President Trump's attacks on Nancy Pelosi for visiting Chinatown About half-dozen times in the past week, President Trump has attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to San Francisco's Chinatown on Feb. 24. What's going on? Under fire for reacting too slowly to the coronavirus pandemic, Trump is trying to turn the tables and argue Pelosi was actually slower than he was. He points to his Jan. 31 decision (effective on Feb. 2) to impose some travel restrictions on non-U.S. citizens coming from China — and contrasts that with Pelosi's trip. Of course, Chinatown is not China. And there are many things Trump keeps getting wrong about her visit. It was pretty uneventful, but he tries to spice it up with claims that she called for a "big parade," a "street party," a "street fair" and so forth. Then he tosses in some ridiculously false claims. He said she deleted a tweet of the visit. No, she didn't. He said she made the trip to show the virus did not exist; no, she never said that. He said she caused many people to die. But there's no evidence for that. As of April 22, there have been a total of 21 deaths in San Francisco County; the first death was not announced until March 25, a month after her trip to Chinatown. Chinatown, in fact, had no covid-19 cases as of mid-April in its 22 blocks. That all added up to Four Pinocchios. For the full fact check, click here. Sign up for The Post's Coronavirus Updates newsletter to track the outbreak. All stories linked within the newsletter are free to access. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Did Trump ship 17 tons of 'American' masks and medical supplies to China?Meanwhile, an attack ad from a Democratic Super PAC charged that, as the president played down the crisis in its early weeks, "Trump gave China more than praise. He shipped China 17 tons of American masks and medical supplies. Our masks and supplies. Supplies we need now." The impression left by the ad is that these were U.S. government goods, shipped on Trump's order. But these were actually donations by private charities and public companies for Project HOPE, an international health-care organization that has been operating in Wuhan for a quarter-century. Usually, donors to Project HOPE arrange for charter aircraft to take their donations overseas. In the case highlighted in the ad, the State Department's role was providing the aircraft. The department sent chartered planes to Wuhan to pick up some 800 consulate workers, their families and other Americans. The planes otherwise were going to be empty on the way to China, so officials decided to fill the jets with donated goods. Project HOPE said the shipment would have been made with or without the State Department's help. American Bridge 21st Century, the Super PAC, earned Two Pinocchios. For the full fact check, click here. We've written a book!Regular readers know The Fact Checker has been keeping careful track of the president's false or misleading statements — now totaling 18,000. We are proud to announce that on June 2, Scribner will publish our book, "Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President's Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies." It's the authoritative guide to his difficulty with the truth, across many subjects. Our publisher says it is "fascinating, startling, and even grimly funny." You can preorder it now on Amazon. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP, @rizzoTK, @mmkelly22, @SarahCahlan) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. | 
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