SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Claification: Graham has clarified that her page is personal, not official. Graham had previously called it an official page in 2019, but changed it to a personal page.
Washington State Republican Representative Jenny Graham, who represents Spokane County's District 6, had a post fact-checked and marked as false by Facebook in late May.
The May 23 post, which shows two quotes attributed to Dr. Anthony Fauci about the drug Hydroxychloroquine, was marked as "False Information" by the social media platform. Fauci has been leading the U.S. response to the 2019 novel coronavirus.
Science surrounding the novel cornoavirus has been fast-changing and several drugs have been tested as a potential benefit in order to try and combat this new viral threat until a vaccine is approved.
The quotes claim Dr. Fauci said Hydroxycholorquine, which is misspelled "Hydrocyholorquine" in the quote, is not a valid cure for the coronavirus until a major study is done. The other quote portrays Dr. Fauci as saying that a coronavirus vaccine needs to be immediately delivered worldwide for injection before proper studies are done.
Facebook links to a fact-check by Factcheck.org that explains that Dr. Fauci actually said he supports manufacturing vaccines while trials are still taking place, but that he said he only wants them administered once trials proving they're safe are completed. Fauci made the remarks about the vaccine on May 25 and June 1, explaining that by manufacturing during trials, it can be ready to distribute dependent on successful trials.
Graham told KREM the article appeared to be factual and she was surprised to see the fact-check from Facebook.
"There wasn’t anything in there with [Fauci's] direct quotes that would lead me to believe that was an incorrect post,” she said.
Graham said she was concerned that a vaccine would be rushed without proper independent testing, and the article reflected that view.
“This is me wanting to make sure they’re not cutting corners,” she said. “At the end of the day it’s not the government that’s going to get hurt if corners are cut, your child is going to get hurt.”
The fact-checking or censoring of social media posts by politicians has come under the spotlight recently after President Donald Trump had a tweet marked as "inciting violence," spurning national debate over social media platforms' responsibility to fact-check.
Graham, who won the District 6 seat in 2018, clarified that she isn't against vaccines.
"As a mom, these vaccines absolutely do save lives and help to stop the spread of disease, so they are a useful tool in that way," Graham said. "My concern is that we have our schools shut down, they say there's a possibility they may not open until there's a vaccine available, and if these trials are rushed a little bit, there's isn't as much time to check for safety."
Graham also pointed to a comment she made on the post in which she voiced support for "informed consent," which happens when a patient is required to be educated on risks before signing off on a treatment. She also said she was concerned over liability and the possibility of relying on companies to carry out their own trials.
As for the first claim about Dr. Fauci's views on Hydroxycholorquine, Graham said she has heard of cases of the drug helping some people recover while others haven't seen positive results. She said many medicines react differently in different people.
House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox (R-District 2) and Washington State Republican Party Chairman Caleb Heimlich couldn't be reached for comment by the time of publication.
District 6 covers a large area of south and southwest Spokane County.
