Of course, at the time, Trump was actively telling the country that the virus was not a big deal at all, that it wasn’t as bad as the flu, that it would magically disappear, and that any claims to the contrary were lies by the “Fake News Media” and their partners in crime, the Democratic Party. And speaking of lies:
While it’s not exactly news that Trump spent months misleading the public about COVID-19—we’ve known since April that he was warned in more than a dozen briefings about the fatal disease but continued to downplay it anyway out of fear of spooking the stock market—this is the first recorded account of the president fully admitting that he purposely lied about the severity of a virus that has now killed more than 190,000 in the U.S., a death toll made significantly worse by his shambolic “leadership.”
Asked about the president’s decision to actively deceive the country about the virus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that Trump “never lied to the American public on COVID,” he was simply expressing an air of “calm” about something people should have actually been scared shitless about.
Later, Trump explained that he made the decision to lie about how bad the virus was because he just loves this America so much. “The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country,” he said, painting a mental picture no one should ever have to see. “I love our country and I don’t want people to be frightened, I don’t want to create panic, as you say. And certainly I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence, we want to show strength, we want to show strength as a nation, and that’s what I‘ve done and we’ve done very well by any standards…it’s been an amazing job that we’ve done.”
In fact, it hasn’t been an amazing job and we haven’t done well by any standards, unless the standards are “anything less than 200,000 dead people is fine.” Also, had Trump told the truth for the first time in his life and been straight with Americans about the severity of COVID-19 and instructed them to act accordingly, the U.S. would have needed far fewer body bags over the last six months and the economy wouldn’t be in the toilet.
Anyway, all of this would probably be unbelievably damning if anything Trump ever did made an ounce of difference to his supporters, who apparently believe everything the president tells them, up to and including telling them he lied about a highly contagious, extremely fatal disease for their own good. Uncle Donny knows best!
If you would like to receive the Levin Report in your inbox daily, click here to subscribe.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
— Melania Trump Sounds a Lot Like Her Husband in Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s New Book
— How Trump’s Handling of White Supremacists Could Create a Homegrown Crisis
— Ashley Etienne May Be Biden’s Deadliest Weapon Against Trump
— What’s the Reality Behind Netflix Hit Selling Sunset?
— How to Abolish the Police, According to Josie Duffy Rice
— The Pandemic Is Creating an Endless Summer in the Hamptons
— From the Archive: The Perks and Perils of Being Donald Trump’s Daughter
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hive newsletter and never miss a story.