RFK Jr. Bases Funding Cut on False Vaccine Claims
PLUS: Assault on DOGE’s ‘Big Balls’ Wrongly Called ‘Staged’; Obama Didn’t Sell His Martha’s Vineyard Property to Epstein Associate
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In today’s edition, we identify the false claims that Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy cited to justify his decision to cancel federal funding for mRNA vaccines. We also unpack the baseless accusation that the Trump administration orchestrated a violent attack on a former DOGE employee in Washington to make the case for a federal takeover of D.C., and we debunk the false claim that the Obamas sold their Martha’s Vineyard home to a former close associate of Jeffrey Epstein.
Plus: NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Sofia Rubinson and Eric Effron.
1. RFK Jr. Cites Three False COVID Vaccine Claims to Justify Canceling mRNA Vaccine Funding
By John Gregory
What happened: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advanced three false claims about COVID-19 vaccines to explain his cancellation of $500 million in government-funded mRNA vaccine projects, NewsGuard found.
Context: In an Aug. 5 X video, Kennedy announced that he was cancelling federal funding for development of new flu and COVID mRNA vaccines. This type of vaccine, which in 2021 was the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved, carries instructions to the body’s cells to make a piece of a virus, rather than relying on weakened or dead viruses grown in a lab to build immunity.
As one of his justifications for the funding cut, Kennedy said that mRNA vaccines were responsible for mutations of the COVID virus, thus creating new variants that more easily infect vaccinated people.
The vaccine, he said, “paradoxically encourages new mutations and can actually prolong pandemics as the virus constantly mutates to escape the protective effects of the vaccine.”
Actually: Vaccine experts say there is no evidence that COVID vaccines caused the COVID virus to mutate more quickly.
University of Surrey immunology professor Deborah Dunn-Walters told the U.K. Science Media Centre on Aug. 6, “Mutation is a natural process that occurs with these viruses, and the use of any vaccine does not impact it.”
Kennedy pushed the same false claim in a Jan. 4, 2023, X post that linked to an article from his anti-vaccine nonprofit Children’s Health Defense and generated 180,000 views. His more recent video had 7 million views on X in less than 48 hours.
Kennedy’s video also included two broader — and previously debunked — claims about vaccines’ effectiveness.
He stated that mRNA vaccines “don’t perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract,” which would include the COVID virus. He also said that “mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits” for viruses such as the flu or COVID.
Actually: Both claims are false.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the agencies overseen by Kennedy, states on a webpage last updated in June 2025, “The COVID-19 vaccine helps protect you from severe illness, hospitalization, and death” from COVID, which is a respiratory infection.
Dunn-Walters, the University of Surrey immunology professor, said to the U.K. Science Media Centre that, “the benefits [of COVID vaccines] by far outweigh the risks in the people for whom the vaccines are recommended.” This is supported by an abundance of scientific evidence, such as an April 2025 Nature study that said that COVID vaccines were 68 percent effective against hospitalization from COVID between September and November 2024.
HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard did not address NewsGuard’s questions about this apparently countervailing evidence. Instead, her Aug. 7 email referred NewsGuard to a list of hundreds of studies posted on the scientific research platform Zenodo purportedly showing the harms of COVID vaccines. The list originated from the anti-vaccine book “Toxic Shot,” which promotes multiple false claims about COVID vaccines, including that they caused widespread death and infertility.
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2. Liberals Claim D.C. Carjacking of Former DOGE Employee Was Staged to Help Trump Take Control of Washington
What happened: Liberal social media users are baselessly accusing the Trump administration of staging a violent carjacking incident involving a former DOGE employee, claiming that Trump is looking to build support for a federal takeover of Washington.
Context: On Aug. 3, former DOGE worker Edward Coristine, who generated considerable publicity during his DOGE tenure and who is widely known online as “Big Balls,” was assaulted in an attempted carjacking in D.C., according to news reports and a police statement.
Coristine, then 19, was one of Elon Musk’s earliest hires when Musk was tapped by Trump to oversee efforts to reduce the federal government in January 2025, Wired reported. Coristine left DOGE in June 2025 and is now working at the Social Security Administration, according to NBC News.
Two days after the attempted carjacking, Trump posted about the incident on his social media platform Truth Social, stating, “Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control… If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this city. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
A closer look: Hours after Trump’s post on Truth Social, liberal social media users claimed that the Trump administration orchestrated the carjacking incident to gain support for a federal takeover of D.C., an idea that Trump has floated previously.
Liberal Threads user @corbin.somewhere posted on Aug. 6, “In my opinion: The Big Balls (DOGE) attack was clearly staged in order to give the Trump administration authoritarian control over D.C. — the whole thing was too perfect.” The post received 4,500 views and 45 likes in one day.
Anti-Trump Threads user @jr._johnpatrick posted on Aug. 6: “If he was beaten ‘mercilessly,’ he wouldn’t still be alive… This is FAKE AND STAGED. RELEASE ALL THE UNREDACTED EPSTEIN FILES.” The post garnered 6,600 views and 390 likes in one day.
Actually: There is no evidence that the carjacking was orchestrated by Trump.
