Top Republicans are seeking to downplay the heavy toll of the coronavirus, in part by pointing to a conspiracy theory that the number of deaths is much lower.
President Trump
Donald John TrumpCohen claims in new book that Trump is 'guilty of the same crimes' as him 'Princess Bride' cast to reunite for Wisconsin Democrats fundraiser Bernie Sanders warns that Trump may not concede the election MORE, along with Sen. Joni Ernst
Joni Kay ErnstThe Hill's 12:30 Report: First Kennedy to lose a Massachusetts election Ernst says she's 'skeptical' about coronavirus death count Trump warnings on lawlessness divide GOP candidates MORE (R-Iowa) and Rep. Roger Marshall
Roger W. MarshallBank lobbying group launches ad backing Collins reelection bid Chamber to launch ads defending embattled GOP senators McConnell warns control of Senate 'could go either way' in November MORE (R-Kan.), who are both in competitive Senate races, have all pointed in recent days to the widely debunked theory that COVID-19 deaths in the United States total just 10,000 instead of the more than 180,000 recorded by health officials.
The speculative remarks come at a time when about 1,000 people a day are dying from the virus, providing a grim backdrop to the final sprint to Election Day. Trump, meanwhile, has been trying to project an optimistic message, frequently pointing to rapid progress toward a vaccine and saying he thinks the virus is “going away.”
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The Trump administration has also increasingly emphasized protecting vulnerable populations like the elderly, rather than putting a focus on a broader strategy of trying to suppress the disease overall.
The discredited theory in question points to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webpage stating the coronavirus was listed as the sole cause for only 6 percent of deaths from the virus. However, that does not mean the other 94 percent of people did not die from coronavirus. Instead, it means that either another factor directly caused by coronavirus was also listed, like respiratory failure, or that there was an underlying condition like obesity or diabetes that is not necessarily fatal on its own but that heightens the risks from coronavirus.
The 6 percent figure has been seized on, however, to minimize the death toll. Last weekend, Trump retweeted a post from the user Mel Q, who is also a believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory, saying only about 9,000 people had “actually” died from coronavirus. Twitter later removed the tweet for violating its rules.
Ernst likewise said Monday that she is “so skeptical” of case and death counts from coronavirus, later adding, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier: “They’re thinking there may be 10,000 or less deaths that were actually singularly COVID-19...I’m just really curious. It would be interesting to know that.”
Marshall, who is a doctor, pointed to the theory based on the 6 percent statistic in a Facebook post Sunday.
“This week the CDC quietly updated its COVID-19 data to reflect the number of deaths from COVID-19 only,” he wrote, adding it was “only 6%,” according to a screenshot posted by KSNT.
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Facebook removed the post, with a spokesperson saying it violated “our policies against spreading harmful misinformation about COVID-19 since it misstates CDC data about the deadliness of the disease.”
The prominence of the discredited theory and its embrace among high-level Republicans has dismayed experts.
“It’s completely, to me, mind-boggling that people are using this as fodder for some conspiracy theory,” said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security.
He said experts have long said that underlying conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are risk factors for having a more severe case of coronavirus, so “that’s not anything surprising” that conditions like that were listed as present in many coronavirus deaths.
“I’m not sure why this is even a story other than people are trying to minimize what is a serious infectious disease,” Adalja added.
Anthony Fauci
Anthony FauciHarris on getting any COVID-19 vaccine before election: 'I would not trust Donald Trump' Obama encourages social distancing, mask-wearing over Labor Day weekend Companies developing COVID-19 vaccines planning to issue joint safety pledge MORE, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, likewise said on ABC this week: “That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of COVID didn’t die of COVID-19 -- they did -- so the numbers that you've been hearing, the 180,000 plus deaths, are real deaths from COVID-19.”
Asked about Trump’s retweets at a press conference Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump was “highlighting new CDC information that came out that was worth noting."
Ernst took a different tone in a statement released by her office, saying: “Over 180,000 Americans have died because of COVID-19. What matters is that we are getting the resources to Iowa that are needed to fight this virus and continuing to support our health care workers on the front lines, and that’s what I’m focused on.”
Marshall’s campaign manager, Eric Pahls, wrote in an email: “Dr. Marshall was simply presenting data from the CDC. He didn't offer some sort of spin or analysis,” adding that the Senate candidate “respects this virus.”
The promotion of the debunked theory has come alongside other efforts to question the effects of the coronavirus. During a rally Thursday, Trump mocked Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
Joe Biden'Princess Bride' cast to reunite for Wisconsin Democrats fundraiser Anita Hill says she'll vote for Biden Buttigieg, former Obama officials added to Biden's transition team MORE for wearing a mask.
“Did you ever see a man that likes a mask as much as him?” Trump said to a largely maskless crowd, while also saying he is “all for” people wearing masks. Trump himself rarely wears a mask.
The president has also put an increased emphasis on encouraging lower-risk people to go on with their lives, emphasizing instead protections for the elderly.
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“We are aggressively sheltering those at highest risk, especially the elderly, while allowing lower risk Americans to safely return to work and to school,” Trump said in his primetime acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last week.
That approach is in line with suggestions from White House adviser Scott Atlas, a doctor who does not have a background in infectious diseases and is affiliated with the conservative Hoover Institution. Atlas has downplayed concerns about the virus spreading among people who are not elderly or in other high-risk groups, even saying it could be a good thing.
“When you isolate everyone, including all the healthy people, you’re prolonging the problem because you’re preventing population immunity,” Atlas said in a Fox News radio interview in July. “Low-risk groups getting the infection is not a problem. In fact, it’s a positive.”
Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, countered that viewpoint in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece last weekend. “The best way to protect the vulnerable is to try to protect everyone,” he wrote, emphasizing that the virus needed to be contained.
The White House denies it is pursuing the population immunity or herd immunity strategy referred to by Atlas.
The criticism comes on the heels of new testing guidance from the CDC late last month that recommended cutting back on testing of asymptomatic people not in high-risk groups. The guidance said asymptomatic people do not need to be tested, even if they have been in close contact with an infected person, “unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one.”
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Amid a firestorm from experts saying the country needs more testing, not less, CDC Director Robert Redfield sought to clarify the guidance but did not rescind it.
Democrats, meanwhile, are on the attack, pointing in particular to Republicans questioning the death toll.
Theresa Greenfield, the Democratic Senate nominee in Iowa, said Ernst was pushing “dangerous conspiracy theories that undermine the very folks on the frontlines sacrificing to keep us safe.”
Helen Kalla, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, added: “We can’t afford leaders who peddle false information and dangerous conspiracy theories and refuse to take the pandemic seriously.”
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