AP FACT CHECK: In time of trauma, Trumps congratulates self

[Judi Lynn]

By CALVIN WOODWARD and HOPE YEN
an hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump prefaced the revival of his campaign rallies with days of self-congratulation, a familiar pattern that has not been disturbed by the traumas of this time.

He devoted attention to the Obama administration, trashing it even while claiming some of its achievements as his own. Perhaps most brazenly, he claimed credit for reducing suicides by veterans and offering them same-day emergency mental health counseling at Department of Veterans Affairs centers, achievements he inherited and did not build on.

Trump has been preparing for his Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally on Saturday night, which shaped up to be the first indoor event of such a massive scale since the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Some public health officials implored him to move it outside or postpone it, fearing the event would spread sickness and death. Large crowds were expected both inside and outside.

A look at claims and the reality from the past week:

VIRUS THREAT

TRUMP: “Biden got failing grades and polls on his clueless handling of the Swine Flu H1N1. It was a total disaster, they had no idea what they were doing.” — tweet Thursday.

THE FACTS: This is a distorted history of a pandemic in 2009 that killed far fewer people in the United States than the coronavirus is killing now. For starters, Joe Biden, as vice president, wasn’t running the federal response. Federal public health officials were not at all flying blind when the H1N1 pandemic, also known as swine flu, came to the U.S.

More:
https://apnews.com/203dcf15c580a0c6a5026b68c51b6b2f

[empedocles]

1. trump is trump is trump