- President Trump dismissed the mounting death toll from COVID-19 in the United States, telling Axios' Jonathan Swan that "it is what it is" in an interview that aired Monday evening on HBO.
- Swan challenged Trump's repeated assertions that the COVID-19 pandemic is "under control" and highlighted that the US is now reporting a seven-day average of over 1,000 new deaths from the virus.
- "They are dying, that's true. And it is what it is. But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can, it's under control as much as we can control it," Trump said.
In addition to a lengthy back-and-forth over Trump's false claims that the US has one of the lowest death rates in the world compared to other countries, Swan questioned Trump on why he continues to downplay the virus despite the rising toll of deaths and serious outbreaks in many states.
As of Tuesday, there were over 4.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US and nearly 156,000 deaths. The US is reporting a seven-day average of over 60,000 new cases and 1,069 deaths a day, The New York Times reported.
Despite the outbreak getting worse on nearly every front, Trump continues to downplay the severity of the pandemic in the US, falsely claiming that the rise in cases is a result of increased testing and, in the Axios interview, brushing off the US's rising death rates.
"Here's the question: I've covered you for a long time, I've gone to your rallies, I've talked to your people. They love you, they listen to you, they listen to every word you say ... they don't listen to me or the media or [Dr. Anthony Fauci], they think we're fake news. They want to get their advice from you," Swan said. "And so when they hear you say, 'Everything's under control, don't worry about wearing masks,' these are people, many of them are older people."
Trump responded, "What's the definition of 'control'?"
"It's giving them a false sense of security," Swan countered.
"Right now, I think it's under control," Trump said.
"How? 1,000 Americans are dying a day," Swan said.
"They are dying, that's true. And it is what it is. But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can, it's under control as much as we can control it," Trump said.
As The Washington Post noted, experts in Trump's own administration do not agree with the characterization that the outbreak is "under control," with test positivity rates remaining extremely high in many states, cases rising, and deaths now increasing.