The Herald creates a panic and Trump says Coronavirus is a hoax

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, March 1st, 2020 - 65 comments
Categories: Donald Trump, health, making shit up, Media, spin, us politics, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

Yesterday’s Herald front page was pretty appalling.

Some evidence of increased supermarket activity on Friday night was amplified into a Saturday morning front page suggesting that we are in the middle of a pandemic.

The cause? One person identified as having Coronavirus.

One infected person does not justify such a headline.

Besides it might have been a $50 million lotto jackpot that justified the long queues.

The headline was excessive with photos of someone in a biohazard suit apparently taken in the UK and another picture of workers disinfecting a Teheran train station.

So yesterday there was a bit of a run on some supermarkets with bottled water and rice big purchase items. I am proud to say I saw no evidence of any such behaviour out west. Maybe westies are just more chilled.

One aspect which did cause me a great deal of despair was the response of the United States administration. Not only have continuous cuts to “unnecessary services” undermined the administration’s ability to respond, but horrendous medical costs will prevent many from seeking medical assistance and the administration is doing what it does and completely misrepresenting the reality of the situation.

See what happens when a serial liar intent on maintaining power at all costs occupies the White House? 

Trump has recently hit new lows by describing Coronavirus as a “hoax”.

From Martin Pengelly at the Guardian:

The president made his startling claim at a rally in North Charleston on Friday night. South Carolina holds its Democratic primary on Saturday, with Biden seeking a victory to re-establish his credentials against national frontrunner Bernie Sanders.

“The Democrats are politicising the coronavirus,” Trump said. “They’re politicising it. One of my people came up to me and said: ‘Mr President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.’ That did not work out too well. They could not do it. They tried the impeachment hoax.

“This is their new hoax.”

If words have completely lost all meaning then Coronavirus can be described as a hoax.  Until then there is the thick end of 100,000 reported world wide infections and nearly 3,000 deaths to suggest otherwise.

And reports of infections on the west coast of people with no traceable link to imported infection cases suggests that the virus is now out in the wild and propagating.

In a further jaw dropping development Trump has appointed Vice President Mike Pence to lead the US Coronavirus response.  Pence once said publicly that smoking does not kill.  And when Governor of Indiana he refused to allow a needle exchange program from going ahead and created the worst HIV crisis in the State’s history despite being urged to do so by those who actually understand how virus propagation works.

Siouxsie Wiles at Spinoff thinks we should be reviewing our border arrangements with the US. This seems to me to be a very good idea.

[Title corrected to fix a typo but also to specify that I don’t think Trump thinks Coronavirus is a hoax – MS]

65 comments on “The Herald creates a panic and Trump says Coronavirus is a hoax ”

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  1. Andre 1
    1 March 2020 at 10:02 am

    Hard to imagine it, but Mike Huckabooboo's take on it tops even what's coming out of the White Dementia House …

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-huckabee-coronavirus-scenario-backfires_n_5e5a1197c5b6beedb4eb74fc

  2. RedLogix 2
    1 March 2020 at 10:12 am

    This is post is premised on a bullshit assertion that Trump is characterising the fact of this pandemic a 'hoax'. Manifestly he is not; even in the Guardian link provided Trump states:

    “We are doing everything in our power to keep the infection and those carrying the infection from entering the country. We have no choice,” Trump said at the Coliseum and Performing Arts Center. “Whether it’s the virus that we’re talking about, or the many other public health threats, the Democrat policy of open borders is a direct threat to the health and wellbeing of all Americans.”

    Unless words have completely lost all meaning, there is no possible sense in which Trump is saying that COVID 19 is not a real thing.

    Christ Almighty if you are going to attack Trump you have more than ample material to work with, without making shit up and destroying your own credibility.

    And yes he has a point about the effectively ‘open border’ policy that some Democrats have demanded.

    • WeTheBleeple 2.1
      1 March 2020 at 10:18 am

      Yeah well your fandom is showing.

      https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-calls-coronavirus-democrats-new-hoax-n1145721

      [ The link you provided explicitly states that Trump is referring to the virus as the latest Dem Party hoax – exactly as RL has said. See my comment below for how I view peeps infecting threads with dog shit tribalism. And poop scoop your comments before posting in future – B]

      • RedLogix 2.1.1
        1 March 2020 at 10:29 am

        You point to my quote above and explain exactly where Trump is denying that coronavirus exists. Because this is the premise of MS's post as it is written.

