The National Memo Logo

Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless.

Monday, December 09, 2019 {{ new Date().getDay() }}

Home
The stories you want. The opinions that matter.

Sign up for our Daily Newsletter and never miss a story.

No, thanks
Tag:

Trump Adviser Urged Spreading Virus To Achieve ‘Herd Immunity’ — Which Would Kill Millions

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

According to a new report from POLITICO, a former top Trump appointee urged for health officials to adopt a "herd immunity" approach to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing for millions of people to be infected.

"There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD," then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote on July 4 to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, and six other senior officials.

Read Now Show less

WATCH: Trump Takes Pandemic Victory Lap As Unchecked Surge Kills Thousands

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

During the 2020 presidential election, Democratic nominee Joe Biden repeatedly slammed President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic — and Biden's messaging worked. Trump has been voted out of office, President-elect Biden won 306 electoral votes, and the former vice president defeated the incumbent by more than 7 million in the popular vote. Close to 300,000 American deaths have been reported due to COVID-19, though the real number is likely much higher and growing rapidly every day.

Regardless, Trump claimed, during a White House news conference on Tuesday, that his response to the pandemic was one of the greatest successes of his presidency.

Read Now Show less

‘Herd Immunity’ Is Trump Policy — And It Means A Massive Death Toll

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

On Friday, the COVID Tracking Project reported that the number of positive coronavirus infections in the last day had reached 170,000, the highest record ever and a number that was, just a few months ago, hard to imagine. It's now our daily reality, and it's likely to only get worse.

Other figures are just as frightening. Hospitalizations — one of the clearest signs of the seriousness of the out break —have reached a new high at 69,000, according to the project. Deaths are at a disturbing 1,300, though that rate is almost certain to spike in recent weeks following the more recent spike in cases. And as the newest and largest wave yet engulfs the country, reports have begun to appear of hospitals being overwhelmed with patients, which is almost certainly a precursor to a spike in the case fatality rate.

Read Now Show less

Trump’s Insistence On ‘Herd Immunity' Means Mass Murder

Let us examine the Great Barrington Declaration with the respect it deserves, which is very little. The advocates, who include Dr. Scott Atlas, President Donald Trump's preferred pandemic expert, argue that all these shutdowns are causing economic and psychological havoc that's worse than the disease. Better to let the coronavirus infect the young and healthy, thus building immunity in numbers large enough to nearly stop the virus' spread. The elderly and other vulnerable Americans can lock themselves away.

Read Now Show less