Journalists Dunk on Trump for Attacking Michelle Obama’s Lowball Coronavirus Death Toll: Not the ‘Own’ Trump Thinks it is
Journalists like CNN’s Jake Tapper and NBC’s Peter Alexander dunked on President Donald Trump for attacking Michelle Obama’s DNC speech, but inadvertently drawing attention to the horrific coronavirus death toll he has overseen.
On Tuesday morning, Trump was asked for his reaction to the former first lady’s blistering convention speech, and part of his response was to slam the choice of a taped address — by pointing out that “She had the wrong deaths” on the coronavirus pandemic.
Many journalists on Twitter were quick to point out that Trump’s example may not have been the wisest way to illustrate the fact that Mrs. Obama taped her speech little more than a week ago.
Alexander wrote about Trump’s comment, then added “More than 21K Americans have died since she recorded it earlier this month. Not sure how Trump’s attack reflects well on his handling of the pandemic.”
Trump says Michelle Obama should’ve made her speech live: “It was taped a long time ago b/c she had the wrong (COVID) deaths.”
More than 21K Americans have died since she recorded it earlier this month.
Not sure how Trump’s attack reflects well on his handling of the pandemic.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) August 18, 2020
ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers made a similar observation.
Trump says Michelle Obama should’ve made her speech live: “It was taped a long time ago b/c she had the wrong (COVID) deaths.”
More than 21K Americans have died since she recorded it earlier this month.
Not sure how Trump’s attack reflects well on his handling of the pandemic.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) August 18, 2020
Tapper cracked “Pointing out that 20,000 more Americans have died from COVID on your watch than were stated in a previously recorded speech to own the libs”.
Pointing out that 20,000 more Americans have died from COVID on your watch than were stated in a previously recorded speech to own the libs https://t.co/J77ht9bX0A
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 18, 2020
And in a similar vein, CBS News’ Kathryn Watson wrote “I don’t think the Michelle Obama ‘had the wrong death’ count because thousands more died in the last few days while I was in charge is the own the president thinks it is”.
I don’t think the Michelle Obama “had the wrong death” count because thousands more died in the last few days while I was in charge is the own the president thinks it is https://t.co/HX7yFNOI8L
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) August 18, 2020
CNN’s Ryan Struyk and Daniel Dale also pointed out Trump’s gaffe.
Trump said Michelle Obama is the one in “over her head.” He cited the fact that she taped her speech, rather than doing it live, and “she had the wrong deaths.”
Obama said “more than 150,000” Americans have died from the coronavirus. It is now more than 170,000.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 18, 2020
President Trump hits Michelle Obama for her US coronavirus death count being tens of thousands of Americans out of date because she taped her convention speech early.
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) August 18, 2020
Politico’s chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza remarked “Donald Trump notes that more people have died of COVID since Michelle Obama recorded her convention speech and presents this fact as a criticism of … Michelle Obama.”
Donald Trump notes that more people have died of COVID since Michelle Obama recorded her convention speech and presents this fact as a criticism of … Michelle Obama. https://t.co/LpNshPhct1
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) August 18, 2020
More journalists and other prominent media figures piled on as well.
WHAT? Great DNC Address Last Night @MichelleObama! Trump says Michelle Obama should’ve made her speech live: “It was taped a long time ago b/c she had the wrong (COVID) deaths.”
More than 21K Americans have died since she recorded it earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/duGjSQ7q4l
— Jon-Christopher Bua (@JCBua) August 18, 2020
The best “own” that Trump has is that Michelle Obama “had the wrong death count” for Coronavirus because she pre-taped her speech.
“I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR FAR MORE DEATHS THAN SHE SAID!” is not a winning strategy, Donald.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 18, 2020
His criticism is that she had the wrong deaths bc it was too LOW. ??♀️??♀️??♀️ https://t.co/j2HW1sWjdJ
— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) August 18, 2020
I hope the DNC gives @MichelleObama time for a quick cameo to say: “I’m sorry, I understated the death toll — it’s 170,000 — plus I wrote a moving post on Instagram about what Kamala Harris means, let me just read it quickly now.” https://t.co/go7D9Ga76Q
— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) August 18, 2020
“We know Michelle pre-recorded her speech because the coronavirus death numbers she cited were out of date (too low!) — they are skyrocketing so quickly that every day is a shocking new Hell“ is not quite the sick burn the president thinks it is. https://t.co/Q3Q8vn9ZMY
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) August 18, 2020
Imagine thinking that Michelle Obama lowballing the number of people who have died needlessly on your watch reflects badly on Michelle Obama https://t.co/R4eSBLG1SG
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) August 18, 2020
POTUS bragging that the number of deaths on his watch is actually higher than the number Michelle Obama gave him credit for is definitely NOT on my BINGO card. https://t.co/ziWYohmIQK
— Brian Jay Jones (@brianjayjones) August 18, 2020
Watch Trump’s remarks above via The White House.
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