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Sen. Ron Johnson Falsely Claims ‘Athletes Are Dropping Dead’ Due To Covid-19 Vaccine

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 03: Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) holds up a redacted document during a hearing about the Crossfire Hurricane investigation in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 03, 2020 in Washington, DC. Crossfire Hurricane is the code name for the FBI's 2016 counterintelligence investigation into possible links between President Donald Trump's associates and Russian officials. A Justice Department Inspector General report found no political bias in the initiation of the investigation, which resulted in the Mueller Report finding that the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with the Russian government. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) claimed that athletes are dropping dead from the COVID vaccine on the Charlie Kirk Show last week.

He said there have been 22,000 deaths associated with the vaccine. Yahoo reported that the number comes from a government database that anyone can record information with.

Johnson acknowledged that an association does not prove causation, but said that it should still raise concern.

The claim has been refuted and fact-checked.

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“Previous lists of athletes who purportedly died from the Covid-19 vaccines have included people who hadn’t died or hadn’t gotten the vaccine,” according to Politifact, which fact-checked the claim again this week after NBA All-Star John Stockton referenced it in an interview. “There have been no official reports linking the vaccines to heart issues in athletes, and multiple sports cardiologists have called the claims unfounded.”