America Is the Real Sick Man of the World

Part 1

1. During a news conference on Sunday (March 29, 2020), Trump said that a final US coronavirus death toll somewhere in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 people would indicate that his administration has “done a very good job.”

“You’re talking about 2.2 million deaths,” Trump said, referring to an Imperial College study that identified 2.2 million people as the high end of how many Americans could die if no measures were taken to slow the spread of coronavirus. “So if we can hold that down, as we’re saying, to 100,000, it’s a horrible number, maybe even less, but to 100,000, so we have between 100 [thousand] and 200,000, we altogether have done a very good job.”

The president acknowledging that as many as 200,000 people could die from the coronavirus is a somewhat stunning admission — especially considering that as recently as last week, Trump was pushing an absurdly dangerous talking point about relaxing social distancing in time for churches to be packed on Easter. But it also previews the sort of argument he’s preparing to make during the upcoming election about how his handling of the crisis was a success — no matter the outcome, and regardless of his past statements.

Source: https://www.vox.com/2020/3/30/21199586/us-coronavirus-deaths-trump-200000-good-job

2. During a contentious interview, Axios’ Jonathan Swan asked Trump how he could claim his administration has a handle on the virus as it kills 1,000 Americans a day.

“They are dying. That’s true, and — it is what it is,” Trump said. “But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it,” Trump said in the interview, which took place July 28 and aired Monday night on HBO.

“You really think this is as much as we can control it?” Swan asked. “A thousand deaths a day?”

“First of all, we have done a great job,” Trump replied, focusing on how governors have handled the crisis in their own states rather than him taking personal responsibility. “I could tell you right now who the great ones are and who the not-so-great ones are. But the governors do it. We gave them massive amounts of material.”

Trump’s rosy view of the U.S. response to the pandemic comes as more than 4.71 million cases have been confirmed in the country, as well as at least 155,478 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Both are the highest recorded totals for any country.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/04/coronavirus-trump-insists-pandemic-is-under-control-in-us.html

3. The mighty American Empire has been humbled since January this year by a lifeless virus. While struggling to control the epidemic, President Good Brain said the economy right now is like a rocket ship...just ready to soar into year end and into 2021. A world that has grown accustomed to yielding to US hegemony was reminded that nothing, not even America's power, can be taken for granted.

It is an open secret that President Good Brain was downplaying the threat of the virus early in the year. He keeps insisting that the coronavirus pandemic is “under control” in the US even as the death toll from the virus soars like a rocket ship every day.

Trump said 200,000 Americans could die from coronavirus, because he’s done “a very good job”. Yes, his people have to admit that he has really done “a very good job” even though the death toll is fast approaching 161,000 today (August 5, 2020), but still a far cry from his prediction of 200,000 deaths.

4. If the US death toll bursts through the 200,000 barrier before President Good Brain steps down, the next barrier would be 675,000 -- the US death toll of the 1918 Kansas Virus.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/were-not-facing-second-spanish-flu/607354/

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/