WASHINGTON — New tapes from February reveal that Donald Trump purposely downplayed the severity of the coronavirus. Trump knew the coronavirus was deadly, even to young people, and understood the severity of the disease. He lied to the American people, and GOP legislators across the country helped him.
Since the beginning of this crisis, Republican lawmakers spread conspiracy theories about the virus, were staunchly against masks in public, pushed to end public safety measures before it was safe, and in many cases, sued or passed legislation to override smart precautions put in place by Democratic governors.
Now, 200,000 Americans are dead, over 6 million Americans have been infected — with little known about the long term effects, over 13 million are unemployed, our children can’t safely attend school, and this country still doesn’t have a comprehensive testing system in place.
Donald Trump downplayed the coronavirus and Republican lawmakers helped him do it.
“Every GOP lawmaker is complicit in Trump’s lies. Instead of listening to medical experts or Trump’s own health officials, they chose to downplay the severity of the crisis for political gain,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post. “They governed in lockstep with Trump and 200,000 people across the country have already paid for it with their lives. Now, as other countries begin their recovery, we are still plagued by a virus that keeps families apart, keeps Americans out of work, and keeps our kids out of school. They lied to the American people and they have blood on their hands. Every GOP official should be asked why their loyalty to Trump took precedence over American lives.”
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