4. ‘Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion.’
This Donal Trump quote makes it seem like there was nothing there to warn or inform him about the possibility of a pandemic and what it would mean for our country. The truth is actually very different: there was a 69-page guide written during the Obama administration on how to manage a pandemic, made after the 2016 Ebola crisis. The Trump administration apparently disregarded that.
Moreover, in October 2019 there was an internal federal report that outlined just how underprepared and how low on funds the United States is if a virus outbreaks without a cure. We all know how true that is now, which just shines a light on how unfounded some of Donald Trump’s claims are.
5. ‘You can call it a germ, you can call it a flu, you can call it a virus, you know you can call it many different names. I’m not sure anybody even knows what it is.’
This claim may seem like something the ex-president could have said back when we did not know what the virus was. However, this claim was made well into the start of the pandemic, when public health experts were warning and advising against believing that COVID-19 is anything like the seasonal flu.
The COVID-19 virus is 10 times more likely to cause death than the flu and the way each one plays out is very different, despite both being respiratory diseases. Do not forget that flu season is just as important during this pandemic, and we are currently in the middle of it. If you did not get the chance to get the flu vaccine you should look into it, alongside the COVID-19 one.
6. ‘I don’t think it’s hoarding, I think it’s maybe worse than hoarding. But check it out.’
This one is one of the most outlandish ones, by far. When the situation in spring 2020 was getting worse and worse, the president was making big claims about how hospitals are hoarding equipment, such as ventilators, when the situation was dire. The quote in question is related to when New York state “suddenly” requested 300,000 masks from the 10,000 they originally asked for.
This prompted Donald Trump to make the assumption that what they are trying to do was “maybe worse than hoarding”. I am sure it had nothing to do with the surge in cases and the strain on the medical system. Later on, he tried to save his stance by saying he echoed the governor when he mentioned mask theft, but we believe he was just trying to cover his tracks.
More than once we have seen Donald Trump speak before he gave any thought to what he was about to say.
