SECONDNEXUS
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In recent weeks, the state of Texas has seen skyrocketing virus cases, peaking so far at nearly 15 thousand new cases in one day on July 17.
Some critics blame Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott for reopening too prematurely after pressure from President Donald Trump.
After issuing moderate safety measures, Abbott allowed bars, restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, and beauty salons to reopen over the course of late April and May.
In the face of the immense spike in cases after reopening, Abbott instituted a mask mandate in most counties. Though Texas recently reported a record number of deaths, the state saw a steady decline of new cases in the past five days.
For far-Right Fox News host Laura Ingraham—who like many of Trump's allies repeatedly dismissed the threat of the virus—this is damning news for those calling for safety precautions against it.
She made the questionable comment in a recent tweet.
Texas...looking pretty good. Bad news for the “Shut it all Down" Democrats. pic.twitter.com/avqYzzi01c
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) July 30, 2020
Ingraham's own graph shows the stratospheric spike in cases that peaked only weeks ago and how quickly the virus spiraled out of control after the scale back of safety precautions.
The five day decline Ingraham was celebrating ended on the same day she posted her tweet, with over 11 thousand new cases reported, the state's second highest one-day spike.
Ingraham's tweet was quickly excoriated.
I'm not exactly sure what part is "looking pretty good"... Was it the tripled cases from May to July? Or the fact that there's a massive spike ON THE VERY GRAPH SHE SHARES, IN THAT DAY?! Idiocracy. Keep spreading covid amongst your moronic following, that's all I ask. https://t.co/7aWs3QHk8d
— Eric Horvath (@attila_thehung) July 30, 2020
“Pretty good?" 164 Texans died yesterday. To put that in terms that Laura Ingraham can understand, that's 41 Benghazis. https://t.co/JRTKLuw4h9
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) July 30, 2020
Fewer people died yesterday from COVID in all of the Western Europe — population 450m — than died in Texas — population 30m. But sure. https://t.co/Attgu0Q1mH
— Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) July 30, 2020
Today, Texas health officials confirmed a record 313 new coronavirus deaths, far exceeding the previous single-day high, and a TX Congressman who'd publicly flouted mask ordinances, risking the health of staff and reporters, tested positive for Covid-19. https://t.co/XRnYZcHO0c https://t.co/cTFEl7I9Px
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) July 30, 2020
Texas has:
▫️145,000+ active cases
▫️Test positive rate of 12.55% (wide community spread)
▫️313 new deaths just today
▫️And 6,190 total deaths - more than 147 COUNTRIES
In sum and contrary to Laura's rosy summary, Texas is looking pretty bad.
Bad news for the actual Texans. https://t.co/nuQNYC70oE
— Craig Spencer MD MPH (@Craig_A_Spencer) July 30, 2020
Step 1: Let a ton of your people die
Step 2: When they're finally done dying, brag about how much things have improved on your watch https://t.co/3odBd1cgr5
— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) July 30, 2020
Some thought her tweet was too bizarre to be true.
Wait, did she really post this? Or was her account hacked? https://t.co/P66OAFu7tP
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 30, 2020
@Twitter can you confirm if her Twitter got hacked or is she just this stupid? https://t.co/3hxg0121J7
— Shanu (@BoardManGetsPD) July 30, 2020
Beyond parody https://t.co/HrCZTZjOKr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 30, 2020
Much of Ingraham's Twitter feed—as well as her primetime show on Fox News—is dedicated to amplifying the President's often false or misleading rhetoric regarding the virus; rhetoric that Abbott and Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, heeded before seeing stratospheric spikes in their states.