"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics," said Mark Twain. Over 100 years later, Twin could never have predicted a president like Donald Trump.
During his press conference Sunday, and in previous press conferences, Trump has delighted in coming to the podium to cite numbers of masks, ventilators, gowns, test kits and other things he has been responsible for allocating.
While the numbers sound huge, they are but a fraction of the requests.
Former FBI agent and adviser to the Department of Homeland Security, Juliette Kayyem explained the number problem: "Numbers are not impressive unless compared to need. Polowczyk just said they are delivering 2.5 million masks to nation. NYC needs 50 million. Supply chain is just numbers to outside observer. Don’t be impressed just cause seems like a lot."
White House correspondent for Newsweek Andrew Feinberg made a similar comment, saying that 1.6 million test kits aren't the most effective in a country with 327.2 million people.
Meanwhile, there are still Trump supporters speculating that the hospitals are all lying about what they need.
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