Trump Boasts of Coronavirus TV Ratings as Fauci Warns: 200,000 People Could Die in U.S.
By Jordan Moreau
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – UPDATE: President Donald Trump announced in a press conference Sunday afternoon that the country’s social distancing guidelines have been extended to April 30 and that the peak death rate will hit in two weeks.
“Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory has been won. Therefore we will be extending our guidelines to April 30,” he said.
Previously, Trump wanted the U.S. economy reopened by Easter Sunday, April 12, despite medical experts around the country saying that deadline would be unlikely. Trump said he hopes the country and everyone will “be well on our way to recovery” on June 1.
On Sunday morning, Trump also boasted about his growing TV ratings, while Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House Coronavirus Task Force warned that up to 200,000 Americans could die from COVID-19.
Trump quoted an article from the New York Times that provided recent viewership statistics of his coronavirus press conferences. The article states that they have averaged 8.5 million viewers, roughly the same size as audiences for ABC’s “The Bachelor.” Last Monday’s conference drew nearly 12.2 million viewers, putting it on pace with “Monday Night Football.”
Trump went on to praise Fox News’ 6.2 million viewers, a number normally seen on hit primetime TV shows. He also quoted the New York Times article saying that a recent poll shows only 13% of Republicans trust the news media for information. However, the president left out that the article also says that 72% of Democrats trust the media.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the lead members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told CNN on Sunday that coronavirus could kill between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans and infect millions of people.
There are about 125,000 cases of coronavirus in the U.S. as of Sunday morning, the highest of any country in the world. At last 2,000 deaths have been reported.
Fauci also spoke about the president’s previous hope that the country’s economy will be back on track by Easter on Sunday, April 12.
“To put a time on it, I don’t know, it’s going to be a matter of weeks, it’s not going to be tomorrow and it’s certainly not going to be next week,” he said. “It’s going to be a little bit more than that.”
