Vaccines Falsely Blamed for Measles Outbreak
PLUS: Deepfake of Don Jr. Fools Democratic Party; AmEx Faces Boycott Over False Claim it Purged Israel from Website; Conservatives Boost Fake Trump Divorce Law Change
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Today:
Deadly Texas measles outbreak falsely blamed on vaccines
Democratic Party promotes fake audio of Donald Trump Jr. saying U.S. should send weapons to Russia
American Express falsely accused of deleting Israel from its website
Broken vows: TikTokers celebrate false claim that Trump altered divorce law to favor the richer spouse
And More …
Today’s newsletter was edited by Eric Effron and Sofia Rubinson.
1. Deadly Falsehood: Vaccines Did Not Cause Texas Measles Outbreak
By John Gregory
What happened: Anti-vaccine activists are falsely blaming vaccines for a growing measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, advancing a bogus narrative that began with Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A closer look: The narrative was launched by the chief science officer of Children’s Health Defense, chemical engineer Brian Hooker, during a Feb. 18 interview with “Health Freedom Radio,” a show on Worcester, Massachusetts, radio station WCRN.
Speaking about the Texas measles outbreak, which health officials said was the state’s largest in 30 years, Hooker said, “What probably happened is that it started in a vaccinated individual, recently vaccinated individual, that was immunocompromised and got the measles.”
Hooker’s interview was posted on ChildrensHealthDefense.org (NewsGuard Trust Score: 17.5/100) and promoted to the group’s 272,000 X followers on Feb. 20 via a post calling the Texas measles cases “a vaccine-induced outbreak.”
The post generated 245,000 views and 6,400 likes in five days and was reposted by other anti-vaccine sources with large audiences on X, including Dr. Peter McCullough (1.2 million followers) and Mike Adams (279,000 followers), the owner of NaturalNews.com (Trust Score: 5/100).
Actually: The claim that the measles outbreak was caused by vaccines is baseless.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement that its testing found that the infections were not caused by the weakened strain of measles virus that is used in vaccines.
NBC News (Trust Score: 100/100) reported that state testing of samples from infected people in Texas identified a naturally occurring measles virus called genotype D8.
As of Feb. 25, the Texas Department of State Health Services said that only five of the 124 measles cases reported in Texas occurred in vaccinated people, with the rest being “unvaccinated, or their vaccination status is unknown.”
Department spokesperson Lara Anton said the cases have been concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite religious community, according to The Associated Press (Trust Score: 100/100).
On Feb. 26, a child in Texas who was not vaccinated against the disease died of measles, state officials reported.
The combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines may cause “a measles-like illness” in a small percentage of immunocompromised children — which is why health authorities do not recommend that such children get vaccinated, according to the website of Johns Hopkins Medicine (Trust Score: 90/100).
However, the Johns Hopkins website also says that children with normal immune systems cannot get measles from vaccination. There has also never been a confirmed case of the MMR vaccine causing a measles infection that was transmitted to another person, Dr. Matthew Washam, director of epidemiology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, told NBC News.
An Exclusive Briefing for Reality Check Members
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2. Democratic Party Shares Deepfake of Don Jr. Saying U.S. ‘Should Have Been Sending Weapons to Russia’
By Sam Howard and Sofia Rubinson
What happened: Liberals including an official Democratic Party account are sharing an audio clip purporting to depict Donald Trump Jr. stating that the U.S. “should have been sending weapons to Russia.”
The clip is AI-generated.
A closer look: Some users spread a video displaying the landing page for Trump Jr.’s podcast, “Triggered With Don Jr.” on Spotify. A cursor then clicks on a podcast episode, titled “FBI Dream Team, Plus Taking Your Questions Live!” while a voice that sounds like Trump Jr. states:
“I honestly can’t imagine anyone in their right mind picking Ukraine as an ally when Russia is the other option. I mean, just think about it: Massive nuclear power loaded with natural resources everyone needs, literally the biggest country on the planet. … Honestly, if anything, the U.S. should have been sending weapons to Russia.”
You can watch the video and listen to the audio here:
X account FactPost, which states that it is “the official rapid response page of the Democratic Party,” posted the podcast audio on Feb. 26, receiving approximately 23,000 views and 360 likes before it was deleted without explanation. (NewsGuard sent a direct message to FactPost seeking comment on the matter but did not receive a response.)
Liberal X account @CalltoActivism, which states in its bio that it seeks to “stop the Trump Administration from violating our rights,” quoted Trump Jr.’s purported statement, adding, “can we send him [to Russia]?” The post garnered at least 94,000 views and 2,200 likes before it was deleted without explanation.
Threads user @the.wellness.therapist, under the screen name Your Virtual Anti-Disinformation Bestie, posted the audio and stated, “If you need more proof that the Trump family are Russian assets and that Russia and Putin have now taken full control of the U.S. government in an effort to destroy it, on his podcast Donald Trump Jr just said … ‘the US should have been sending weapons to Russia.’” The post received 6,600 views and 110 likes in under a day.
Actually: The audio is an AI-created deepfake.
