Twitter says President Donald Trump violated its rules about spreading misinformation about COVID-19 by claiming that he is immune from the virus.
On Sunday, Trump wrote, “A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it. Very nice to know!!!”
A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it. Very nice to know!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2020
Twitter later added a statement that read, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
The president made similar claims during an interview on “Fox News Sunday Futures,” where he said, “It seems like I’m immune. So I can go way out of a basement, which I would have done anyway and which I did, because you have to run a country, you have to get out of the basement.”
“And it looks like I’m immune for, I don’t know, maybe a long time, maybe a short time. It could be a lifetime. Nobody really knows, but I’m immune,” he added.
Trump tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 2 and was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he stayed for about three days.
There is some evidence that individuals who contract COVID-19 may be immune from the virus. However, it is unclear how long any such immunity lasts.
Less than a week after his positive test, Trump was back in the White House and working in the Oval Office — despite guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to isolate for 10 days after the onset of symptoms.
On Oct. 10, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley wrote that Trump is “no longer considered a transmission risk to others.” However, he did not disclose when Trump last received a negative test result.
Twitter and Facebook both recently took action to address what the platforms said was misinformation about the coronavirus, as IJR reported.