Blog pushes conspiracy that coronavirus was invented to hurt Trump’s reelection bid

A false headline going around social media says that the New York Times "exposed" the real reason behind coronavirus "hype": to harm President Donald Trump’s re-election chances. 

A webpage called "3CCorp.net" published the story on March 13 that claims the novel coronavirus is a manufactured crisis advanced by Democrats and the media solely to hurt Trump. Its headline says: 

"The New York Times exposes real reason behind coronavirus hype: Crash the market to harm Trump’s reelection chances."

The post cites an article by the Times about the pandemic’s impact on the United States economy and Trump’s re-election chances in November. 

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

This blog post is bogus. 

First, there is no evidence that the coronavirus was "manufactured."

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A photo shows The Atlantic published a story headlined “Trump is Literally Hitler.”

Second, the New York Times article is a political analysis examining how recent events could affect Trump’s re-election chances. It cites as factors  COVID-19’s potential impact on the economy coupled with Joe Biden’s rise as the top presidential Democratic contender. But the story also notes that what’s happening now, in March, may ultimately have little bearing in November. 

A report on the potential of a pandemic hurting a president’s re-election bid is not evidence that a worldwide virus was manufactured.

This is Pants on Fire!