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Science editor says Trump 'flat-out lied' about COVID-19, demoralizing scientific community | TheHill
The editor of the leading academic journal Science wrote in an editorial published Friday that President Trump "flat-out lied" to the American people based on comments revealed this week to journalist Bob Woodward.
"As he was playing down the virus to the public, Trump was not confused or inadequately briefed: He flat-out lied, repeatedly, about science to the American people," wrote the editor, H. Holden Thorp. "These lies demoralized the scientific community and cost countless lives in the United States."
Thorp pointed to tapes of Trump telling Woodward in early February that coronavirus was much more deadly than the flu, at a time when publicly Trump was explicitly comparing the virus to the flu.
Trump later told Woodward in March: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic.”
Thorp wrote Friday that "playing it down meant lying about the fact that he knew the country was in grave danger."
"A U.S. president has deliberately lied about science in a way that was imminently dangerous to human health and directly led to widespread deaths of Americans," Thorp added. "This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy."
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Lying for his own advantage is party of Trump's basic makeup.
The editor of the leading academic journal Science wrote in an editorial published Friday that President Trump "flat-out lied" to the American people based on comments revealed this week to journalist Bob Woodward.
"As he was playing down the virus to the public, Trump was not confused or inadequately briefed: He flat-out lied, repeatedly, about science to the American people," wrote the editor, H. Holden Thorp. "These lies demoralized the scientific community and cost countless lives in the United States."
Thorp pointed to tapes of Trump telling Woodward in early February that coronavirus was much more deadly than the flu, at a time when publicly Trump was explicitly comparing the virus to the flu.
Trump later told Woodward in March: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic.”
Thorp wrote Friday that "playing it down meant lying about the fact that he knew the country was in grave danger."
"A U.S. president has deliberately lied about science in a way that was imminently dangerous to human health and directly led to widespread deaths of Americans," Thorp added. "This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy."
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Lying for his own advantage is party of Trump's basic makeup.