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Donald Trump has claimed the US is “doing very well” in the fight against
Coronavirus “by comparison to most other countries”, and suggested the truth is being suppressed from the public by “fake news” media.You will never hear this on the
fake news concerning the
China Virus, but by comparison to most other countries, who are suffering greatly, we are doing very well - and we have done things that few other countries could have done!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2020Of course the actual reason this hasn’t been reported is because it simply isn’t true.
While many countries including the
UK are making preparations for a possible second wave in the coming months, the US is still in the grip of a first with the situation deteriorating by the day in a number of states.
If
California were a country, it would rank fifth in the world for total cases at nearly 400,000, behind the
United States,
Brazil,
India and
Russia. The state’s daily increases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic there.
Florida has reported over 10,000 new cases a day for the last six days in a row and
Texas has reported over 10,000 cases for five out of the last seven days Reuters reports.Nobody has heard this because it isn’t true. https://t.co/vuZp3YAoJG— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) July 21, 2020Trump’s tweet was immediately pounced upon with the president accused of “lying” and of being a “clown”.You have not heard or read this because it is not true. The president is lying. https://t.co/bPQUQiegBa— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) July 21, 2020You had 62,879 new cases yesterday you clown. https://t.co/pLVxHoJ85f— Matt Haig (@matthaig1) July 21, 2020New cases, yesterday:Germany: 642UK: 580Japan: 454France: 350Australia: 267Italy: 190Portugal: 135South Korea: 26United States: 62,879— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 21, 2020This is not due to testing. The UK, for example, has done 198 tests per 1,000 residents. The US has done 148 per 1,000.It’s not due to population, either. The US has 4x as many people as
Germany but 98x more cases. And Germany had the highest number of cases on the list.— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 21, 2020I JUST MAKE SHIT UP!https://t.co/2lOwnX0XFMhttps://t.co/hrWTvQ3AEKpic.twitter.com/0pR8BCQUAA— Eric Wolfson (@EricWolfson) July 21, 2020Earlier on Tuesday Trump posted another tweet in which he advocated the wearing of face masks, describing it as “an act of patriotism”.
The tweet follows months of resistance to being publicly seen in the coverings which are deemed vital to slowing the spread of the virus.We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President! pic.twitter.com/iQOd1whktN— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2020In the tweet, he also referred to the coronavirus as the “Invisible China Virus”.
The president’s response comes after a
White House debate over how best to deploy its greatest and most volatile asset – him – played out in public with his poll numbers faltering, PA Media reports.
One week after a 2020
election campaign shake-up, the plan is for Trump to again become a regular public presence at the podium as confirmed coronavirus cases spike across America.
The return to briefings has been championed in the West Wing by senior adviser
Kellyanne Conway, who advocated publicly last week for Trump to return to the podium to more clearly highlight steps towards economic recovery, but also create a stage to display leadership by addressing Americans’ concerns about Covid-19.
“His approval rating on the pandemic was higher when he was at the podium,” Conway said, in a tacit admission of what is largely unspoken aloud by Trump aides: that he is behind in both public and private surveys.Related...
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