Global health expert slams RNC's segment on coronavirus: 'It's all propaganda'


Dr. Vin Gupta, a global health policy expert fact-checking the Republican National Convention on MSNBC, said that the main coronavirus segment was "all propaganda. There's no truth to it."
He took issue with several statements in particular, including that President Trump's "quick action and leadership saved thousands of lives during COVID-19" and his "rapid policy changes" made telehealth services "now accessible to more than 71 million Americans, including 35 million children."
"A lot of that was hard to listen to, and this is not as a partisan, but as a clinician," Gupta said. No one even knew about the existence of COVID-19 toward the end of 2019, he continued, and now, it's one of the top causes of death for Americans. "To say that 170,000 souls lost in our country up to now is a success by any measure is fantasy," he said. "It's disrespectful to the families who lost loved ones, to frontline clinicians who put their lives at risk. It's just fantasy. It's propaganda."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Claims that Trump was able to get proper personal protective equipment to hospitals and first responders were also false, he said. "We had to import insufficient and inadequate PPE, KN95 masks that did not meet any recognizable U.S. standard from China or other places overseas because we didn't have enough PPE in our Strategic National Stockpile," Gupta explained. "It's all propaganda. There's no truth to it. We didn't have enough PPE for our nurses, our respiratory therapists, or our physicians to care for COVID critically-ill patients across the country."
The Trump administration also "didn't suddenly invent telehealth or telehealth reimbursement strategies in the last few months," Gupta said. "That's false. That is absolutely false. Up until the beginning of May, well into this pandemic, you needed a smartphone, you needed broadband internet access, to actually communicate with a telehealth provider, someone like me, to order a test for a patient. It wasn't until the middle of May that they loosened restrictions so you could get a test or you could communicate with a provider by phone. So let's be clear here about what's true and what's not true." Catherine Garcia
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Koreans detained in US Hyundai raid return home
Speed Read Over 300 Koreans were detained at the plant last week
-
Cley Windmill: character and charm on the north Norfolk coast
The Week Recommends This historic mill turned guest house is the perfect spot for a restorative break by the sea
-
September 12 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include an American dilemma, Biden's jobs legacy, and Donald Trump the peacemaker
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants