Trump’s pandemic rallies unfold coronavirus an infection and misinformation

With the pandemic getting worse, not higher, President Donald Trump tried to show actuality on its head throughout a collection of rallies on Saturday in North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

“We’re rounding the flip. Our numbers are unbelievable,” Trump claimed in Lumberton, North Carolina, earlier than blasting the media for its alleged fear-mongering.

However the US isn’t rounding a flip for the higher. Friday and Saturday noticed new every day coronavirus infections within the US surge previous 80,000 for the primary time ever. And it’s not simply circumstances — hospitalizations are up greater than 33 p.c during the last month, and the seven-day common of deaths is now again above 800.

“That’s all I hear about now. Activate tv, ‘Covid, Covid, Covid Covid Covid.’ A airplane goes down, 500 individuals lifeless, they don’t speak about it. ‘Covid Covid Covid Covid.’ By the way in which, on November 4, you received’t hear about it anymore,” Trump mentioned. (In case it’s not clear, the airplane crash he referred to was made up.)

Trump invoked a virtually equivalent speaking level a pair hours later in Circleville, Ohio, saying, “ what? On November 4, you’re not gonna hear— the information, CNN, all they speak about, ‘Covid Covid Covid.’ If a airplane goes down with 500 individuals, they don’t speak about … they’re attempting to scare all people.”

Then, on Saturday evening in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Trump argued, falsely, that the primary motive circumstances within the US are going up is as a result of the US does a lot testing — “if we did half the testing, we’d have half the circumstances,” he mentioned, as if testing causes circumstances — and insisted the coronavirus is “going away.” (In current weeks, new circumstances have truly grown at a a lot sooner charge than testing has expanded.)

Trump echoed the identical theme throughout his first rally of the day on Sunday in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Not solely is Trump’s rhetoric irresponsible, however the reality is, he’s holding rallies that make a mockery of social distancing and mask-wearing tips advisable by his personal authorities. And these rallies look like actively making the pandemic worse by spreading the virus.

Maybe the strongest proof of this got here on Friday, when Erin Mansfield, Josh Salman, and Dinah Voyles Pulver authored a bit for USA Immediately that examined how coronavirus circumstances surged in quite a lot of locations the place Trump just lately held rallies.

From the article:

The president has participated in practically three dozen rallies since mid-August, all however two at airport hangars. A USA TODAY evaluation reveals COVID-19 circumstances grew at a sooner charge than earlier than after not less than 5 of these rallies within the following counties: Blue Earth, Minnesota; Lackawanna, Pennsylvania; Marathon, Wisconsin; Dauphin, Pennsylvania; and Beltrami, Minnesota.

Collectively, these counties noticed 1,500 extra new circumstances within the two weeks following Trump’s rallies than the 2 weeks earlier than – 9,647 circumstances, up from 8,069.

However to the extent that Trump truly engages with this actuality, his message is that individuals must study to reside with it.

“It’s a must to lead your life, and it’s important to get out,” he suggested his followers on Saturday in Ohio.

The White Home has no plan — they usually aren’t even attempting to cover it

Past the mounting human toll — greater than 220,000 People have now died from the coronavirus — the newest spike in circumstances comes at a politically inopportune time for the White Home, with Election Day now simply 9 days away.

However at this level, the Trump administration isn’t even pretending to have a plan to gradual the unfold of the virus. As an alternative, throughout a CNN interview on Sunday, White Home Chief of Workers Mark Meadows mentioned, revealingly, that “we’re not going to manage the pandemic.”

In the meantime, the White Home is coping with one more cluster of circumstances — 5 individuals near Vice President Mike Pence have examined constructive for the virus in current days. Pence, the chair of the White Home coronavirus job power, was uncovered. However as an alternative of following Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention steerage, which requires uncovered individuals to self-quarantine for 14 days, he plans to journey to pandemic rallies on Sunday and Monday.

So not solely has the White Home given up on defending the American public, however Trump administration officers have failed to guard themselves. And Trump and Pence are actively making issues worse by mendacity to the American public in regards to the state of the pandemic at rallies that gas additional unfold.

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