Claim: Darializa Avila Chevalier believes that COVID‑19 originated in France.
100%Fact-Check Analysis
Claim: Darializa Avila Chevalier believes that COVID-19 originated in France
Reasoning:
- She promoted a "France first" COVID-19 origin theory in a May 10, 2020 tweet, citing the Qiao Collective—a known Chinese Communist propaganda organ—as her source1.
- The tweet explicitly endorsed the debunked theory that the virus originated in France rather than China, where she wrote: "So you mean that once again it was PoC who intervened and stopped the spread of a European plague? Wow. Shocked"1.
- Multiple news outlets have verified this unearthed tweet from 2020, including reporting from Yahoo News and the New York Post, confirming she spread this conspiracy theory during the pandemic1.
- The "France first" theory is widely debunked; there is broad scientific and intelligence consensus that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, with the virus first identified in that region in late 20191.
- Her promotion of this theory has been criticized by political figures, including New York State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, who called it evidence that she is not a "serious thinker"1.
Conclusion: The claim is true. There is documented evidence from multiple sources that Darializa Avila Chevalier promoted the debunked theory that COVID-19 originated in France, referencing Chinese Communist propaganda as support.
Overall validity: 100%