IS CORONAVIRUS A HOAX?

Powerline ^ | FEBRUARY 29, 2020 | JOHN HINDERAKER

[Hojczyk]

Democratic Party media are claiming that last night in South Carolina, President Trump said that the coronavirus epidemic is a hoax. Politico headlines

:Did Trump actually say the corona virus is a hoax? Of course not. The claim is idiotic. If the president thought the virus is a hoax, why did he do a press conference on it last week, along with various medical personnel? And why did he ban travel to China at the beginning of the outbreak?

This is what Trump actually said in South Carolina, according to the New York Post:

President Trump jeered Democrats Friday night for criticizing his response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, saying that it was a “new hoax” after a failed attempt to remove him from office over Ukraine.

“They tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia — that didn’t work out too well,” Trump told a cheering crowd in South Carolina. “They tried the impeachment hoax. That was a perfect conversation.”

“And this is the new hoax,” Trump declared. *** “Let’s get this right: A virus starts in China, makes its way into various countries all around the world, doesn’t spread widely at all in the United States because of the early actions that myself and my administration took against a lot of other wishes. And the Democrats’ single talking point and you see it is that it’s Donald Trump’s fault,” he said.

The hoax, obviously, is the Democrats’ unfounded criticism of the Trump administration. Never in American history have we seen such nakedly dishonest criticism of anyone in public life.

[bray]

There were 80,000 flu related deaths last year.

[jacknyc]

Exactly, Trump didn’t say Coronavirus is a Hoax..He said FakeNewsMedia Trying to blame Him for inaction is a Hoax..He restricted flights a month ago that prevented spread into US & Democrat Slugs called him Racist..People are on to this garbage...

[HK_Kai_Chung]

And the virus isn't stopping the protesters. They are protesting in MongKok at this very moment. Live videos:

https://ncehk2019.github.io/nce-live/?visibleCount=9

[KyCats]

Early leader for stupidest comment of the day.

[datura]

Over 15,000 deaths in the US from flu THIS WINTER/SPRING.

We will not see 15K deaths in the US from this virus. Hell, even China has supposedly less than that by a factor of almost 6. (Yeah, I know China’s numbers are complete BS.)

As I posted a thread below this one, even Hong Kong has only had 2 deaths from this virus vs 113 for the flu.

[Magic Fingers]

“Would China do this to its own people in order to bring about world dominance without going to war?”

They’re risking regime change and cratering of their economy. How is that going to give them world dominance?

[DannyTN]

The flu mortality rate is 0.1% not 2%. 20 times worse.

[null and void]

and polite people will turn their chopsticks around to use the back end to serve themselves food from communal dishes.

That's what I was taught.

[arthurus]

The reason I believe it came from that lab is that China reacted so frantically to it. Were it one of the regular viruses that sweeps China from time to time it would likely have been pretty much ignored. Peking feared that it was much worse than it is turning out to be, even in China with the population’s really bad public hygiene.

[datura]

What do you think would happen in the US if the government tried to lock all of us down here like China did? Would you just say ok?

I bet not.

Do you think there would be lots of rebellion?

You actually think that the CCP is in danger of collapse from this? I’d love to sell you a bridge in Brooklyn.

[Black Agnes]

Fatality rate of ‘regular flu’ is 0.07%.

Fatality rate of 2% is 30 times that of the regular flu.

[null and void]

More political implications than the medical ones...

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[Tahoe3002]

McNamara, Robert. “Yellow Journalism: The Basics.” ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020,

Credit to the above article for my contention that the coronavirus is a media driven event. Maybe a hoax, maybe not, but likely not even close to being as significant as the media portrays. One of those: Never let a crisis go to waste events.

“Yellow Journalism” goes back to at least the 1890’s, and likely earlier, just under another name.

USA and international media long ago stopped providing “news” to their audience.
The media ALWAYS has a ‘sky is falling’ event to over-hype and sell more of their product. In many cases, the media driven events lead to increased government interference (more TAX DOLLARS!!) or restrictions on freedom. Sometimes these media events are used by governments to go to WAR. (Whereupon they draft our sons to fight in far off lands). IMHO, of course.

[datura]

Fatality rates by age are not that different. Yes, there are you g health care workers who succumb to the virus, but their viral load is huge from their surroundings and their age/strong immune systems bring about cytokine storms.

The regular flu takes mostly people over 80, and very young children by causing pneumonia.

Corona takes mostly people over 70, by causing pneumonia or organ failure.

There is currently no vaccine for corona, but once there is all of the fear and hype will disappear.

[oldenuff35]

That is not what the president said and those who make this claim are LIARS.

[NELSON111]

Yeah. Because a country routinely locks down 1/10 of the world’s population and tanks their own economy over a hoax...or the flu.

[I want the USA back]

It was obvious that he didn’t call the virus a hoax. But this is how the left works. They make a claim that is false, and the media supports it, and a brain dead public believes it. Then, months later, the left can point to their false claim as if it were true, because no one will bother to fact-check it.

[Magic Fingers]

I think there’s no chance they deliberately released a virus in their own country, with no way of knowing the extent of the damage it would do. And if they did so, yes they would be risking - at minimum - destabilization and a change in leadership. And since Xi calls the shots, he’s not going to risk that. Keep your bridge.

[AndyJackson]

The only hoaxes are the democratic party its leaders Schumer and Pelosi.

[SkyDancer]

I’m looking back to William Randolph Hearst as the real originator of yellow journalism; he instigated the Spanish/American war by false reporting about the battleship Maine.