The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was established by Congress in 1976 to provide the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological aspects of governing the United States.
But some now say the OSTP has added a new function—the creation and distribution of presidential propaganda.
White House OSTP releases "Science and Technology Accomplishments from First Term", includes "ENDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC" as accomplishment.
(guess they dunno what accomplish means?)
https://t.co/kURaSH3AgI
includes statement from noted STEM expert Ivanka Trump pic.twitter.com/tralEAmKIP
— Dan Vergano (@dvergano) October 27, 2020
There's one bit of information coming from the office that drew particular attention and ire. In an OSTP press release created to highlight the accomplishments of President Donald Trump, the scientific advisory board listed:
"ENDING THE ... PANDEMIC."
The boast echoed false claims made by Trump that the country is "turning the corner" on the worst of the pandemic. The Trump campaign continues to hold crowded rallies with thousands of supporters while mocking Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for adhering to safety measures recommended by Trump's own officials.
In reality, over 200 thousand Americans are dead, hospitalizations are spiking, and new cases recently hit a single day high.
Though the President and his allies may not acknowledge it, the pandemic is not over.
Twitter users were in disbelief at the bold, false claim.
You can't make this up: Yesterday, the White House science office put out a statement listing "ending the COVID-19 pandemic" as the top accomplishment of President Trump's first term. https://t.co/46VkWJE0GN
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 28, 2020
The White House put out a political puff piece taking credit for "ending the COVID-19 pandemic." Is this a sick joke? The pandemic is getting worse. Americans are dying. And Donald Trump is incapable of leading the country through this crisis. https://t.co/4Dw6QwYFFt
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 28, 2020
Oh. My. God.
The Trump administration literally lists "ENDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC" as a major accomplishment from its first term.
There have been 488,498 US coronavirus cases in the last 7 days. https://t.co/rsrb4TnJVs
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) October 27, 2020
Jesus, these people aren't even *good* grifters. They're even incompetent at lying. https://t.co/LsIOaGL3xa
— Matt Shipman (@ShipLives) October 28, 2020
Beyond parody https://t.co/Zxml3KZek1
— Grant Tremblay (@astrogrant) October 27, 2020
These people live in an entirely separate reality. https://t.co/KtVMV2wjIf
— Tara (@tara_atrandom) October 27, 2020
Some drafted metaphors to convey the statement's absurdity.
If we played one-on-one basketball and you handed me my ass (as you most definitely would), I'd have to be stupid and think that you're stupid to then say, “I'm the best basketball player in the world." Yet this is our president's strategy with every single one of his failures. https://t.co/s83FdWwvM5
— Steph Cha (@stephycha) October 28, 2020
This is like when some people people at their thesis defense will talk about all of the papers they wrote but half of them still need a few more experiments before they can even start writing a draft https://t.co/AGSQaOjyCJ
— Luke Ha-babe (@LHabib95) October 27, 2020
My next grant report will now highlight me winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and curing world hunger. https://t.co/bQBWPVD58J
— Anne A Madden, Ph.D. (@AnneAMadden) October 28, 2020
White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah said the claim was "poorly worded" and that the "intent was to say that it is our goal to end the virus." Meanwhile, Trump campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley said he wouldn't "quibble over semantics," but that the country is "moving in the right direction."
