Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Bray by bray: What Trump said during the pandemic (September 1-15, 2020)


'Rounding the corner'?  Nope, leaving a valley and ascending the highest peak.

New York Times (arrow added)

September 15, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,956,658, (+41,128 which is 16.8% of current total)

September 15, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 41,448,621 (+159,553)


USA Today, 9/15/2020
ABC News' Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Trump whether the coronavirus "would go away without the vaccine?" 
"Sure, over a period of time. Sure, with time it goes away --" Trump responded. 
Stephanopoulos interjected: "--And many deaths." 
"And you'll develop, you'll develop herd -- like a herd mentality. It's going to be -- it's going to be herd developed - and that's going to happen. That will all happen," Trump said.

September 15, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =204,606 (+1,119), which is 30.8% of current totat

September 15, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 664,231 (+2,662)

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Definition from Merriam-Webstser (box added)

September 14, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,915,530, (+45,767 which is 16.7% of current total)

September 14, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 41,289,086 (+261,341)


“It’ll start getting cooler,” Trump replied. “You just — you just watch.” 
“I wish science agreed with you,” Crowfoot said. 
“I don’t think science knows, actually,” Trump responded. 
As it turns out, science knows quite well. For more than 100 years, it’s been speculated that burning fossil fuels (in particular coal) emits gas that can trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. By now, that effect is well documented and obviously manifested, with atmospheric carbon dioxide hitting levels never before measured and the effects of that saturation felt everywhere from increased droughts to increased severe precipitation events (since warmer air can hold more moisture) to higher temperatures to things such as dissolving shells on marine life.


September 14, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =203,487 (+511), which is 30.6% of current totat

September 14, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 661,579 (+1,773)

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September 13, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,879,763, (+31,741 which is 16.8% of current total)

September 13, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 41,025,335 (+36,953)


Voice of America, 9/13/2020
Seven weeks ahead of the U.S. national elections, President Donald Trump is contending he has done an “incredible job” dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and minimizing the country’s death toll. 
Trump, campaigning in Nevada on Saturday, stated U.S. is “rounding the corner” in dealing with the coronavirus, a notion disputed by the country’s leading infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci. At a political rally, Trump understated the country’s world-leading death toll of nearly 194,000, saying it was “like, around 180,000.” 
Even as about 35,000 new infections and 1,000 deaths a day are being recorded in the U.S., Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday, “Actually falling very steadily and fast. Deaths and hospitalizations way down, and even cases down despite far more Testing than any other country in the World, by far.”


September 13, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =202,976 (+485), which is 30.8% of current totat

September 13, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 659,806 (+250)

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September 12, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,848,022, (+41,595 which is 16.6% of current total)

September 12, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 40,988,382 (+73,926)


"I wanted to always play it down," Trump said on March 19 in an interview recorded by Woodward. "I still like playing it down because I don't want to create a panic." 
Trump told Woodward privately in early February that he understood the danger and severity of the coronavirus, even as he told Americans not to worry about something he compared to the seasonal flu. 
"Just stay calm and it will go away," he said on March 10.

Trump, of course, couldn't suppress his own panic over the likehihood of losing the 2020 election.


September 12, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =202,491 (+701), which is 30.6% of current totat

September 12, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 659,556 (+691)

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September 11, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,806,627, (+47,674 which is 16.6% of current total)

September 11, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 40,914,456 (+176,427)


U.S. News and World Report, 9/11/2020 (highlight added)
"I have to disagree with that, because if you look at ... the statistics ... they are disturbing. We're plateauing at around 40,000 cases a day and the deaths are around a thousand," Fauci told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.

On Janaury 8, 2021, the U.S. reported 300,777 new Covid cases.



September 11, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =201,790 (+1,076), which is 30.6% of current totat

September 11, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 658,865 (+2,418)

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Welcome to Donald Trump's storytime!


September 10, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,758,953, (+41,356 which is 16.6% of current total)

September 10, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 40,738,029 (+170,460)


In the past four months, we’ve added 10.6 million jobs, including 643 manufacturing jobs and 658,000 construction jobs, that’s far beyond expectations. We’ve experienced the smallest contraction of any Western nation, meaning we’ve been affected less than any other nation, Western nation, and probably almost, I think you can put us in … I just saw some numbers. I think you can put us into just about any category anywhere, and the fastest recovery by far, and that’s anywhere. Nobody’s recovered like we’re recovering.

September 10, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =200,714 (+967), which is 30.6% of current totat

September 10, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 656,447 (+3,231)

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September 9, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,717,597, (+38,685 which is 16.6% of current total)

September 9, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 40,567,387 (+184,007)


“We built the greatest economy in the history of the world. We were forced to close it because of the China plague that came in and now we’ve opened it and by the way, your state should be open. It should be open.”

September 9, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =199,807 (+1,071), which is 30.6% of current totat

September 9, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 653,216 (+2,218)

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A sea of white faees cheers for Trump.





