This is where stupidity and self-obsession meet to create a real danger to citizens. Earlier today we already covered the fact that Trump told people that they can go to work if they test positive for Coronavirus, that he doesn’t seem to have a basic handle on what vaccines do (they are not a medicine that makes things better), nor how long they take to develop and test (He has been told about a year, he likes 2 months much more), and has blamed problems associated with the test kits on Obama, because of course he did.

But now he is out there claiming to have better knowledge than the WHO as to the coronavirus’s mortality rates. Rawstory sets out the basic facts:

The World Health Organization has said that the fatality rate for the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is between 3-4 percent. Recent specific estimations put it at 3.4 percent. However, the president said that it’s all fake news.

“I think the 3.4 percent number is really a false number,” Trump told Hannity. “Now, this is just my hunch but based on a lot of conversations … personally, I’d say the number is way under 1 percent.”

Yes, except that I would personally love to say that my bank account is a one followed by nine zeroes, and yet I can say that all I want and it won’t make it true. Trump made the above claim almost like he has numbers from the U.S. to back up the “better number.” He doesn’t, at least not that we know. We know that 158 people have been tested, and 11 people have died, which is close to 7% – or double the WHO numbers.

It is almost like Trump is saying that he has information that they are not reporting. We know that 11 people have died. If Trump is correct that the United States’ mortality rate is closer to “1,” then it could be that he’s admitting there are a 1000 confirmed cases.

Or he could be just throwing shit out there again. We cannot know. All we know is that something isn’t adding up, and we don’t want to hear about “hunches.” The president of the United States is not supposed to need “hunches.” He has the most elite personnel of any government on earth, in any discipline, to give him information, all so that hunches are a last resort.

This is where it gets dangerous. Now millions of Fox Viewers think that the WHO can’t be trusted, the virus isn’t that serious, and that they can go to work if it is mild enough.

Do notice that all the above statements benefit how he looks, present optimism over facts, and downplays any negative personal or economic danger.

Danger.

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Peace, y’all

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom