As the number of death from COVID-19 neared 100,000 this week, President Donald Trump went golfing, ordered states to immediately reopen places of worship, and once again contradicted advice given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In recognition of the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths, Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-staff. However, he has also suggested that the number itself might have been misreported for the sole purpose of making him look bad. On the same day that Trump ordered the flags lowered, he went golfing for the first time since the pandemic began.
In 2014, Trump regularly betrayed then-President Barack Obama for golfing, tweeting "Can you believe that, with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf." At the time of the tweet, two cases of Ebola had been confirmed in the U.S.
On Saturday, as case numbers rose in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, Trump tweeted "Cases, numbers and deaths are going down all over the Country!"
Meanwhile, Trump is also pushing for a quick end to the quarantines and shutdowns. This week he threatened any states who fail to allow churches to reopen, saying "I will override the governors". It is unclear what, if any, authority he might have to do such a thing. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, was less encouraging about the safety of reopening places of worship, especially regarding at-risk groups.
"I know those houses of worship want to protect them. ... Maybe they can't go this week," she said.
He's also now come forward against considerations by states like California to carry out vote-by-mail, suggesting it may lead to voter fraud. Trump himself has voted by mail in the past. mail-in-ballots also tend to be used more by Republicans than Democrats. However, Trump sees it as in his best interest to play down the virus and risks as much as possible.
A part of his continuing campaign to spin this virus to the best of his ability, Trump has continuously put forth and promoted unproven and potentially dangerous "treatments" for COVID-19. One of the most popular is a malaria drug called hydroxychloroquine which Trump claims "gives you an additional level of safety." The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned against using this drug and have suggested that it may have serious side effects. There is little proof that the drug is an effective treatment, and, in fact, studies have shown that COVID-19 patients who were treated with the drug were at a higher risk of death.
Despite this, Trump has repeated claims by "many people [who] think it saved their lives." He believes in the usefulness of the drug so much, he himself was recently treated with it. He revealed to reporters last week that he had been taking the drug in an effort to avoid getting the virus. Given the danger posed to those with coronavirus treated with this drug, the President has arguably put himself at a higher risk of death by ignoring warnings from the FDA.