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President Donald Trump's lackluster first rally after a pandemic-induced hiatus has gotten a lot of coverage for its widely overestimated attendance, along with erratic rants about walking down ramps and drinking water.
But another assertion from Trump during the rally is proving far more insidious.
Trump repeated claims he's made in the past dismissing the value of testing for the virus because widespread testing makes case numbers go up.
Then, the President appeared to confirm earlier reporting that he pushed back against expanded testing in order to keep confirmed cases low.
Watch below.
At Tulsa rally, Trump suggests U.S. slow down coronavirus testing to avoid bad statisticshttps://t.co/rwZ7avkzuq pic.twitter.com/twj26rVCfP
— TIME (@TIME) June 21, 2020
Trump said:
"When you do testing to that extent, you're gonna find more people, you're gonna find more cases, so I said to my people 'Slow the testing down please!'"
The justifications from Trump's team and Trump himself have varied, with some saying he was merely joking.
Trump wouldn't answer directly whether or not he indeed instructed his staff to slow the testing down.
Was Donald Trump joking when he said this weekend that he ordered health officials to “slow down" coronavirus testing?
A reporter just asked him.
Trump: “If it did slow down, frankly, I think we're way ahead of ourselves… We've done too good of a job." https://t.co/IPNF2u9MWX pic.twitter.com/cX8AhgK8lE
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) June 22, 2020
Now, a new ad from the Priorities USA PAC is warning just how damaging Trump's response to the virus has been.
Watch below.
Slow the Testingwww.youtube.com
The ad states:
"The most important job of the President is to protect the American people, but not to Donald Trump...instead of working to slow the spread, Donald Trump says he slowed down the testing. Now, over 120 thousand dead and while other countries get back to work, here, cases continue to skyrocket."
The ad concludes:
"Donald Trump is making it all worse. He's failing America."
Judging by some reactions, Priorities USA produced an effective ad.
The president basically expressed his apathy about people getting sick and dying if it results in making him look better. Holy God, why is this not the lead story on every news outlet in America?
— Lou Bierbauer (@LouBierbauer) June 22, 2020
And it's a matter of time before he says it again.
Trump keeps saying the quiet parts out loud.
— Carrick Talmadge (@carrick510) June 22, 2020
The story isn't about Democrats. The story is that the presisent intentionally sought to slow testing during a deadly pandemic, because he thought high positives would reflect poorly on him. THAT is the story. Fuck.
— WH com 202-456-1111 (@LeslieLee327) June 22, 2020
But Americans didn't need an ad to be disturbed by Trump's claim that he asked to slow down testing.
More than 120,000 Americans have died. Tens of millions are unemployed.
Families are witnessing their loved one's last moments by FaceTime.
Trump's response: slow down testing to hide infection rates.
Trump's deadly incompetence is no joke. https://t.co/0gwvzilllX
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 21, 2020
Trump admitted to his rally audience tonight that he told his team to slow down COVID-19 testing for the American people because new infections were harming perceptions of his performance. How could any American support such brazen, harmful acts self-interest against the country?
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) June 21, 2020
Either Trump told his staff to slow down testing or he thinks it's funny to joke about not testing people during a pandemic that has killed 120,000 people. Trump disciples don't seem to understand that either is horrifying.
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) June 21, 2020
Virus cases are spiking around the nation.