Truth Test: PAC ad supporting Joe Biden attacks President’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic

ORLANDO, Fla. — With less than seven weeks to go before election day, Political Action Committees are launching full broadside attacks.

An ad supporting Joe Biden’s campaign goes after President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ: Florida’s Census failures could cost state a congressional seat and billions of dollars

Political reporter Christopher Heath put it to the Truth Test and found some “fuzzy” math.

It starts with a claim: “75 million Americans have lost their jobs, many have lost their health insurance too.”

While the 57 million number is accurate, it refers back to the peak of the layoffs. Since the end of April, almost half of the jobs lost have been recovered.

As for health coverage, about 12-million people have lost coverage since March, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The ad continues, “Donald Trump remains laser focused on gutting healthcare, proposing millions in cuts to Medicare and gutting the Affordable Care Act during a pandemic.”

The President’s proposal to cut Medicare came before the pandemic struck. And for the ACA, his justice department is still seeking to end large chunks of the law, asking the Supreme Court to strike down the law, which would wipe out coverage for 23 million Americans.

READ: CDC, HHS push wearing masks as lawmakers say President Trump downplays importance

“It’s very close to being completely well sourced, and if the Trump administration had come in with an alternative to deal with Obamacare, then I think this would be a different rating,” University of Central Florida Political Science Professor John Hanley notes.

The ad sticks pretty close to the facts, although it uses timelines that benefit its narrative.

Overall we rate this ad: Mostly True. Some context is missing, but the claims on healthcare are correct, even if the jobs numbers are peak-pandemic, and the Medicare cuts were pre-pandemic.

Cox Media Group