FactChecking Trump’s Immunity Claims
During a campaign rally, President Donald Trump said that once he came down with COVID-19, people for partisan reasons shifted from saying immunity was lifelong to saying it lasted only a few months. Experts, however, haven’t changed their estimates for immunity duration, which remains unknown — but unlikely to be lifelong.
The president also has repeatedly declared himself “immune” to COVID-19 following his illness. That’s a reasonable assumption — at least for now — but whether he’s actually resistant to a second infection isn’t known. And his unique treatment regimen could mean his potential immunity is more fleeting than that of most other people who have recovered from the coronavirus.
Trump first alleged that COVID-19 immunity estimates changed in an Oct. 13 rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after asking the crowd who else had caught the coronavirus.
Trump, Oct. 13: Who has had it? Who has had it here? Who’s had it? Yeah. A lot of people,
