"Trump ruined our economy and all for naught!" "Trump and his capitalism put millions out of work for nothing!"

If you haven't already heard this from the "mainstream media" (AKA "fake news"), you soon will. Fake news media, doing the bidding of their leftist and Democrat masters, have been trying to destroy Donald Trump with hoaxes since he announced his candidacy, or maybe ever since Trump first questioned Barack Obama's claim of being born in the U.S. The fake news first claimed that President Trump overreacted to COVID-19, then Trump was belittling COVID-19 and ignoring the experts, then Trump didn't act fast enough, and soon the fake news media will come full circle to proclaim that Trump hyped it all up and shut down the U.S. economy for nothing. For once, will the fake news media report something real? Will this be a scandal with some weight of truth, eating into the base that never bought the prior hoaxes?

As an expert in computer modeling and simulation, with some familiarity in epidemiology, I can assure you that the computer models upon which Trump has based his policies are absolute bunk. The real-world data from Wuhan (however much you want to believe it) and the Diamond Princess and other countries and cruise ships suggest that COVID-19 kills more of the people it infects (0.5% vs. 0.1%) but infects far fewer people than influenza (3% vs. 15%). There might have been 50,000 deaths in the U.S. if we had done absolutely nothing. The fake news media will have plenty of experts to back that up, and they will be reinforced with the final numbers, which might not even top 20,000, including the exaggerations.

Even Fauci seems not to believe the model he brought to Trump. The model says that with aggressive social distancing, we can expect 100,000 to 240,000 deaths. When pressed on that number, Fauci backed it down, suggesting that if we follow the social distancing guidelines and stay sheltered at home, we might beat the model. This implicitly rejects the model. If you believe the model, then the answer is "yes, 100,000, if we stick to social distancing and get lucky." Without any faith in the model, Fauci still pushed it.

This is going to be ugly. If you thought anthropogenic global warming was bad with all of its scientific uncertainty, you haven't seen anything yet. "Trump saved millions!" "No! He saved only a few thousand!" The fake news media, controlling around 90% of all media, will win that.

Trump didn't shut down the U.S., regardless of the number saved. The CDC's social distancing recommendations were rather minor. Restaurants could stay open, but they might have reduced their seating capacity after spacing out the tables. Not too bad for Monday through Thursday, but it might bite into the busy weekends. Businesses could stay open, but they might have rearranged cubicles and encouraged better handwashing and sanitation. If you think about daily life, people generally stay more than six feet away from others. The only exceptions might be when in elevators and on public transportation. Except for foreign travel, Trump didn't shut down anything.

Where did this economic halt come from? It started in states and cities with Democratic elected officials. Perhaps they were influenced by the fake news media during "Trump is ignoring the crisis" and overreacted themselves, or perhaps they wanted to show up Trump by taking action. Either way, they used their favorite tool, the power of government, without any regard as to what it might do to their people. It should be obvious from their focus on Trump, but Democrats care only about power, and so they focus on those in power. Think about their accomplishments these last three years. Lying about Trump, investigating Trump, impeaching Trump, saying nasty things about Trump, obstructing Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, right into the insane asylum.

I once heard Congressman Krishnamoorthi solidly pin the tail on the donkey, lamenting the lack of an immigration bill because Pelosi and Schumer couldn't let Trump have an accomplishment. Two minutes later, the brain worm took over, and Krishnamoorthi monotonically proclaimed that we had no immigration bill because Trump doesn't care about people. It is a statement frequently repeated by the fake news media, but Trump's actions during COVID-19 have been due to the exact opposite: he cares too much. Trump is trying to do what he can, using the limited powers of the presidency, to address a plague that he has been told will kill 1 of every 150 people.

What did Democrat leaders do? They turned a relief bill into a pork barrel with a sprinkling of relief and are once again investigating Trump. They held press conferences to complain about Trump, often without cause. While New York's Governor Cuomo sounds bad, Illinois's Governor J.B. "Pricker" Pritzker sounds like a petulant child. Meanwhile, Lori "the Tenderfoot" Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, called an emergency press conference to inform us that COVID-19 killed a police officer, the first time Lightfoot ever cared about a police officer dying. She blamed the people walking Chicago's deserted streets for the death, almost vowing to arrest people who venture out of their homes. Two minutes later, after a reporter's question, she stated that she wants people getting out of their homes for exercise (or arrest?). Mayor Bill "deBozio" de Blasio threatened to permanently close churches. Do these people care about you?

And the biggest hoax of all: there might not be as much harm to our economy as we expect. Many companies are still operating with work-from-home, although at diminished capacity. We might not see even half a month's loss of GDP, and our economy will come roaring back as we correct the China mistake. The waitstaff will return to work or find new jobs. It wasn't Trump who infected and panicked the world or put the waitstaff out of their jobs, but it was Trump who tried to fix it, as Democrat leaders maximized pain for political gain.