This Might Be Trump’s Most Dangerous Lie on The Coronavirus

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President Donald Trump is a serial liar — that’s well documented. But even if his lies in the past didn’t concern you, his misleading comments about the coronavirus should, since he’s potentially putting you and your family’s lives at risk. In fact, we saw what may be Trump’s worst comment yet Wednesday night while he was on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show as he irresponsibly tried to undermine health experts’ latest warnings about the increased risk of death posed by the coronavirus.

Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) warned us earlier this week that mortality rate from the coronavirus was no longer a little over 2 percent as previously stated. Instead the death rate based on the updated data was 3.4 percent, with people 60 and older at the greatest risk.  That means the coronavirus is three times more deadly than the seasonal flu.

Consequently, it’s no surprise that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website warns that if you have this virus, it states point blank: “Do not go to work, school, or public areas.”

But none of that apparently matters to Trump as he stunningly told Hannity that he didn’t believe the WHO new findings on the mortality rate of the coronavirus: “Well, I think the 3.4% is really a false number.” What was Trump’s basis for dismissing the experts of the WHO and downplaying the risk posed but this growing epidemic? Simple, Trump said “this is just my hunch.”  Trump wants you and your family to ignore threat posed by this virus based on his “hunch”?!   Trump then literally made up his own mortality rate for the coronavirus, saying “personally, I’d say the number is way under 1%.”

Trump misleading Americans on the threat posed by the coronavirus is nothing new but still dangerously irresponsible. For example, on February 10, when asked about the coronavirus outbreak, Trump stated, “a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in.” But even Trump health officials disputed Trump’s prediction at the time.

At the February 26 press conference to provide Americans with the latest information on outbreak, Trump again downplayed the risk stating the number of cases in United States at the time was only 15, he then bragged, “within a couple of days, is going to be down to close to zero. That’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” But as Factcheck.org noted, Trump’s claim that the number of cases would drop to zero was false, as has been proven out by what we’ve seen since with a spike in new cases across 17 states.

Worse, we learned recently that shortly before that February 26 press conference, Trump had been informed by the CDC of the first case in the United States of a person testing positive for the virus not tied to foreign travel. Certainly, this raised the specter that the spread of the coronavirus was about to jump. Yet Trump stunningly did not mention this new development at the press conference. Rather, we learned about from the CDC an hour after the conference ended.

Then this past Friday at a campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump ratcheted up his campaign of misinformation telling his supporters that warnings about the virus are simply the Democrats “new hoax,” after the Russia investigation and impeachment.

A leader not wanting to cause panic over a growing threat is understandable. But that’s done by being honest with the public so they can fully grasp the true nature of the risk and protect themselves and their families accordingly. For example, in 2014 when the Ebola outbreak was ravaging parts of Africa and raising alarm bells in America, President Obama didn’t lie to the public to make it appear less severe than it was. Instead he held a press conference in September 2014 where he candidly laid out what was happening: “Now, here’s the hard truth:  In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before. It’s spiraling out of control.  It is getting worse.” After detailing these alarming developments, Obama shared how his administration would keep us safe by coordinating efforts to address the outbreak and by dedicating resources needed. Overall, during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, only 11 people in the United States were treated for the virus with two dying.

Trump misleading the American people is far different. Clearly Trump views the spreading virus as a potential political catastrophe for himself which is why he has turned to his typical “hoax” language that he used for the Russia investigation and impeachment. It’s his go to defense. But this is not a political fight—it’s a potential human catastrophe that could result in scores of Americans dying.

As of Thursday morning, there are more than 150 cases in United States across 17 states with 11 dead. On Wednesday, California declared a state of emergency as a person who contracted the disease and the number of people testing positive was rising. New York City confirmed two more cases of the coronavirus that had been contracted by people with no known connection to the virus.

No one can predict when and how the coronavirus outbreak will end. But if you want accurate information to protect yourself and loved ones, you can’t trust Trump. And that is putting all of us more at risk.

Dean Obeidallah, a lawyer, hosts SiriusXM radio’s The Dean Obeidallah show and is a columnist for the Daily Beast and a CNN.com Opinion Contributor.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.