The claim: COVID-19 deaths in US topped 1 million under Trump
A Sept. 10 Threads post ( direct link , archive link ) by the actor and comedian D.L. Hughley shares the purported scale of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. under former President Donald Trump.
"FYI! A million more Americans died during Trumps handling of Covid, than died during Bidens handling of Afghanistan! (sic)" the post reads.
The post was liked more than 2,000 times in six days.
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Our rating: False
The post overstates the number of COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. during Trump's presidency. At the time Trump left office in January 2021, the death toll had surpassed 400,000, according to multiple health organizations. The U.S. marked 1 million COVID-19 deaths in May 2022.
Biden marked 1 million COVID-19 deaths in May 2022
Thirteen U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bombing attack during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Trump criticized President Joe Biden’s handling of the evacuation during a high-profile visit to Arlington National Cemetery and again during his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
These casualties represent the total U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan recorded during Biden's presidency, according to the Defense Department's Defense Casualty Analysis System .
Hughley, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in support of Harris’ presidential nomination, appears to juxtapose the number of casualties in Afghanistan under Biden with the toll of Americans who died as a result of COVID-19 during Trump's presidency.
But the Threads post overcounts the number of COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. under Trump. At the time Trump left office in January 2021, the COVID-19 death toll was significantly under 1 million, according to multiple health organizations.
World Health Organization data shows COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. totaled about 407,000 by Jan. 17, 2021, three days before Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported about 444,000 U.S. deaths by Jan. 16, 2021, according to the agency's COVID Data Tracker .
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported about 401,000 deaths on Jan. 16, 2021.
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COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. topped 1 million in May 2022, multiple reliable news organizations reported at the time. Biden acknowledged this mark in a May 12, 2022, statement, saying, "Today, we mark a tragic milestone: one million American lives lost to COVID-19."
Researchers contend COVID-19 death tallies may undercount the true scale of the pandemic's death toll in the U.S. This was the focus of a study published in June 2023 in Science Advances that estimated all-cause excess mortality in the U.S. during the first two years of the pandemic.
But even here, the number of estimated excess deaths didn't top 1 million during Trump's presidency. From March 2020 to February 2021, the study estimated 634,830 excess deaths occurred. From March 2021 to February 2022, it estimated 544,194 excess deaths occurred.
A representative for Hughley, Yvette Shearer, provided a May 2022 NBC News report about the U.S. reaching 1 million COVID-19 deaths as the source for the claim in the post.
The article covers territory including Trump's downplaying of the virus while in office and frustration among some in the medical community with people deciding to forgo vaccination. But the article does not pin 1 million COVID-19 deaths solely on the Trump administration's response to the virus, nor does it say 1 million Americans died as a result of COVID-19 during Trump's term in office.
While COVID-19 deaths didn't reach 1 million under Trump's administration, doctors and public health experts continue to grapple with misinformation about the disease and COVID-19 vaccines, which the CDC says are effective at protecting against serious illness and death .
Eric Topol , director of Scripps Translational Research Institute, told USA TODAY the politicization of COVID-19 vaccines promoted by Trump and Republicans was part of the reason millions of Americans never received a vaccine.
Topol also noted that comparing different portions of the pandemic can't be done in a "meaningful" way since vaccines were not widely available during Trump's presidency and more infectious variants emerged after Trump left office.
Our fact-check sources:
- Eric Topol , Sept. 16, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed Sept. 13, Trends in United States COVID-19 Deaths, Emergency Department (ED) Visits, and Test Positivity by Geographic Area
- Johns Hopkins University, accessed Sept. 13, Coronavirus Resource Center
- Johns Hopkins University, May 17, 2022, U.S. officially surpasses one million COVID-19 deaths
- World Health Organization, accessed Sept. 16, WHO COVID-19 dashboard data
- National Center for Health Statistics, December 2021, Mortality in the United States, 2020
- Defense Casualty Analysis System, accessed Sept. 13, U.S. Military Casualties – Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) Casualty Summary by Month and Service
- White House, May 12, 20222, Statement from President Joe Biden Marking One Million American Lives Lost to COVID-19
- USA TODAY, May 15, 2022, ‘A terrible price’: As US mourns 1 million COVID-19 deaths, preventable losses among unvaccinated a major regret
- Science Advances, June 23, 2023, Monthly excess mortality across counties in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020 to February 2022
- Boston University School of Public Health, Jan. 25, 2023, COVID-19 Deaths in the US Continue to Be Undercounted, Research Shows, Despite Claims of ‘Overcounts’
- Our World in Data, accessed Sept. 16, Excess mortality: Cumulative deaths from all causes compared to projection based on previous years
- The Conversation, Jan. 25, 2023, COVID-19 deaths in the US continue to be undercounted, research shows, despite claims of ‘overcounts’
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Post overstates COVID-19 deaths in US under Trump | Fact check