Truth Test: Trump Campaign ad cherry-picks data, omits key information

ORLANDO, Fla. — As election day approaches, COVID-19 and the response to the pandemic has emerged as one of the top issues for voters.

It’s the focus of a new ad by the Trump Campaign touting the progress made towards a vaccine and the safety measures put in place across the country.

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The ad starts with a message of economic recovery, and a claim that the economy is “coming back to life.”

While it’s true that millions of jobs have been restored, there are still more people unemployed now than have returned to work.

The ad then pivots to claim that Joe Biden wishes to derail that progress, but UCF Political Science Professor John Hanley says the claim is taken out of context.

“It is an interview with David Muir and Muir asks a specific question: If the scientists say shut it down, which you said it, shut it down...and he says if that’s what they say then he would do it.”

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Hanley notes the ad also overlooks the fact that if a viable vaccine existed, there would be no need to shut down the country, and the last shutdown due to an outbreak was carried out by President Trump.

Overall, we rate the ad as half true. It cherry-picks the data and omits key information.

Cox Media Group