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President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the White House on October 21, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
With 700+ Coronavirus Cases in US and 7 in Mexico, Trump Rebuked for Again Touting Border Wall as Solution
"Perhaps the wall is to protect Mexico?"
Mar 10, 2020
President Donald Trump was condemned Tuesday for suggesting that a wall along the southern U.S. border would in any way protect Americans from the coronavirus outbreak which has spread to more than 100 countries, infecting more than 750 people in the United States so far as testing continues to lag.
In response to a tweet posted by right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk saying "the U.S. stands a chance if we can control of our borders" and referring to the coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, as the "China virus," the president tweeted, "we need the Wall more than ever!"
"Walls are not going to keep [the virus] out," Dr. Celine Gounder, a clinical professor of infectious diseases at New York University, told HuffPost last month when the president first floated the idea of closing the southern border. "There's no point with approaching this as a borders issue. It's here."
A number of critics pointed out that the U.S. currently has far more cases of COVID-19 than Mexico, which Trump has since 2015 said must be separated from the U.S. by a wall in order to stop undocumented immigrants from entering the country.
At least 755 people in the U.S. had been diagnosed with the coronavirus as of Tuesday, while only seven cases of the respiratory illness have been confirmed in Mexico.
Trump's tweet came days after former Obama White House national security official Colin Kahl wrote on social media that Trump should be expected "to pivot to exploiting fears about the virus to feed his nativist and protectionist case for walls, travel bans, tariffs, etc."
The president's tweet demonstrated that Trump is "more concerned with his re-election" than public health, tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.
As Trump claimed closing borders is the key to protecting the U.S., where public health officials say the coronavirus is now infecting people via "community spread" rather than from people entering the country, the administration was under fire for overseeing a response to the outbreak in which the slow rate of testing Americans for the coronavirus has become "a debilitating weakness" in the effort to determine how far the disease has spread so officials can work to halt further transmission.
Fewer than 4,400 people in the U.S. had been tested for the coronavirus as of Monday, according to DefenseOne.
"By this point in its outbreak, South Korea had tested more than 100,000 people for the disease, and it was testing roughly 15,000 people every day," wrote Robinson Meyer. "The United Kingdom, where three people have died of COVID-19, has already tested more than 24,900 people."
"Jesus Christ, America, what are you doing?" tweeted Business Insider correspondent Rob Price of a graphic showing the CDC is now administering only five tests per one million people.
Officials in the U.K. and the Netherlands administered about 350 coronavirus tests per one million people. The countries have reported five and four deaths from the disease, respectively, while at least 26 people have now died in the U.S. from COVID-19.
Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard, told DefenseOne that not enough people are being tested for COVID-19 for health officials to accurately report that they know how many "new cases" there are in the United States.
"They should refer to them as 'newly discovered cases,' in order to remove the impression that the number of cases reported has any bearing on the actual number," Lipsitch told the outlet.
"Perhaps the wall is to protect Mexico?" tweeted Democratic activist Travis Akers.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
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President Donald Trump was condemned Tuesday for suggesting that a wall along the southern U.S. border would in any way protect Americans from the coronavirus outbreak which has spread to more than 100 countries, infecting more than 750 people in the United States so far as testing continues to lag.
In response to a tweet posted by right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk saying "the U.S. stands a chance if we can control of our borders" and referring to the coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, as the "China virus," the president tweeted, "we need the Wall more than ever!"
"Walls are not going to keep [the virus] out," Dr. Celine Gounder, a clinical professor of infectious diseases at New York University, told HuffPost last month when the president first floated the idea of closing the southern border. "There's no point with approaching this as a borders issue. It's here."
A number of critics pointed out that the U.S. currently has far more cases of COVID-19 than Mexico, which Trump has since 2015 said must be separated from the U.S. by a wall in order to stop undocumented immigrants from entering the country.
At least 755 people in the U.S. had been diagnosed with the coronavirus as of Tuesday, while only seven cases of the respiratory illness have been confirmed in Mexico.
Trump's tweet came days after former Obama White House national security official Colin Kahl wrote on social media that Trump should be expected "to pivot to exploiting fears about the virus to feed his nativist and protectionist case for walls, travel bans, tariffs, etc."
