Over the weekend, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a leading ally of President Trump, dismissed concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and But from Italy, where there is a national quarantine to try to slow the devastating effects of the coronavirus, Newt Gingrich offered a different perspective. The former House speaker wrote an opinion piece seeking to convince his fellow Republicans that not only was the pandemic very real, it required urgent action. Continue reading.
Tag: Trump coronavirus lies
Conservative Site Posts Damning Supercut Of Trump’s Lies About Coronavirus
On Jan. 22, Trump said he had no concerns coronavirus would become a pandemic. On Tuesday, he said he’d always known it would be one.
The Bulwark ― a conservative news and opinion website ― released a supercut on Tuesday chronicling President Donald Trump’s reckless slew of misleading or false statements since the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, leading up to his recent pivot.
The video dropped the same day Trump declared at a news conference that he had “always” known the threat was real, and that he “felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
The first clip is dated Jan. 22, when the U.S. had recorded only one case of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. The president was asked during a CNBC interview if there were concerns about the novel coronavirus in China becoming a pandemic. Continue reading and view the video here.
Former RNC head reveals why Fox News is suddenly taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously
During an MSNBC panel discussion on the changing tone at Fox News now that coronavirus health crisis has been declared a pandemic, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee suggested that executives at the conservative network may have come to a hard realization.
After “AM Joy” host Joy Reid shared multiple clips of Fox News personalities once mocking the panic the health crisis was creating, only to change their tune as more reports of those infected started breaking, MSNBC contributor Michael Steele said there was a solid reason.
“Based on your experience with dealing with Fox News and what it can bring about, is it possible for Fox News to now turn this ship around and convince these same viewers, many of whom are older people, vulnerable people, that they need to be careful and take precautions?” host Reid asked. Continue reading.
How Republican Policies Will Exacerbate The Pandemic
The South is deeply conservative and widely impoverished — especially the Deep South. That combination could portend awful consequences for us as the spread of the new coronavirus, now officially a pandemic, accelerates.
The confluence of reactionary politics and an impoverished population will exacerbate the already frightening consequences of COVID-19. For one thing, many of the white voters of this region are not only diehard supporters of President Donald J. Trump, but they are also a dedicated audience for right-wing news outlets such as Fox News, whose hosts have repeatedly downplayed the seriousness of the virus.
Following Trump’s lead, conservative talk show hosts have told their listeners that the coronavirus is a “hoax” concocted by the “liberal media” to bring down his presidency. Even after Anthony Fauci, the highly respected head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified before Congress about the lethality of the virus, Rush Limbaugh told his radio audience, “This coronavirus … all of this panic is just not warranted. This … virus is the common cold.” That means local leaders in this region will be ill-equipped to order shutdowns of mass gatherings or to urge the social distancing measures that are necessary. Continue reading.
Trump coronavirus response seen as threat to CDC confidence
The Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. is threatening to undermine public confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC has been at the center of the U.S. response to the outbreak, with CDC Director Robert Redfield becoming a regular presence at administration briefings with Vice President Pence and President Trump.
But the CDC has also come under criticism, along with other parts of the government, for a slow rollout of tests for the coronavirus that has helped contribute to the rapid spread of the virus around the United States. Continue reading.
Anthony Fauci undercuts Trump on the flu and other coronavirus assertions
Midway through a hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill, a House Republican asked Anthony Fauci, a member of the president’s coronavirus task force, if he was offended by the idea that he could be prevented from speaking openly about the coronavirus by the Trump administration.
“With all due respect,” Fauci said, “I served six presidents and have never done anything other than tell the exact scientific evidence and made policy recommendations based on the science and the evidence.”
The rest of his testimony reinforced that Fauci isn’t exactly toeing anybody’s line. Over and over again, he differed with President Trump’s talking points that play down the threat posed by the novel coronavirus, and he even differed with decisions Trump has made. Continue reading.
Even Lindsey Graham Warns Trump To Pay Attention To Coronavirus Science
The South Carolina senator said he “encourages” the president to “make sure that the science is behind what he says.”
One of Donald Trump’s fiercest defenders urged the president on Thursday to pay attention to scientific facts instead of spit-balling a coronavirus death rate and insisting that up to “hundreds of thousands” of Americans could catch the virus with little ill effect and still go to work.
“I don’t know what he was talking about,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters after Trump explained to Sean Hannity on Fox News that he had a “hunch” the death rate for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is less than 1%. The World Health Organization has reported that the death rate is 3.4%.
“I would encourage the president, if he’s going to report things, to make sure that the science is behind what he says,” Graham added, noting: “I listen to the scientists when it comes to the numbers.”