A Senate Democrat is ripping the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump, for spreading misinformation on the coronavirus.
"It is essential that the administration communicate timely and accurate information to the American public," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a frequent Trump antagonist, wrote in a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the coronavirus task force. "This should include a coordinated effort to address potentially harmful misinformation spread through social media and other sources."
Warner wrote he is "deeply concerned" the administration has not countered the misinformation shared online and by Trump.
Warner ripped Trump for downplaying the coronavirus to the media, including calling the World Health Organization death rate of 3.4% a "false" number and saying ultimately the coronavirus cases in the United States would go to near zero.
"Such remarks stoke and legitimize already widespread online misinformation concerning the virus," Warner wrote. "There are indications that at least some of the misinformation is derived from, or at least amplified by, malicious foreign actors. Additional misleading statements from members of the Administration, combined with intentional falsehoods pushed by these malicious actors, will only make matters worse."
The White House hosted a summit Wednesday with executives from Twitter, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple to discuss information dissemination amid the coronavirus.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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