December 3, 2020, 2:54 pm
Not long after Donald Trump retweeted a post claiming that a report on a COVID-19 hospital unit forced to operate out of a parking garage was “fake” and “a scam,” CNN tracked down one of the unit’s doctors for an interview about the very real conditions in the garage. The now-deleted tweet from “NetworkinVegas.com” claimed that it must all be fake because a single photo didn’t catch any patients and “folded-up beds” could be seen in the background.
Advertisement
Hide
Advertisement
Hide
“No patients, folded up beds, wrapped up equipment that’s never been used!” the right-wing news outlet claimed. “They spent millions on this scam and never seen a single patient in this fake hospital!”
“Fake election results in Nevada, also!” Trump wrote in his quote tweet.
The original tweet was removed by Twitter for violating rules against spreading false information about COVID-19, though Trump’s quote tweet is still up.
Advertisement
Hide
Two days after the Las Vegas news outlet posted their false claim, CNN interviewed Dr. Jacob Keeperman, the man who first tweeted the photo out of the Nevada parking garage unit.
In the interview, Keeperman described the situation in the COVID unit as “tough,” saying that healthcare workers are “close to a breaking point.” He further explained that the photo was taken on November 12, when the unit was first being set up and the first patient had yet to arrive.
“Due to national HIPPA laws and human decency, I wouldn’t take pictures of a patient,” he explained.
Advertisement
Hide
As funny as the full story is, Keeperman expressed a list of negative feelings toward Trump for attacking his healthcare unit when what people should be upset about is the fact that he has to run a healthcare unit out of a parking garage.
“I was sad, I was disappointed, and I was disgusted,” he said after being asked how he felt about Trump’s tweet. “And it’s about time that all of our elected officials view COVID as a humanitarian crisis, view healthcare as a humanitarian issue, and recognize we need to look at each other as human beings.”
This simple yet powerful message from Keeperman has so far been ignored by Trump, who continues to tweet false information about unproven election fraud. The U.S. is now averaging more than 2,000 deaths per day from COVID-19 and is rapidly approaching 300,000 total deaths.
*First Published: December 3, 2020, 2:54 pm
0 Comments