On Thursday — New Year’s Eve — shortly after returning to the White House from a holiday trip to Florida, outgoing President Donald Trump shared an unhinged video message on Twitter in which he hastily recounted supposed accomplishments of his administration. In the video spectacle — in which Trump sounded harried — the outgoing president seemed like he was trying to glibly gloss over the grim realities of recent developments in the United States. He did not offer any words of condolences to the hundreds of thousands of families who lost loved ones to COVID-19 this year. Instead, he just talked about “greatness,” like a self-obsessed egomaniac.
Trump said, in part, as follows:
‘We’ve already begun a nationwide vaccination program, and we’re sending the vaccine all over the world… and everybody’s calling to thank me… This is one of the most extraordinary scientific, industrial, and medical feats in history… and we can never let people forget where it came from and how it came. We’re very proud to be honored, and all of the people that worked so hard on it — we have to be remembered for what’s been done.’
Check out his comments below:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2020
There’s no apparent evidence that “everybody” is “calling to thank” Trump for his work. The idea that he himself had much to do with COVID-19 vaccine development seems laughable — although the federal government provided financial support for the development process, what did Trump personally even do? Sign a few papers? Talk to some people? And now he wants historical recognition? Besides, governmental support for vaccine development seems like a bare minimum.
Discussing the economic state of the country amidst the pandemic, Trump also insisted in his video that “nobody can compete with us in terms of going down less and going up, by far, the fastest and the best.”
Amazingly, Trump deliriously talked in the video as if “defeating” COVID-19 is a done deal. On Wednesday alone, the U.S. newly reported a total of 3,903 COVID-19 deaths, which was a single-day record, and on that very same day, the U.S. hit a total of a record 125,220 reported COVID-19 hospitalizations. About 125,000 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 as this week draws to a close, and untold numbers of these patients could die — and Trump nevertheless has the audacity to glibly and delusionally talk as if the pandemic is already fading into the past, which is entirely false.
Our daily update is published. States reported 1.6 million tests, 226k cases, a record 125,220 hospitalizations, and a record 3,903 COVID-19 deaths. Holiday reporting delays are still markedly affecting testing, case, and deaths figures. pic.twitter.com/HPV1cBbzLE
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) December 31, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response below:
