Politicians Have Died of COVID-19

A republican relative posted this false meme.  I was able to do a web search and quickly find that it is false.

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/09/politicians-have-died-of-covid-19/

By Saranac Hale Spencer
Posted on September 9, 2020

Quick Take

A meme circulating on Facebook falsely claims, “Not one politician has died from the virus.” Actually, at least five current or former politicians across the country have died due to COVID-19.
Full Story

More than 189,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19, so far — including some national, state, and local politicians.

But a meme is spreading this falsehood: “Not one politician has died from the virus, lost their job, or had their business looted.”

Dozens of copies of the meme — which shows actor Tommy Lee Jones reading a newspaper — have been circulating on Facebook since at least July. 

•••••

When the meme started circulating in early July, two state representatives already had died. State Rep. Bob Glanzer, of South Dakota, died on April 3 and State Rep. Reggie Bagala, of Louisiana, died on April 9. Local politicians had died, too, including Michael Yun, a councilman in Jersey City, New Jersey, who died on April 6, and Marny Xiong, chairwoman of the board of education in St. Paul, Minnesota, who died on June 7.

Perhaps the most widely covered death of a politician came in late July, though, when former presidential candidate Herman Cain died from complications due to COVID-19 on July 30.

•••••

Politicians have died during the pandemic, and many more have been diagnosed with the disease, including Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Bill Cassidy, and 14 U.S. representatives. The nonprofit, nonpartisan website Ballotpedia is keeping track of the deaths and diagnoses for public officials and politicians.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media.