4 like 29 dislike
in General Factchecking by Genius (45.8k points)
Former President Donald Trump has tested positive for syphilis and gonorrhea.
by Apprentice (1.1k points)
1 0
This claim comes from TikTok, which right away is a social media site rather than a reliable news outlet. The user who posted the video quotes no sources in which they got the information, and there is nothing in the comments to add to it. There have also been no headlines from other news sources about the topic, let alone any official statements that have been released by the former president about his physical health. I believe this claim is false.
by Novice (750 points)
0 0
Since this claim comes from tik tok I highly doubt it has any validity.
by Newbie (480 points)
0 0
Well for starters Tik Tok is not a valid source to find out any information. Therefore off the bat I am saying this claim is false. I am not sure how truthful Newsweek is but they go on to say doctors review pictures of President Trump with rashes on his hands and say it does not look like syphilis . They say it does look like secondary syphilis but we cannot be sure. Also yet again, if you watch the video itself, there is no way you can be sure that they are arguing over a positive STD result. This article is the only thing I can find in recent news addressing this "rumor". Therefore I can confidently say these allegations are false.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-syphilis-rumors-doctors-weigh-1861983
by Newbie (410 points)
0 0
I agree that claims that come from TikTok should be treated with skepticism. None of the content presented provides any insight into his health issues. The comments on the TikTok video don't even discuss Trump, but focus on the real context of the video, which is being at Ivanka Trump's mother's funeral. I briefly searched the title of this claim on Google and found no articles supporting it. Instead, I came across a few that addressed the fact that this claim is soley just a rumor and has been known as such.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-syphilis-rumors-doctors-weigh-1861983
by Novice (500 points)
0 0
I agree tik tok is not a valid source of any information but to make your support stronger if you could provide a link or even a quote it will benefit your fact check
by Novice (660 points)
0 0
Let's start by clarifying that Tik Tok is not a valid source for obtaining reliable information. I must say that this claim is false right from the beginning. Although I cannot guarantee the accuracy of Newsweek, they mention that doctors have examined pictures of President Trump's hands with rashes and have concluded that it does not resemble syphilis. They suggest it may be secondary syphilis, but there is still uncertainty. With that being said, even if you watch the video itself, there is no way to be certain that they are discussing a positive STD result. This article appears to be the only recent news addressing this "rumor". Therefore, I can confidently state that these allegations are baseless.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-syphilis-rumors-doctors-weigh-1861983
by Novice (790 points)
0 0
Tik Tok is known for spreading false information. Anybody can easily just come up with something and load it into Tik Tok. The app is known for not having regulation and being somewhat of a free-for-all. Information that is retrieved from Tik Tok is not valid without a second source. Tik Tok is not an app to retrieve primary sources of information from. There is nothing to back up this claim so therefore I would call it misleading and to be a false accusation.
by Novice (600 points)
0 0
I agree that one should be skeptical of claims made on TikTok. Nothing in the material offers any explanation of his health problems. The TikTok video's actual context—being at Ivanka Trump's mother's funeral—is the main topic of discussion in the comments, which skips over any discussion of Trump. I quickly Googled the claim's title and couldn't find any publications that supported it. Rather, I found some that addressed the reality that this assertion is only a rumor and has always been treated as such.
by Apprentice (1.6k points)
0 0
I agree with your reasoning, and it does seem to have very little to validate it. That being said, there are actually 2 articles from Newsweek and Yahoo News that discuss the topic. While these are not the most reputable media outlets, it's important to try to find all the contextual information you can. Great work though, I agree with your take!
by Novice (720 points)
0 0
I agree that this was completely made up. TikTok should never be a news source because anyone can post on the app and make up false statements. Are there any websites saying anything about Trump having syphilis? I thought I saw a couple, although I believe them to be false. Without any concrete evidence no one should make a claim so erroneous.

