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 holds a Covid-19 and storm preparedness roundtable in Belleair, Florida, July 31, 2020. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
'Continued Kindergarten-Level Logic': As Covid Cases Surge Across US, Trump Repeats False Claim Rise Is Result of More Testing
"It doesn't get less stupid if you say it more."
Aug 01, 2020
President Donald Trump on Saturday took to Twitter after a game of golf to proclaim the ongoing rise in Covid-19 cases around the U.S. is due to increased testing around the country and not, as health experts have repeatedly explained, because the disease is continuing to spiral out of control around the nation.
"This continued Kindergarten-level logic is why we lead the world in Covid cases and deaths," tweeted Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) in response to Trump's latest salvo blaming testing for the increase in cases.
\u201cIt doesn't get less stupid if you say it more.\u201d— Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1596309965
Trump, tweeting after being photographed on the golf course at his club in Potomac Falls, Virginia, took particular aim at his own expert, National Institutes for Health (NIH) director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told lawmakers Friday that they should expect the pandemic to continue to surge in the U.S. and partially blamed the country's keeping the economy 50% open as a major factor in the spread.
"If you look at what happened in Europe, when they shut down or locked down or went to shelter in place--however you want to describe it--they really did it to the tune of about 95% plus of the country did that," said Fauci.
The doctor added that "when you actually look at what we did, even though we shut down, even though it created a great deal of difficulty, we really functionally shut down only about 50% in the sense of the totality of the country."
\u201cDr. Fauci explains why the U.S. has continued to see a surge in cases while European countries have seen a sharp decrease. \n\nHe says most European countries shut their economy by 95%, while functionally the U.S. only shut its economy down by 50%.\n\nhttps://t.co/pYCjQK5bri\u201d— CBS News (@CBS News) 1596213692
The president fired back at Fauci Saturday, calling the public health expert--who has been the director of NIH since 1984--"wrong."
"We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000," said Trump. "If we tested less, there would be less cases."
\u201c2. No, it's not due to population. Here are those numbers, scaled up to a US population size of 328 million:\n\nSpain: 21,582\nFrance: 6,581\nJapan: 3,426\nGermany: 3,997\nCanada: 4,473\nUK: 4,330\nItaly: 2,058\n\nUS: 70,904\n\nThe US is even 3.3x worse than the *worst* comparable country.\u201d— Brian Klaas (@Brian Klaas) 1596278687
"Per capita, we're not even in the top 15 countries for testing," noted journalist Brian Karem. "Lithuania has tested more of its citizens per capita than us."
As the New York Times reported, cases continue to rise around the country:
The virus is again picking up dangerous speed in much of the Midwest--and in states from Mississippi to Florida to California that thought they had already seen the worst of it.
As the United States rides what amounts to a second wave of cases, with daily new infections leveling off at an alarming higher mark, there is a deepening national sense that the progress made in fighting the pandemic is coming undone and no patch of America is safe.
The president's response to the pandemic has been widely criticized for its prioritization of reopening the economy at seemingly nearly any cost and for having an inconsistent approach to testing, masks, and treatment--including, as Common Dreams reported, promoting the views of a Houston-area doctor with interesting views on the role of alien DNA in the manufacturing of medications.
"Bottom line: Trump doesn't care if your children die if he thinks it helps him win in 2020," tweeted radio host Dean Obeidallah.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. 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. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump on Saturday took to Twitter after a game of golf to proclaim the ongoing rise in Covid-19 cases around the U.S. is due to increased testing around the country and not, as health experts have repeatedly explained, because the disease is continuing to spiral out of control around the nation.
"This continued Kindergarten-level logic is why we lead the world in Covid cases and deaths," tweeted Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) in response to Trump's latest salvo blaming testing for the increase in cases.
\u201cIt doesn't get less stupid if you say it more.\u201d— Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1596309965
Trump, tweeting after being photographed on the golf course at his club in Potomac Falls, Virginia, took particular aim at his own expert, National Institutes for Health (NIH) director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told lawmakers Friday that they should expect the pandemic to continue to surge in the U.S. and partially blamed the country's keeping the economy 50% open as a major factor in the spread.
"If you look at what happened in Europe, when they shut down or locked down or went to shelter in place--however you want to describe it--they really did it to the tune of about 95% plus of the country did that," said Fauci.
The doctor added that "when you actually look at what we did, even though we shut down, even though it created a great deal of difficulty, we really functionally shut down only about 50% in the sense of the totality of the country."
\u201cDr. Fauci explains why the U.S. has continued to see a surge in cases while European countries have seen a sharp decrease. \n\nHe says most European countries shut their economy by 95%, while functionally the U.S. only shut its economy down by 50%.\n\nhttps://t.co/pYCjQK5bri\u201d— CBS News (@CBS News) 1596213692
The president fired back at Fauci Saturday, calling the public health expert--who has been the director of NIH since 1984--"wrong."
