Trump complains he's 'treated worse' than any president as death toll passes 67,000

As the coronavirus continues to tear through the United States, taking with it more than 67,000 lives, Donald Trump on Sunday complained about how his response to the virus has been covered by the press, rather than offer condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the pandemic.

“I am greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has ever seen,” Trump said Sunday night at a town hall hosted by Fox News — the friendly cable network that tries to spin the news into a more positive light for Trump.

Trump’s comment came after Fox News played a question by a Trump supporter who bemoaned Trump’s hostile and “bullying” tone, and asked him to “let go” of the “behaviors that are turning people away from you.”

But rather than agree with the questioner, Trump complained about his coverage by the media — his favorite adversary — and said he’s been treated worse than any president in history.

“The closest would be that gentleman right up there,” Trump said, pointing to the statue of former President Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial, where the town hall was held. “They always said nobody got treated worse than Lincoln. I believe I am treated worse.”

Lincoln was assassinated.

Trump’s complaining came as he admitted at the town hall that the death toll from the novel coronavirus will be higher than he’s predicted.

Trump had been saying that the death toll wouldn’t surpass 65,000 — a number the United States surpassed over the weekend — but on Sunday, he said it will be closer to 80,000 or 90,000.

That number is disputed by Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, who said earlier Sunday on Fox News that the administration’s “projections have always been between 100 and 240,000 American lives lost.”

Trump took a victory lap for his administration’s response, which he said saved lives.

“That’s one of the reasons we’re successful, if you call losing 80 or 90,000 people successful,” Trump said, adding that his administration’s response is “one of the reasons we’re not at the high end of that plane as opposed to the low end of the plane.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.