        As for the 'fandom' dig … enough of the reductionist bullshit.

        • Ed1 2.1.1.1
          1 March 2020 at 11:36 am

          Is there somehow an altrenative reality where politicians, or pretenders like Trump, are required to be consistent? He will tell an audience what they want to hear – can you recall a New Zealand politician who did the same?

      • WeTheBleeple 2.1.2
        1 March 2020 at 12:09 pm

        Go fuck yourself. Calling it a hoax is calling it a hoax. Now enjoy your club, accuse me of tribalism you are pathetic. Go call for burning it all down again.

        [3 day ban for flaming – weka]

    • Sacha 2.2
      1 March 2020 at 10:22 am

      premised on a bullshit assertion that Trump is characterising the fact of this pandemic a 'hoax'

      https://lmgtfy.com/?q=trump+describing+coronavirus+as+hoax

    • Clive Macann 2.3
      1 March 2020 at 10:23 am

      I totally agree, Red Logix.

      Accusing Trump of saying the virus is a Hoax is a very bad joke.

      Twisted his words to suit, is what I call it.

      • WeTheBleeple 2.3.1
        1 March 2020 at 10:48 am

        Then you too, are a blinkered admirer.

        • Incognito 2.3.1.1
          1 March 2020 at 10:58 am

          False dichotomy. Same with you fandom accusation @ 2.1.

          • WeTheBleeple 2.3.1.1.1
            1 March 2020 at 11:24 am

            If there is audio presented of Trump saying the thing they deny he said… that's pretty damn blinkered in my book. Only fanboys refuse to listen to evidence presented to them.

            • Incognito 2.3.1.1.1.1
              1 March 2020 at 11:31 am

              Well, if the commenters whom you’re accusing of being “blinkered”, “fanboys”, and “admirers” of Trump are truly that then there’s no point trying to debate anything with them in which case you’d better walk around them in a big circle and leave them alone. Moderators have no appetite for flame wars.

            • RedLogix 2.3.1.1.1.2
              1 March 2020 at 11:37 am

              I've listened to it. The meaning is plain, Trump is using the word 'hoax' in the context of the Democrat's failed Russiagate and Ukrainian impeachment efforts. Regardless of what you think the merits of these cases where (and they aren't simple) the fact remains that politically they failed, and Trump has repeatedly referred to them as 'hoaxes'.

              So when the Dems attack him on the coronavirus front, he's reached for the same word to bat away the political attack. It's just twisting words to imply that he's denying the existence of the virus itself. And it reduces the left to the same ethical level as Trump … which is why I'm speaking out and making myself unpopular on this thread.

              • Bill …
                1 March 2020 at 11:46 am

                I haven't listened to Trump saying whatever, but assume if he used the word "hoax" in relation to coronavirus, then he was referring to the pushing of panic.

                Time will tell if he was wise or stupid on that front.

                Now. Any tribal cunt want to suggest I'm a "fanboy" or whatever for saying that? Because I've got itchy ban fingers today…

                • Incognito …
                  1 March 2020 at 11:52 am

                  Now. Any tribal cunt want to suggest I'm a "fanboy" or whatever for saying that? Because I've got itchy ban fingers today…

                  devil

                • RedLogix …
                  1 March 2020 at 11:55 am

                  On reflection I think that events are unsettling everyone, including me. I've got jobs that need doing today and I'm taking a break.

                  Cheers

          • Macro 2.3.1.1.2
            1 March 2020 at 6:55 pm

            I can't believe this!

            Here is Bernie, Biden, Buttigeig, Warren, et al, all calling out Trump for his stupid comment at – of all places – one of his rallies. The American public have a right to proper and efficient Health Care in the face of what could well turn out to be a global pandemic. All Trump has done is to worry about his precious Stock market and his back pocket. The appointment of Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, to oversee this outbreak speaks volumes as to where his true interests lie – and it is not with the American people. Calling it a hoax (whether literally or implied) particularly to the simpletons who form his base, is a very dangerous and stupid thing to do. But then that is what we should expect from the most corrupt individual who has ever disgraced the White House.