"We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000," said Trump. "If we tested less, there would be less cases."
\u201c2. No, it's not due to population. Here are those numbers, scaled up to a US population size of 328 million:\n\nSpain: 21,582\nFrance: 6,581\nJapan: 3,426\nGermany: 3,997\nCanada: 4,473\nUK: 4,330\nItaly: 2,058\n\nUS: 70,904\n\nThe US is even 3.3x worse than the *worst* comparable country.\u201d— Brian Klaas (@Brian Klaas) 1596278687
"Per capita, we're not even in the top 15 countries for testing," noted journalist Brian Karem. "Lithuania has tested more of its citizens per capita than us."
As the New York Times reported, cases continue to rise around the country:
The virus is again picking up dangerous speed in much of the Midwest--and in states from Mississippi to Florida to California that thought they had already seen the worst of it.
As the United States rides what amounts to a second wave of cases, with daily new infections leveling off at an alarming higher mark, there is a deepening national sense that the progress made in fighting the pandemic is coming undone and no patch of America is safe.
The president's response to the pandemic has been widely criticized for its prioritization of reopening the economy at seemingly nearly any cost and for having an inconsistent approach to testing, masks, and treatment--including, as Common Dreams reported, promoting the views of a Houston-area doctor with interesting views on the role of alien DNA in the manufacturing of medications.
"Bottom line: Trump doesn't care if your children die if he thinks it helps him win in 2020," tweeted radio host Dean Obeidallah.
President Donald Trump on Saturday took to Twitter after a game of golf to proclaim the ongoing rise in Covid-19 cases around the U.S. is due to increased testing around the country and not, as health experts have repeatedly explained, because the disease is continuing to spiral out of control around the nation.
"This continued Kindergarten-level logic is why we lead the world in Covid cases and deaths," tweeted Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) in response to Trump's latest salvo blaming testing for the increase in cases.
\u201cIt doesn't get less stupid if you say it more.\u201d— Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1596309965
Trump, tweeting after being photographed on the golf course at his club in Potomac Falls, Virginia, took particular aim at his own expert, National Institutes for Health (NIH) director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told lawmakers Friday that they should expect the pandemic to continue to surge in the U.S. and partially blamed the country's keeping the economy 50% open as a major factor in the spread.
"If you look at what happened in Europe, when they shut down or locked down or went to shelter in place--however you want to describe it--they really did it to the tune of about 95% plus of the country did that," said Fauci.
The doctor added that "when you actually look at what we did, even though we shut down, even though it created a great deal of difficulty, we really functionally shut down only about 50% in the sense of the totality of the country."
\u201cDr. Fauci explains why the U.S. has continued to see a surge in cases while European countries have seen a sharp decrease. \n\nHe says most European countries shut their economy by 95%, while functionally the U.S. only shut its economy down by 50%.\n\nhttps://t.co/pYCjQK5bri\u201d— CBS News (@CBS News) 1596213692
The president fired back at Fauci Saturday, calling the public health expert--who has been the director of NIH since 1984--"wrong."
"We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000," said Trump. "If we tested less, there would be less cases."
\u201c2. No, it's not due to population. Here are those numbers, scaled up to a US population size of 328 million:\n\nSpain: 21,582\nFrance: 6,581\nJapan: 3,426\nGermany: 3,997\nCanada: 4,473\nUK: 4,330\nItaly: 2,058\n\nUS: 70,904\n\nThe US is even 3.3x worse than the *worst* comparable country.\u201d— Brian Klaas (@Brian Klaas) 1596278687
"Per capita, we're not even in the top 15 countries for testing," noted journalist Brian Karem. "Lithuania has tested more of its citizens per capita than us."
As the New York Times reported, cases continue to rise around the country:
The virus is again picking up dangerous speed in much of the Midwest--and in states from Mississippi to Florida to California that thought they had already seen the worst of it.
As the United States rides what amounts to a second wave of cases, with daily new infections leveling off at an alarming higher mark, there is a deepening national sense that the progress made in fighting the pandemic is coming undone and no patch of America is safe.
The president's response to the pandemic has been widely criticized for its prioritization of reopening the economy at seemingly nearly any cost and for having an inconsistent approach to testing, masks, and treatment--including, as Common Dreams reported, promoting the views of a Houston-area doctor with interesting views on the role of alien DNA in the manufacturing of medications.
"Bottom line: Trump doesn't care if your children die if he thinks it helps him win in 2020," tweeted radio host Dean Obeidallah.
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.