Drew Lynch, executive producer for the “Triggered With Don Jr.” podcast, told Mediaite (Trust Score: 95/100), “This audio is absolutely, 100% fake.”
Trump Jr. representative Andrew Surabian stated on X: “This is 100% fake AI generated audio, but I’m sure that won’t stop anti-Trump resistance accounts from continuing to dishonestly spread it.”
While the video shows the episode as hosted on Spotify, NewsGuard found that as of Feb. 27, the episode was not published on the platform, one day after the claim spread online.
A NewsGuard review of the podcast episode, which was posted on Rumble on Feb. 24, found no such comment made by Trump Jr.
Click here to find out more about NewsGuard Trust Scores and our process for rating websites. You can download NewsGuard’s browser extension, which displays NewsGuard Trust Score icons next to links on search engines, social media feeds, and other platforms by clicking here.
3. American Express Faces Boycott Calls Over False Claim It Scrubbed Israel from Its Website
By Nicole Dirks
What happened: Social media users are falsely claiming that financial-services company American Express removed all mentions of Israel from its website, with pro-Israel users alleging discrimination and calling for a boycott while pro-Palestinian users praised the company.
A closer look: Sources advancing this false narrative cited as evidence a video showing a visitor to AmericanExpress.com completing an online form to request car-rental insurance.
While the visitor is navigating an alphabetical list of countries in a dropdown menu, an off-screen narrator says: “No Israel as an option, but Palestine is listed as an option. Not cool, American Express.”
The claim first appeared in a Feb. 16 X post by user Hillel Fuld, who regularly posts pro-Israel content.
Fuld shared the video with the caption: “Hey @AmericanExpress, is there any particular reason that Israel is no longer listed on your site, but Palestine is? I’m sure this was an innocent mistake that you will correct immediately. I sure hope so. For your sake.” The post received 1.3 million views and 22,000 likes as of Feb. 25.
“Cancel your Amex card now,” Australian user @nicole_lazarou, who regularly posts pro-Israel content, said in a Feb. 16 post that received 3,200 views and 100 likes.
In a Feb. 16 post that was since deleted, pro-Palestinian X user @Resist_05 said, “American express has completely wiped Israel from its site…” The post received 454,200 views and 10,000 likes as of Feb. 21.
Actually: American Express offers multiple services in Israel that it describes on its website.
It is true that American Express does not provide car-rental insurance in Israel. American Express and other credit card companies often exclude car rental insurance coverage in Israel and other countries, including Jamaica and Australia, due to strict local laws, high claim rates, and mandatory local rental agency coverage.
However, the AmericanExpress.com website makes numerous references to its activities in Israel, NewsGuard found, including for travel insurance, luxury-hotel bookings, and statements about its donations to Israel-connected nonprofit organizations.
American Express did not respond to four emails and one phone message from NewsGuard requesting comment on the matter.
If you see something, say something
If you see or hear something that you think may be provably false, please alert NewsGuard via realitycheck@newsguardtech.com and we'll do our best to get to the bottom of it. Note: Tips should not include content that you simply disagree with, however strongly.
4. Divorced from Reality: No Change to ‘U.S. Divorce Law,’ Despite Claims by TikTok Users Viewed by Millions
By Sam Howard
What happened: TikTok users are falsely claiming that President Donald Trump has changed U.S. divorce laws to eliminate any requirement that spouses must divide their assets equally when they split up.
In fact, no such executive order or law was enacted. Moreover, asset-splitting during divorce is regulated by state rules and local judges — not by the federal government.
A closer look: Multiple videos stating that Trump issued this edict feature the same script, in which an apparently automated narrator states: “Donald Trump just changed the U.S. divorce law. [This is] the end of the 50/50 asset split for divorced couples.”
Such a change would benefit men in heterosexual marriages, whose assets are on average greater than those held by their wives, as they would not need to divide property equally.
One such video posted to TikTok on Feb. 21 by user @ttd.onuyb was viewed 4.9 million times in four days. User @galade.us posted a video with the same script on Feb. 18 that was viewed 4.9 million times in seven days, and a video, posted by user @news0731 on Feb. 20 was viewed 1.6 million times in five days.
These TikTok accounts primarily post videos on politics and other topics, apparently seeking engagement on the platform rather than pushing a particular political viewpoint, NewsGuard has found.
However, the videos’ top comments show how strongly the bogus story resonated, particularly among supporters of Trump’s supposed action.
One comment from TikTok user @brittunculi066, liked 30,100 times, said that Trump was “finally putting an end to the divorce scam,” while another posted by user @ginastfs7tm, and liked 18,200 times, stated, “I am a woman but honestly he is right.” And another comment liked 1,192 times, posted by @xof1979, stated, “There is no debate here, [Trump] is right and everybody knows it."
Actually: Trump did not sign an executive order relating to divorce. As noted above, divorce law is governed by the states, not the federal government.
A list of executive orders on the White House’s website shows that no such order was signed by Trump.
Reality Check is produced by Co-CEOs Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, and the NewsGuard team.
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