The Conversation (0)
News
x
Greg Evans
May 20, 2020
Most people would agree that the coronavirus pandemic has not been Donald Trump's finest hour as the president of the United States.
The US currently has the highest death toll in the world and is the only country in the world with more than one million confirmed infections.
However, in an unprecedented move, Trump has tried to put a positive spin on these numbers by claiming that having so many cases is a 'badge of honour.'
During a meeting with his cabinet in the East Room of the White House, Trump pinpointed that the amount of cases shows that the US is somehow leading the way when it comes to testing.
By the way, when you say that we lead in cases, that’s because we have more testing than anybody else. Actually the number of cases, and we’re also a much bigger country than most, so when we have a lot of cases, I don’t look at that as a bad thing, I look at that as, in a certain respect, as a good thing, because it means our testing is better.
I view it as a badge of honour. Really, it’s a badge of honour. It’s a great tribute to the testing and all of the work that a lot of professionals have done.
Sure, that's one way of spinning it but we doubt the 1.56 million Americans who have contracted Covid-19 since January would agree.
In terms of outrageous Trump statements, we'll admit that we have heard a lot worse, especially since the pandemic started but we're pretty sure that the word 'honour' should never be associated with the failure to act on preventing the spread of a novel virus when you already had all the tools to do so.
Needless to say, people were not impressed.
Badge of honor?! Over 1 million confirmed cases and over 90,000 Americans dead. That's not honorable. https://t.co/yDJ2lNHOic— Joyce Beatty (@Joyce Beatty) 1589933844
Here’s how ignorant & dishonest Trump is: So the US has the most confirmed cases in the world, and Trump says: “I… https://t.co/rmgUHuVztX— Joe Walsh (@Joe Walsh) 1589921523
Coronavirus Cases: 1,570,583 Deaths: 93,533 Donald Trump: “I dont see that ( the numbers) as a bad thing- i see t… https://t.co/2AR7o4RKdP— Mia Farrow (@Mia Farrow) 1589939440
This is like calling a trail of corpses a badge of honor for the police department that let the serial murderer run… https://t.co/7KCL6BymUl— Laurence Tribe (@Laurence Tribe) 1589925139
@realDonaldTrump 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀TRUMP💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀SAYS💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀THIS💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀IS💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀HIS💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀… https://t.co/bN312MoBRR— Connor Ratliff (@Connor Ratliff) 1589949772
Trump says the U.S. having the most COVID-19 cases in the world is "a badge of honor" How does he feel about havin… https://t.co/UezHeLsdv0— LiA (@LiA) 1589933915
If you're looking for Trump's "badge of honor," that would be the number 1,570,583 below https://t.co/oJFDFVAkfB— Seth Abramson (@Seth Abramson) 1589935404
Trump: “When we have a lot of cases I don’t look at that as a bad thing because it means our testing is much better… https://t.co/GmnB2kR0u7— Michael Steele (@Michael Steele) 1589944733
WATCH: Trump says he views our 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases as a "badge of honor." We view it as a comp… https://t.co/jjWLPdn21l— DNC War Room (@DNC War Room) 1589921949
Trump says he considers it a “badge of honor” that the US has the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world. Yo… https://t.co/tLZVkNjKoR— Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 (@Jon Cooper 🇺🇸) 1589946296
Trump’s "badge of honor" rhetoric is so shocking. First, the number of COVID-19 tests in the US is definitely not… https://t.co/tRbRwZneb9— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@Hu Xijin 胡锡进) 1589951412
Good Lord https://t.co/ckTnd5QJW5— Rick Wilson (@Rick Wilson) 1589943278
Not a week ago, testing was bad bc it revealed more cases. But whatever, Trump besting others is what matters https://t.co/9aVqyPzVMq— Robert E Kelly (@Robert E Kelly) 1589944743
Having the most #COVID19 cases is not a “badge of honor”. It is the most ignoble thing to brag about. People are su… https://t.co/kl7t7Bh6kC— Eric Feigl-Ding (@Eric Feigl-Ding) 1589939732
People are fighting for their lives. Workers are losing their jobs. Our economy is crumbling. President Trump has… https://t.co/LQKJ6NvdK3— Senator Patty Murray (@Senator Patty Murray) 1589927411
"I don't look at the massive increase in crime as bad thing, because it means our 9-1-1 system is working great." https://t.co/cX0dEt8lN5— Dan Pfeiffer (@Dan Pfeiffer) 1589922695
Nearly a third of the deaths worldwide belong to the United States. Ask him if he's proud of that. https://t.co/PWEFwAm4wf— Kaz Weida (@Kaz Weida) 1589921865
As the corpses pile up--I mean, let's face it, this is a mountain of cadavers. Mt. Doom squints upward toward our m… https://t.co/d8EVus2aKx— Jason (@Jason) 1589924878
A badge of honor! (We're still not testing enough) https://t.co/pRpOT1ABjr— Jon Favreau (@Jon Favreau) 1589922626
As a few people pointed out it wasn't so long ago that Trump was complaining about tests coming back as positive weren't "necessarily great" after several members of his administration staff came down with the disease.
So, don't are the tests an 'honour' or not 'necessarily great'? We dare say that by this time next week we'll have another completely different answer.