Lies We're Told About Trump and His Response to The Chinese Virus By Media
Trump downplayed the mortality rate of the coronavirus
Dr. Joseph Fair told a panel that up to 20 percent of the U.S. population might die from the coronavirus. Trump, using CDC and other group’s projections and official numbers, spoke to the per capita numbers concerning new cases and mortality and he has been proven to have been more accurate than those making the false allegations against him.
Trump lied when he said Google was developing a national coronavirus website
“Google is partnering with the US Government in developing a nationwide website that includes information about COVID-19 symptoms, risk and testing information,” Google said on Twitter.
Trump "dissolved" the WH pandemic response office
Tim Morrison, former senior director for counterproliferation and biodefense on the National Security Council, who debunked the allegation made by Cameron and other former Obama administration officials.
Trump fired the government’s pandemic expert and “defunded” the CDC
In an effort to save money and better efficiency John Bolton realigned the Obama Ebola team into already existing functions of CDC. Rear Admiral Timothy Ziemer, the pandemic expert, left of his own volition and further proposed budget cuts to CDC were in fact reversed and the CDC’s budget was actually increased.
Trump ignored early intel briefings on possible pandemic
In actuality, it was Trump’s critics who weren’t taking the coronavirus situation seriously. Joe Biden even accused Trump of “fearmongering” and “xenophobia” for his travel ban. Even now, the Washington Post is suggesting the travel ban wasn’t enough after they previously said his orders overreached.
Trump cut funding to the CDC & NIH
According to an Associated Press fact-check, proposed budget cuts never happened, and funding increased. They acknowledged that some public health experts believe that a bigger concern than White House budgets “is the steady erosion of a CDC grant program for state and local public health emergency preparedness,” but, they note, “that decline was set in motion by a congressional budget measure that predates Trump.”
The AP also noted that “The public health system has a playbook to follow for pandemic preparation — regardless of who’s president or whether specific instructions are coming from the White House. Those plans were put into place in anticipation of another flu pandemic, but are designed to work for any respiratory-borne disease.”
Trump "muzzled" Dr. Fauci
“I’ve never been muzzled, ever, and I’ve been doing this since Reagan,” he said. “I’m not being muzzled by this administration.”
Trump didn’t act quickly and isn’t doing enough
Dr. Ronny Jackson, who served as White House physician from 2013 to 2018, also credited Trump for his decisive response to the coronavirus epidemic. "The president has done everything he needed to do in this case," he said. "He’s acted quickly and decisively. He did what he always has done ... he went with his instincts."
Jackson added, "What’s going on in Italy and Iran is not going to happen here I think, because of the president's quick and decisive actions. I think we are going to be more in line with what’s going on in South Korea and things of that nature.”
Trump played golf while ignoring warnings about Coronavirus
Trump played golf 5 times during the time in question based on what the experts were advising him.
“If you are a healthy young person, there is no reason if you want to go on a cruise ship, go on a cruise ship,” Fauci told reporters at a White House briefing. March 9, 2020
“Right now, at this moment, there is no need to change anything that you’re doing on a day-by-day basis,” Fauci said in response to a question about changing lifestyle habits. “Right now the risk is still low, but this could change.” February 29, 2020
“This is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now,” Fauci said during an interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly. January 21, 2020
Trump told governors they were “on their own”
Trump actually told governors on the call: “Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves. We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.”
“Promise made, promise kept,” Gov Newsom (D-CA) said of Trump.
“New Yorkers will do everything they can to be good partners with the federal government,” Cuomo said. “I think the president was 100% sincere in saying he wanted to work together in partnership, in a spirit of cooperation.”
“His team has been on it,” Cuomo continued. “I know a team when they’re on it. I know a team when they’re not on it. His team is on it.”
Trump turned down testing kits from WHO
"No discussions occurred between WHO and CDC about WHO providing COVID-19 tests to the United States," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris explained. "This is consistent with experience since the United States does not ordinarily rely on WHO for reagents or diagnostic tests because of sufficient domestic capacity." According to WHO, its priority was to send testing kits to "countries with the weakest health systems."
Trump called the coronavirus “a hoax”
President Trump responded to these allegations during a rally in South Carolina, calling the Democrats’ politicization of the coronavirus "the new hoax." The media jumped on this line, claiming that Trump called the virus, not the Democrats' reactions to it, a hoax.
The Washington Post gave Democrats' claim four Pinnochios, noting that "the full quote shows Trump is criticizing Democratic talking points and the media’s coverage of his administration’s response to coronavirus. He never says that the virus itself is a hoax[.]"
Trump told people to ‘Inject Themselves With Disinfectant’ Or ‘Drink Bleach’
Trump: “It wouldn’t be through injections, you’re talking about almost a cleaning and sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work, but it certainly has a big affect if it’s on a stationary object.”
Trump caused more virus deaths
The U.S. has the 33rd-highest mortality rate, measured as deaths divided by total cases, out of the 134 countries tracked by Johns Hopkins. When mortality is measured per 100,000 people among the ten countries with the most cases, the U.S. ranks seventh, with Iran, Germany, and China reporting lower numbers of deaths per 100,000 people.
Trump put a Labradoodle breeder in charge of COVID-19 response
No, the chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services briefly owned a family business raising Labradoodles. But he’s also served three administrations in high level posts at HHS, the White House and the Pentagon.