Trump, who earlier this month declined to answer a reporter’s question about "all the lying" he's done to the American people, is being taken to task for his recent lies about New Zealand's COVID-19 numbers.
Addressing reporters, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted the (should-be-quite-obvious) differences between the numbers in New Zealand and those here in the U.S.
"Obviously, I don't think there's any comparison between New Zealand's current cluster and the tens of thousands of cases that are being seen daily in the United States," Ardern said. "Obviously, every country is experiencing its own fight with COVID-19. It is a tricky virus but not one where I would compare New Zealand's current status to the United States."
On Monday, Trump said New Zealand was having a "big" and "terrible" influx of new cases that he described as a "surge." He also attempted to use New Zealand's numbers, which include nine new cases being reported on Monday, to argue against the fact that the U.S. has not done nearly enough to help stall the spread or protect everyday citizens during the pandemic.
"Look, I think for anyone who's following [COVID-19] and its transmission globally will quite easily see that New Zealand's nine cases in a day does not compare to the United States' tens of thousands and, in fact, does not compare to most countries in the real world," Ardern said in response to Trump's nonsense. "I'm not concerned about people misinterpreting our status … Obviously, it's patently wrong. But again, as I say, those people who are following what's happening around the world will see New Zealand's status. We are still one of the best performing countries in the world when it comes to [COVID-19]."
As CNN and others point out, these new cases in New Zealand did indeed come after the country bagged more than 100 days without any infections at all. Furthermore, the recent small uptick has already been addressed in a competent manner.
As of Aug. 17, the U.S. had seen 5.4 million confirmed cases and nearly 170,000 deaths.
