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| - Fact Check: Unmasking misleading claims around Kamala's US presidential poll campaign
Social media users posted pictures of US presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris suggesting that they did not wear face masks despite Covid-19 guidelines.
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India Today Fact Check
The pictures are from March 9, when rules regarding social distancing and use of masks were not enforced in the US. It was only in early April that the country’s national public health body recommended masks for the public.
With elections in the United States just over two months away, candidates are trying their best to woo the electorate, conducting campaigns and listing out their plans. Social media too has heated up as Republican and Democrat supporters target the other side.
Several Facebook users have claimed that Democrat Presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris have openly flouted social distancing norms during election campaigning.
A picture collage of the two, along with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Cory Booker, has gone viral on Facebook, with the caption saying, “ Not a mask in sight. Tell me again why we are being forced to wear one”.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral pictures of Biden and Harris are from March 9, when rules regarding social distancing and use of masks were not imposed in the US. It was only in early April that the country’s national public health body recommended masks for the public.
The archived versions of the viral posts are saved here and here.
Using reverse search, we found the source of one of the images in the collage.
Uploaded by Getty Images, the caption reads, “ DETROIT, MICHIGAN - MARCH 09: Sen. Kamala Harris (L) (D-CA), hugs Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden after introducing him at a campaign rally at Renaissance High School on March 09, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. Michigan will hold its primary election tomorrow. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)”.
The entire video of the event can be found in the website of “C-Span”. This website also said that the political event took place on March 9 in Detroit, Michigan. Here, Biden spoke about the importance of winning the state of Michigan in the March 10 primary elections.
AFWA has found that though the US reported its initial Covid-19 cases in March, but there was no lockdown in the next few weeks. It was not until March 23 that a state-wide stay-at-home order was issued for Michigan.
As per US media reports, it was not until early April that its national public health body Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the use of masks for the general public.
Hence, it can be concluded that the viral pictures of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris conducting an election campaign without masks or maintaining social distancing were actually taken on March 9, when Covid-19 norms were not enforced in the US.
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