Are Democratic Legislators ‘Giddy’ Over COVID-19 Economic Fallout?







A classic example of what's called "copypasta" spreading unfounded rumors on social media.







































							False
['An anonymous person witnessed Democratic legislators in Washington, D.C., "giddy" over the economic fallout during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic.', 'In early May 2020, Facebook users began sharing a specimen of what is known as “copypasta,” which can generally be described as text that is copied then pasted and shared across internet platforms, on the topic of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic.', 'The text block purported to be from a person claiming to have personal knowledge that Democratic lawmakers in Congress were “giddy” over the economic impacts of the pandemic. The message begans, “Spoke with a friend of mine who works in DC.”', 'Here is an example of the message, with the Facebook user’s name cropped out for privacy purposes:', '', 'Some version of the text shared above included a note that it was copied and pasted from a person named Rick Wilson, although we were unable to locate a person by that name who posted the text.', 'It bears mentioning that the U.S. House of Representatives, lead by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left the Capitol on March 27, 2020, and as of this writing have not returned, following the advice of an attending physician.', 'The U.S. Senate, meanwhile, returned to the Capitol on May 4 after a five-week hiatus. And the copypasta, as shown in the screen shot above, has been circulating on Facebook at least as early as May 4.', 'The copypasta has also appeared on Twitter and random websites, but never directly attributing the original source nor the “friend” that witnessed the alleged events and discussions.', 'Given the lack of evidence provided and the fact that the text has been copied and pasted or shared by hundreds of people with no connection to it, this appears to be little more than a social media hoax. We therefore rate it “False.”', 'Volz, Dustin.\xa0“Lawmakers Leave Washington Without Renewing Expired Surveillance Powers.”\n\xa0\xa0The Wall Street Journal.\xa027 March 2020.', 'Snell, Kelsey.\xa0“House Cancels Plans To Return To Washington On May 4, While Senate Preps For Session.”\n\xa0\xa0NPR.\xa028 April 2020.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', 'A complete story is rarely told in a headline.', 'Social media rumors that two memorials in New York were vandalized proved misleading.', 'In August 2019, a 23-year-old unarmed Black man died after an encounter with police officers in Aurora, Colorado.', 'A chaotic scene in St. Louis sparked outrage, memes, and confusion.', 'Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on sex abuse charges connected to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.', 'The white supremacist group made frequent use of the slogan more recently embraced by President Donald Trump, though they did not, as some claim, invent it.', "The question of past arrests often surfaces among people who want to rationalize police officers' actions when Black men are killed in custody.", 'You can claim anything if you remove the barrier of evidence.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', '© 1995 - 2020 by Snopes Media Group Inc.', 'This material may not be reproduced without permission.', 'Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com']
Are Democratic Legislators 'Giddy' Over COVID-19 Economic Fallout?