Trump Says His COVID-19 Record Would Be Better If ‘You Take The Blue States Out’

At a White House news conference Wednesday, President Donald Trump slapped down “blue states – pointing out that the coronavirus caused the economic downturn, even arguing that eliminating them from U.S. death tolls would give the country “better” totals.

Trump decided to zero-in on the nationwide death toll. “If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at. We’re really at a very low level, but some of the states — they were blue states, and blue-state management,” the president said.

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn, Trump started off arguing that the U.S. was handling the virus well compared to other nations, although the “blue states had tremendous death rates.”

“If you take the blue states out,” he continued, “we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at. We’re really at a very low level but some of the states — they were blue states and blue-state management.”

New York, California, and New Jersey – all widely considered blue states in presidential elections – were among the states with the highest number of deaths from coronavirus. But they are also the states with the largest populations in the country, and they were the first to experience and tackle significant outbreaks of the disease. Currently, many “red states,” like Florida, Arizona and Texas, are leading the nation with highest infection and death rates.