President Donald Trump appears convinced that basic science is some kind of conspiracy to make him look bad. That’s not an exaggeration — it’s a summary of comments that he made during an interview that aired this Sunday on Full Measure News with Sharyl Attkisson. Asked about a recently released study from Columbia University outlining how tens of thousands of lives could have been saved in the U.S. if social distancing demands were enacted just a week or two earlier, Trump delusionally suggested that the scientists behind the study were out to get him.
WOW: New research from Columbia University finds if social distancing in U.S. "had been in place seven days earlier…the U.S. could have prevented 36,000 deaths through early May — about 40 percent of fatalities reported to date." Now If only Trump didn't think it was a "Hoax" https://t.co/SvxL5Vrcoy
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) May 21, 2020
Trump said:
‘Columbia is a liberal, disgraceful institution to write that because all the people that they cater to were months after me. They said we shouldn’t close it — I took tremendous heat. You know this. When I banned China from coming in — first time anything like that ever happened — I took tremendous heat, tremendous, like a level that I’ve never seen anything like it and that went on for months. They were criticizing me… and that was in January. I saw that report and it’s a disgrace that Columbia University would do it, playing right to their little group of people that tell them what to do.’
Watch below:
In @SharylAttkisson's exclusive interview, @realDonaldTrump reacts to a new Columbia University analysis indicating that a majority of U.S. deaths caused by COVID-19 could have been prevented if social distancing and lockdowns had started earlier.
More: https://t.co/4o8VAGW6uK pic.twitter.com/NzDXFY69uc
— Full Measure News (@FullMeasureNews) May 23, 2020
The president’s argument is laughably ridiculous. He has consistently claimed that his restrictions on travel from China were some grandiose, magnificent feat to the point that he’s referenced them in response to criticism over a whole array of different Coronavirus-related issues. Yet, the Columbia study has nothing to do with travel restrictions — it was specifically about how the social distancing demands that the president resisted could have saved lives.
The only example of mail-in election fraud Trump has been able to cite that isn't completely made up is a "pants on fire" lie https://t.co/VHNbCfjixp https://t.co/FmQ7DkB1e5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 24, 2020
The president’s ignorant paranoia popped up in other segments of the interview too, including when he ranted that he has a “chance to break the deep state.” There is no deep state. The term is used in reference to a conspiracy theory that there’s some secret group of government officials plotting against the president rather than simply doing their jobs.
Trump insisted:
‘If it keeps going the way it’s going, I have a chance to break the deep state. It’s a vicious group of people.’
He sounds, yet again, like he’s trying to be some kind of mob boss. In fact, he just looks like a floundering shill for his own ego who has no idea what he’s doing.
President Trump: "I have a chance to break the deep state."
An exclusive interview on "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson" Sunday.https://t.co/wDz125dDwg pic.twitter.com/EUb0qSXsxY— Sharyl Attkisson🕵️♂️ (@SharylAttkisson) May 23, 2020
Besides all of the above lunacy, Trump has also been running with the conspiracy theory that maybe former Florida Congressman Joe Scarborough is a murderer.
The woman's name was Lori Klausutis, she died of natural causes (https://t.co/As4ET3QEad), and it's absolutely disgusting that Trump is traumatizing her family by exploiting her like this https://t.co/RPcX6qMyxr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 24, 2020
The conspiracy is as ridiculous as it sounds — the president has been running with the idea that an accidental death of a staffer with a heart problem was somehow a secret nefarious deed by the then-Congressman.
Sunday, he tweeted:
‘A lot of interest in this story about Psycho Joe Scarborough. So a young marathon runner just happened to faint in his office, hit her head on his desk, & die? I would think there is a lot more to this story than that? An affair? What about the so-called investigator? Read story!’
None of that has any relationship to reality.
A lot of interest in this story about Psycho Joe Scarborough. So a young marathon runner just happened to faint in his office, hit her head on his desk, & die? I would think there is a lot more to this story than that? An affair? What about the so-called investigator? Read story! https://t.co/CjBXBXxoNS
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2020