A statement released by the D.C. police department on Aug. 5 said that in the early morning of Aug. 3, two victims were approached by suspects who allegedly demanded access to their vehicle, and then allegedly assaulted one of the victims. The police statement added that two 15-year-olds from Maryland were arrested and charged with unarmed carjacking. The New York Times reported that 10 young assailants were involved in the attack and that police said they were seeking additional suspects.
An image reported by various news outlets shows Coristine, one of the alleged victims, sitting on a street curb covered in blood following the incident.
Although Trump commented on the incident on social media, there is no evidence connecting him or any political actors to the crime.
A NewsGuard review of news reports, the police statement, and photos of the incident found no indications that the carjacking was staged.
Asked about the claim, a spokesperson for the White House pointed to Trump’s previously noted Truth Social post, but did not otherwise comment in an email to NewsGuard. The Metropolitan Police Department and Coristine did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
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3. Obama Falsely Linked to Epstein Via Martha’s Vineyard Real Estate Deal
By Hope Talbot
What happened: Conservative social media users are falsely claiming that former President Barack Obama sold his Martha’s Vineyard estate to businessman Les Wexner, a former close associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The claim is emerging as President Trump’s former friendship with Epstein has captured the attention of parts of Trump’s MAGA base and appears to be an attempt to tie Obama to the Epstein scandal.
Context: On July 10, Wexner — who once hired Epstein as a financial advisor and gave Epstein power of attorney privileges over his finances — purchased Blue Heron Farm, a home on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard that was rented by former President Barack Obama and his family from 2009 to 2011, according to the real estate news website The Real Deal.
Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands, bought the property for $37 million through a trust, the Martha’s Vineyard Times reported.
A closer look: In early August 2025, conservative accounts claimed that Wexner bought Blue Heron Farm from Obama, thereby proving that Obama has previously unknown ties to Epstein.
Conservative X user @C_3C_3 said in an Aug. 5 post: “So… Are we supposed to ignore that the Obamas just sold their Martha’s Vineyard mansion to Lex Wexner who’s personal money manager that had power of attorney over his finances was… Jeffrey Epstein. Not making any of that up.” The post received 610,000 views and 27,000 likes in one day.
Pro-MAGA X user @Ultrafrog17 stated: “Why would Les Wexner be interested in purchasing Obama’s property? Is this some kind of way to transfer funds to him as he is likely about to be roped into the scandal of the century?” The post garnered 160,000 views and 4,200 likes in one day.
Actually: Wexner, who said he cut ties with Epstein in 2007, did not buy Blue Heron Farm from the Obamas.
Dukes County, Massachusetts, property records show Wexner’s trust bought the estate from Blue Heron LLC — which the Vineyard Gazette reported is a privately owned company “associated with” architect Norman Foster.
The Obamas own a different property, on Turkeyland Cove Road in southeastern Martha’s Vineyard, which they purchased in 2019, according to the Martha’s Vineyard Times.
NewsGuard reviewed Dukes County property records and found no evidence that the Obamas have sold their house.
4. False Claim of the Week: Russia Captured Two UK Colonels and an MI6 Agent in Ukraine in July 2025
NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” highlights a false claim from NewsGuard’s False Claim Fingerprints proprietary database of provably false claims and their debunks. The claim that Russia captured two U.K. colonels and an MI6 agent in Ukraine in July 2025 was deemed the “False Claim of the Week” due to its widespread appearance across social media platforms and websites, its high engagement levels, and the high-profile nature of the sources promoting it. Given those three factors — in addition to its significant subject matter — and its potential for harm makes it our False Claim of the Week.
Debunk: The claim that Russia captured two U.K. military officers and an MI6 agent during a raid in Ukraine in July 2025, which was advanced by pro-Kremlin sources and some U.S. conservative websites, is baseless. A photo used to back the claim is AI-generated.
British officials say that there is no record of “Edward Blake” or “Richard Caroll” in U.K. military personnel databases. No credible news outlets have reported such an incident, which would be major news since NATO has repeatedly stated it has not sent troops to Ukraine. An unnamed British military spokesperson told NewsGuard in an Aug. 5 email that the claim is “inaccurate and incorrect.”.
Many of the social media accounts advancing the claim shared an image of the two purported U.K. military officers and their passports, held at gunpoint.
In fact, the image was created with AI, NewsGuard’s analysis of the image using AI detection tool IdentifAI found. The image features irregularities consistent with AI generation, including a glossy effect and unintelligible letters on the purported passports.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, pro-Kremlin media has repeatedly advanced false claims that Western soldiers were killed or captured in the war.
5. In Case You Missed It … Russia’s Latest Target: NewsGuard
After NewsGuard published several reports exposing a Russian influence operation targeting Moldova’s upcoming election with false claims, the Russian operation responded in an unexpected way: by flooding the internet with videos impersonating NewsGuard.
On Aug. 6, NewsGuard senior analyst Eva Maitland and foreign influence editor McKenzie Sadeghi wrote a commentary about what it is like to be at the center of a propaganda campaign that they have been covering for years.
Read the commentary here.
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Re. "Big Balls": there is no need to make up silly stories about this to debunk Trump's exploitation of an unfortunate incident. The critical thing (which negates Trump's claims about the District) is that the DC police interrupted the crime and arrested the criminals almost immediately: it is unimaginable that any other police force (or the National Guard or whatever) could have done better.