Rush Limbaugh Claims The 'Common Cold' Coronavirus Is An Effort To ‘Get Trump’
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh claimed on his show Monday that the potentially lethal coronavirus afflicting several countries is nothing more than a “common cold” blown out of proportion by the media to take down President Donald Trump ― even as he also asserted it was a “bioweapon” created by China in a laboratory.
“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,” Limbaugh said at the start of his lengthy, misinformation-filled rant.
“Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. ... I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”
Coronaviruses comprise a large family of many viruses, ranging in severity from the common cold to more severe illnesses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS ), an epidemic that infected more than 8,000 people in 2003. A novel coronavirus, such as the current COVID-19 outbreak, is a new strain of the virus that has previously not been identified in humans, the World Health Organization clearly explains on its site.
Limbaugh, though, chose to go off on his own tangent.
“The drive-by media hype of this thing as a pandemic, as the Andromeda strain, as, ‘Oh, my God. If you get it, you’re dead...’ I think the survival rate is 98%,” he said. “Ninety-eight percent of people who get the coronavirus survive. It’s a respiratory system virus.”
The mortality rate is not yet known, according to WHO. The organization’s latest situation report confirms 79,331 infections globally and 2,618 deaths, both widely reported figures.
Citing a debunked conspiracy theory , Limbaugh then claimed the disease was probably a “laboratory experiment” conducted by Chinese officials that is “in the process of being weaponized.”
Experts have repeatedly said that this theory, pushed in conservative circles, has no scientific basis.
“There’s absolutely nothing in the genome sequence of this virus that indicates the virus was engineered,” Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, told The Washington Post . “The possibility this was a deliberately released bioweapon can be firmly excluded.”
Limbaugh insisted that the disease is being “weaponized by virtue of the media” in an “effort to bring down Trump,” doing so by scaring investors into cashing out of the stock market. ( Global markets fell sharply on Monday after the novel coronavirus surged in countries outside of China, raising concerns about the threat the outbreak poses to the global economy).
To wrap up his monologue, Limbaugh declared the coverage of the outbreak represents an effort by the media to show that “Trump and capitalism are destroying America and destroying the world.”
He also worked in a reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during his diatribe, saying the Democratic presidential candidate wants to transform the U.S. into a “mirror image of” the country in which the novel coronavirus was first detected in humans ― China.
“It didn’t come from an American lab,” Limbaugh said. “It didn’t escape from an American research lab. It hasn’t been spread by Americans. It starts out in a communist country. Its tentacles spread all across the world in numbers that are not big and not huge, but they’re being reported as just the opposite.”
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/huffpost/rush-limbaugh-coronavirus-trump-023911730.html
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How long is the world going to have to put up with this asshole?
He's here to stay. He's in the Smithsonian.
And that's exactly as he should be remembered.
A poster child for lung cancer smoking a cigar in better days gone by.
The man who saved AM radio with hateful, shock, conspiracy talk shows, not so much.
“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,”
Yes, but by the left as Pelosi and Schumer suddenly come from behind with an interest in a hermitic border. If Trump's plan is too little, too late - What's theirs?
I will chip in for a one way ticket to China for him. If it is just a cold, let him catch cold.
Limbaugh is an idiot, a dangerous idiot.
And this is the azzwipe that received the Medal of Freedom, what a vile human being
I really don't think you want to bring up "earned" medals of anything here...............jus' sayin'
He didn't earn it
Well hell. When do we declare our own scary stats? Our numbers are NOT what anyone wants to see but I'm sorry. There is a some reason for the huge concern but, our economy isn't affected by the domestic situation. I just don't get the panic. Anyone care to expound on the reasoning?
Me either. A couple of months ago people were panicked about white vans because of fake Facebook posts. People are weird.
So people around the world are panicking just to hurt President Trump?
That is Limbaugh's conclusion.
Personally I dont think this virus is all that bad, in terms of killing people, either, but I wouldnt go on a national radio show and make a conspiracy out of it either.
Enough of these assholes like Limbaugh, and Trump.
Didn't say that.............at all. People around the world, yes, have their own problems but just look at the doom and gloom and the affect it is having on our financial markets. And I agree it isn't that bad but for some reason, this is bigger than any outbreak in the history of the world according to some. One cannot help but to deduce, with thought, that the hype is a bit much................and in the financial field it's working. Could it be that that may be a reason? I really don't think this warrants ongoing front page news to the extent that it is...........unless we want to destabilize everything......think about that one for a minute.
COVID-19 has a mortality rate somewhere around 2.3% to 3.3% (some sites reporting 2% to 4%). Probably on the lower end. There may be a correlation in that mortality data with Diabetes. It isn't the mortality rate so much as the rate of spread - which I couldn't find an actual figure on. The communicability of the virus to infect those around it. It seems to spread very fast, which is why China and now Italy, S Korea and Iran quarantine whole communities. The WHO is worried if this gets out of control in Sub-Saharan Africa where they don't have the facilities to treat large amounts of sick population.
The WHO and the US CDC has been most strident in their reporting that it IS NOT a pandemic (yet), but could be if we don't stay on top of it. The latest news from the CDC is IF this does become a pandemic are hospitals, business, state/city services prepared for worst case scenarios? The statement specifically said those who have a plan are best suited to weather a crisis IF there is one. We can't fight fires if the whole fire department is sick.
Technically, that's correct. It actually is the same family of viruses. The current outbreak appears to be a new strain with a relatively high mortality rate compared to the strains we think of as "common cold." Calling it that makes it sound like it's not at all a big deal. It's possible there is some overreaction in some quarters, but it's certainly not as mild as a "common cold."
Thanks for the link and voice of reason. FFS they will jump on anything.....................because Trump or in this case, a fairly supportive conservative that likes Trump. That's all it takes for some. Sad existence.
To get even more technical, the corona virus, like the flu, has been around and has many strains. The current strain happens to be more virulent and dangerous than other strains, hence the level of fear surrounding it.
Although I will admit to my own constant state of befuddlement regarding a vast array of topics, something about Rush Limbaugh's position on this topic is confusing to me. Stage IV lung cancer usually requires aggressive treatment which would include chemotherapy. If he is undergoing a traditional treatment program, a mild case of the sniffles could kill him. As a matter of fact, I thought it was odd that he attended the SOTU. I'm sure there were all kinds of germs floating around in that huge group of people. Odder still, was the fact that he chose not to wear a protective mask.
My point? Why would the man shrug off something that, if contracted, could kill him before he was even diagnosed with it? Oh, well. I'm sure he has nothing to worry about while under Dr. Trump's capable oncological care.