Trump stirs controversy over COVID-19 death toll, halting aid package talks until after election
07 October, 2020
President Donald Trump stirred controversy on Tuesday, his first full day as a COVID-19 outpatient, by taking out of talks with Democrats on an monetary aid package for the united states and drawing rebukes from Facebook and Twitter for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
After days of conflicting messages from doctors and aides about his condition, the Republican president, 74, showed he still had what must be done to fire off startling Twitter posts.
Trump played down the seriousness of the virus in online posts, wanting to get more Americans back again to work also to generate optimism ahead of the November election.
"Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and regardless of the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we likely to close down our Country? No, we've learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, generally in most populations much less lethal!!!" Trump wrote on Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter responded by putting a warning label on the post, saying it included potentially misleading information. Facebook Inc removed the Trump post for breaking its rules on COVID-19 misinformation, according to CNN.
"That is a lie. The flu doesn’t kill 100,000 a year," Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, tweeted. Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said the threat from COVID-19 was "very, very much different" than influenza's reach.
The United States gets the world's highest death toll from the pandemic, with an increase of than 209,000 deaths. By comparison, influenza typically kills between some 22,000 and 64,000 persons a year in the usa, U.S. government statistics show.
In his first major policy pronouncement since time for the White House from a healthcare facility, Trump abruptly called off negotiations with Democratic lawmakers on coronavirus relief legislation until after the election, even while cases of the virus are increasing across much of the united states.
"I've instructed my representatives to avoid negotiating until after the election when, soon after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and SMALL COMPANY," Trump wrote on Twitter.
Following his announcement, U.S. stocks were down a lot more than 2 percent in late afternoon trading.
Trump's chances of winning re-election have taken popular over the an incredible number of jobs lost during coronavirus lockdowns. His surprising withdrawal from the talks raises doubts about how exactly quickly the U.S. economy can recover.
Trump tested positive for coronavirus last week after months of playing down the deadly infection.
His doctor said on Tuesday that Trump reported no COVID-19 symptoms and was doing "extremely well." Sean Conley, a Navy commander, said Trump's essential signs remained stable, with an oxygen saturation degree of 95-97%.
Trump had no public events listed for Tuesday and it had been unclear when he'd resume a complete schedule of presidential duties and campaigning before Election Day, Nov 3.
He also tweeted that he was pumped up about a scheduled second debate with Democratic election opponent Joe Biden on Oct 15 and wrote that he was feeling great. He had yet to be observed in public or even to to push out a new video since Monday night.
Trump spent three days at a military hospital and was because of receive further doses of the antiviral drug remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone, which is generally found in the most severe cases.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Trailing Biden in view polls, Trump's campaign sought to project a graphic of a solid president who's overcoming his illness and likely to reunite on the campaign circuit.
"We're looking towards him getting back on the trail when the doctors say it's physically simple for him to take action. He's ready now," Trump campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley told Fox News.
A Twitter post by Biden showed images of himself donning a mask and Trump removing his. "Masks Matter. They save lives," the caption read.
Fauci, a well-known infectious diseases expert on the White House coronavirus task force, said COVID-19, which includes killed a million persons worldwide, was fiercer than influenza.
"The prospect of what COVID... can do is very, very much not the same as influenza. You don't get yourself a pandemic that kills a million persons - and it isn't even over yet - with influenza," Fauci said told NBC News.
Trump returned to the White House on Monday in a made-for-television spectacle, descending from his Marine One helicopter wearing a white surgical mask, only to take it off as he posed, saluting and waving, on the mansion's South Portico.
The severe nature of his illness has been the subject of extreme speculation, with some authorities noting that, as an overweight, elderly man, he was in a higher risk category.
GaspingForAir began trending on Twitter after video showed Trump appearing to take several deep breaths while sitting on the White House balcony.
Many Trump aides and confidants have already been diagnosed with the condition since his announcement last week that he had tested positive, intensifying scrutiny and criticism of the administration's handling of the pandemic.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany, herself identified as having the virus, said the rise in COVID-19 cases at the White House and among some Republican senators was not disrupting the functioning of the U.S. government.
The most notable U.S. military leaders are isolating following the Coast Guard's No. 2 tested positive for the coronavirus, Pentagon officials said.
White House adviser Stephen Miller tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, an NBC reporter said on Twitter, the most recent case of coronavirus reported among Donald Trump's inner circle because the Republican president announced he previously the virus the other day.
Miller's wife, Katie Miller, who is a spokeswoman for Vice President Mike Pence, tested positive for the virus in May.
Source: japantoday.com
TAG(s):