Letter to the editor: Trump's damaging statements on pandemic

When a president misstates something such as the number of people who attended his inauguration or how knowledgeable he is in a field about which he knows nothing, he is exposed as a liar but no physical harm is done to people. It is another matter when a leader makes false statements regarding a pandemic.

In a Fourth of July speech at the White House, President Trump remarked that 99% of coronavirus cases are “totally harmless” — a whopper with the ability to inflict damage. Asked to comment on Trump’s ludicrous assertion, Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Steven Hahn declined to endorse it and went on to state how serious the disease is, an indirect repudiation of the president without going so far as to place his position in jeopardy.

More than 3 million cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in the United States. About 137,000 have died as a result (a lethality rate of about 4.5%), and an untold number more have suffered and are likely to continue suffering severe symptoms. Perhaps Trump should tell the families of those who have died and the many who are enduring lasting detrimental effects that covid-19 should be casually written off.

Many who place stock in what this president says will believe him and consequently fail to take the raging infection of the virus seriously, endorsing Trump’s view that we must live with it, that the “wartime president” has declared victory and that it will magically disappear. He has demonstrated once again that he is in office to serve himself, not those who voted for him, erroneously believing that he cares about them.

Oren Spiegler

Peters