Speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Saturday evening, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that doctors and hospitals in the Untied States are fabricating the number of coronavirus deaths so they can make more money, a conspiracy theory he has used before in an attempt to minimize the human toll of the COVID-19 virus, which has so far killed over 225,000 Americans.
Wow — Trump pushes a baseless conspiracy theory that US coronavirus deaths are overcounted because “doctors get more money and hospitals get more money” if they say people died of Covid instead of other co-morbidities they might have pic.twitter.com/9ug2AjoZvA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2020
At a rally he held earlier in the afternoon in Lumberton, North Carolina, the president also whined about the focus on coronavirus, asserting that after the election, the virus will disappear from the national consciousness:
“Turn on television, ‘covid-19, covid-19, covid-19, covid-19, covid-19, covid-19.’ A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don’t talk about it. By the way, on November 4th, you won’t hear about it anymore. It’s true.”
With over 1,000 people dying each and every day as result of COVID, such an assertion is not only absurd, it’s also a slap in the face of anyone who has lost a loved one to the deadly disease.
Social media responded harshly to Trump’s lies:
What a f—king lie. My husband is an infectious diseases doc and is working his a$$ off taking care of Covid patients and always at the hospital. He’s not getting any extra money and neither is the hospital. What a spit in the face to those who are working to treat/save others
— Mac (@maclalal) October 25, 2020
This is why, in my professional opinion, if you are using your public platform to spread misinformation that directly leads to decreased compliance with mitigation measures like mask wearing and social distancing, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY FUCKING KILLING PEOPLE. Trust me, I treat them
— Sky in Cali🏴☠️ (@politicalpower9) October 25, 2020
In a sensible society, a single speech like this one would warrant removal from office: Vile lies & intentional misinformation, direct harm to public health, conspiracy theories & attacks on fellow Americans, undermining of our elections.
He’s an active threat to the country.
— WineAnthony (@WineAnthony) October 25, 2020
In fact, the opposite is happening. Annualized death rates are higher than just the covid numbers, meaning covid is being undercounted. And several HCWs on Twitter have reported their hospitals using pneumonia or sepsis as cause of death to reduce their covid numbers.
— Not a loser, exGOP (@GeorgeServed) October 25, 2020
I work in a hospital lab, under pathologists. I have spent months refuting this bs to the MAGAts in my life that believe this drivel. There is no money in COVID. My hospital is broke and experiencing our first real surge with 3 full COVID units and few resources. 9 days….vote.
— Shelly Moss (@shllymoss) October 25, 2020
“Baseless’?
It’s pure hogwash poppycock bull$hit that was conclusively disproven last April.https://t.co/SYDRpj1MeV
— Steve F. (@backyardsage) October 25, 2020
Overcount is just another baseless conspiracy theory designed to protect Trump from the truth.
The confirmed COVID-19 death count is actually far under actual Coronavirus-related deaths based on 2020’s excess death count over normal average/expected deaths.
— Contrarian USA (@FrankMMalefatto) October 25, 2020
Featured Image Via C-SPAN
