Science
- President Donald Trump was finally persuaded to take the threat of the coronavirus seriously after watching Fox News host Tucker Carlson talking about it on his show last week, The Washington Post reported.
- Without mentioning the president by name, Carlson criticized those downplaying the virus and comparing it to the common flu.
- Carlson called the outbreak a "major event," stressing, "It's definitely not just the flu."
- Trump has since dramatically shifted his tone on the illness, taking part in daily White House briefings about the illness and announcing new measures to halt the progress of the outbreak.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Trump only began to take the threat of the coronavirus pandemic seriously after seeing Fox News host Tucker Carlson talking about it on his show last week, two White House sources told The Washington Post.
Trump had been downplaying the likely impact of the virus for weeks, in a tweet as recent as Monday, March 9, comparing the disease to the common flu.
Carlson's monologue - in which he said bluntly of the epidemic "this is real" - is said to have changed Trump's mind.
In the opening monologue of the show Carlson - a staunch supporter of Trump who has advised him in an informal capacity - offered a thinly veiled critique of the president and those like him who'd sought to downplay the impact of the disease.
"People you trust - people you probably voted for - have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem," said Carlson.
"It's just partisan politics, they say. Calm down. In the end, this is just like the flu, and people die from that every year. Coronavirus will pass, and when it does we will feel foolish for worrying about it."
"Maybe they're just not paying attention, or maybe they believe they're serving some higher cause by shading reality. ... And there's an election coming up. Best not to say anything that might help the other side. We get it. But they're wrong."
Carlson called the outbreak a "major event," stressing, "It's definitely not just the flu."
Commenting on the 500 cases which had at that point been recorded in the US, he said: "The real number is without question far higher than that; soon we will have a better sense of just how much higher.
"By then, this epidemic will have caused economic damage whose effects may dog us for years. People you know will get sick, some may die. This is real."
Carlson's stark warning about the likely impact of the disease contrasted with the approach taken by other Fox personalities, who'd spent weeks claiming that the disease was being exaggerated by Democrats and media as part of a plot to damage Trump's presidency.
The complacency from the president and hosts on the most-watched conservative media outlet seems to have had an influence on the attitudes of Republican voters to the virus.
An NBC News/WSJ taken between March 11 and March 13 found a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats on the likely impact of the disease, and the measures they're taking to help stop it spreading.
According to the survey, 80% of Democrats believe that the worst is yet to come, a point on which scientists agree. Only 40% of Republicans believe the same, the poll found.
Since changing tack, Trump has declared the coronavirus a national emergency on Friday, is taking part in daily White House briefings, and even claimed Tuesday that he had always believed it would become a pandemic.
Read more:
Trump announces he'll waive interest on federal student loan payments amid the coronavirus crisis
Dow surges 1,985 points as Trump's coronavirus address eases concerns of economic damage
So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020Tucker Carlson pushing back against coronavirus coverage from those who "have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem."
"'It's just partisan politics,' they say. 'Calm down. In the end this is just like the flu.'
Carlson: "It's definitely not just the flu" pic.twitter.com/h7N20Pi2Bd
- Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 10, 2020