During a tour of the Center for Disease Control on March 6, 2020, Trump said he preferred to prevent a cruise ship with confirmed COVID-19 cases from docking for fear that the official number of US cases would increase.
They would like to have the people come off. I’d rather have the people stay [on the ship]. But I’d go with them. I told them to make the final decision. I would rather – because I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.
In a speech made on May 14, 2020, Trump referred to testing for coronavirus as “overrated.”
So we have the best testing in the world. It could be the testing’s, frankly, overrated? Maybe it is overrated. But whatever they start yelling, we want more, we want more. You know, they always say we want more, we want more because they don’t want to give you credit.
On that day, the US had suffered a total of 87,500 deaths from COVID-19, more than all American deaths in wars from Vietnam to the modern day combined.
Our testing is so far advanced, it’s so much bigger and better than any other country that we’re going to have more cases, we’re always going to have more cases. And as I said this morning that’s probably the downside of having good testing, is you find a lot of cases that other countries who don’t even test, don’t have. If you don’t test, you don’t have any cases. If we stop testing right now we would have very few cases if any.
On the day of his comments, the United States had suffered 120,942 deaths from COVID-19, more than all American deaths during the First World War.
In a June 2020 press conference, Trump boasted about better than expected job figures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During the speech, he invoked George Floyd, who was killed at the hands of police.
We all saw what happened last week. We can’t let that happen. Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying, “This is a great thing that’s happening for our country.” This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody. This is a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms of equality. It’s really what our Constitution requires and it’s what our country is all about.
PBS White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor inquired about the jobs numbers, noting that minority unemployment rates had still increased, to which Trump replied, “you’re really something.”
My Q to President Trump just now: Overall, U.S. unemployment rate fell by 1 %. Black unemployment rate went up .1%. Asian American rate went up by .5%. How is that a victory?
In June 2020, former Secretary of Defense James Mattis wrote an op-ed titled “In Union there is Strength” in which he attacked Trump’s handling of ongoing protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police.
Mattis specifically referenced Trump and what he considered to be a failure of leadership:
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. …We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.
Mattis also commented on Trump’s handling of ongoing protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police:
At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society.
Trump responded via tweet, calling Mattis “the world’s most overrated general.”
…His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom “brought home the bacon”. I didn’t like his “leadership” style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!
Amid mass protests the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, Trump threatened to deploy the the military to combat “thugs” and remarked, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
The tweet was flagged by Twitter as violating its rules about glorifying violence.
This Tweet violates our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today. https://t.co/sl4wupRfNH
Additionally, the phrase was coined by a notoriously racist Miami police chief in 1967, who also told the press “we don’t mind being accused of police brutality.” Trump’s handling of protests were denounced by former Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
In a May 2020 meeting with two state governors, Trump threatened to withhold federal election funding for states expanding mail-in voting. He repeated unfounded claims about mail-in voting, and said people should vote in person because to do so is “an honor.”
I think just common sense would tell you that it’s massive manipulation can take place. Massive.
They — and you do; you have cases of fraudulent ballots, where they actually print them and they give them to people sign. Maybe the same person signs them with different writing, different pens. I don’t know. It’s — a lot of things can happen.
No, if you can, you should go and vote. Voting is an honor. It shouldn’t be something where they send you a pile of stuff and you send it back.
Trump also stepped up his attacks on Twitter.
State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t! If they do, “I think” I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections. @RussVought45@USTreasury
Despite his multiple claims about mail-in voting being rife with fraud, Trump admitted that he voted by mail, defending it because “he was allowed to.”
President Trump: "I think mail-in voting is horrible, it's corrupt."
Reporter: "You voted by mail in Florida's election last month, didn't you?"
In 2019, Trump updated his voter registration to Florida while listing the White House as his out-of-state address. This is prohibited in Florida, which by law requires that voters be legal residents. Trump re-registered, listing his Mar-a-Lago address instead. Trump used this new registration to vote in Florida’s Republican primary.
However, when Mar-a-Lago was converted from a single-family residence to a private club in 1993, the agreement with the local government prohibited it from bring used or taxed as a residence. Per the stipulations, any visitor was restricted to staying a maximum of 21 days per year, though Trump has repeatedly violated that provision, as well.
Though likely done in error, as are most mail-in voting discrepancies, exactly such an example is cited by the White House as an example of felony voter fraud.
Beyond Trump's dangerous, dishonest claims of widespread voter fraud, it's really rich because the WH website uses the case of someone trying to vote at their second home as an example of voter fraud! https://t.co/syhg4fsehhpic.twitter.com/pEIyXy89Ck
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) June 3, 2020
Vice President Mike Pence also voted by mail using his old Indiana address in the state’s primary election. Because he made no attempt to register in Washington DC, and his Indiana home is a legal residence, there were no questions regarding the legality of his vote. However, his use of a mail-in ballot still undercut the administration’s claims regarding its unreliability. Additionally, Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany regularly voted by mail, but still railed against attempts to expand mail-in voting “for no reason.”
Trump and Melania voting in 2016. Reuters/Carlo Allegri
Trump made the remark during a press conference on May 15, 2020.
And I just want to make something clear. It’s very important: Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back. And we’re starting the process. And in many cases, they don’t have vaccines, and a virus or a flu comes, and you fight through it. We haven’t seen anything like this in 100-and-some-odd years – 1917.
The day of his remark, the United States had nearly 1.5 million total confirmed cases and suffered 89,104 deaths.
