CNN’s Stelter Compares Trump’s Coronavirus Mishandling to Chernobyl Disaster: The Cost of Lies is ‘Trust’ and ‘Human Lives’

CNN’s Brian Stelter drew a parallel between President Donald Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus crisis and the chain of events that led to the Chernobyl disaster.

On Sunday, Stelter launched his Reliable Sources monologue by invoking HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries in order to ask “what is the cost of lies?” He went on to speak of the resemblance between the Chinese government’s attempts to cover up Covid-19, and the Soviet Union’s attempt to hide information about the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in connection with its catastrophic meltdown in 1986.

While Stelter remarked that the U.S. enjoys far more freedom than China or Russia, he said “the lies are taking a toll in America too,” and he attributed this to the Trump administration’s misinformation on the pandemic. He went on to highlight multiple recent covid outbreaks that have upended communities around the country.

“What is the cost of lies?” Stelter asked again. “The cost is trust. The cost is a collective truth, and sometimes, the cost is human lives.”

After further slamming Trump’s “dangerous downplaying of the pandemic” and his “outright denialism,” Stelter also slammed Fox News for their part in how the seriousness of the pandemic has been dismissed.

“The prime time talk shows often don’t talk about the virus threat,” Stelter groaned. “They focus on their pro-Trump narratives instead.”

Watch above, via CNN.