Facts Matter: Biden’s cancer not caused by vaccines

Former President Joe Biden was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. His staff said it is an aggressive cancer that has metastasized to his bones.

Doctors said Biden’s cancer was given a score of nine out of 10 on the Gleason scale, which categorizes the severity of prostate cancer.

Following the diagnosis, some social media users appeared to have more information.

“It is sad to see another one who is Covid vaccinated and boosted it to the hilt, get turbo cancer already metastasized,” read a May 18 X post.

But this is false, according to PolitiFact. There is no scientific evidence that vaccines cause or enhance cancer and the phrase “turbo cancer” is not a medical term, but rather an online expression popularized by opponents of vaccinations.

“In a basic sense, in order to cause cancer, something has to damage DNA or cause chronic damage that leads to more mistakes in DNA replication,” molecular biologist Dan Wilson told PolitiFact. “Neither mRNA nor the spike protein it produces have any capability to mutate DNA.”

Following the COVID-19 vaccinations, Wilson said if that was the case, there would be a noticeable increase in cancer rates, “which you would definitely expect to see if the mass rollout of a cancer-causing vaccine just happened.”

Aggressive cancers have been around longer than vaccines and there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines create a form of turbo cancer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside chief of urology Dr. Benjamin J. Davies told PolitiFact.

“There is no validity at all to any claims that mRNA shots ‘turbo charge’ prostate cancer in the slightest,” he said.

Birthright citizenship not unique to U.S.

The Supreme Court this month has been preparing to look at President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship. Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20 to deny citizenship to children born to parents illegally living in the U.S.

In a May 15 post on Truth Social, the president said the U.S. is alone in having birthright citizenship as a law.

“The United States of America is the only Country in the World that does this, for what reason, nobody knows,” Trump said.

But that’s not quite right, according to The Associated Press. Nearly 30 countries offer birthright citizenship.

“The statement is pretty obviously wrong,” George Mason University professor of law Ilya Somin told the AP. “Many countries have birthright citizenship, though in some of them the rules are different from those in the U.S.”

Most of the counties with unconditional birthright citizenship, including Mexico and Canada, are in North and South America. A few other countries in Africa and Asia also have the law on the books.

In the U.S., Birthright citizenship was added to the Constitution following the Civil War to ensure that former slaves would be classified as citizens.

Video shows paraglider, not captured pilot

A recent video posted to social media claims to show an incident during the recent conflict between India and Pakistan, as an Indian fighter pilot is supposedly captured.

“#Pakistan strikes back. Another Rafale shot down. Female pilot captured by locals,” reads the caption on a recent Facebook post. The clip shows people running toward a person who parachutes to the ground.

But this video has nothing to do with tensions between the two countries, according to Reuters. It merely shows a paraglider landing.

“Landing at Lower Dir, KpK #paragliding,” wrote a user who shared the video on March 25 on Instagram, before the conflict escalated.

On May 10, Instagram user Sharjeel Khattak posted a selfie with the landing video and the statement, “Clarification: A months-old video of my paragliding landing is now being wrongly shared online with the false claim that an Indian pilot was captured by locals.

“This was just a regular paragliding flight — I’m safe, I’m local, and definitely not a pilot from across the border. Let’s not spread misinformation — and let’s keep flying high, the right way!”

Manning moment created by AI

A recent social media post showed former NFL player Peyton Manning comforting a young boy.

“Peyton Manning Left a Gala in a Tuxedo — Just to Sit on the Floor With a Crying Kid in the Hallway,” read the caption over an image of Manning and a sobbing child.

But this is false, according to Scopes. The photo is AI generated.

According to the fake story, Manning was the guest of honor at a black-tie charity event when he left to comfort the crying boy. He supposedly gave the child his tie, saying, “Wear this for luck. It’s been on some good stages.”

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.