Trump accidentally says the U.S. 'pioneered the fatality rate' — among other verbal slips


When you speak for an hour and 10 minutes, you're bound to make a flub or two, and President Trump made a few notable ones during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
At the very beginning, Trump said he "profoundly" accepted this nomination for president of the United States, rather than "proudly." At another point, he should have said "personal protective equipment," but just uttered "personal" before trailing off. However, one slip stood out above the rest.
When talking about the coronavirus pandemic, which has left at least 180,000 Americans dead, Trump was supposed to say, "Thanks to advances we have pioneered, the fatality rate has been reduced by 80 percent since April." Instead, Trump said, "Thanks to advances, we have pioneered the fatality rate." Whoops. Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to 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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
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.
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Marya E. Gates' 6 favorite books about women filmmakers and directors
Feature The film writer recommends works by Julie Dash, Sofia Coppola, and more
-
Donald Trump's jumbo-sized corruption | May 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Wednesday's editorial cartoons feature artificial intelligence, Democratic attempts to reach rural voters, a tariff deal with Xi Jinping, the U.S. economy, tariffs, and habeas corpus.
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal