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Donald Trump Defends His Push to Re-Open the Country Saying 'Staying at Home Leads to Death Also'
10 April 2020
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
The global pandemic that's upended daily life in the United States has resulted in over 16 million new unemployment claims as restaurants, bars, offices, and other non-essential businesses close their doors or cut their staff.
With the economy a crucial talking point in favor of his reelection, President Donald Trump has expressed an eagerness to reopen businesses and end the stay-at-home orders implemented across the nation—even if it would lead to increased death and a resurgence of the outbreak.
<p>Over 17,000 people in the United States have succumbed to the virus and that number continues to grow.</p><p>When confronted with that reality at a Friday press briefing, the President made the case for reopening the country by saying that staying at home leads to death also.</p><p><strong>Watch below.</strong></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">TRUMP on ending social distancing: "Staying at home leads to death also. It's very traumatic for this country. But staying at home, if you look at numbers, that leads to a different kind of death, perhaps ...so it's a very big decision. It's the biggest decision I will ever make" <a href="https://t.co/TM1AIR19OG">pic.twitter.com/TM1AIR19OG</a><br>— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1248701417260568576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2020</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><p><strong>Trump said:</strong><br></p><blockquote><em>"Staying at home leads to death also. It's very traumatic for this country. But staying at home, if you look at numbers, that leads to a different kind of death, perhaps ...so it's a very big decision. It's the biggest decision I will ever make"<br></em></blockquote><p>The decision Trump refers to isn't actually his decision at all. Stay-at-home orders were implemented by state governors with whom Trump has <a href="https://secondnexus.com/donald-trump-gretchen-whitmer-coronavirus" target="_blank">quarreled on Twitter</a> and whom he said <a href="https://secondnexus.com/donald-trump-jb-pritzker-tweet" target="_blank">should only rely on the federal government as a backup</a>. Trump has yet to issue a nationwide stay-at-home order, so there isn't one for him to revoke.</p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p><strong>People couldn't believe what they were hearing.</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d66c9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="89c6c1412fc4bb214f792ee9c6eca1ed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248718335673434113" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">What????? https://t.co/5od0LKDPAq</div> — San Carlos (@San Carlos)<a href="https://twitter.com/LorrieArundel/statuses/1248718335673434113">1586552625.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="2b0af" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a8fcd93a22615f8059c34b20780ba33d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248703888527691778" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I have exhausted my stockpile of evens with which to can’t. https://t.co/0uNi07lszV</div> — Rick Wilson (@Rick Wilson)<a href="https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/statuses/1248703888527691778">1586549181.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="aabd2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7cf5ef81d444b0f0efe8ff49b47df220"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248701385794879489" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">That people can listen to this nitwit and still support him is mind-boggling. https://t.co/Uwh9v84Mpb</div> — Michael Freeman (@Michael Freeman)<a href="https://twitter.com/michaelpfreeman/statuses/1248701385794879489">1586548584.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="f115d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0dcc6cb4678b98908a8c2d12ffea61fa"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248701993574694912" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Speechless.
"Staying at home leads to death also" https://t.co/jp5eHty5GG</div> — Amr Khalifa (@Amr Khalifa)<a href="https://twitter.com/Cairo67Unedited/statuses/1248701993574694912">1586548729.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="28180" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5eab07c44dfa22c27feee319295f1f46"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248716622778576896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">No, no, no, this isn’t really happening.
I must have been a terrible sinner when I was alive. https://t.co/mIHhvG5TQ7</div> — David Parsons 🇺🇸 ☮️ 🇺🇸 (@David Parsons 🇺🇸 ☮️ 🇺🇸)<a href="https://twitter.com/Notrealdavidp/statuses/1248716622778576896">1586552217.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>It's true that calls to suicide prevention hotlines spiked after stay-at-home orders were implemented. However, preventing deaths from the virus and preventing suicides aren't mutually exclusive choices.</p><p>Mental health should undoubtedly be addressed during such a tumultuous time in the nation, and using mental health concerns to justify letting a viral contagion run rampant is an insult to their validity.</p><p>It's possible to allocate more resources to mental health facilities in a similar way that we've allocated more resources to hospitals for physical conditions. In fact, lawmakers have already done this in the CARES act. The $2.2 trillion stimulus package allocated over a billion dollars to mental health resources and repealed regulations that made it more difficult to see a mental health practitioner through video conferencing.</p><p>The American Psychological Association <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/apa-praises-mental-health-provisions-in-covid-19-stimulus-aid-package" target="_blank">praised the mental health allocations</a> included in the CARES Act.</p><p>If Trump has evidence that suicides will lead to a comparable amount of deaths as the global pandemic, he should state that and address it directly instead of alluding to unspecified numbers without elaboration.</p><p><strong>Some thought he was talking about a metaphorical death.</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d6a76" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="82b39ee716b9c091e9c5ee58321205e2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248721354200924160" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Either way will lead to the death of his re-election chances. Just one way will have a higher body count. https://t.co/ZUZPLBw87e</div> — grumpy independent (@grumpy independent)<a href="https://twitter.com/grumpy_indie/statuses/1248721354200924160">1586553345.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="328f9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bb568f19ef9284a4629817b95c76bd7e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248701235542310914" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">He means the death of his presidency, not actual humans. https://t.co/9kSiUtvxfx</div> — Andrea R MD (@Andrea R MD)<a href="https://twitter.com/AndreaR9Md/statuses/1248701235542310914">1586548548.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="37814" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7ae4ed87f7d6c592329dadb0501b0a5"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1248709969643483137" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">By death he means people like him stand to lose money which in their world is worse than death. Opening back up too… https://t.co/TjDe8tcNIN</div> — Eric Daugherty (@Eric Daugherty)<a href="https://twitter.com/astroeric12/statuses/1248709969643483137">1586550631.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Who even knows anymore?</p><p><em>If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).</em></p><p><em>To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at <a href="https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/" target="_blank">https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/</a>.</em></p>
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