“I Take Full Responsibility; It’s Not My Fault!” And Other Lies the President Told About COVID-19 During Last Debate
Despite his positive COVID-19 diagnosis three weeks ago, President Donald Trump lumbered onto the Belmont University stage Thursday night sans mask. He completely disregarded the unidentified long-term effects of the disease and potentially threatened Vice President Joe Biden’s health.
Led by NBC's Kristen Welker, President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden faced off in the last presidential debate on Thursday, Oct. 22. Source: Screencap of Youtube CNN's Replay of the debate
While the Nashville Public Health Department did institute precautions like socially-distant podiums, personal HVAC systems for the candidates, temperature checks and required masks, the lack of both feigned and/or genuine acknowledgment of COVID-19 etiquette remained on-brand for the president. His behavior starkly contrasted with Biden’s — who has never tested positive for COVID-19 and still wore a mask to the stage with an abundance of caution. The candidates’ entrances set what I assumed to be the tone for the debate, and immediately I prepared myself for another screaming match more about personal attacks than policy. However, I must admit that Thursday’s debate was relatively civil. My commendation of Trump’s newfound ability to follow basic debate procedure is where my respect for him ends.
Less than three minutes in when asked about how he would handle the next wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump boasted the availability of a vaccine “within weeks.” This was after he blamed China, saying “I take full responsibility; it’s not my fault it came here, it’s China’s fault!.” Trump also cited an 85% decrease in mortality rate, failing to specify its likely attributed to the infection of younger generations who are more likely to recover. Then he incorrectly referenced the recovery rate in which he claimed it was 99%, when other sources' estimate it at 96.47% as of Oct. 11.
When moderator Kristen Welker asked if Trump could guarantee that he would have a vaccine in three weeks, he responded by altering his former statement.
“No it’s not a guarantee, but it will be by the end of the year… I think it has a good chance,” Trump said. “There are two companies I think [that will manufacture] within a matter of weeks and it will be distributed very quickly.”
During this pandemic, the U.S. cannot afford wavering leadership that makes empty promises about a vaccine, especially as the CDC still predicts 20,000 more deaths from COVID-19. Trump’s promise of a rushed vaccine directly opposes the guidance of the country’s top scientists who warn against doing so, as such a vaccine will fail to meet FDA criteria and can mitigate public confidence in all vaccines. By boasting his plans on national television, Trump illustrated his disregard for the country and narcissistic focus. Trump thinks if he can push a vaccine out before Election Day, it will safeguard his reelection. Then again, this motive is irrelevant, as I’m left questioning the feasibility of Trump’s ideas since he previously promised Americans he would eradicate COVID-19 by Easter. Trump followed his baseless assertion of a prompt vaccine with a personal anecdote that he saw as evidence that COVID-19 would diminish itself.
“I was in the hospital, I had it and I got better. I will tell you that I had something that they gave me… a therapeutic as they would call it,” Trump said. “Some people would say it was a cure but I was in for a short period of time and I got better very fast.”
The “cure,” or therapeutic Trump referenced, is actually hydroxychloroquine, a malarial drug that has shown potential in treating the coronavirus during experimental trials. Trump boasted about his rapid recovery, especially given his high-risk status because of his age, weight and preexisting health conditions.
However, it’s unwarranted. While Trump may have recovered, the world is not Trump. They haven’t paid only $750 in income taxes for multiple years to still be left with $2.5 billion to spend on high-quality healthcare and nationally-ranked doctors to assist in their recovery. Trump is about image, and he has the money to perpetuate the image that COVID-19 is not a threat. Meanwhile, the average person lacks that money, and minimizing the severity of the disease by ignoring his wealth and status only hurts the majority of the population Trump swore to protect.
When criticized by Biden for his response to COVID-19, Trump took to the defense. He cited that Dr. Anthony Fauci advised the country not to wear masks. What Trump is referencing is a Mar. 8 interview with 60 Minutes in which Fauci said that “there's no reason to be walking around with a mask,” because of his fear that health care professionals and COVID-19 patients would need them more than the general population.
By completely misinterpreting Dr. Fauci’s statement, which Fauci said in the first month of the pandemic, Trump furthers the distrust between citizens and medical professionals that is especially prevalent in his supporter base. Dr. Fauci misspoke in his first recommendations and has since advised otherwise, culminating in his suggestion of a mask mandate on Friday. His reasoning, which included a fear of a lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) also was relevant, as the U.S experienced shortages. In that same interview, which Trump conveniently forgot to reference, is that Fauci condemned those who downplayed the severity of the pandemic – specifically, the Trump administration. Medical data will and should change as new information emerges regarding the coronavirus. To cherry-pick instances to discredit Dr. Fauci, who’s career is to protect the nation from COVID-19, displays narcissism no country should see in a president.
Trump ended his answer on COVID-19 by touting American testing capabilities. “We have the best testing in the world,” he said. “That’s why we have so many cases.”
This statement has many layers, the first being that the U.S. has “the best testing in the world.” According to Statista, as of Oct. 22, the number of tests performed per million population ranks the U.S. third in the world with 387,967 tests. To address Trump’s logic that “the best testing in the world” — which he correlates to the amount of tests administered, not accuracy or the time needed to process results — leads to an uptick in cases. The amount of tests administered has no impact on positive cases.
With or without tests, citizens will still contract COVID-19. What more testing does is help chart when and where these cases occur. A more effective way to classify the efficacy of testing would be by analyzing accuracy to ensure COVID-19 statistics remain correct. Additionally, introducing more rapid testing can help prevent spikes by noticing a surge of positive cases.
As U.S. citizens watch their president spew blatant mistruths to downplay the seriousness of COVID-19, public perception is being harmfully molded. WHO classified COVID-19 as a pandemic so early on for a reason: it is a deadly disease that will not end soon. As for those disappointed with Trump’s response toward the pandemic, all we can hope is that in addition to COVID-19, Trump’s presidency will end soon as well.