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The @ReliableSources newsletter is out. For this edition, I revisited what top personalities in right-wing media were saying about the coronavirus death toll back in the Spring. https://cnn.it/2RNBR15
Brian Kilmeade said 60,000 deaths showed "how good we are doing and how off the models were..." https://www.mediamatters.org/brian-kilmeade/brian-kilmeade-possibility-60000-american-deaths-coronavirus-thats-how-good-we-are
Rush Limbaugh: "It's now down to 60,000. What happened to 240,000? What happened to 100,000 to 200,000? What happened to 240,000?" https://news.iheart.com/featured/rush-limbaugh/content/2020-04-08-pn-rush-limbaugh-death-model-projection-drops-from-22-million-to-60000/
Bill O'Reilly: “The [death toll] projections that you just mentioned are down to 60,000, I don’t think it will be that high..." https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bill-oreilly-plays-down-coronavirus-death-toll-in-interview-with-sean-hannity-they-were-on-their-last-legs-anyway-2020-04-09
Mark Levin: "We've seen these numbers, these so-called models and the data over the last six to eight weeks. They have fluctuated wildly. Millions might die. Hundreds of thousands might die. Now, they're saying 60,000..." https://video.foxnews.com/v/6150669450001#sp=show-clips
Laura Ingraham: "They were off by a factor of 33 from 2.2 million projected COVID deaths at the top, which was terrifying to a little bit more than 60,000 deaths projected today..." https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-death-projections-are-down-because-social-distancing-which-fox
Dinesh D'Souza: "A nutcase virus denier who predicted ZERO deaths would be closer to the mark..." https://twitter.com/DineshDSouza/status/1250575779290910720?s=20
Martha MacCallum: "It is quite possible that you’re going to end up with numbers of fatalities in this Covid-19 tragedy of those that have been affected that will be south of the numbers in the 2018 flu season..." https://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-anchor-calls-out-incorrect-models-for-shutting-down-country-coronavirus-death-toll-could-be-lower-than-2018-flu-season/
Tucker Carlson: "Sixty thousand deaths -- that's a very big number. ... Yet, at the same time, it is far fewer than many expected. It is a much lower number...." https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-in-this-coronavirus-crisis-nothing-is-more-important-than-staying-connected-to-reality
Jim Hoft: "Like a Typical Flu!"
It's worth revisiting these remarks, given how many of these commentators are still misleading the public on the coronavirus today. Fox News, talk radio, and right-wing websites were brimming with commentary playing down the virus back in April — and they still are today.
