Trump and Pence: a two-man Covid-19 gaslighting act (Opinion)

Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. In the US, the curve is trending up, not down, even if Vice President Mike Pence deceptively declared in an op-ed this week, “We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy,” unctuously declaring that the good news is “a testament to the leadership of President Trump.” The article was thoroughly filleted on Twitter by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who showed how claim after claim by the vice president is contradicted by the facts. That’s why when you register to attend you have to sign a waiver assuming the risks of Covid-19 infection and agreeing, “not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.” liable. That sounds a lot like his February case-count forecast when, responding to whether or not Americans should make summer plans, he said, “When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” On Monday, during a roundtable discussion on senior citizens, Trump said “If you don’t test, you don’t have any cases,” a belief reminiscent of a baby thinking you disappear if he covers his eyes. As Gupta explained, “if you’re doing enough testing, cases should start to go down because you are finding people early before they spread it.” Look at the examples Gupta gave: In New York, more testing and fewer cases; in Florida steady testing and spiking cases; in Oklahoma, less testing, more cases.