            BTW we now know what a "hoax" is:

            A “hoax“ is somethings very real that Trump does not want to deal with that he believes will hurt his chances for reelection and make him look incompetent.

            • joe90 2.3.1.1.2.1
              1 March 2020 at 7:07 pm

              Concern trolls split hairs over tRump’s use of hoax rather than bagging tRump himself for putting the word hoax anywhere near a corona virus discussion. Weak.

    • mauī 2.4
      1 March 2020 at 10:46 am

      Well said. The way I see it Trump was telling his fans a bedtime story about a little boy called Pete Democrat who cried wolf one too many times 🙂

      • WeTheBleeple 2.4.1
        1 March 2020 at 10:49 am

        Why don't you just click a link and hear it – instead of offer 'the way you see it'. Cos you aint seeing straight.

        • mauī 2.4.1.1
          1 March 2020 at 11:01 am

          Oh very sorry.. next time I will make sure I go through the NBC aka "Ministry of Truth" fact checker before making any statements…

          • WeTheBleeple 2.4.1.1.1
            1 March 2020 at 11:26 am

            Just listen to the audio, no need for your fake news bullshit as well.

    • The Al1en 2.5
      1 March 2020 at 10:54 am

      Hmm, taking a 'you're making shit up' approach to an author and claiming their post is based on a bullshit assertion. That wouldn't end up well for 99.9% of people on here. 0.1% elite much?

      As it is, as well as hoax statements, it has also been reported (summarised on the latest Bill Maher show), Trump has stated the virus will just disappear, and there will be a vaccine available in short time.

      Maybe the red necks and moronically conservative will change their opinions on the president when their loved ones are falling sick and dying, or when business shuts down and the lay offs start, and as over 50% of usians are screwed with an unexpected $400 bill, when their job related health care becomes worthless.

      If the corona virus was a vampire movie it would be called Reality Bites.

      • RedLogix 2.5.1
        1 March 2020 at 11:00 am

        taking a 'you're making shit up' approach to an author and claiming their post is based on a bullshit assertion.

        Mickey is a smart man who knows the difference between an idea and the person expressing the idea. This entire site and it's whole ethos is based on scrutinising ideas and confronting opinions. It's what we do.

        Attacking people is something I hardly ever do …. at least 99.9% of the time 🙂

      • joe90 2.5.2
        1 March 2020 at 11:05 am

        over 50% of usians are screwed with an unexpected $400 bill,

        And they're properly fucked, now.

        Last month, a man in Miami who returned from a work trip to China feeling sick went to a hospital to be tested for coronavirus. The test came back negative, but his high-deductible health insurance provider told him he would have to pay at least $1,400, the Miami Herald reported, and provide three years of medical records to prove that the flu he got was not related to a preexisting condition. Without producing the records, he would owe $3,270 for getting tested.

        https://theintercept.com/2020/02/28/american-evacuated-wuhan-us-billed-flight-mandatory-quarantine/

        • RedLogix 2.5.2.1
          1 March 2020 at 11:12 am

          And this is exactly the kind of story that will authentically politicise the US health care issue. It plays directly into Sander's hands, and Trump has every reason to fear that.

          Good link.

          • Andre 2.5.2.1.1
            1 March 2020 at 11:21 am

            It may indeed play into Sanders' hands. But he still has to grab it and work it for it to help him. He hasn't shown any signs of doing that so far.

        • dv 2.5.2.2
          1 March 2020 at 12:10 pm

          How to make absolutely sure you willet a problem!!!!!

    • mickysavage 2.6
      1 March 2020 at 12:44 pm

      Thanks RL.

      Like everything else Trump says I have to parse it a couple of times.

      His choice of wording is his and obviously was intended to appeal to the counter culture conspiracy theorists that seem to flood to the republicans.

      It is hard to know what else to do with what he says. And given that he lies daily it is not unreasonable to attribute to him a bizarre belief.

      If you want a suggestion about what is happening because of what he said there is this republican's tweet.

      https://twitter.com/JWrightforCA34/status/1231982872602398721

      • weka 2.6.1
        1 March 2020 at 12:52 pm

        yes, the dog whistling, and also this is classic 45 tactic of saying something inflammatory that is also contradictory to what he is saying elsewhere. Lots of analysis out there that this is an intentional tactic to create chaos in the media and public as part of shifting the culture to authoritarianism. We write it off as stupidity at our peril. Politicised people I talk to in the US say it's simply exhausting because it is relentless in the context of all the other changes happening.

