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- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, denouncing President Donald Trump’s recent comments on the COVID-19 death toll.
- “The blue states had tremendous death rates,” Trump said at a White House news briefing on Wednesday. “If you take the blue states out, we are at a level I don’t think anybody in the world would be at.”
- “What a disgrace! It’s monstrous,” Schumer said of Trump’s comments.
- Contrary to Trump’s assertion, Republican-controlled Texas and Florida have the third- and fifth-highest death tolls in the US.
- “Yes, Mr. President, if you don’t count the total number of Americans who have died, you might think it’s not so bad,” Schumer added.
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In a palpably angry floor speech on Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer forcefully denounced President Donald Trump’s recent comments on the coronavirus death toll based on the partisan lean of affected states.
“What a disgrace!” he said. “It’s monstrous.”
The minority leader was referring to Trump’s comments at a White House news briefing on Wednesday, when the president downplayed the fatality rate by pointing fingers at Democrats.
“The blue states had tremendous death rates,” Trump said. “If you take the blue states out, we are at a level I don’t think anybody in the world would be at.”
The New York Democrat lashed out, saying, “What a despicable man. How low can you go?”
Contrary to Trump's claim, Republican-controlled Texas and Florida are among the top five hardest-hit states in terms of coronavirus deaths, based on data compiled by The New York Times.
—ABC News (@ABC) September 17, 2020
"We're in the middle of a global pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans — far more than the number of Americans who died in World War I," Schumer said. "More than any other nation on God's green earth."
As of Thursday evening, the coronavirus has infected 6.6 million Americans and killed more than 197,000 in the worst outbreak in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.
"Yes, Mr. President, if you don't count the total number of Americans who have died, you might think it's not so bad," Schumer added.