Via The Globe and Mail: Republican convention spins an alternate reality on COVID-19. Excerpt:
To hear the Republican National Convention tell it, U.S. President Donald Trump was swift to act on COVID-19, the pandemic is nearly a thing of the past, and the economy is primed for a major recovery.
In reality, Mr. Trump has played down the threat of the virus, told states the federal government is “not a shipping clerk” when asked to send medical supplies and touted unproven treatments. The United States has marked 178,000 deaths, more than any other country. While the rate of new coronavirus cases is slowing, 1,200 Americans died of the virus on Tuesday alone, and the economy shrank at an annualized rate of nearly 33 per cent in the second quarter, the largest contraction on record.
As the pandemic has defined every aspect of 2020, it is also dominating the presidential election campaign, which will kick into high gear Thursday evening when Mr. Trump formally accepts the Republican nomination. So a President known for his frequent falsehoods is working to craft an alternate reality.
“Really, the job that we’ve done is incredible,” he told the convention’s opening day. “None of us get any credit.”
