The White House science office listed “ending the COVID-19 pandemic” as the top accomplishment of President Trump‘s first term, even as the U.S. has set records for new daily infections and numerous hospitals across the country are stretched to their breaking points.
According to a press release intending to highlight the administration’s science accomplishments, the Trump administration said it “has taken decisive actions to engage scientists and health professionals in academia, industry, and government to understand, treat, and defeat the disease.”
The rosy outlook flies in the face of reality, and underscores the efforts of Trump to continuously try to downplay the severity of the pandemic that continues to rage nearly uncontrolled across the country.
As of Tuesday, more than 226,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19. The seven-day average of new cases is nearly 70,000, a record number that is only expected to get worse. Hospitalizations and deaths are also climbing steadily upward. According to the Covid Tracking Project, there are more 42,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19, up from about 30,000 just a month ago.