On Monday, Axios, a left-leaning news organization, deleted a tweet fact-checking a claim made by Vice President Kamala Harris, which fact-checkers rated as “wrong,” after Harris started to face backlash over her false claims.
The tweet contained a video of a portion of an interview that Harris gave to Axios co-founder Mike Allen, which aired over the weekend. In the video, Harris was asked about the Biden administration’s response to the pandemic.
“There was no stockpile … of vaccines,” Harris claimed. “There was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations. We were leaving it to the states and local leaders to try and figure it out. And so in many ways, we’re starting from scratch on something that’s been raging for almost an entire year!”
In their now-deleted tweet, Axios wrote: “.@VP Harris to @mikeallen: ‘There was no national strategy or plan for [COVID-19] vaccinations. We’re starting from scratch.’ At a press conference last month, Fauci said ‘we certainly are not starting from scratch’ on vaccine distribution.'”
Even PolitiFact, which is left-leaning, said that Harris’ claim was “wrong,” writing in a tweet: “.@VP told @mikeallen that ‘there was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations’ and that Biden admin was ‘starting from scratch.’ That’s wrong. The Trump admin had a plan to distribute to locations chosen by states and let them take it from there.”
.@VP told @mikeallen that “there was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations” and that Biden admin was “starting from scratch.” That’s wrong. The Trump admin had a plan to distribute to locations chosen by states and let them take it from there. https://t.co/0MoQ8OnpoN pic.twitter.com/nYb8r5gPKz
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 15, 2021
Political commentator Stephen Miller responded to Axios deleting their tweet by highlighting the recent revelation that one of Axios’ reporters was dating a member of the Biden administration, who has since resigned after he threatened to “destroy” a reporter.
“Axios deleting this tweet seems suspicious given the revelations that a reporter for them who covers Kamala Harris is head over heels in love with a now former Biden Administration member,” Miller wrote. “See the problem now guys?”
Axios deleting this tweet seems suspicious given the revelations that a reporter for them who covers Kamala Harris is head over heels in love with a now former Biden Administration member. See the problem now guys? @mikeallen pic.twitter.com/U8v28h2kug
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 15, 2021
Statistician Josh Jordan commented: “Why would @axios delete the tweet that fact checked Kamala Harris’ (false) claim that they were starting from scratch, only to replace it with one that let’s Harris’ quote go without any fact checking. Seems like Fauci’s comment is quite noteworthy here… so why get rid of it?”
Why would @axios delete the tweet that fact checked Kamala Harris' (false) claim that they were starting from scratch, only to replace it with one that let's Harris' quote go without any fact checking.
Seems like Fauci's comment is quite noteworthy here… so why get rid of it? https://t.co/n4uXCrLAdt
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) February 15, 2021
Daily Caller Editor in Chief Geoffrey Ingersoll wrote: “Mike Allen undoubtedly knows Fauci debunked the ‘from scratch’ line. Genuinely surprised he didn’t push back on Harris here. Roughly 1.5 million vaccines distributed per day without Biden/Harris having to do anything is not ‘from scratch.'”
Mike Allen undoubtedly knows Fauci debunked the "from scratch" line. Genuinely surprised he didn't push back on Harris here.
Roughly 1.5 million vaccines distributed per day without Biden/Harris having to do anything is not "from scratch." https://t.co/MRHW7GUR00
— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@GPIngersoll) February 15, 2021
Axios later reposted the video but removed the additional context that included Fauci’s comments from their new tweet.
“The Trump administration’s approach to distributing the vaccine was to give it to locations chosen by the states and to let them take it from there,” PolitiFact ruled on a statement that was similar to the one that Harris made. “There are many criticisms of this process, including that it took too long to give states money to implement their plans and a lack of communication from the top about how the rollout would work. But that was the plan they drew up. Saying there a plan ‘does not really exist’ is beyond saying a plan is lacking. We rate [Biden’s chief of staff Ron] Klain’s claim Mostly False.”