AAP FACTCHECK – US presidential candidate Donald Trump has released a video claiming the current mpox outbreak is part of a plan to commit election fraud, social media posts claim.
This is false. The video is nearly a year old and has nothing to do with the recent outbreak of mpox. Trump never mentions mpox in the video.
“Trump warns about lockdowns and election fraud with monkeypox,” an Instagram video claims.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that the term “mpox” replace “monkeypox” in 2022 due to “racist and stigmatising language online”.
The uptick in mpox cases in Africa, and the potential for further spread, led the WHO to declare the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” on August 14, 2024.
In the video, Trump said: “The left-wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates with all of their sudden fear-mongering about the new variants that are coming.”
He added: “Gee whiz, you know what else is coming, an election.”
But the video is nearly a year old and is completely unrelated to the recent spread of mpox cases.
The former US president posted the video on Truth Social, his social media network, on August 31, 2023 with the caption: “To every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our Freedom, hear these words—WE WILL NOT COMPLY!”
The video appears to be related to news that a new variant of COVID-19 was spreading in the US in late August 2023.
USA Today found that Trump’s video has previously been used to make false claims about bird flu and elections on social media.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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