A timeline of Trump's key Covid denials
22nd January 2020: ‘It’s going to be just fine’
A self-assured Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen that the coronavirus was just ‘one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.’
January US deaths: 19
23rd February 2020: ‘We have it very much under control’
The then president held a briefing on the South Lawn of the White House, telling reporters: ‘We're very — very cognizant of everything going on. We have it very much under control in this country,’ Reiterating this same notion - and air of confidence - in a tweet sent the following day, he explained: ‘The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.’
February US deaths involving Covid-19: 16
27th February 2020: ‘One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear’
Trump told attendees at an African American History Month reception at the White House that ‘like a miracle’ the virus would likely vanish. When? ‘Nobody really knows.’
10th March 2020: ‘It will go away’
As the former President finished up a meeting with Republican senators, he relished bragging to reporters how the US government was ‘doing a great job’ with tackling the virus and, really, we should all just ‘stay calm. It will go away.’
March US deaths involving Covid-19: 7,079
23rd April 2020: ‘I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute... is there a way we can do something like that…’
Another of Trump’s bizarre claims that had scientists up in arms was his ‘disinfectant theory’ floated at a White Conference press conference. Dr Deborah Birx, Trump’s coronavirus task force co-ordinator who was sitting a few feet away, didn’t look too pleased.
April US deaths involving Covid-19: 65,167
29th April 2020: ‘It’s gonna leave. It’s gonna be gone’
On being asked by a reporter why he believed the disease would ‘be gone’, even without a vaccine, Trump replied non-plussed and optimistic as ever: ‘It’s gonna go. It’s gonna leave. It’s gonna be gone. It’s gonna be eradicated.’
17 June 2020: ‘It’s fading away’
In an interview with Fox News, Trump sounded as convinced as ever: ‘It’s fading away. It’s going to fade away. But having a vaccine would be really nice.’
June US deaths involving Covid-19: 17,902
8th October 2020: ‘Now what happens is you get better’
During an appearance on Fox Business' Mornings With Maria, Trump sung the praises of antibody drug Regeneron, along with suggesting that after being ill with Covid-19, ‘Now what happens is you get better, that's what happens you get better.’
October US deaths involving Covid-19: 24,045