CLAIM: Former President Donald Trump in a statement wished President Joe Biden a speedy recovery from COVID-19 and referred to his own fight against the virus as “Herculean.”
AP RATING: False. That statement is made up, a Trump spokesman confirmed on Twitter. It does not appear among the former president’s public statements on his website or social media.
THE FACTS: Social media users shared a made-up Trump statement as real this week after news broke Thursday that Biden had tested positive for COVID-19.
The statement, crafted to look like genuine Trump press releases, acknowledged Biden’s diagnosis, then turned attention back to Trump’s own bout with COVID-19 in 2020.
“I hope Sleepy Joe is able to make a speedy recovery, just like I was,” the fake statement read. “The doctors described my fight against the China virus as Herculean, and it didn’t mean Disney’s Hercules awakened but Kevin Sorbo’s. Lou Ferrigno’s too.”
The fake statement wished Biden a “speedy recovery” and said “no one wants” Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.
When Trump issues public statements, they appear on his website or on the social media platform he founded, Truth Social. The false statement did not appear in either.
Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich confirmed the statement was false, tweeting that it was “obviously designed by some prankster.” Numerous other manufactured Trump statements using the same format have circulated in recent months.
Many other Twitter users also acknowledged that the statement was not real, including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who shared it on Friday with the caption: “This is fake, but funny as hell.”
The AP reported that Biden attended work meetings remotely on Friday, continuing his duties despite mild symptoms that included a runny nose and a loose cough. He also completed his first full day of Paxlovid antiviral therapy.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including working with outside companies and organizations to add real context to misleading content circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.