      • McFlock 2.6.2
        1 March 2020 at 8:29 pm

        Dude's a bullshitter. He doesn't care about the existence, origin, extent, or anything else regarding coronavirus.

        He did his usual: he made the right sounds for the audience of the day and communicated unclearly enough that the people who are partial to conspiracies will lap it up, and the people who think he cares about the truth will bend over backwards to provide an interpretation that meets some test of reasonableness.

        The dude doesn't throw a dead cat on the table. He says "here are some nice flowers", takes a shit on the middle of the table, says "hmmmm they smell like cookies", and walks away. And people still act surprised.

  3. Sabine 3
    1 March 2020 at 10:35 am

    searching: Corona Virus is a hoax brings all of this

    https://www.google.com/search?q=Corona+Virus+is+a+hoax&rlz=1C1CHBF_enNZ860NZ860&oq=Corona+Virus+is+a+hoax&aqs=chrome..69i57.6727j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/29/joe-biden-trump-coronavirus-hoax-claim

    “The Democrats are politicising the coronavirus,” Trump said. “They’re politicising it. One of my people came up to me and said: ‘Mr President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.’ That did not work out too well. They could not do it. They tried the impeachment hoax.

    “This is their new hoax.”

    Washington state governor Jay Inslee confirmed the death on Saturday.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/democratic-candidates-hit-trump-s-coronavirus-hoax-claim-n1145911

    Trump made the assertion during a rally in South Carolina Friday night, where he told the crowd Democrats have been "politicizing" the outbreak. He said he'd already endured Russia and the "impeachment hoax."

    "This is their new hoax," Trump continued, before assuring rallygoers that his administration is on top of the issue.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/29/trump-coronavirus-press-conference-covid-19-updates/4913935002/

    Trump, who was surrounded by Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and other members of the coronavirus task force, struck a more subdued tone at Saturday's news conference. He insisted he was not describing the virus as a "hoax" but that he was referring to his belief that Democrats are using the outbreak to try tohurt him politically.

    "This is very serious," he said.

    yeah, nah, he said what he said, he is still a bullshitter the size of a trump tower somewhere and there is ample audio and video clips of him saying to his fawning supporters that yes indeed the virus is a 'hoax'. 🙂

    So to all his supperters, those that are out and proud and the closeted ones, do nothing. Its a hoax by the Democrats and the Democratic Party to make him look bad, but in the meantime please do nothing, buy stocks, and pray that if you fall ill that you die quickly and silently as there will be no health care for you unless you can pay for it.

    • WeTheBleeple 3.1
      1 March 2020 at 10:55 am

      Yep the soundbite's already out there. He's done exactly what he's accused the Democrats of doing, politicised the crisis. Then he spun on a dime because he has no moral fibre whatsoever, nor a spine.

  4. Anne 4
    1 March 2020 at 10:39 am

    Siouxsie Wiles at Spinoff thinks we should be reviewing our border arrangements with the US.

    Absolutely. That country is sick and getting sicker by the day. Until such a time this period of evil and insanity in the US is past, NZ should step back from demonstrations of support and become self reliant. We have the tools and the people.

    We do not need America. That era has now gone forever. In the age of the internet and cyber space generally, there are other places NZ can turn to for assistance if it ever became necessary. To continue to align ourselves with the US is to invite hostility towards our own country.

    • RedLogix 4.1
      1 March 2020 at 10:49 am

      In the age of the internet and cyber space generally, there are other places NZ can turn to for assistance if it ever became necessary.

      Where? Australia who treats us like toilet paper? Is it the CCP you think will save us? The UK which can barely look after itself these days? Any other plausible options?

      Yes the USA is going through an ugly phase at present, and for many powerful geographic and economic reasons they're reverting back to their default isolationism.

      So yes they aren't ideal friends and there are many grounds to despair of some of what they do; their treatment of Assange stands out as just one signal example. But in a very unstable world you have to ask … well short of ideal yes, but compared to what?

