The government-run website covid.gov used to host information about COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and treatment. Now, under President Trump’s purview, the page redirects to a White House website espousing the unproven theory that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese laboratory.
The theory, which has been opposed by many virologists, was espoused in a report by House Republicans last year that determined the pandemic began with a lab leak in China. House Democrats released a rebuttal at the time, stating the probe failed to determine COVID’s true origins.
The covidtests.gov website, where people could previously order free coronavirus tests, also redirects to this new page.
The White House’s new website also includes medical disinformation about the treatment of the virus, falsely claiming that social distancing, mask mandates, and lockdowns are not effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. However, hundreds of studies have shown that these preventative measures do, in fact, reduce the transmission of respiratory infections like COVID-19.
In the months since Trump has reassumed his role as the U.S. president, numerous government websites have been edited to reflect the agenda of his administration. With the help of Elon Musk’s DOGE, the government has attempted to remove from government documents hundreds of words related to diversity. This includes words like “Black,” “disability,” “diversity,” “gender,” “racism,” “women,” and more. The government has also removed mentions of scientifically-proven climate change from environmental websites.
