Fact-checking NC’s gubernatorial debate between Gov. Cooper and Lt. Gov. Forest
The News & Observer is fact-checking the first and only debate between incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and his Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. Here are some of the claims made by the two candidates for North Carolina governor Wednesday night.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
CLAIM: “Let’s don’t forget that it was Dan Forest supporters who were out in the middle of the street in Raleigh burning masks and calling police officers pigs. Yet Dan Forest said and did nothing about that.” — Gov. Roy Cooper
“This is the most bizarre comment I’ve ever heard,” Forest said in response.
Both of these claims — that protesters burned masks and called police officers “pigs” — are somewhat accurate.
After ReOpen NC organizer Ashley Smith, who has voiced her support for Forest on social media, was arrested in late April during a protest, her husband, Adam Smith, called each officer outside the governor’s mansion “little piggie,” The News & Observer previously reported. Adam Smith also called police “thugs” for arresting his wife, The N&O reported.
In a video published to Reopen NC’s Facebook page, Ashley Smith is seen burning a mask. The N&O did not report mask-burning during protests, or “in the middle of the street in Raleigh.”
CORONAVIRUS
CLAIM: “When I mandated masks, our cases leveled off. But then Dan Forest lied to the public and said masks don’t work.” — Gov. Roy Cooper
There are two claims in this statement. The first appears to be true. Cooper implemented a statewide mask mandate on June 24, and it went into effect on June 26. Immediately following that mandate, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases rose, but three weeks later, it began to fall. While there does seem to be a correlation between the mask mandate and the average number of new cases reported, experts told WRAL there’s not enough evidence yet to show how mask-wearing influences the leveling-off the state saw following the mandate.
Forest did suggest masks don’t work. He made the same claim over the summer, and The N&O fact-checked it. Even in July, the mounting evidence was clear: wearing a face mask largely reduces the risk of infection.
Forest first made the claim following a campaign event, in an interview with The Henderson Times-News, The News & Observer previously reported.
“We started off with Fauci saying, ‘People are walking down the street with masks on and that’s ridiculous. It doesn’t help you, it doesn’t help them; it may make them feel better about the virus,’” Forest said, according to the Times-News. “There have been multiple comprehensive studies at the deepest level held to scientific standards in controlled environments that have all said for decades, masks do not work with viruses. That’s why we’ve never used a mask for a coronavirus before, ever.”
Initially, Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and other health officials said the general public did not need to wear masks, but Fauci later changed his position. Both Fauci and other health experts have said growing evidence shows wearing a mask can slow the spread of the coronavirus, The N&O reported.
CLAIM: “Half of the deaths in North Carolina have come from nursing homes.” — Lt. Gov. Dan Forest
This is not true at this time. As of Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services reported 3,856 coronavirus deaths in the state. More than 1,500, or around 40%, of those were reported in nursing homes.
CLAIM: “Private schools have been open for 12 weeks in North Carolina, all over North Carolina, with no outbreak, no trouble from anybody.” — Lt. Gov. Dan Forest
This is false. The latest report from the state’s health department shows several private schools have ongoing clusters, which are defined as five or more positive cases in a 14-day period and a “plausible epidemiologic linkage between cases.”
UNEMPLOYMENT
CLAIM: “This department has pulled together and gotten out $8.2 billion to almost a million people.” — Gov. Roy Cooper
This is close to accurate. The North Carolina Department of Commerce Division of Employment Security reported that, as of Wednesday, $8.305 billion in claims have been paid out since March 15.
CLAIM: “What he really doesn’t want to talk about is the over a million and a half people that he has left unemployed.” — Lt. Gov. Dan Forest
This statistic is also close to true. Since March 15, 1.3 million people have applied for unemployment benefits, according to the commerce department. But the department also reports 29% of those claims were not eligible for benefits.
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This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Fact-checking NC’s gubernatorial debate between Gov. Cooper and Lt. Gov. Forest."
