# Trump says the US leading the world in coronavirus cases is 'a badge of honor' **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 19, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149 "2020-05-19T22:08:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/1 "2020-05-19T22:08:56Z")
You just can’t make this shit up: > [@](#): > > “When we have a lot of cases, I don’t look at that as a bad thing, I look at that as, in a certain respect, as being a good thing,” Trump told reporters. “Because it means our testing is much better.” > > He added, “I view it as a badge of honor, really, it’s a badge of honor.” > > SOURCE: [Trump Calls High US Coronavirus Infections 'a Badge of Honor'](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-calls-high-us-coronavirus-infections-a-badge-of-honor-2020-5) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/2 "2020-05-19T22:18:50Z")
Maybe that’s all he ever wanted. We might have avoided the turmoil of the last four years if Obama had just handled Trump the same way Nixon handled Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/3 "2020-05-19T22:20:36Z")
Leading the world in coronavirus deaths is a badge of honor like drinking the Kool-Aid at Jonestown was a badge of honor. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/4 "2020-05-19T23:33:29Z")
_‘Many of you will die, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay and wear on my chest as a Noble badge of honor. Best Presidenting ever! #ObamaGate’_ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/5 "2020-05-19T23:58:21Z")
I think this is best for the Pit. Colibri QZ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/6 "2020-05-20T00:00:12Z")
OK, I’m actually going to try to (somewhat) defend Trump on this one. I think his intended point is, some nations are able to put up low official numbers simply because they haven’t done enough testing to catch the true toll. Whereas the more you actually test, the more your honest true case numbers will spike, ugly as they appear. So, “The fact that we have such a high toll means that we’re honest enough to test and publish the figures, rather than refuse to test and thus produce artificially skewed low stats.” That being said, he and his administration utterly, utterly screwed up the pandemic response from Day One, so he has to point the finger at himself for the American virus crisis being so bad to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/7 "2020-05-20T00:07:05Z")
When you’re a fucking sociopath like Trump, “honor” doesn’t mean what it means to sane people. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/8 "2020-05-20T01:31:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I think this is best for the Pit. > > Colibri > QZ Moderator You’re probably right but now I wish I had put a little more _rabble rabble rabble_ in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/9 "2020-05-20T02:10:49Z")
We’re number one! We’re number one! We’re number one! > [@Velocity](#): > > OK, I’m actually going to try to (somewhat) defend Trump on this one. I think his intended point is, some nations are able to put up low official numbers simply because they haven’t done enough testing to catch the true toll. Whereas the more you actually test, the more your honest true case numbers will spike, ugly as they appear. So, “The fact that we have such a high toll means that we’re honest enough to test and publish the figures, rather than refuse to test and thus produce artificially skewed low stats.” > > That being said, he and his administration utterly, utterly screwed up the pandemic response from Day One, so he has to point the finger at himself for the American virus crisis being so bad to begin with. One day my brother hung out with a friend and I and pushed a shopping cart into a pond. We made him get it out and bring it back to the store. He kept telling old people that he did a good deed, fishing it out of the pond. He wouldn’t listen when we said it wasn’t a good deed when he caused the problem himself. He was 13, though. Not 73. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/10 "2020-05-20T02:15:13Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > When you’re a fucking sociopath like Trump, “honor” doesn’t mean what it means to sane people. BINGO! We have the bigliest numbers, so that means we’re the best - doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/11 "2020-05-20T02:53:51Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > OK, I’m actually going to try to (somewhat) defend Trump on this one. I think his intended point is, some nations are able to put up low official numbers simply because they haven’t done enough testing to catch the true toll. Whereas the more you actually test, the more your honest true case numbers will spike, ugly as they appear. So, “The fact that we have such a high toll means that we’re honest enough to test and publish the figures, rather than refuse to test and thus produce artificially skewed low stats.” Except that, in a surprising twist, Trump is lying. The United States is not leading the world in testing. We’re not even in the top ten. Which is an improvement. We used to not even be in the top fifty. Because Trump screwed up test procurement just like he screwed up everything else. Here’s the figures for the number of tests performed per million people ([cite](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104645/covid19-testing-rate-select-countries-worldwide/)): Spain 64,977 Portugal 64,938 Belgium 61,277 Qatar 57,801 Russia 50,383 Italy 50,294 Switzerland 40,487 Belarus 39,692 United Kingdom 39,542 Germany 37,584 United States 37,188 Here’s the figures for the number of tests performed compared to the number of confirmed cases found ([cite](https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-testing)): New Zealand 203.5 Taiwan 158.3 Australia 153.8 South Korea 69.1 Czech Republic 42.9 Estonia 40.3 Tunisia 40.2 Iceland 31.7 South Africa 30.6 India 23.9 Germany 18.6 Serbia 17.8 Canada 17.1 Philippines 15.8 Japan 15.6 Italy 13.7 Argentina 13.6 Singapore 8.3 Indonesia 8.2 United States 8.0 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/12 "2020-05-20T03:03:47Z")
Are we talking about the same Trump here who just recently said that the way to keep our numbers down is by NOT testing so much? Or was that the other Trump who said that? ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/13 "2020-05-20T03:15:07Z")
We don’t need no Stinkin’ Badges… ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/14 "2020-05-20T03:57:47Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Are we talking about the same Trump here who just recently said that the way to keep our numbers down is by NOT testing so much? Or was that the other Trump who said that? Isn’t that consistent with what he said here? I mean, it’s bullshit, but it seems like in this respect the two statements are internally consistent. More testing makes us look bad, less testing would makes us look good. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/15 "2020-05-20T05:01:00Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Are we talking about the same Trump here who just recently said that the way to keep our numbers down is by NOT testing so much? Or was that the other Trump who said that? Maybe the Navy doctors who declared he’s in great health. Dollars to donuts they didn’t actually administer any tests because he would not coöperate with testing. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/16 "2020-05-20T08:09:24Z")
Is it also a “badge of honor” that we have the greatest number of gun deaths in the world? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/17 "2020-05-20T09:49:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Except that, in a surprising twist, Trump is lying. The United States is not leading the world in testing. We’re not even in the top ten. > … Holy shit, he lied about this?? Maybe we should have a thread about this in P&E like the one about Biden’s grades! ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/18 "2020-05-20T15:07:14Z")
Remember when Trump argued against testing because it would make our numbers look bad? He used a similar argument against letting the Diamond Princess cruise ship dock in the U.S.: we’d have to count the cases against U.S. stats, which would make the country look worse. In other words, the pandemic is just an accounting problem. What’s important is not how many people get sick and die, but who gets charged for it. This is similar to his approach to business, in which it doesn’t matter who pays his debts as long as it’s not him. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/19 "2020-05-20T16:53:01Z")
Back in the day, when I had friends in[sup]\*[/sup] the mental health industry, some of this buffoonery would lead to serious chats about “72-hour holds.” Now we put the guy in the White House instead. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149/20 "2020-05-20T17:15:26Z")
We haven’t yet seen the numbers for the cost per day per hospital bed for Covid-19 patients. We are going to kick worldwide ass, no doubt. So Proud to be American, Fuck Yeah! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-the-us-leading-the-world-in-coronavirus-cases-is-a-badge-of-honor/854149.md?page=2)