Miracle? Not so much. During Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing, federal officials projected that the nation would experience at least 100,000 to 240,000 deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic if people across the country successfully maintain social distancing recommendations. In other words, that might actually be a best-case scenario. Asked directly whether the country should be prepared for the likelihood of 100,000 deaths due to coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, "Yes, we should be prepared for it." Fauci also stressed that adhering to strict mitigation efforts might lower that number.
But Donald Trump accepted that projection as a victory. What would have happened, Trump wondered, if we did nothing? "There was a group that said, ‘let's just ride it out,’" Trump said, with apparent amnesia. What Trump forgot to mention was, there wasn’t just a “group” saying that, there was a president saying that. His name was Donald Trump.
Remember when Trump pooh-poohed COVID-19 by comparing it to the flu? “Last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu,” Trump tweeted on March 9, saying that flu deaths average between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. "Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”
During a White House briefing on Feb. 26, Trump said the novel coronavirus was “a little bit like the flu.”
On Tuesday, Trump did a complete 180, returning to his ride-it-out theme from earlier in the briefing. "A lot of people have said 'Ride it out. Don't do anything, just ride it out. And think of it as the flu,'” Trump said. “But it's not the flu. It's vicious."
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are making their very best effort to gaslight America on their supposed early leadership on coronavirus. They're now projecting 100,000 to 240,000 American deaths ... and maybe more.
That's not a frickin’ "miracle," folks. It's an abomination. And it could get worse.