The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 1, 2020 in a Fox News interview: “Only 6% of the people actually died from COVID.” The others “died from other reasons.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"pants- fire\\"](\\" * National * Coronavirus * Donald Trump ![\\"President](\\" President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News on Sept. 1, 2020. (Screenshot from YouTube) ![\\"Daniel](\\" By Daniel Funke September 3, 2020 # Trump repeats false claim about COVID-19 deaths on Fox News #### If Your Time is short * In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Trump misconstrued data on coronavirus deaths. As of Sept. 3, 185,092 Americans had died due to COVID-19. * A CDC report found that 6% of people who died from COVID-19 only had the virus. The majority had other conditions as well, but that doesn’t mean COVID-19 wasn’t to blame. * The National Center for Health Statistics told us that COVID-19 was responsible for nearly all of the deaths involving the virus. See the sources for this fact-check In the past week, President Donald Trump has repeatedly spread a false claim that COVID-19 is not as deadly as his own public health agencies have reported. He retweeted a now-deleted post that alleged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \"quietly updated\" the number of coronavirus deaths. He shared another tweet from a senior legal adviser for his reelection campaign that linked to an article whose headline said \"only 9,210 Americans died from COVID-19 alone.\" And, in a Sept. 1 interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Trump said it himself: \"I saw a statistic come out the other day, talking about only 6% of the people actually died from COVID, which is a very interesting — that they died from other reasons.\" \"Well, they had comorbidities, which you’ve gotten criticized for,\" Ingraham responded. She’s right — the president misconstrued data on coronavirus deaths. As of Sept. 3, CDC data show 185,092 Americans had died due to COVID-19, and some estimates put the death toll higher. Trump’s claim traces back to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is part of the CDC. Each Wednesday, the agency releases new provisional death counts for the coronavirus. The data is based on death certificates. In that report, the NCHS notes in a section titled \"Comorbidities\" that, \"for 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned.\" \"For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death,\" the report says. Those lines have inspired a rash of claims on social media, including those retweeted by the president, that say the CDC \"adjusted\" its coronavirus death counts and the disease is not as deadly as previously thought. Those assertions are false — we rated a related Facebook post Pants on Fire. Several other fact-checkers have also debunked them. Let’s recap why they’re wrong. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeffrey Barke stated on August 23, 2024 in an Instagram post Food and Drug Administration approval for updated COVID-19 vaccines requires a public health emergency declaration. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 27, 2024 Comorbidities are conditions that patients experience in tandem with a primary condition. Think of conditions like cancer or diabetes, which the CDC has said put people more at risk of death if they contract the coronavirus. The NCHS report shows that the vast majority of coronavirus-related deaths occur in patients with comorbidities. But that doesn’t mean COVID-19 was a non-factor. \"The point that the CDC was trying to make was that a certain percentage of them had nothing else but just COVID-19,\" said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in a Sept. 1 interview with \"Good Morning America.\" \"That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of COVID didn’t die of COVID-19 — they did.\" \"The numbers that you’ve been hearing, the 180,000-plus deaths, are real deaths from COVID-19. Let there not be any confusion about that.\" So why do 94% of death certificates that mention COVID-19 also list other conditions? When a coronavirus patient is admitted to the hospital, the virus is listed on their medical record. Since the coronavirus attacks the lungs, perhaps they develop respiratory failure, which would also be listed on their record. Unfortunately, they die after going into cardiac arrest, so doctors take note of that, too. _RELATED:_No, the CDC did not ‘quietly adjust’ US coronavirus deaths All three of those conditions would be listed on the patient’s death certificate, but COVID-19 started the process. \"The people dying were not going to die but for the acquisition of COVID,\" said Dr. Myron Cohen, director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jeff Lancashire, acting associate director for communications at the NCHS, told us in an email that 92% of the death certificates that mention the coronavirus state that COVID-19 was the \"underlying cause of death.\" \"The underlying cause of death is the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person’s death,\" Lancashire said. We reached out to the White House and the Trump campaign for a comment, but we haven’t heard back. Trump’s claim is inaccurate and ridiculous. We rate it Pants on Fire! #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Factba.se, accessed Sept. 3, 2020 PolitiFact, \"No, the CDC did not ‘quietly adjust’ US coronavirus deaths,\" Aug. 31, 2020 YouTube video from Factbase Videos, Sept. 1, 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC COVID Data Tracker, accessed Sept. 3, 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): About CDC COVID-19 Data, July 13, 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): People with Certain Medical Conditions, Aug. 14, 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Social Distancing, July 15, 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Instructions for Completing the Cause-of-Death Section of the Death Certificate, accessed Aug. 31, 2020 Email from Dr. Myron Cohen, director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Aug. 31, 2020 Email from Jeff Lancashire, acting associate director for communications at the National Center for Health Statistics, Aug. 31, 2020 Facebook post from Dr. Mark Halstead, Aug. 30, 2020 The Gateway Pundit, \"SHOCK REPORT: This Week CDC Quietly Updated COVID-19 Numbers – Only 9,210 Americans Died From COVID-19 Alone – Rest Had Different Other Serious Illnesses,\" Aug. 29, 2020 National Center for Health Statistics, Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Sept. 2, 2020 The New York Times, \"The True Coronavirus Toll in the U.S. Has Already Surpassed 200,000,\" Aug. 13, 2020 Tweeted video from \"Good Morning America,\" Sept. 1, 2020 Factcheck.org, \"CDC Did Not ‘Admit Only 6%’ of Recorded Deaths from COVID-19,\" Sept. 1, 2020 Snopes, \"Did CDC ‘Quietly Update’ COVID-19 Deaths To Say Only 6% Are Legitimate?\" Sept. 3, 2020 Health Feedback, \"False claim shared by President Trump that only 6% of CDC- reported deaths are from COVID-19 is based on flawed reasoning,\" Aug. 31, 2020 Check Your Fact, \"FACT CHECK: DID THE CDC REVISE ITS COVID-19 DEATH COUNT TO SHOW THAT ONLY 9,210 PEOPLE ‘ACTUALLY DIED’ FROM COVID-19?\" Aug. 31, 2020 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Daniel Funke slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on January 30, 2021 in a sound: \"Schools are trying to make a law that teachers can see girls\' private parts to make sure they\'re not trans.