September 8, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,678,912, (+28,863 which is 16.5% of current total)

September 8, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 40,382,181 (+301,138)


Politico, 9/8/2020

And the Politico repoter seems to be eating it all up.  
All of these points, and the language he used to make them, could have been quotes from his pre-March rallies. The setting also evoked his earlier rally venues: He spoke to a large crowd sporting Trump apparel with little room for social distancing, and was framed by a chorus of supporters cheering behind him. 
Still, signs of the nation’s current crisis showed through at the event. A handful of attendees — including those directly behind him — wore masks, and the event was outdoors at Smith Reynolds Airport in the golden-hour light, rather than in echoing stadiums. But Trump took the changes in stride.


September 8, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =198,736 (+529), which is 30.5% of current totat

September 8, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 650,998 (+2,219)

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September 7, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,650,049, (+24,339 which is 16.6% of current total)

September 7, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 40,081,326 (+76,076)


The President stopped Mason as he began to ask the first question, saying "you're going to have to take that off, please." He gestured to the space between the reporter and the podium, inquiring, "you're...how many feet are you away?" 
Mason replied that he would just speak louder to counter the effects of the mask. 
Trump was not satisfied with this response, telling the reporter his voice was "very muffled" with the face covering, "so if you would take it off, it would be a lot easier."


September 7, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =198,207 (+402), which is 30.6% of current totat

September 7, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 648,779 (+515)

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September 6, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,625,710, (+31,712 which is 16.6% of current total)

September 6, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 40,004,444 (+44,417)


The widespread distribution of a dodgy vaccine, with a shove from a President whose reelection campaign has been laid low by the pandemic and its crushing effect on the economy, would heap calamity on top of catastrophe. But it has emerged as a very real concern -- enough so that, according to the Wall Street Journal, at least three of the companies working to develop a coronavirus vaccine are now drafting a pledge to assure the public they would not seek approval for their vaccines before they are proven safe and effective.

 

September 6, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =197,805 (+534), which is 30.5% of current totat

September 6, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 648,264 (+377)

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September 5, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,593,998, (+43,704 which is 16.5% of current total)

September 5, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 39,960,123 (+65,893)


ABC News, 9/5/2020

No vaccine to the rescue by Election Day.

Dr. Paul Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee, told The New York Times last month that people "should be" worried about politics influencing the vaccine timeline. 
"There are a lot of people on the inside of this process who are very nervous about whether the administration is going to reach their hand into the Warp Speed bucket, pull out one or two or three vaccines, and say, ‘We’ve tested it on a few thousand people, it looks safe, and now we are going to roll it out,’" he said. 
"They are really worried about that," Offit said. "And they should be."


September 5, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =197,271 (+695), which is 30.4% of current totat

September 5, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 647,887 (+526)

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September 4, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,550,294, (+53,629 which is 16.4% of current total)

September 4, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 39,894,230 (+191,298



Presidential election wishful thinking.

Trump had previously suggested that a vaccine could be ready before the election, and last month accused government scientists of trying to delay progress until after Nov. 3. 
Meanwhile public confidence in coronavirus vaccines has slipped, with just 14 percent of voters be more likely to take a vaccine recommended by Trump, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. 
But both Slaoui and FDA's top vaccine official Peter Marks have said they would quit their jobs if a shot was rubber stamped without enough data. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn has also denied politics would play any role in their decisions.


September 4, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =196,516 (+1,023), which is 30.4% of current totat

September 4, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 647,361 (+1,978)

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September 3, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,496,665, (+46,475 which is 16.4% of current total)

September 3, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 39,702,932 (+175,487


Donald Trump, projecting.
Speaking to a largely mask-less crowd in Pennsylvania, Trump asked his supporters if they know "a man that likes a mask as much" as Biden. "It gives him a feeling of security," the President said. 
"If I was a psychiatrist, I'd say this guy has some big issues."

 

September 3, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =195,493 (+1,071), which is 30.3% of current totat

September 3, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 645,383 (+2,972)

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September 2, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,450,190, (+42,941 which is 16.3% of current total)

September 2, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 39,527,445 (+210,816)


Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the White House Coronavirus Task Force is not discussing herd immunity as a strategy to control the coronavirus pandemic, even though President Donald Trump frequently mentions it as a means of making the pandemic “go away.” 
[snip] 
“That's not a fundamental strategy that we're using,” Fauci said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “We're not there yet." 
“The fundamental strategy that we clearly articulate and go by, through the task force, is to try to prevent as many infections as you possibly can prevent,” he added. “When you get someone who's infected, you do the identification, isolation and contact tracing and you do the kinds of things to prevent infections.”.   


September 2, 2020.  U.S. total Covid deaths =194,422 (+1,082), which is 30.3% of current total

September 2, 2021.  U.S. total Covid deaths = 642,451 (+1,932)

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September 1, 2020.   U.S. total Covid cases =  6,407,246, (+45,229 which is 16.3% of current total)

September 1, 2021.  U.S. total Covid cases = 39,314,238 (+157,850)


Statement: Virus gone by end of summer In the earliest days of the pandemic, 
Trump said that the county may overcome the pandemic by the late summer months as it "washes through." 
"People are talking about July, August -- something like that," the president said at the March 16 press briefing. 
"So it could be right in that period of time where I say it washes -- it washes through, other people don't like that term but where it washes through. 
"Reality: Pandemic rages into fall


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