Donald Trump Jr. Ignores COVID Comment Backlash, Tweets About Father’s ‘Historic Victory’
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graph on his Instagram that showed almost a fourth of the actual CDC deaths and only included data almost a week out of date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.
So, based on an Instagram post from @DonaldJTrumpJr, I think this statement may result from a common misinterpretation of CDC provisional death counts.
— Alexis C. Madrigal (@alexismadrigal) October 30, 2020
The data for recent weeks is always incomplete, so recent weeks always decline. The CDC notes this in official charts. https://t.co/QFZUOw1AXv pic.twitter.com/Myy94WOLhZ
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.
America recorded more cases yesterday (90,466) than China has recorded IN TOTAL (85,960).
— Katie Stewart (@KatieSt1985) October 30, 2020
Trump:
“We’re Rounding the curve”.
“Tough on China”.
“China will pay”.
TRUMP IS WRONG.
China has recovered economically & is disease free.
We are paying and suffering, not China!!
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.
Donald Trump Jr.: "Why aren't they talking about deaths? Oh, oh, because the number is almost nothing because we've gotten control of this thing."
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) October 30, 2020
Coronavirus deaths in US yesterday: 1,016
Deaths over last 7 days: 5,579
Deaths on 9/11: 2,977
Donald Trump Jr.: 250k dead from covid isn’t a big deal and is "almost nothing"
— Heidi Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) October 30, 2020
Also Donald Trump Jr.: Everyone should be terrified because ANTIFA broke a Starbucks window
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