#TrumpDeathToll100K? Debunking the Lie That Trump Is Responsible for Coronavirus Deaths
Does anyone seriously think that if Donald Trump were not president, the coronavirus pandemic would have never hit America? The super PAC Democratic Coalition — which supports presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden — apparently does, because it has launched a series of ads describing deaths from the coronavirus as the “Trump Death Toll.” For Memorial Day weekend, Democratic Coalition decided to jump the gun and push ads putting the “Trump Death Toll” at 100,000 — in Twitterspeak, “#TrumpDeathToll100K.”
It is absurd to blame Trump for every single coronavirus death, especially when the PAC supports Joe Biden. Democratic Coalition’s ad should get a “pants on fire” fact-check rating.
Of course, the Democratic Coalition was far from alone in drawing attention to the 100,000 deaths milestone. On Saturday afternoon, The New York Times released the front page of its Sunday edition. The entire front page is a tribute to 1,000 Americans killed by the coronavirus. “U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss,” runs the headline.
Every death is tragic, and the coronavirus is dangerous, but Americans should put these numbers in perspective. First, while the 100,000 number seems jarring, it is significantly smaller than the number of Americans who die every year from smoking (480,000) and obesity (300,000). Another 88,000 Americans die from alcohol every single year.
Why the comparison? As it turns out, deaths from the coronavirus pandemic are inflated in at least two ways. First, as New York funeral home directors explained, many death certificates mark “COVID-19” as the cause of death even when the deceased had not tested positive for the coronavirus, much less actually died of it. Second, most of those who have died from coronavirus had underlying health problems.
Studies have suggested the coronavirus death rate is below 1 percent, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released death rates along those lines. The CDC estimated that about 35 percent of coronavirus cases are asymptomatic, and only 0.4 percent of those who come down with symptoms will die. As PJ Media’s Matt Margolis explained, that translates to a 0.26 percent fatality rate for all infections across all age groups, the symptomatic as well as the asymptomatic.
Furthermore, even that low death rate of 0.4 percent among the symptomatic is heavily skewed toward the elderly. Here’s the age breakdown:
0-49 years old: .05%
50-64 years old: .2%
65+ years old: 1.3%
Overall ages: .4%
The elderly and those with pre-existing health problems are most likely to die from the virus. As San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond put it, “we’ve unfortunately had six pure, solely coronavirus deaths” out of the roughly 190 deaths reported for San Diego, Calif. Most of those who died had comorbidities that make them more vulnerable, such as central obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, and diabetes.
Each of these deaths is tragic, and the fact that the elderly are most likely to die from the virus does not excuse those who needlessly put the lives of the aged at risk — like Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.), whose administration forced nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients discharged from the hospital. However, it is important to note that the coronavirus is not robbing young, healthy people of their lives at such a rate as to justify the kind of panic gripping so many Americans.
As PJ Media’s Stacey Lennox pointed out, relentlessly reporting the large numbers of confirmed cases and confirmed deaths is encouraging irrational panic. Many fear they will contract coronavirus by touching something after an infected person touched it, yet CDC data shows that surface transmission is extremely unlikely. Most transmission comes from close contact with an infected person over a period of time — either sheltering at home with someone or living in close quarters like in nursing homes or jails.
So why is The New York Times focusing on the large number instead of the true (much smaller) threat of the coronavirus? Perhaps it is “panic porn,” designed to sell papers. The Times may also intend to reinforce the Democratic Coalition’s narrative.
Is this all Trump’s fault?
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