Trump White House takes credit for "ending" the pandemic -- even as hospitals are overflowing

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Trump's latest ludicrous lie isn't some brilliant campaign strategy — it's just ego-fluffing, and it won't work

AMANDA MARCOTTE
OCTOBER 28, 2020 5:00PM (UTC)

Donald Trump's stalwart belief that he can make the coronavirus pandemic disappear through the magic of bullshit has permeated all levels of his administration. Even so, it was a bit of a shock to see the White House Office of Science and Technology put out a press release on Tuesday giving credit to Trump for "ending the COVID-19 pandemic."

Meanwhile, in the real world, hospitalizations are up 46% from a month ago. A reported 983 people died of the disease on the same day the White House crowed about "ending" the pandemic. On Wednesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, the U.S. will pass 8.8 million cases and 227,000 deaths.

It remains unclear how this language about "ending" the pandemic even got into an official White House press release, since the report it's announcing doesn't say anything the end of this disaster, even though it features a lot of hilarious puffery of Trump for signing a couple of bills that were passed by Congress to provide money for research. That's certainly proof that federal bureaucrats know the importance of flattering Trump's massive ego, but nothing more.

All signs point to this being yet another situation where the White House is pressuring formerly-apolitical federal offices to serve as propaganda outlets for Trump's disinformation machine.

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https://www.salon.com/2020/10/28/trump-white-house-takes-credit-for-ending-the-pandemic-even-as-hospitals-are-overflowing/

[TheRealNorth]

1. I feel like gaslighting is too tame a word to describe this

And schizophrenic I think would be an insult to people that struggle with that condition.