I have long accused Trump of downplaying how serious coronavirus is. I thought “He MUST know how serious it is! He has access to the world’s best experts.” Now, we have the proof that Trump knew how serious coronavirus is, but he deliberately downplayed it.
On February 7, 2020, Trump told Bob Woodward “You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so it’s a very tricky one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.” “This is deadly stuff,” the President repeated for emphasis.
But just three days later, Trump told Fox Business “I think the virus is going to be – it’s going to be fine.”
Are we sure he lied? Are we sure he downplayed it? Yes, in his own words. On March 19, Trump told Woodward “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."
The decision to keep the truth from the American people has not worked out very well. Over 190,000 Americans have died of coronavirus, and the number grows daily. The coronavirus death rate in the United States is many times higher than in most other countries.
Does he regret not leveling with the public? No. At a rally on September 10, he said “We did it just the right way. We have to be calm, we don’t want to be crazed, lunatics.”
The American people are not children. You can tell us the truth and we can deal with it. But Trump thought if he told the truth, there would be panic.
What difference did it make that Trump lied? It is well known that there is a big partisan divide in how Americans view and respond to the coronavirus. This came about because of the disconnect between medical experts and Trump. People heard medical experts say that coronavirus could spread very easily, that people should “social distance”, that they should wear a face mask when they can’t social distance, and that testing is crucial to limiting the spread of coronavirus. People also heard Trump downplay the virus, tell people that he refuses to wear a mask, and that he wants less testing, not more.
Faced with this disconnect, Democrats factored in the literally thousands of lies Trump has told as President and decided that it is better to follow the advice of the medical experts. Many Republicans, in the other hand, sadly continued to believe Trump.
So, Trump’s lies made a very big difference. We now have nearly 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States, many times what other countries have. Some experts say that number might climb past 400,000 by the end of the year.
What defense do his supporters offer for his unconscionable behavior?
@tedfullervt