SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
President Donald Trump speaks while meeting with industry executives at the White House on April 29, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
"It's Gonna Go, It's Gonna Leave": Trump Claims Covid-19 Will Disappear Even Without Vaccine as US Cases Top 1 Million
"Magical thinking and downplaying of the virus has led to over 61,000 American deaths. Saying the virus is gonna leave doesn't make it go away."
Apr 30, 2020
Having apparently learned nothing about the novel coronavirus since February--when he predicted the contagion would disappear "like a miracle" by April--President Donald Trump insisted during a roundtable with corporate executives Wednesday that Covid-19 will soon "be gone" even in the absence of a vaccine, a view that is not shared by public health professionals.
"It's gonna go, it's gonna leave, it's gonna be gone, it's gonna be eradicated," Trump said when asked to explain how the virus will simply disappear without a vaccine. "It might take longer, it might be in smaller sections. It won't be what we had."
"If you have a flare-up in a certain area, if you have a, I call them burning embers, boom. We put it out," Trump continued. "We know how to put it out now. But we put it out."
In response to Trump's remarks, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted that the president's "magical thinking and downplaying of the virus has led to over 61,000 American deaths."
"Saying the virus is gonna leave doesn't make it go away," Lieu said. "But more testing and [personal protective equipment] would help stop its spread."
Watch Trump's comments:
The president's latest prediction came after coronavirus cases in the U.S. officially topped one million and deaths surpassed 60,000. Despite the mounting death toll, lack of nationwide testing capacity, and fears of a devastating second wave, states across the nation are slowly reopening sectors of their economy as the federal government races to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the Trump administration "is organizing a Manhattan Project-style effort to drastically cut the time needed to develop a coronavirus vaccine, with a goal of making enough doses for most Americans by year's end."
"Called 'Operation Warp Speed,' the program will pull together private pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and the military to try to cut the development time for a vaccine by as much as eight months," according to Bloomberg. "As part of the arrangement, taxpayers will shoulder much of the financial risk that vaccine candidates may fail, instead of drug companies."
In contrast to Trump's insistence that the virus will soon "be gone," Dr. Anthony Fauci--the nation's leading infectious disease expert--warned in an interview on CNN Wednesday that a second wave of the coronavirus in the coming months is "inevitable."
"If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well," Fauci said. "If we don't do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Having apparently learned nothing about the novel coronavirus since February--when he predicted the contagion would disappear "like a miracle" by April--President Donald Trump insisted during a roundtable with corporate executives Wednesday that Covid-19 will soon "be gone" even in the absence of a vaccine, a view that is not shared by public health professionals.
"It's gonna go, it's gonna leave, it's gonna be gone, it's gonna be eradicated," Trump said when asked to explain how the virus will simply disappear without a vaccine. "It might take longer, it might be in smaller sections. It won't be what we had."
"If you have a flare-up in a certain area, if you have a, I call them burning embers, boom. We put it out," Trump continued. "We know how to put it out now. But we put it out."
In response to Trump's remarks, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted that the president's "magical thinking and downplaying of the virus has led to over 61,000 American deaths."
"Saying the virus is gonna leave doesn't make it go away," Lieu said. "But more testing and [personal protective equipment] would help stop its spread."
Watch Trump's comments:
The president's latest prediction came after coronavirus cases in the U.S. officially topped one million and deaths surpassed 60,000. Despite the mounting death toll, lack of nationwide testing capacity, and fears of a devastating second wave, states across the nation are slowly reopening sectors of their economy as the federal government races to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the Trump administration "is organizing a Manhattan Project-style effort to drastically cut the time needed to develop a coronavirus vaccine, with a goal of making enough doses for most Americans by year's end."
"Called 'Operation Warp Speed,' the program will pull together private pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and the military to try to cut the development time for a vaccine by as much as eight months," according to Bloomberg. "As part of the arrangement, taxpayers will shoulder much of the financial risk that vaccine candidates may fail, instead of drug companies."
In contrast to Trump's insistence that the virus will soon "be gone," Dr. Anthony Fauci--the nation's leading infectious disease expert--warned in an interview on CNN Wednesday that a second wave of the coronavirus in the coming months is "inevitable."
"If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well," Fauci said. "If we don't do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter."
Having apparently learned nothing about the novel coronavirus since February--when he predicted the contagion would disappear "like a miracle" by April--President Donald Trump insisted during a roundtable with corporate executives Wednesday that Covid-19 will soon "be gone" even in the absence of a vaccine, a view that is not shared by public health professionals.
"It's gonna go, it's gonna leave, it's gonna be gone, it's gonna be eradicated," Trump said when asked to explain how the virus will simply disappear without a vaccine. "It might take longer, it might be in smaller sections. It won't be what we had."
"If you have a flare-up in a certain area, if you have a, I call them burning embers, boom. We put it out," Trump continued. "We know how to put it out now. But we put it out."
In response to Trump's remarks, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted that the president's "magical thinking and downplaying of the virus has led to over 61,000 American deaths."
"Saying the virus is gonna leave doesn't make it go away," Lieu said. "But more testing and [personal protective equipment] would help stop its spread."
Watch Trump's comments:
The president's latest prediction came after coronavirus cases in the U.S. officially topped one million and deaths surpassed 60,000. Despite the mounting death toll, lack of nationwide testing capacity, and fears of a devastating second wave, states across the nation are slowly reopening sectors of their economy as the federal government races to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the Trump administration "is organizing a Manhattan Project-style effort to drastically cut the time needed to develop a coronavirus vaccine, with a goal of making enough doses for most Americans by year's end."
"Called 'Operation Warp Speed,' the program will pull together private pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and the military to try to cut the development time for a vaccine by as much as eight months," according to Bloomberg. "As part of the arrangement, taxpayers will shoulder much of the financial risk that vaccine candidates may fail, instead of drug companies."
In contrast to Trump's insistence that the virus will soon "be gone," Dr. Anthony Fauci--the nation's leading infectious disease expert--warned in an interview on CNN Wednesday that a second wave of the coronavirus in the coming months is "inevitable."
"If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well," Fauci said. "If we don't do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.