Trump myths on new jobs, airport virus tests
Defending his administration’s response to the coronavirus, President Donald Trump falsely asserted that travelers at U.S. airports are being routinely tested for COVID-19, made groundless accusations against a government watchdog and wrongly claimed the Obama administration did nothing during a flu pandemic.
Meanwhile, with many businesses shuttered during the outbreak, Trump claimed his daughter Ivanka created over 15 million jobs for the U.S. That’s a complete illusion.
A look at some of his claims:
Economy
Trump, with his daughter Ivanka in the Roosevelt Room of the White House: “She created over 15 million jobs.” — speaking Tuesday with bankers via video conference about virus aid for small businesses.
THE FACTS: That’s nowhere near reality. Before the coronavirus became widespread, less than half that many jobs were added to the entire U.S. workforce during Trump’s presidency, and his daughter was not responsible for them. Now, with nearly 10 million people seeking unemployment benefits in just the past two weeks, those jobs have all been lost. Most economists forecast the unemployment rate will jump to 10% or higher in early May.
Travel restrictions
Trump, explaining his hesitancy to suspend U.S. domestic flights to stem spread of the virus: “They’re generally very, very empty planes . ... There’s also testing done when people get onto those planes and also when people get off the planes.” — news briefing Monday.
THE FACTS: False. There’s no evidence to support his suggestion that travelers at U.S. airports are being regularly tested, let alone when they both get on and off the planes.
There are coronavirus screenings of some passengers arriving at 13 major U.S. airports on international flights, which involve temperature checks and questioning by U.S. agents about possible symptoms. Some states are also screening passengers who are arriving from hard-hit coronavirus areas in the U.S. and asking them to selfisolate. None of that is the same as getting a COVID-19 test, and there are plenty of gaps in containment.
Testing
Trump, on a report from the Health and Human Services Department’s watchdog that found hospitals faced severe shortages of coronavirus test supplies: “Did I hear the word inspector general? Really? It’s wrong . ... Could politics be entered into that?” — news briefing Monday.
TRUMP: “You didn’t tell me also that this inspector general came out of the Obama administration.” — news briefing Monday.
THE FACTS: His claims are groundless. There is no evidence that the report was “wrong” or politically motivated. And it’s a politically expedient distortion to brand federal employees whose service spans administrations as creatures of the previous one.
Government response
Trump, saying his administration is doing a “great job” handling the coronavirus: “Take a look at the swine flu. That’s H1N1 ... It was a disaster. 17,000 people died. The other administration, they didn’t even know — it was like they didn’t even know it was here.” — news briefing Monday.
THE FACTS: His suggestion that the Obama administration was oblivious and did nothing during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, initially called “swine flu,” is wrong.
Then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flu surveillance network actually sounded the alarm, spotting two children in California who were the first diagnosed cases of the new flu strain. About two weeks later, the U.S. declared a public health emergency and CDC began releasing antiflu drugs from the national stockpile to help hospitals get ready. In contrast, Trump declared a state of emergency in early March, seven weeks after the first U.S. case of COVID-19 was announced.