5/11/20: President Trump spends his Monday press
conference bragging about how he has the coronavirus situation under control.
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You had to wonder why Trump didn’t don a lab coat and hang a stethoscope
round his neck for his press conference.
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His talk in the Rose Garden comes complete with his version of the famous “Mission Accomplished” banner. Two banners, actually. Where George W. Bush wore a flight jacket in 2003, to wrongly predict that the War in Iraq was over, you had to wonder why Trump didn’t don a lab coat and hang a stethoscope round his neck for his press conference.
Disinfectant Don was there to brag
about “the unprecedented testing capacity developed by
the United States – the
most advanced and robust testing system anywhere in the world, by far.” He
wanted everyone who might miss the signs, to left and to right, to know that
the United States was about to “pass 10 million tests conducted – nearly double the number of any other
country.”
If you’re a fan of facts, however, it was hard to imagine which would be worse. Was Trump merely ill-informed? Or was he lying?
Usually, it’s both.
If Donald spent less time watching television, reacting angrily to what he sees, and tweeting like a maniac, he might realize the U.S. is not leading the world in testing. Not in the way he wants us all to believe. Countries like Japan and Germany were far more aggressive in regard to testing from the start.
Our president spent the critical early weeks of the crisis claiming that – due to his fantastic leadership – the pandemic was barely going to touch our fabled shores. And, as we have noted periodically, it is true. The U.S. is leading the world in number of tests performed. Adjusted for population, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Italy have all tested more. Throw in Germany, Belgium, and Belarus for fun, and add even more countries if you like.
Also, she is not a fool.
There are a number of important caveats if we want to understand who really leads in the face of a grave coronavirus threat. South Korea, which tested massively from the start, has a total of 10,991 cases and only five deaths per million population. Japan was resolute in testing at a time Trump was boasting about his giant campaign rallies and blowing off the COVID threat. The Japanese have 16,049 confirmed cases and five deaths per million. Germany tested seriously from the start. This has something to do with the fact Chancellor Andrea Merkel is a trained scientist and not a virus denier. Also, she is not a fool. Death rate: 94 per million.
Ireland and the U.K., two countries Trump claimed were doing a good job
handling the crisis – and would therefore not be included in a
travel ban he directed against 26 other European nations – turned out not to have been doing a good job after all. The Irish have tested more,
adjusted for population, than us. They started slowly and have 305 deaths per
million. The United Kingdom has 33,614 dead, more than any other country
except…the United States. They started testing late. Their death rate is 495
per million. With Donald J. Trump at the helm, we also started slowly. Our
death toll stands at 262 per million.
So it was, on Monday, that CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, wasn’t buying Trump’s “we lead the world” BS. “Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives and we’re still seeing more cases every day?” Jiang dared ask.
“They’re losing their lives everywhere in the world and maybe
that’s a question you should ask China,” Trump bristled.
Jiang, who describes herself as “a Chinese-born West Virginian,”
sensed racism in Disinfectant
Don’s response. “Sir,” she asked,
voice rising, “why are you saying that to me specifically?”
 |
| The reporter who asked the nasty question. |
“I’m saying it to anybody who would ask a nasty
question like that,” Trump countered.
Ignoring Jiang’s efforts to follow up, he
called on CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.
Collins said she would like to yield to Jiang. Trump ignored Collins and
called on someone else.
“I just wanted to let my colleague
finish, but can I ask you a question?” Collins persisted, trying to keep the
microphone.
When Ms. Collins continued to press her query, Mr. Maturity got mad, stomped off the podium and disappeared into the White House, where he could be warm and toasty and safe from having to explain.
You could certainly argue, if you
liked facts, that Ms. Jiang had a valid question, not a nasty one. On that same
day, CDC reported that the U.S. had 18,106 new cases and the situation,
generally, seemed to be getting worse.
Daily totals for the month:
May 8: 25,996
May 9: 26,660
May 13: 20,869
May 10: 23,792
May 11: 18,106
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*To keep that number in perspective, the U.S. has racked up
more cases in May than any other country has, throughout this crisis.
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