We remove incorrect information about the severity of COVID-19, and have now removed this post,” Facebook says in reply to an AFP inquiry.
Twitter adds a notice to the tweeted version of the Trump post, saying the message was left up due to public interest but that it violated rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.
Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
— AFP
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