Why is Trump in denial about coronavirus?
US president says he has a ‘hunch’ the death rate is lower than WHO estimate
Donald Trump has said he does not believe the World Health Organization’s (WHO) assessment of the global fatality rate from coronavirus.
The UN agency currently puts the death rate from coronavirus at 3.4%. By comparison, the death rate from seasonal influenza is typically estimated to be 0.1%.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So what did Trump say?
Speaking live on Fox News, the president said he did not believe the WHO’s health professionals’ calculations, because he had a “hunch” the death rate was lower.
“I think the 3.4% is really a false number,” he told conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity, in a phone interview broadcast live.
“Now, this is just my hunch, based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this, because a lot of people will have this, and it’s very mild – they’ll get better very rapidly, they don’t even see a doctor, they don’t even call a doctor,” The Guardian reports.
“You never hear about those people, so you can’t put them down in the category of the overall population, in terms of this corona flu, and/or virus. So you just can’t do that.”
Trump then had his own guess at a likely death rate.
“You know, all of a sudden it seems like 3 or 4%, which is a very high number, as opposed to a fraction of 1%,” he said. “But again, they don’t know about the easy cases because the easy cases don’t go to the hospital. They don’t report to doctors or the hospital in many cases. So I think that that number is very high. I think the number, personally, I would say the number is way under 1%.”
WHO sources told the Guardian that the 3.4% was not the final mortality rate, but a calculation based on the number of cases and deaths to date.
“It’s not a mortality rate. But it is the math. The calculation on the given day,” they said.
The previous death rate was given at around 2% after the initial outbreak of cases in Wuhan, China.
Why is Trump in denial?
Like most news stories that are inconvenient for the president, Trump has chosen to brand the fatality rate of coronavirus as fake news.
The Trump administration is promoting the “narrative that Democrats are using the coronavirus to further their own political agenda by exaggerating its severity”, says the Guardian.
Peter Hegseth, a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, attacked Democrats’ criticism of the president, saying: “They’re rooting for the coronavirus to spread. They’re rooting for it to grow. They’re rooting for the problem to get worse.”
Fellow host Ainsley Earhardt said that Democrats “are probably jumping for joy” over the stock markets falling.
Fox’s Laura Ingraham said the media were using coronavirus “to smear the administration in a number of ways”.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes called out the right-wing media commentators’ comments: “Really fascinating to watch rightwing media wrestle with coronavirus. The reactionary instinct… is to fear-monger about diseased foreigners, but that might hurt Trump, so they’re trying to tamp down those fears or spin some anti-Trump conspiracy.”
Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, who was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, said “the coronavirus is the common cold, folks” after saying the illness “is being weaponised as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump”.
Global coronavirus cases have exceeded 100,000 as of Friday morning, with more than 3,400 deaths. This included 233 cases and 14 deaths so far in the US.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Criminal trail?'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Grindr 'shared user HIV status' with ad firms, lawsuit claims
Speed Read LGBTQ dating app accused of breaching UK data protection laws in case filed at London's High Court
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
The best dog-friendly hotels around the UK
The Week Recommends Take a break with your four-legged friend in accommodation that offers you both a warm welcome
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Excess screen time is making children only see what is in front of them
Under the radar The future is looking blurry. And very nearsighted.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Covid-19: what to know about UK's new Juno and Pirola variants
in depth Rapidly spreading new JN.1 strain is 'yet another reminder that the pandemic is far from over'
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Long-term respiratory illness is here to stay
The Explainer Covid is not the only disease with a long version
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Covid inquiry: the most important questions for Boris Johnson
Talking Point Former PM has faced weeks of heavy criticism from former colleagues at the public hearing
By The Week Staff Published
-
China's pneumonia cases: should we be worried?
The Explainer Experts warn against pushing 'pandemic panic button' following outbreak of respiratory illness
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
Vallance diaries: Boris Johnson 'bamboozled' by Covid science
Speed Read Then PM struggled to get his head around key terms and stats, chief scientific advisor claims
By The Week UK Published