Italy’s president was caught on camera crying over and regretting country’s coronavirus response.
The post (archived here) making the claim, which implores Filipinos to take urgent actions against the virus, was published on Facebook on March 21, 2020. The text of the post read:, , This is what social media users saw:, , "While the plea for action might make sense, the post is pushing partially fake news that could confuse readers by claiming that Italys president was crying and bemoaning that nations reponse to the global pandemic - which has claimed more lives in Italy than anywhere else in the world, including the suspected origin country of China. According to data from worldometers.info, which has been tracking the novel coronavirus outbreak, Italy has recorded more than 6,000 deaths with more than 50,400 active cases. Here is the breakdown as of March 24, 2020:", , Even still, the photo is clearly not Sergio Mattarella, pictured here:, , Instead, it is a picture of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is pictured here:, , , This post has previously been debunked, including by Indian fact-checking site Boom:, According to reports, the Brazilian president participated in an evangelical Thanksgiving service at the Planalto Palace, on December 17, 2019, where he broke down while narrating an incident. A Brazilian news publication, Poder 360, reported, "In front of a hall filled with authorities and the faithful, the president cried when he remembered the knife attack he suffered in Juiz de Fora (MG), during the 2018 election campaign." The image was taken by Sergio Lima, for news publication, Poder 360., , "Brazil has suffered with the pandemic as well, but at a far lower toll. Heres data from worldometers.info as of March 24, 2020:", , See who is sharing it (it might even be your friends...) and leave the link in the comments.:, Lead Stories is working with the CoronaVirusFacts/DatosCoronaVirus Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 fact-checkers who are fighting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about the alliance here., Managing Editor Eric\xa0Ferkenhoff has been a reporter, editor and professor for 27 years, working chiefly out of the Midwest and now the South. Focusing on the criminal and juvenile justice systems, education and politics, Ferkenhoff has won several journalistic and academic awards and helped start a fact-checking project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he continues to teach advanced reporting. Ferkenhoff also writes and edits for the juvenile justice site\xa0JJIE.org., , Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or\n      inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.\n      \n      Spotted something? Let us know!., Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or\n        inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.\n        \n        Spotted something? Let us know!.
Fact Check: Italy's President NOT Caught On Camera Crying Over, and Regretting, Nation's COVID-19 Response | Lead Stories