Trump’s Misleading COVID-19 Comparisons to Other Countries
In a flurry of tweets and remarks, President Donald Trump continued to distort the facts on the coronavirus pandemic:
- In a series of comments focused on the surging number of COVID-19 cases elsewhere in the world, Trump left the misleading impression that the U.S. is doing better than several countries seeing recent upticks in cases. But nearly all of the nations he mentioned still have fewer new daily per capita cases than the U.S.
- The president said Dr. Anthony Fauci, a coronavirus task force member, was “wrong” that Europe was more successful in reducing new cases partly because countries had more restrictive lockdowns than the U.S. Instead, Trump inaccurately insisted that the U.S. has more cases because of more testing.
- Trump repeated the misleading claim that COVID-19 cases are “up” in the U.S. “because of BIG Testing.” Cases are high because of ongoing transmission, not just because of testing. Coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said that the recent outbreaks, unlike those in the early days of the pandemic, are “extraordinarily widespread.”
Resurgences in Other Countries
In recent remarks, Trump has noted that other nations are currently experiencing worrisome upticks in coronavirus cases. While this is true, his emphasis and description of these surges could leave audiences incorrectly believing the U.S. is in better shape than certain parts of Europe and Asia.
In a July 30 press briefing, for example, the president referred to “tremendous problems” occurring across the globe.
Trump, July 30: All over the world, they’re having tremendous problems. A resurgence has taken place in many countries that people thought were doing well. Despite a wide range of approaches to the
