Today the United States passed the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from coronavirus infections — and once again, Donald Trump is in denial. At a rally in Ohio Monday night, he said the virus “affects virtually nobody.” Here’s the full quote:
“Now know the disease. We didn’t know it. Now we know it. It affects elderly people. Elderly people with heart problems and other problems. If they have other problems, that’s what it really affects, That’s it. In some states, thousands of people — nobody young. below the age of 18, like nobody. They have a strong immune system. Who knows. take your hat off to the young because they have a hell of an immune system but it affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing.”
To call it amazing is just another dagger for those who are in mourning for their husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, grandparents, and friends. And to say it only “affects elderly people,” then to call them “nobody” is unfathomable. And, not only are 200,000 dead, nearly 7 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disease. Jonathan Bernstein of Bloomberg writes:
“This is monstrous behavior from any elected official. Imagine how those who have lost young loved ones to the pandemic feel when their pain is erased by the president. Or for that matter, anyone who has lost someone who doesn’t qualify as “elderly … with heart problems and other problems.” Imagine how it feels for those who have been severely ill but recovered, when their suffering too doesn’t count for Trump.”
But Trump had more. He also said the pandemic would end if he’s re-elected.
Trump says the November 3 election will "decide whether we end the pandemic" or not, meaning that re-electing him will end the pandemic that has caused 200,000 confirmed deaths under him and is not close to ending.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 22, 2020
On Twitter, the group Social Security Works wrote, “Trump thinks that the lives of seniors (or in his words, “elderly people”) are disposable. He is flat out wrong. Every life is precious, and that’s why we need a president with a real plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic.”
In contrast, here is what Biden said Monday about the death toll.
Biden on 200,000 coronavirus deaths: "We can't lose the ability to feel the sorrow and the loss and the anger for so many lives lost. We can't let the numbers become statistics, a background noise, just a blur that we see on the nightly news."
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) September 21, 2020
For reaction to Trump’s statement, watch MSNBC’s Morning Joe above.