Trump’s Latest Coronavirus Lie: “99 Percent” of Cases are “Totally Harmless”

The coronavirus has killed more than 130,000 Americans, including more than 3,700 Floridians, yet Donald Trump still refuses to take the pandemic seriously. Trump has lied about the severity of COVID-19 since he was first asked about the virus, claiming he had everything “under control” and comparing it to the seasonal flu.

Over the weekend, Donald Trump lied again about the coronavirus in a dangerous attempt to downplay the virus to boost his political standing. Despite a mountain of evidence showing otherwise, Trump claimed “ 99 percent of [cases] are totally harmless.”

“Once again, we’re seeing Donald Trump make up a ridiculous claim to mislead the public about COVID-19 in a weak attempt to boost his ineffective response to the crisis,” said FDP spokesperson Frances Swanson, “We cannot afford another four years of a president so reckless with our safety — Joe Biden can get the job done and we need him in the White House leading us through this crisis.”

TRUMP: “Likewise, testing — there were no tests for a new virus, but now we have tested over 40 million people. But by so doing, we show cases, 99 percent of which are totally harmless. Results that no other country will show, because no other country has testing that we have — not in terms of the numbers or in terms of the quality.”

REALITY: “As many as 15 to 20 percent of known Covid-19 patients may require hospitalization, and of the group admitted, 15 to 20 percent are transferred into intensive care, according to some estimates” [New York Times, 7/5/20]

REALITY: “Some patients have prolonged courses of illness, with fevers and weakness that lasts for weeks on end; the disease has also been linked to strokes that can be disabling, and much about how the disease affects the immune system long term is still unknown. Residual symptoms such as continuing shortness of breath, muscle weakness, flashbacks and mental fogginess can persist for some time.” [New York Times, 7/5/20]