The president's tweet demonstrated that Trump is "more concerned with his re-election" than public health, tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.
As Trump claimed closing borders is the key to protecting the U.S., where public health officials say the coronavirus is now infecting people via "community spread" rather than from people entering the country, the administration was under fire for overseeing a response to the outbreak in which the slow rate of testing Americans for the coronavirus has become "a debilitating weakness" in the effort to determine how far the disease has spread so officials can work to halt further transmission.
Fewer than 4,400 people in the U.S. had been tested for the coronavirus as of Monday, according to DefenseOne.
"By this point in its outbreak, South Korea had tested more than 100,000 people for the disease, and it was testing roughly 15,000 people every day," wrote Robinson Meyer. "The United Kingdom, where three people have died of COVID-19, has already tested more than 24,900 people."
"Jesus Christ, America, what are you doing?" tweeted Business Insider correspondent Rob Price of a graphic showing the CDC is now administering only five tests per one million people.
Officials in the U.K. and the Netherlands administered about 350 coronavirus tests per one million people. The countries have reported five and four deaths from the disease, respectively, while at least 26 people have now died in the U.S. from COVID-19.
Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard, told DefenseOne that not enough people are being tested for COVID-19 for health officials to accurately report that they know how many "new cases" there are in the United States.
"They should refer to them as 'newly discovered cases,' in order to remove the impression that the number of cases reported has any bearing on the actual number," Lipsitch told the outlet.
"Perhaps the wall is to protect Mexico?" tweeted Democratic activist Travis Akers.
President Donald Trump was condemned Tuesday for suggesting that a wall along the southern U.S. border would in any way protect Americans from the coronavirus outbreak which has spread to more than 100 countries, infecting more than 750 people in the United States so far as testing continues to lag.
In response to a tweet posted by right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk saying "the U.S. stands a chance if we can control of our borders" and referring to the coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, as the "China virus," the president tweeted, "we need the Wall more than ever!"
"Walls are not going to keep [the virus] out," Dr. Celine Gounder, a clinical professor of infectious diseases at New York University, told HuffPost last month when the president first floated the idea of closing the southern border. "There's no point with approaching this as a borders issue. It's here."
A number of critics pointed out that the U.S. currently has far more cases of COVID-19 than Mexico, which Trump has since 2015 said must be separated from the U.S. by a wall in order to stop undocumented immigrants from entering the country.
At least 755 people in the U.S. had been diagnosed with the coronavirus as of Tuesday, while only seven cases of the respiratory illness have been confirmed in Mexico.
Trump's tweet came days after former Obama White House national security official Colin Kahl wrote on social media that Trump should be expected "to pivot to exploiting fears about the virus to feed his nativist and protectionist case for walls, travel bans, tariffs, etc."
The president's tweet demonstrated that Trump is "more concerned with his re-election" than public health, tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.
As Trump claimed closing borders is the key to protecting the U.S., where public health officials say the coronavirus is now infecting people via "community spread" rather than from people entering the country, the administration was under fire for overseeing a response to the outbreak in which the slow rate of testing Americans for the coronavirus has become "a debilitating weakness" in the effort to determine how far the disease has spread so officials can work to halt further transmission.
Fewer than 4,400 people in the U.S. had been tested for the coronavirus as of Monday, according to DefenseOne.
"By this point in its outbreak, South Korea had tested more than 100,000 people for the disease, and it was testing roughly 15,000 people every day," wrote Robinson Meyer. "The United Kingdom, where three people have died of COVID-19, has already tested more than 24,900 people."
"Jesus Christ, America, what are you doing?" tweeted Business Insider correspondent Rob Price of a graphic showing the CDC is now administering only five tests per one million people.
Officials in the U.K. and the Netherlands administered about 350 coronavirus tests per one million people. The countries have reported five and four deaths from the disease, respectively, while at least 26 people have now died in the U.S. from COVID-19.
Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard, told DefenseOne that not enough people are being tested for COVID-19 for health officials to accurately report that they know how many "new cases" there are in the United States.
"They should refer to them as 'newly discovered cases,' in order to remove the impression that the number of cases reported has any bearing on the actual number," Lipsitch told the outlet.
"Perhaps the wall is to protect Mexico?" tweeted Democratic activist Travis Akers.
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