President Donald Trump’s attempts to project more grim messages about the COVID-19 pandemic were prompted in part by data showing that death rates are rising in states critical to his chances for reelection, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Examining the months when Trump did not take the virus seriously, the Post reported that in recent weeks, “top advisers began presenting Trump maps and data showing spikes in coronavirus cases among ‘our people’ in the Republican states “and warned that cases and deaths are now steadily increasing in the Midwest states crucial to Trump’s re-election, such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, in addition to severe outbreaks in Florida, Texas and Arizona.
Michigan reports a seven-day average of 688 new cases per day, Wisconsin reports a seven-day average of 900 new cases, and Minnesota reports an average of more than 700 new cases per day, according to data collected by The New York Times. As of Monday, there are currently more than 4.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and more than 146,000 confirmed deaths in the United States.
Read more: There are 24 candidates for the coronavirus vaccine now in human trials. This is how pharmacists see the race for a cure in 2020.
Voters continue to disapprove of Trump’s handling of the pandemic by double-digit margins, and Trump follows Democratic nominee ex-Vice President Joe Biden both domestically and in several key key states.
In light of the worsening outbreak and its implications for his political fortune, Trump has taken some steps to admit that the virus is a serious problem. He has resumed regular briefings at the White House, where he acknowledged last week that the pandemic will worsen before it improves, and on July 11, he wore a mask in public for the first time, three months after the Centers for Control began. of Diseases recommending facial coatings.
In a statement to the Post, a White House spokeswoman defended Trump’s “historic response to the All-American Coronavirus” and said that “his message has been consistent and his strong leadership will continue as we safely reopen the economy.”
However, despite those proposals, Trump continues to spread misinformation about the virus and has yet to take responsibility for months of discrediting the use of masks as a sign of disrespect for him, pressuring states to reopen their economies. and minimizing the seriousness of the situation. pandemic.
Read more: Antibody treatment may be our best option to stop the coronavirus if a vaccine doesn’t work. Here are the top 9 shows, including 2 that claim to be ready this fall.
In a July 19 interview with “Fox News Sunday” presenter Chris Wallace, Trump continued to falsely claim that the current increase in COVID-19 cases is due to an increase in evidence and that 99% of cases They are harmless. He also insisted that the virus will still “go away,” said many new cases are of people who simply have “the cold,” and misleadingly claimed that the United States has one of the lowest death rates in the world.
