President Donald Trump shocked reporters and Americans across the country when he used his Monday afternoon press briefing to air what many describe as a campaign-like propaganda video about his response to the global pandemic that's upended daily life in the United States.
The video wasn't aimed at providing potentially lifesaving information regarding the virus, nor did it give any updates on the progress of slowing its spread.
The video was solely to vindicate Trump for his bungled response to the pandemic.
Watch the ad below.
President Trump plays campaign-style video at press briefing defending his response to coronavirus pandemic https://t.co/HwAThsSYCG— Breaking911 (@Breaking911)1586816640.0
One of the clips used in the video featured Dr. David Agus in a February interview predicting that the virus would not be a "major issue" in the United States.
With that prediction proving to be dead wrong, Dr. Agus took to Twitter to defend himself.
We have the best epidemiology teams in the world after all. I was wrong to accept this as fact, and have learned to question not trust.— David Agus (@David Agus)1586817869.0
Agus said he'd assumed the United States would have a functional and efficient testing arsenal soon enough to gauge the prevalence of the virus throughout the country. That didn't happen.
He thought the Trump administration would surely heed the warnings and advice of the country's top medical experts.
Nope.
Agus said he was wrong to take these for granted and that it resulted in a prediction that was incorrect.
People commended him.
@DavidAgus You are a better man and person than many of the folks in the WH. They cannot say "sorry" for anything… https://t.co/r8Im5MMJsl— Mary Benak (@Mary Benak)1586818159.0
@DavidAgus @DavidAgus All of us healthcare professionals were lulled into feeling that the CDC has us covered with… https://t.co/sgUP0Om2VJ— Swamy Venuturupalli, MD (@Swamy Venuturupalli, MD)1586843271.0
@DavidAgus A true leader always tells the truth right or wrong. Thank you for your countless hours and hard work.— MD (@MD)1586867135.0
Agus wasn't the only person featured in the video who commented on their cameo in Trump's propaganda.
The president is using audio of me on The Daily to bash my reporting in the paper (though I’m so glad they listen t… https://t.co/fqjijZjN4i— Maggie Haberman (@Maggie Haberman)1586815758.0
And then he did basically nothing for over a month. Which was our story yesterday.— Maggie Haberman (@Maggie Haberman)1586815776.0
There was a lot of fact checking to counteract the deceptive video.
Trump ad also secretly edits a Biden quote: In the ad, Biden says, "Banning all travel will not stop" coronavirus.… https://t.co/Fz5npxUndD— Aaron Blake (@Aaron Blake)1586526944.0
Quote NOT in campaign ad: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. We have it unde… https://t.co/kTvipZGnXz— Joe Scarborough (@Joe Scarborough)1586816535.0
The concentrated effort to deceive the country is disturbing to say the least.
“I think this is one of the most astonishing acts of disinformation we’ve seen from a White House since the Vietnam… https://t.co/fzB9soNL0N— MSNBC (@MSNBC)1586885585.0
Yet in the middle of this deadly pandemic that shows no obvious signs of abating, the president made clear that the… https://t.co/kWNlKBkIhH— Ashley Parker (@Ashley Parker)1586835013.0
The ugly ugly ugly truth is Trump doesn’t give a damn about anything but himself even in a pandemic. https://t.co/jqV7tqwqn0— Barbara Malmet (@Barbara Malmet)1586872472.0
Nearly 25 thousand Americans are dead. Now is the time to share information and facts, not spin and lie.
The book Propaganda is available here.