How a presidential hoax unfolded on social media

National news media turned to a University of Cincinnati expert on conspiracy theories to explain why rumors about President Trump's health over Labor Day weekend captured public attention.

Social media posts trended with false reports of the president's passing. The hoax made it back to the White House on Tuesday when Fox News asked the president, “How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?”

UC Professor Jeffrey Blevins said one thing that fanned the fire of conspiracy was a comment Vice President J.D. Vance made that was shared out of context on social media.

USA Today asked Vance if he was prepared to assume the duties of president, given Trump's age at 79.

Blevins told PolitiFact that Vance's comments were innocuous, but in combination with speculation about the president's health and his nonpublic weekend schedule "gives spark to these (kinds) of ideas.”

Blevins also told the nonprofit Poynter Institute that what distinguished the latest hoax was how widely it was shared on social media. The claims reached millions of people.

Blevins teaches in UC's School of Public and International Affairs. He studies misinformation and the way conspiracy theories take hold. He is co-author of the 2024 book “Social Media and Digital Politics: Networked Reason in an Age of Digital Emotion.”

MSN and PBS NewsHour shared the PolitiFact story.

Read the PolitiFact story.