The leading cause of death:

[tblue37]

Link to tweet

/photo/1

[Blue Owl]

1. MAGATS: "How soon can I vote for him?"

[PJMcK]

2. Another example of Kushner's incompetence

They’re all idiots.

[BigmanPigman]

3. Lindsey Graham also encouraged him to

be interviewed by Woodward.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Not really.

About 7500 people died each day in this country before Covid-19. Even at the peak, not that many people were dying every day from this virus.

I know, it seems as if I am underplaying the seriousness of this. But I'm not. I want everyone to keep this in perspective. Yes, it is serious. Yes, people are dying who didn't need to die. But this virus is absolutely not the leading cause of death in this country. And while right now we have the largest number of people who have died from this, keep in mind we are the third most populous country in the world, after China and India. Plus, we don't have the largest number of deaths per million in the world. Oh, and just give India a little time. That country will make the rest of us look like amateurs when all this is over.

[tblue37]

5. I believe it's intended as hyperbole. nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. I suppose.

But as bad as this virus is, the degree of exaggeration bothers me. I tend to deal in very concrete facts and numbers. This one is neither.

[LisaL]

7. Covid is now the third leading cause of death in the US.

Those are the concrete facts and numbers. That's not bad?
"COVID is now the No. 3 cause of death in the U.S. -- ahead of accidents, injuries, lung disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and many, many other causes," Frieden said."
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200818/covid-the-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-us

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. But it's still only about 12% of all deaths.

People die from an amazing range of things.

I think for a lot of people, see or hear that it's the third leading cause of death, makes them think a third of all deaths are caused by it. Which absolutely isn't the case.

Here's an interesting link which looks at total daily deaths and compares them with daily deaths from influenza, daily deaths from Covid-19 overall, and the number of Covid-19 deaths on Sept 6.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109281/covid-19-daily-deaths-compared-to-all-causes/

[lagomorph777]

9. Hold on a sec.

According to https://www.healthline.com/health/leading-causes-of-death#heart-disease, heart disease (pre-COVID) was at 635,260 annual US deaths, or 1740 per day. It isn't much of a stretch, knowing how under-tested and under-reported COVID is, especially in red states, to posit that COVID alone may exceed that number.

Then you can factor in other Trump-related causes of death, such as suicide, white supremacist violence, inadequate medical insurance, income inequality, and Russian bounties to kill our troops.

I don't think the meme is completely wrong.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. The increase in things like suicide and so on that you noted,

still aren't remotely close to an additional five or six thousand deaths per day. Trump is by no means the sole cause of inadequate medical insurance and income equality. He's helped make those greater, but they've been baked into our country for a very long time.

It's not completely wrong, but it's still misleading.

[lagomorph777]

11. In what sense do you need 6,000 deaths to exceed 1,740 deaths?

1,741 deaths would qualify.

I don't think the OP is claiming that Trump is the only cause of death, or that he is responsible for more deaths than all other causes combined. It says "leading" not "majority."

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. About 7500 people died every day in this country from all causes prior to Covid -19.

And if it's third, it's not the leading cause of death. Third is not first. If it said A leading cause of death, I'd be fine.

And it's still only 12% or so of all deaths. So nearly 90% of everyone dying is dying from other causes.

And on the bright side, daily deaths appear to be dropping right now in this country. Although that could always change very quickly.