Facts Matter: Fauci didn't admit masks failed
Recent social media posts claim former top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has admitted face masks worn to combat the COVID-19 pandemic didn't work.
“So yesterday Fauci publicly admitted masks were a failure,” reads an Instagram post that included an image quoting Fauci as saying “masks work at the margins — maybe 10 percent.”
But that's not all of what he said, according to The Associated Press. The posts took part of Fauci's statement and misrepresented his message.
“(The comments) were taken out of context and distorted,” Fauci told the AP.
The quotes were from a recent interview Fauci did with The New York Times Magazine. During the interview, journalist David Wallace-Wells asked Fauci about culture wars over mask wearing and a study conducted in Bangladesh that suggested increased mask use reduced COVID-19 by nearly 10%.
“It's a good point in general, but I disagree with your premise a bit,” Fauci answered. “From a broad public-health standpoint, at the population level, masks work at the margins — maybe 10%. But for an individual who religiously wears a mask, a well-fitted KN95 or N95, it's not at the margin. It really does work.”
Fauci was making the distinction between mask wearing as a community and people wearing a high-quality mask much of the time.
“When you look at a study from a population standpoint you may not account for the fact (that) even though masks are recommended and/or required, many people do not wear them some or all of the time or they do not fit properly,” he told the AP. “However, I made it eminently and explicitly clear that when masks are used consistently and properly, at the individual level they are highly effective.”
Anheuser-Busch has not closed breweries
Anheuser-Busch has seen significant pushback after a decision to partner Bud Light with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a marketing campaign. According to recent posts, the company has had to shut down many of its facilities.
“Anheuser Busch Closing Half Of Its Breweries In The US After ‘Worst Goof In Marketing History,'” read an April 29 Facebook post.
Although Anheuser-Busch has seen a drop in sales since the partnership, there have been no reports the company has closed any breweries, according to PolitiFact. The false post was based on an article published on a satirical website. That story quotes Joe Barron, identified as the vice president of Bud Light. But no one with that name is listed in the company directory.
Anheuser-Busch has 12 breweries in 11 states, and it lists the St. Louis location as its flagship brewery.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth posted in an April 13 letter. “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
Video not about Carlson's departure
Former TV host Tucker Carlson parted ways with Fox News last month, shortly after the cable network settled for $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
Following the announcement, social media posts appeared to show New York City celebrating Carlson's departure.
A video posted to Twitter of cheering in the streets included the text, “Apparently there's a Tucker Carlson Parade in New York celebrating him leaving Fox News. Needs more cowbell.”
A Facebook post with the same video read, “In case you didn't see it ... NYC went nuts over the news about Tucker Carlson.”
But that video has nothing to do with Carlson, according to Reuters. The clip has been on the internet since at least 2021.
A TikTok user, beginning in July 2021, has posted the same video with different captions, including “My neighborhood is going nuts over Twitter getting rid of fleets,” and “People in my neighborhood celebrating the Facebook/Instagram outage.”
Biden not impostor wearing Biden mask
An Instagram post last month claimed President Joe Biden has been replaced by an impostor wearing a Joe Biden mask.
The post includes an April 12 C-SPAN video of Biden talking to children in Ireland. In a close-up of the back of the president's head, Biden scratches his neck, which leaves a slight wrinkle in his skin.
“Oh my gosh, that's a mask,” a person off camera says as the video plays. Text on top of the post reads, “So yall think Biden is still alive?”
But that's not an impersonator, it's the president, according to PolitiFact.
“Biden is 80 years old, and it is natural to have wrinkles at that age,” PolitiFact reporter Gabrielle Settles wrote.
Biden's trip to Ireland was widely covered by journalists and there were no news reports he was wearing a mask.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.