Trump Death Clock Circles White House, Trump International Hotel During Fourth of July Celebrations
Public Citizen-Sponsored Death Clock Highlights Trump’s Inaction Towards Pandemic That Led to 77,000-Plus Avoidable Coronavirus Deaths
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump Death Clock is circling through Washington, D.C., today amid July Fourth celebrations, reminding Americans that President Donald Trump’s reckless and delayed response to the coronavirus pandemic caused more than 77,000 unnecessary deaths.
The Death Clock, co-sponsored by Public Citizen and Trump Death Clock LLC, appears on a billboard-truck and displays the real-time death toll resulting from the president’s inaction. The truck started circling the White House, Trump International Hotel, and Black Lives Matter Plaza at 2 p.m. EDT and will continue until 10 p.m. EDT as the names of coronavirus victims are read over a loudspeaker.
The Trump Death Clock, which appeared originally as a billboard in Times Square, has appeared in cities across the U.S., most recently in Tulsa, Oklahoma during Trump’s June 20 rally, which risked the health and safety of those who attended.
“Trump’s cruelty, casual indifference to the loss of human life and utter incompetence have combined to kill tens of thousands of Americans,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “From the failure to act early to stop the pandemic to the refusal to implement mitigation guidelines and make personal protective equipment widely available, from the stunning dismissal of the importance of mask-wearing to his failure to take action to ensure a vaccine is available as soon as possible to everyone on the planet, Trump has worsened – and continues to worsen – the pandemic. It’s easy to be a unifier in times of crisis. Instead Trump has exacerbated social divisions, not only weakening the country, but recklessly endangering lives.”
Despite being advised as early as January that urgent measures were needed to stop the spread of the pandemic, Trump declined to act until mid-March. Had mitigation efforts been taken even one week earlier, experts estimate 60% of the overall coronavirus death total (roughly 77,000) would have been prevented. Since then, Trump has gone further, continuing to undermine his own public health experts and the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pressuring states to reopen even as U.S. infections have climbed to over 2.5 million.
Pictures of the Death Clock in action today are available here and are available for free use with credit to the photographer, Liz Gorman.