Trump runs afoul of Twitter, Facebook over misleading COVID-19 post

Back from the hospital after three days of treatment for the Coronavirus, President Donald Trump drew a rebuke from a pair of social media giants on Tuesday, after claiming that the Coronavirus was not as deadly as the seasonal flu.

After a few hours, Facebook pulled down a the President’s misleading claim, while Twitter obscured Mr. Trump’s post with a warning message.

“This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19,” the Twitter warning read.

While the President says the Coronavirus has been ‘far less lethal’ than the flu - official government health data paints a much different picture.

It was the second time the President had cast doubts on the severity of the Coronavirus by comparing it to the flu on Twitter - as an earlier post in March said, “Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on.”

But Mr. Trump’s claim of 100,000 deaths from the flu was misleading, given that has not happened in the United States since a bad outbreak in 1968.

Health officials have voiced concerns about the flu causing problems at a time when the Coronavirus outbreak has not been checked, as top health officials have repeatedly urged Americans to get a flu shot, something the President did not address.

The social media dustup came a day after the President urged Americans not to be afraid of the Coronavirus.

“Don’t let it dominate your life,” the President said in a video released by the White House.