PHOENIX – Today’s report of 2,519 new COVID-19 cases in Arizona was the largest number of cases ever reported in a single day. Before that, the record was 2,392 new cases, reported just earlier this week.

But yesterday, speaking about COVID-19, Trump said “if you look, the numbers are very minuscule compared to what it was. It’s dying out…” Trump’s claim about the virus “dying out” is countered by health experts and the government’s own data, which shows cases spiking across the country.

But Trump doubled down, in a phone call with Sean Hannity, Trump said, “We’re very close to a vaccine and we’re very close to therapeutics, really good therapeutics…But even without that, I don’t like to talk about that because it’s fading away.”

While Trump remains out of touch, America is in crisis. Weekly jobless claims hit 1.5 million, bringing the 13-week total since the onset of the pandemic to 46 million, almost 120,000 Americans have died from this pandemic, COVID-19 cases are surging in many states including Arizona, and the economy is in a historic recession.

“Trump is operating in the twilight zone. More than 1,000 new cases have been reported on 13 of the past 17 days in Arizona,” said Matt Grodsky, Arizona Democratic Party spokesman, “Trump can lie about this pandemic all he wants but the only thing fading away is his Presidency.”

###