Trump says coronavirus death toll ‘is what it is’ as he insists pandemic is ‘under control’ in U.S.

“First of all, we have done a great job,” Trump replied, focusing on how governors have handled the crisis in their own states rather than him taking personal responsibility. “I could tell you right now who the great ones are and who the not-so-great ones are. But the governors do it. We gave them massive amounts of material.”

Trump’s rosy view of the U.S. response to the pandemic comes as more than 4.71 million cases have been confirmed in the country, as well as at least 155,478 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Both are the highest recorded totals for any country.

Trump had downplayed the threat of the virus early in the year. In the spring, as the economy plummeted, Trump pressured state leaders to quickly lift their strict social distancing measures and reopen their economies. Even now, as public health experts in his own administration, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, urge Americans to take precautions to help prevent transmission of the virus, Trump has at times undercut that message by holding events with tightly packed audiences and giving mixed signals on whether to wear masks in public.

During the interview, Trump said his administration has done an “incredible” job combating the public health crisis. But Swan challenged Trump on his interpretation of the trajectory of cases and deaths from Covid-19 in the U.S.

“Numerous categories, we’re lower than the world,” Trump said while reading from a small stack of papers he was holding.

“Lower than the world? What does that mean? In what?” Swan said.

The president handed one paper to Swan, who after a brief examination responded: “Oh, you’re doing death as a proportion of cases. I’m talking about death as a proportion of population. That’s where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/04/coronavirus-trump-insists-pandemic-is-under-control-in-us.html