  5. Pingao 5
    1 March 2020 at 10:56 am

    Might want to fix the title Micky …

    [Thanks now fixed. The problem with blogging in haste = MS]

  6. Sacha 6
    1 March 2020 at 11:01 am

    (NZ) grocery industry confident in its supply chain, while PM notes one part of the problem: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410699/coronavirus-retailers-confident-of-supply-chain-despite-panic-buying

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also warned people against panic buying, but blamed "irresponsible" headlines for causing "unnecessary" public anxiety.

  7. Poission 7
    1 March 2020 at 11:10 am

    Leaving aside the Herald scare lead ( nothing unusual as crisis sells papers),Wiles arguments seem a little askew.

    Hell, they haven’t even managed to properly sort out country-wide testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus yet, despite the World Health Organization making all the protocols freely available.

    Both the US and Australia ignored WHO advice and enacted(correctly) cordon sanitaire rules with regards to travelers from China.

    The US and Australia said they would deny entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been in China, where the virus first emerged in December.

    Earlier, countries including Russia, Japan, Pakistan and Italy announced similar travel restrictions.

    But global health officials have advised against such measures.

    "Travel restrictions can cause more harm than good by hindering info-sharing, medical supply chains and harming economies," the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.( 1/2/2020)

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51338899

    Korea and Japan are the problematic risks to NZ,with the latter being significant due to the technocrats underplaying the underlying community infection,due to not testing,and insufficient testing resources (they could only test 250 per day with all their resources) .The second part of the Japanese problem is the automated response of the salary man to go to work at all cost.

    • RedLogix 7.1
      1 March 2020 at 11:20 am

      WHO seem completely off-base with this. Right now the best information we have is that this virus is about 2 -3 times more infectious than the seasonal flu and between 10 – 15 % of people who catch it will become seriously ill.

      Unless we can slow down the rate of new cases with quarantines and social isolation the numbers will totally overwhelm our medical system. A system which is stretched to it's limits with the annual flu season already.

      I'm informed repeatedly by my sources that the CCP are covering up the real death toll in Wuhan substantially and have responded by literally shutting down large sections of their economy. Look to their actions, not their words.

  9. joe90 9
    1 March 2020 at 6:18 pm

    Of course tRump and his cronies are going to cash in.

    https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1233855509674917888

  10. Ross 10
    1 March 2020 at 8:39 pm

    Until then there is the thick end of 100,000 reported world wide infections and nearly 3,000 deaths to suggest otherwise.

    About 1.5 million people die from TB each year. 3000 is rather small in comparison and doesn’t deserve the attention it’s received.

    https://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-tuberculosis-report-2019

    [Fixed typo in e-mail address but it had already been approved]

    [Edit: turns out that typo has been in the system for over a year]

    • Incognito 10.1
      1 March 2020 at 9:06 pm

      I have no idea what the point is of your comment but it is not constructive in any way and it feels more like one of your idiosyncratic derail attempts 🙁

      The Coronavirus pandemic is still in its early stages so it is way too early to make uninformed statements and unhelpful comparisons of death tolls like you did. There are measures to contain it and these are worthy of attention in order to be most effective. TB is caused by a bacterium, not a virus, is preventable (e.g. vaccination), and manageable/treatable. There are only a few hundred new cases in NZ each year.

      • Ross 10.1.1
        1 March 2020 at 10:14 pm

        “it feels more like one of your idiosyncratic derail attempts”

        I haven’t attempted to derail anything. But facts can be troublesome.

        It’s a fact that 1.5 million die each year from TB. That apparently isn’t newsworthy. Why? Because those dying are in Africa and Asia? If coronavirus was confined to Asia and Africa I would doubt we would see much publicity about it.

        • Incognito 10.1.1.1
          1 March 2020 at 10:19 pm

          Africa is the ‘lost’ continent.

          However, this post is not about Africa per se, and not about TB. If you want to comment on these two topics then OM is the place for you. Doing it under this post is a derail.

  11. peterlepaysan 11
    1 March 2020 at 8:41 pm

    Do real people pay the herald to post such rubbish and think they get value for money?

    They must be aucklanders.

    The editorial room must be giggling.

  12. Leighton 12
    2 March 2020 at 2:40 pm

    Good article, but I can absolutely debunk the theory that Westies are more chill. I was unfortunate enough to be travelling along Lincoln Road on Saturday morning and the Pak N Save was a chaotic mess of hysterical panic buying. Maybe the levelheaded Westies frequent a different supermarket?

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