WH Declares Pandemic Over As It Cites Renowned Scientist Ivanka Trump

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Chris D'Angelo·Environment Reporter, HuffPost
Tue, October 27, 2020, 1:55 PM CDT

The Trump administration triumphantly declared victory over the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, one week before the 2020 election and with COVID-19 cases surging across the country.

The lie came in a news release on a new 62-page report from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy listing what it claims are the scientific and technological accomplishments during President Donald Trump’s first term. The list includes, “ENDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.”

“From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration has taken decisive actions to engage scientists and health professionals in academia, industry, and government to understand, treat, and defeat the disease,” the release states.

The pandemic is far from over. It is raging from coast to coast, thanks in no small part to the Trump administration’s mishandled response. A recent report from Columbia University estimates that the “abject failures” of government agencies under Trump resulted in between 130,000 and 210,000 avoidable deaths attributable to COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, the disease’s U.S. fatality toll topped 226,000 and the nation is averaging more than 70,000 new cases per day.

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Tuesday’s self-congratulatory release underscores that the administration has simultaneously surrendered to the pandemic while trying desperately to steer public attention away from its failure to control the spread. During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows declared that the U.S. is “not going to control” the pandemic because it’s “contagious.”

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UPDATE: Oct. 28 ? The White House on Wednesday walked back its claim that “ending the COVID-19 pandemic” is among the biggest scientific accomplishments of Trump’s first term in office.

Asking during a Fox News interview if the Trump administration believes the coronavirus has in fact been defeated, White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah said: “No, absolutely not.”

“I think that was poorly worded,” Farah said of the press release from Tuesday. She went on to parrot Trump’s false claim that the U.S. is “rounding the corner” on the coronavirus and acknowledge that “cases are still rising.”

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