The sight of Donald Trump fumbling with charts during his interview on HBO this Monday has provided much ammunition for his enemies. The words ‘train wreck’ and ‘toe-curling’ have been used multiple times to describe how the President insisted that the US has one of the lowest death rates from Covid-19, while interviewer Jonathan Swan quoted figures suggesting the US has one of the worst rates.
True, Trump looked ill-prepared, but was he fibbing, as many of his critics have implied?
America cannot claim to have a lower death rate than comparable western countries – but neither does it come out especially badly
The truth lies somewhere between what Trump and Swan were each trying to assert. America cannot claim to have a death rate that is lower than other comparable western countries – but neither, on a reasoned analysis, does it come out especially badly.
First, the particular set of figures with which the President was fumbling.
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