The campaign team for Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ramped up their mobilization efforts by sharing a mind-blowing statement from former Republican President Donald Trump downplaying the seriousness of COVID-19-related deaths at the height of the pandemic.
On March 17, an X (formerly Twitter) user, NBAVante, asked social media users:
"What is the most insane thing someone has said during a interview?"
Users shared clips from a wide range of interviews that included sports, entertainment, and politics.
To that the Biden-Harris HQ account added a short clip from the summer of 2020 showing Trump being dismissive of the statistic that 1,000 Americans were dying every day prior to the availability of coronavirus vaccines.
The brief video was from Axios national political correspondent Jonathan Swan interviewing Trump, who claimed that the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 was "lower than the world".
"I think it's under control," Trump proclaimed.
Swan replied:
"How? A thousand Americans are dying a day."
Trump responded with:
"They are dying, that’s true, and it is what it is."
You can see the video below.
You can watch a longer segment from another part of that disturbing interview here.
AXIOS on HBO: President Donald Trump on COVID-19 Data (Clip) | HBOyoutu.be
The Biden-Harris team is starting to hammer Trump on his handling of the pandemic since we are now officially 4 years out from the crisis's onset.
The campaign also amplified the moment when NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander asked Trump at a coronavirus taskforce briefing four years this week:
“What do you say to Americans, who are watching you right now, who are scared?”
Trump ignored the question and disparaged the journalist by lashing out:
“I say that you’re a terrible reporter. That’s what I say."
"I think it’s a very nasty question and I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people.”
In another clip from the same press conference, Alexander had asked Trump:
“Is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of hope?”
Trump, who downplayed Dr Anthony Fauci's medical concerns on alternative methods of combating the virus prior to the availability of vaccines, suggested that the use of unapproved hydroxychloroquine could be effective without any evidence.
Trump said of the Immunosuppressive drug and Anti-parasite:
“It may work, it may not work."
"I feel good about it. That’s all it is, it’s a feeling. I'm a smart guy. I feel good about it.”
People online remembered like it was yesterday just how unfit Trump was, and remains, as a leader.
Little did we know then this was just the tip of the iceberg of the "bloodbath" to come.
Kerry Dolan/Forbes
@teddysphotos/Instagram