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 17, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 15, 2021 in a text post: Says Joe Biden planned a winter storm as \"warfare, an attack on Texas by altering the jet stream.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 16, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Michael van der Veen stated on February 12, 2021 in a speech at the U.S. Senate: After the Capitol insurrection, “one of the first people arrested was a leader of antifa.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 12, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on March 31, 2021 in a video: \"mRNA is not a vaccine\" — it\'s \"actually an operating system\" that\'s run by Bill Gates to program humans. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • April 1, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on March 24, 2021 in a post: \"Suez Canal blocked by huge container ship named Evergreen. Evergreen shipping is most likely a cover for human and sex trafficking” by Hillary Clinton. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • March 25, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jack Posobiec stated on March 23, 2021 in a tweet: “New information coming in that Boulder shooter was a Syrian refugee who arrived via Obama-era asylum programs.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • March 24, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on March 22, 2021 in a text post: The shooting in Boulder, Colo., was a \"false flag like most of the others.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • March 23, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on March 17, 2021 in a video caption: “You will need a WHO Yellow Vaccination Passport if you plan on traveling internationally once borders open.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • March 22, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on March 13, 2021 in a text post: Says Joe Biden is “now saying he inherited ‘a mess’ at the border. Fact: 9,000 illegals all of 2020. So far in 2021 108,000 entered U.S.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Daniel Funke • March 17, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Sherri Tenpenny stated on February 9, 2021 in a Bitchute video: \"Some people are going to die from the vaccine directly. But a large number of people are going to start getting horribly sick and get all kinds of autoimmune diseases.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • March 4, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 26, 2021 in an image: Says Jerry Nadler said “God has no authority in the House of Representatives” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Daniel Funke • February 26, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" J. Bart Classen stated on January 18, 2021 in a research article: The COVID-19 vaccine could lead to prion diseases, Alzheimer’s, ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 26, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 21, 2021 in a post: Facebook users can avoid “problems with your Facebook going against community standards” by changing your settings. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 24, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Infowars stated on February 20, 2021 in an article: “Joe Biden’s Dept. of Energy Blocked Texas from Increasing Power Ahead of Killer Storm” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 22, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 13, 2021 in a text post: Donald Trump\'s second impeachment \"cost $33 million.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Daniel Funke • February 19, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on January 30, 2021 in a sound: \"Schools are trying to make a law that teachers can see girls\' private parts to make sure they\'re not trans.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 17, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 15, 2021 in a text post: Says Joe Biden planned a winter storm as \"warfare, an attack on Texas by altering the jet stream.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 16, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Michael van der Veen stated on February 12, 2021 in a speech at the U.S. Senate: After the Capitol insurrection, “one of the first people arrested was a leader of antifa.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • February 12, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on March 31, 2021 in a video: \"mRNA is not a vaccine\" — it\'s \"actually an operating system\" that\'s run by Bill Gates to program humans. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • April 1, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on March 24, 2021 in a post: \"Suez Canal blocked by huge container ship named Evergreen. Evergreen shipping is most likely a cover for human and sex trafficking” by Hillary Clinton. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • March 25, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jack Posobiec stated on March 23, 2021 in a tweet: “New information coming in that Boulder shooter was a Syrian refugee who arrived via Obama-era asylum programs.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Daniel Funke • March 24, 2021 ### Trump repeats false claim about COVID-19 deaths on Fox News * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 13, 2024 in a post: Vice President Kamala Harris’ college professors disparaged her as their “worst student.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 17, 2024 in a post: Photo shows Kamala Harris posing beside Sean “Diddy” Combs. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 18, 2024 in Instagram posts: “BREAKING: Police found ‘explosives’ in car near former President Donald Trump’s rally site on Long Island.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Dave McCormick stated on September 13, 2024 in an X post: Charleroi, Pennsylvania, “has grown by 2,000% due to an influx in migrants.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 13, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: \"El gran respaldo de Taylor Swift\" a Kamala Harris \"le cuesta $125 millones en acuerdos de marca\". ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 16, 2024 in an Instagram post: Taylor Swift “lost 17 million followers by endorsing Kamala.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kari Lake stated on September 13, 2024 in a post on X: Rep. Ruben Gallego’s “first act in Congress was to propose legislation to BAN the use of the term ‘illegal alien.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Mia Osmonbekov • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Sherrod Brown stated on September 4, 2024 in a TV interview: Of Bernie Moreno, “Now, he’s arguing for a national abortion ban, no exceptions.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • September 19, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 16, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Country Music Television (CMT) has announced a permanent boycott of Taylor Swift.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 11, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Disney World officially moving to Nashville.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! 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Only 6 of the people actually died from COVID The others died from other reasons