Day 1,177: Trump says the only coronavirus metrics he needs are in his head

Friday’s coronavirus briefing was just as bizarre as usual.

During one two-minute ramble, Donald Trump bounced around on a number of topics.

First, he said that while he’ll listen to advisers, the only metrics he needs in deciding how and when to open the economy are “right here,” pointing to his head.

He also called the coronavirus a “genius” three times before describing the disease in elementary terms, saying it kills some people and hardly affects others.

Trump, the person in charge of making a number of life-and-death decisions related to guidelines and policies, impossibly, still doesn’t understand the basics about the virus. Trump, while calling the virus “brilliant” three times, revealed his own ignorance about the underlying science of treating illnesses. Trump pointed to the fact that the coronavirus is outsmarting antibiotics.

As they teach in ninth grade biology courses — or anyone who’s ever had the common cold or the flu finds out — antibiotics treat bacterial infections, not viruses. Even if Trump could be forgiven for initially not knowing how particular illnesses are treated, the coronavirus has been a national issue for at least three months.

Trump frequently claims that he’s always taken the pandemic seriously (despite all evidence to the contrary). Yet on Friday, there he was, standing in the White House briefing room, revealing to the world that he doesn’t even have an understanding of elementary facts about the virus.

And in making the determination of when and how to reopen society, Trump noted — without any evidence and apparently using those metrics in his head — that “staying at home leads to death also.”

Trump boasted about the intelligence of the coronavirus, but every time he opened his mouth he cast more doubt on his own.

1,177 days in, 285 to go

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