Trump adviser Larry Kudlow is referring to the still raging coronavirus pandemic in the past tense

(Image credit: Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images)

last updated 26 August 2020

President Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, declared during his Republican National Convention speech that Trump "successfully fought" the coronavirus pandemic, which is still very much raging in the United States.

His use of the past tense was quickly picked up by several journalists, including David Corn of Mother Jones, who tweeted that Kudlow spoke "as if this crisis is over. Thousands are dying every week. This is crazy propaganda."

Tim O'Brien, a Bloomberg Opinion writer, pointed out that Kudlow has been beating this drum for awhile now, saying on March 9 that the coronavirus was "relatively contained." In late June, right before a major surge in cases, Kudlow declared there was "no second wave coming. It's just hot spots. They send in CDC teams, we've got the testing procedures, we've got the diagnostics." On Tuesday, the coronavirus death toll in the United States climbed to more than 178,000. Catherine Garcia

The Week

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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.