KEY POINTS

  • Donald Trump Jr. claimed Thursday that U.S. COVID-19 deaths were "almost nothing" as the U.S. set a new fatality record with over 1,000 Americans dying in a single day
  • As proof, Trump Jr. pointed to an erroneous graph on his Instagram that showed almost a fourth of the actual CDC deaths and only included data almost a week out of date
  • A second wave of COVID-19  cases has engulfed many states across the U.S., especially those who failed to take health precautions

Donald Trump Jr. sparked backlash on social media after an interview Thursday with Fox News' Laura Ingraham in which he downplayed the severity of the coronavirus. Trump Jr. said COVID-19 fatalities were "almost nothing," despite 971 deaths on Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

"I kept hearing about new infections. But I was like, 'Why aren't they talking about this?'" he said. "Oh, because the number is almost nothing. Because we've gotten control of this thing, we understand how it works. They have the therapeutics to be able to deal with this."

Ingraham did not correct Trump Jr. after he pointed to a declining death rate.

He also directed viewers to an erroneous graph on his Instagram account. "If you look at my Instagram account, it's gone to almost nothing," Trump Jr. said.

The post shows a graph purportedly from the CDC saying 149 Americans had died from COVID-19 the week of Oct. 24. The CDC’s actual data shows a rate almost four times that, with 497 dead.

Alexis Madrigal, a staff writer at the Atlantic, pointed out that Trump Jr. misinterpreted the death count.

Donald Trump Jr delivered a keynote address at the opening night of the 2020 Republican National Convention
Donald Trump Jr delivered a keynote address at the opening night of the 2020 Republican National Convention AFP / Olivier DOULIERY

The data the Trump Jr. referenced is almost a week old. The virus has surged forward in recent days, ravaging even states that have managed it fairly well.

On Thursday, the U.S. reported a record number of new cases. There were 88,521 cases on Thursday, according to data from CNBC.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has held massive rallies, crowding maskless supporters together.

On Friday, Trump Jr. tweeted a message predicting a "historic" victory on Nov. 3.

President Donald Trump himself has pointed to his recovery as evidence the virus is overblown, despite receiving a bevy of treatments unavailable to normal people.

"With the fake news, everything is COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID," President Trump said this week at a Nebraska rally. "I had it. Here I am, right?"

Users on social media were less than pleased with the misinformation.

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