CLAIM: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) claimed during the vice presidential debate on Wednesday night that President Donald Trump called the coronavirus a hoax.
VERDICT: False. President Trump did not call the coronavirus a hoax. Several fact-checking outlets have repeatedly called out former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign for this misleading talking point.
“They knew and they covered it up. The president said it was a hoax,” Kamala Harris said of the coronavirus.
Here are Trump’s remarks from a campaign rally in South Carolina on February 28:
Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. They’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, “How’s President Trump doing?” They go, “Oh, not good, not good.” They have no clue. They don’t have any clue. They can’t even count their votes in Iowa; they can’t even count. No they can’t. They can’t count their votes.
One of my people came up to me and said, “Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.” That didn’t work out too well. They couldn’t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything; they tried it over and over. They’ve been doing it since you got in. It’s all turning, they lost, it’s all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax.