US Surpasses 60k Deaths After Trump Repeatedly Claimed That Would Be Our Ceiling
Business Insider: 2 Medical Experts Estimate 90% Of Coronavirus Deaths In The US Could Have Been Avoided If Everyone Started Social Distancing On March 2
Less than two weeks ago, President Donald Trump, in an attempt to praise himself for his coronavirus response, claimed that COVID-19 deaths in the United States would be around 60,000, which, he claimed, would be lower than projected due to his supposed leadership.
Today, the United States surpassed 60,000 deaths with no signs of stopping. This came just a day after the US became the first country to reach one million confirmed coronavirus cases in the world.
No matter how much Trump tries to spin his response to the crisis, the reality is that at the beginning of the outbreak, Trump repeatedly downplayed the threat of coronavirus and was slow to respond to it. Trump and his administration made some big promises on testing — but hasn’t come close to delivering on them. And as of today, the White House still hasn’t done enough to address the persistent supply shortages states across the country are facing — and Americans are continuing to lose their lives because of Trump’s incompetence.
Trump On April 20, 2020: “But we’re going toward 50- or 60,000 people. That’s at the lower — as you know, the low number was supposed to be 100,000 people. We — we could end up at 50 to 60. Okay?”
Trump on the coronavirus death toll: "We are going toward 50,000 or 60,000 people … many of the people that have this theory — 'maybe we could've gone right though it' — I was somebody that would've loved to have done that, but it wouldn't be sustainable." pic.twitter.com/TrXGEhwzWF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 20, 2020
Trump On April 19, 2020: “But we would have had millions of deaths instead of — it looks like we’ll be at about a 60,000 mark, which is 40,000 less than the lowest number thought of.”
"We woulda had millions of deaths. It looks like we'll be about a 60,000 mark, which is 40,000 less than the lowest number thought of" — Trump was saying in late February that the coronavirus would go away on its own without any Americans dying pic.twitter.com/u17nnfaZ9z
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
Trump On April 17, 2020: “But we did a lot of work, and the people of this country were incredible, I have to say. And I think we’re heading to the other category, and that would be if we did work and if it was successful, they had between 100,000 and 220,000 to 240,000 on the upside. And I think we’ll be substantially, hopefully, below the hundred number. And I think, right now, we’re heading at probably around 60-, maybe 65,000.”
Trump says he now expects "around 60,000, maybe 65,000" American deaths from the coronavirus. He indicates he'll proclaim any total under 100,000 as a reflection of what a great job his government did. pic.twitter.com/MV5YqNMtIW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2020
Trump on April 10, 2020: “But the minimum, if you did this social distancing at every other aspect — and I think I can say 90 percent, maybe even more than that, were able to do it — the minimum number was 100,000 lives, and I think we’ll be substantially under that number. Hard to believe that if you had 60,000 — you could never be happy, but that’s a lot fewer than we were originally told and thinking. So they said between 100- and 220,000 lives on the minimum side, and then up to 2.2 million lives if we didn’t do anything. But it showed a just tremendous resolve by the people of this country.”
TRUMP on coronavirus: "The minimum number was 100,000 lives, and I think we'll be substantially under that number. Hard to believe that if you had 60,000 [deaths] — you can never be happy. But that is a lot fewer than what we were originally told and thinking." pic.twitter.com/9BnIC9e1T0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 10, 2020