Masking the Pandemic​ | Inside America with Ghida Fakhry

As President Trump downplays the threat posed by the pandemic and says his administration has made ‘a lot progress’ in controlling it, the US sets new records of over 50,000 daily infections as the latest death toll surpasses 130,000.

More than 20 states have set record highs for the average of new cases over the last seven days, with a sharp increase in new daily cases in more than 40 states, including Florida, Texas, California and Georgia which were among the hardest hit.

And while President Trump maintained that if the US ‘didn’t test so much and so successfully’, there would be ‘very few cases’, the top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci gave testimony to lawmakers in which he contradicted the President’s assertions that the pandemic is under control, saying “I am not satisfied with what’s going on because we are going in the wrong direction if you look at the curves of the new cases, so we’ve really got to do something about that and we need to do it quickly”.

And as health officials in the US continue to stress the importance of wearing masks and social distancing, President Trump held a large rally in South Dakota to mark Independence Day without following the recommended coronavirus guidelines. Thousands of supporters gathered at Mount Rushmore on the Fourth of July, with no social distancing or masks required.

So is President Trump putting his own political interests ahead of Americans’ public health?

Guests:
Steve Cortes
Spokesman for the America First Political Action Committee

Guest two:
Anthony Williams
Mayor of the city of Abilene, Texas

Coronavirus in US