March 17, 2020 Biden Surrogate Tim Ryan is Maliciously and Intentionally Lying to America

On MSNBC today, Joe Biden surrogate Rep. Tim Ryan stated a total lie, pushing the repeatedly debunked false claim that President Trump called the coronavirus a "hoax." MSNBC's Chris Jansing failed to correct him.

"I don’t want to get in a political discussion," Ryan said, admitting he was about to politicize a public health crisis. "But the leader of the country calling this a 'hoax' for such a long period of time put us behind the eight ball."

This is a shocking, inexcusable, deliberate effort by a Biden surrogate to mislead Americans and spread misinformation about President Trump's efforts to combat the coronavirus.

At least 6 entities have debunked the false claim this Biden surrogate is still spreading:

The Washington Post: "The full quote shows Trump is criticizing Democratic talking points and the media’s coverage of his administration’s response to coronavirus. He never says that the virus itself is a hoax[.]" (03/13/2020)



"The full quote shows Trump is criticizing Democratic talking points and the media’s coverage of his administration’s response to coronavirus. He never says that the virus itself is a hoax[.]" (03/13/2020) FactCheck.org: "Trump said that when he used the word 'hoax,' he was referring to Democrats finding fault with his administration’s response to coronavirus, not the virus itself. Even after Trump explained his remarks, some Democrats ... continued to wrongly accuse Trump of describing the coronavirus as a 'hoax.'" (03/03/2020)



"Trump said that when he used the word 'hoax,' he was referring to Democrats finding fault with his administration’s response to coronavirus, not the virus itself. Even after Trump explained his remarks, some Democrats ... continued to wrongly accuse Trump of describing the coronavirus as a 'hoax.'" (03/03/2020) CBS News' Scott Pelley: "[Trump] said that the Democrats making so much of it is a Democratic hoax, not that the virus was a hoax." (03/01/2020)



"[Trump] said that the Democrats making so much of it is a Democratic hoax, not that the virus was a hoax." (03/01/2020) Snopes: "Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax." (03/02/2020)



"Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax." (03/02/2020) Slate's Will Saletan: "He was saying the hoax is that he's handled it badly. Not the virus itself." (02/28/2020)



"He was saying the hoax is that he's handled it badly. Not the virus itself." (02/28/2020) Check Your Fact: "He did not refer to the coronavirus itself as a hoax. ... At no point in the rally does Trump directly call the novel coronavirus outbreak a 'hoax' or 'conspiracy.' In fact, he refers to the respiratory virus as a 'public health threat' and reiterates 'we have to take it very, very seriously. That’s what we’re doing. We are preparing for the worst.'" (02/29/2020)

What Biden's surrogate did today is not an accident – it is intentional malice and deception, and simply more evidence that the Biden campaign is using the coronavirus as a political football in a cynical attempt to incite fear and undermine America's response to a public health crisis.