19 Answers

1 like 0 dislike
by Novice (800 points)
Right off the bat, I realized the link to this is on TikTok which right away gave me false hope that this headline was real. There are no details, no sources, or anything to back the topic. The topic can also not be found elsewhere. Something about an ex-president getting an STD probably would be hard to find out as well.
by Genius (45.8k points)
0 0
Strong fact-checks should include sources and supporting data, information or quotes.
1 like 0 dislike
by Novice (780 points)
This claim cannot be verified as it is private medical information that cannot be made public by any source other than Donald Trump himself. The source used to back up this claim is a Tik Tok which is in no way a reliable source.
by Genius (45.8k points)
0 0
Strong fact-checks should include sources and supporting data, information or quotes.
1 like 0 dislike
by Novice (640 points)
This is a claim from a TikTok video and it is not backed by anything. There are no articles published referring to either statement, and no official statements released relating to this. It seems like it is only speculation, and therefore the claim is false.
False
by Genius (45.8k points)
0 0
Strong fact-checks should include sources and supporting data, information or quotes.
1 like 0 dislike
by Apprentice (1.0k points)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2XEg-khkaM

The original source I found for this claim was a Politicon YouTube video of James Carville who is an "American Political Strategist and Commentator" according to his biography on Britannica.com. Carville shows an image of Donald Trumps hands with red sores on them. He claims that he asked variety of MD's what would cause those sores and they told him secondary syphilis. Even though Carville claims that he's talked to MD's about the diagnosis, he has no evidence that that's the answer they gave or even that he talked to an MD. It appears that Carville is not a licensed urologist or MD, so therefore he can't start this claim. On the other hand, he said "I think there is a good chance" not directly that he 100% does.

False
1 like 0 dislike
by Novice (750 points)
This specific TikTok post had no real evidence that this speculation was true. When doing further research I wasn't able to find any evidence regarding this. TikTok is not a reliable source and has lots of misinformation.
by Genius (45.8k points)
0 0
Strong fact-checks should include sources and supporting data, information or quotes.
1 like 0 dislike
by Novice (640 points)

The claim that Former President Donald Trump has tested positive for syphilis and gonorrhea is false. The original source of this information is Tik Tok. A platform that allows anyone to post anything they want. This form of social media leads to false claims and unreliable information. I have cross referenced the claim with other sources from the internet and found further conformation that this claim is false. Though the rumor did spread from a photo of Trump waving with large red splotches on his hands, the News Week article quotes a doctor on his opinion of the marks. The article does not provide an author but does give direct quotes from Democratic political consultant James Carville as well. A forbes article gives similar information on the subject saying there is no evidence on the marks and it could really be anything. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/01/18/trumps-red-hand-markings-draw-wild-speculation-including-syphilis-conspiracies/?sh=1386a09223d4 

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-syphilis-rumors-doctors-weigh-1861983

Exaggerated/ Misleading
0 like 0 dislike
by Novice (610 points)
The source of this information is coming from a post on popular social media platform TikTok. TikTok is not a credible news source. The video shows clips from Trump and Melania at a funeral. The caption of the video claims that the two of them are fighting due to Trump testing positive for Syphilis, I believe this would be an example of false connection because this caption or claim does not support what is being shown in the video. After an initial quick search with key words of Donald Trump and Syphilis the top 10 sources that come up on my google are very unreliable being sources such as Youtube, Palm Beach Post, India Time etc. Because I was unable to find a reliable source posting about this topic I believe this is claim is false.
0 like 0 dislike
by Novice (970 points)
TikTok, while popular, should not be considered a dependable source for accurate information. After reviewing the specific video mentioned, it's clear that the content does not substantiate any claims of a positive STD test result. Given the lack of concrete evidence and the nature of the platform where these claims originated, I am inclined to consider these allegations as untrue. The necessity of relying on credible and verified sources for information cannot be overstated.
0 like 0 dislike
by Novice (630 points)

What first stood out to me about this news was that it was from Tik tok. Tik tok has been known to be an unreliable source, putting out fabricated content in order to gain more followings. According to CNN business "nearly 20% of the videos presented as search results contain misinformation." Thus proving that Tik tok is an unreliable source. 

This specific content is claiming that former President Trump has tested positive for syphilis and gonorrhea. Other than the above statement, there is no background information as to why this is true and any facts to back it up. 

The reason this claim started was because Trump was photographed with a rash on his hands that reflected similar symptoms to syphilis and gonorrhea. However, Dr. Phillip chan told Newsweek "there's really not much there and it's not really consistent with what I would say is secondary syphilis." Thus proving there isnt enough information to make factual claims. 

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-syphilis-rumors-doctors-weigh-1861983

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/18/business/tiktok-search-engine-misinformation/index.html

False

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