According to the book Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History, authored by Washington Post reporters, Trump inquired about sending coronavirus-infected Americans to Guantanamo Bay.
“Don’t we have an island that we own? What about Guantanamo?” Trump reportedly asked in February 2020.
Guantanamo, aside from not being an island, is a military prison commonly used to house suspects of terrorism.
Amid the COVID19 pandemic, Trump removed several watch dogs tasked with oversight of their respective departments. Most notably, the individual responsible for leading a committee to provide oversight for $2 trillion in coronavirus stimulus, Glenn Fine, was replaced on April 6, 2020. Fine was the Department of Defense’s principal deputy inspector general since June 2015.
Others fired in the 6-week period included inspector generals for the Transportation Department, State Department, and Department of Health and Human Services.
During his Thanksgiving proclamation, Trump suggested that Americans gather for the holidays:
I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.
Senior Trump officials also echoed the sentiment, despite it being contrary to the advice of the CDC. Most notably, senior COVID-19 advisor Dr. Scott Atlas suggested that in-person celebrations of Thanksgiving be held with elderly family members, as it may be “their final Thanksgiving.”
Scott Atlas resigned soon after amid the resulting out roar.
That Thanksgiving, the United States had totaled over 13.3 million cases of COVID-19 and suffered nearly 270,000 deaths.
At an October 24, 2020 rally at Lumberton, North Carolina, Trump complained about COVID-19’s media coverage. He went on to say that the pandemic would no longer be mentioned after the election, and called widespread testing “foolish.”
Trump made the remark at an October, 18 2020 rally in Carson City, Nevada.
He will surrender your future to the virus. He’s going to lockdown. This guy wants to lockdown. He’ll listen to the scientists. If I listened totally to the scientists, we would write down, have a country that would be in a massive depression.
In October 2020, a March remark by Dr. Anthony Fauci was used in a Trump campaign advertisement. Fauci immediately condemned its use, saying it was taken out of context, and noted that he had never publicly endorsed a candidate.
Trump defended the advertisement on Twitter:
They are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words. We have done a “phenomenal” job, according to certain governors. Many people agree…And now come the Vaccines & Cures, long ahead of projections! https://t.co/ANqKL4eBqJ
Dr. Fauci subsequently supported pulling the advertisement altogether.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says “it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing” that the Trump campaign featured him in an ad touting the President’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was believed that his infection originated from a September 26 ceremony held in the Rose Garden, where Trump announced a Supreme Court nominee in front of over 180 people.
The announcement was two days after the first presidential debate, during which Trump mocked Biden for wearing masks.
Additionally, none of his family members in attendance wore masks.
Trump’s family during the first presidential debate.
The day after Trump announced he had contracted COVID-19, he was transported to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in what the administration described as a precautionary measure. By then, 11 total cases stemming from the debate alone were confirmed.
Marine One lands on the South Lawn to transport Trump to Walter Reed. J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press
The following day, Trump tweeted he was doing well.
Doctors, Nurses and ALL at the GREAT Walter Reed Medical Center, and others from likewise incredible institutions who have joined them, are AMAZING!!!Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE. With their help, I am feeling well!
More confirmed COVID-19 cases among Trump’s family and administration also emerged, including wife Melania, campaign manager Bill Stepien, U.S. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
Three days after being admitted, Trump announced that he would be leaving Walter Reed, saying “Don’t be afraid of Covid” despite the United States having suffered over 200,000 deaths.
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
Trump announced payroll tax deferments on August 8, 2020 for financial relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He promised to make the cuts permanent if reelected.
If I’m victorious November 3rd, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax. I’m going to make them all permanent…I may extend and terminate. In other words, I’ll extend it beyond the end of the year and terminate the tax.
The following week, Trump reiterated that if reelected, he would terminate the payroll tax entirely.
And the payroll tax — we’ll be terminating the payroll tax after I, hopefully, get elected. We’ll be terminating the payroll tax, so that will mean anywhere from $5,000 to even more per family, and also great for businesses and great for jobs. A lot of people will be very happy to hear that. A lot of the great — certainly, conservative economists will be great to have — they think that’s the greatest thing we can do. That’s better than the payments; that’s better than anything else.
Payroll taxes are responsible for funding Social Security, a monthly stipend for senior citizens instituted in 1935. As of June 2020, 64 million Americans collected Social Security. Eliminating payroll taxes, which as of 2019 funded 89% of Social Security, could be an existential threat to the program. It also contributes to Medicare, which provides healthcare to some 60 million beneficiaries.
Trump denied that he would institute any cuts to the programs, saying that instead they would be paid for through the general fund, potentially adding their cost to the deficit.
Trump made the claim at a September 21, 2020 rally in Ohio.
You know, in some States, thousands of people, nobody young below the age of 18, like nobody. They have a strong immune system. Who knows? Take your hat off to the young because they have a hell of an immune system, but it affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing. By the way, open your schools. Everybody open your schools.
Trump immediately after went on to claim that “Joe Biden wants to impose a $4 trillion tax site, ban American energy, destroy the suburbs, give free healthcare to illegal aliens” and that the left was going to “indoctrinate your children with poisonous anti-American lies.”
On the day of the rally, the United States totaled 7,067,486 cases and 204,525 deaths.
During a September 16, 2020 press conference, Trump blamed blue states for inflating US COVID-19 death figures.
…the blue states had tremendous death rates. If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at. We’re really at a very low level. But some of the states, they were blue states and blue-state-managed.
The Northeast and West Coast saw the first major outbreaks of COVID-19. On the day of his remarks, the United States totaled 6,855,605 cases and 201,351 deaths. Only counting states that voted for Trump in 2016, there was a total of 96,407 deaths.
Of the 10 states with the most COVID-19 deaths (NY, NJ, TX, CA, FL, MA, IL, PA, MI, GA) half had Republican governors (TX, FL, MA, PA, GA) and half voted for Trump in the 2016 election (TX, FL, PA, MI, GA).
