As the official coronavirus death toll reached 100,000 on Wednesday, CNN hosts Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon both cherry-picked data to misleadingly suggest that the pandemic has hit the United States harder than any other country as the two used charts contrasting the U.S. only to countries that have had death rates on the low side.
Although the issue of per capita death rates was raised, neither anchor informed viewers that most developed countries in Europe have official per capita death rates significantly higher than the U.S. In fact, Western Europe as a region has a higher death rate than the U.S. even when other countries are added into the mix.
Baldwin began her commentary on CNN Newroom by citing a Columbia University study which argued that the death toll in the U.S. could have been cut substantially if social distancing had been order a week earlier, and then began introducing charts to illustrate how poorly the pandemic has allegedly been handled in the U.S.compared to other countries.
As the first two graphs she planned on using fail to show up on screen, she went ahead as the third graph showing the U.S. compared to just three other countries was displayed:
BROOKE BALDWIN: If you compare the United States death toll to other developed nations like these three -- South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand -- the U.S. death toll is so high compared to these other countries, you can barely see all the lines.
To be fair, the population in each of these countries is smaller than the U.S., but, at nearly 100,000 deaths, the U.S. has nearly 30 percent of the world's fatal cases even though we account for only four percent of the world's population.
She then switched to a report on the rise of COVID-19 in Brazil which admitted that the numbers in that country are likely not accurate because many people are not tested.
Later in the day on CNN Tonight, Lemon used another graphic which compared the per capita death rates in the U.S. to Germany, Japan, and South Korea, but excluded a major countries like the United Kingdom and France that have experienced substantially higher death rates than the U.S.:
DON LEMON: Take a look at this U.S. death toll compared to other countries since you mentioned that, okay? We have about 30 deaths per 100,000 people. Germany has seen about 10 deaths per 100,000. Japan and South Korea have seen even fewer people per capita. So, again, I mean, you were just talking about this with Hong Kong. How do you explain this, Doctor?
But, if one takes the five most populous countries in Europe and add the number of officially reported coronavirus deaths so far -- the United Kingdom (37,919), Italy (33,142), France (28,665), Spain (27,119) and Germany (8,470) -- the total number of COVID fatalities stands at 135,315 as of May 28.
These five countries have a total population of about 320 million -- about equivalent to the U.S. population of 330 million -- meaning their combined per capita death rate is 42.3 per 100,000 residents. By contrast, the rate in the U.S. stands at 30.7.
Additionally, if one adds together all the official COVID-19 deaths from Western European countries -- thereby excluding the former communist block countries that are reporting suspiciously low numbers of deaths -- the total number of coronavirus fatalities in Western Europe stands at about 162,000.
The combined population of Western Europe adds up to about 422,194,000, making the per capita death toll 38.4 per 100,000 residents.
Even though John Hopkins University's website documenting coronavirus statistics -- which is where both anchors got their data -- includes a table that shows a number of major countries with higher death rates than the U.S., this table was not utilized by the two CNN journalists.
It should also be noted that Southeast Asian countries like Taiwan and South Korea have succeeded in limiting the outbreak because of lessons learned from the SARS epidemic of 2003, which was not faced by the West.
Even though experts have warned that it can be tricky to compare officially confirmed deaths across countries because different countries report cases differently, liberal media outlets like CNN are too willing to take the officially reported numbers at face value and omit context if it makes the U.S. government's handling of the crisis look bad by comparison.
Below is a transcript of Baldwin's commentary from the Wednesday, May 27, CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:
BROOKE BALDWIN: As the United States approaches the grim milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths, it's important just to put that number into context -- 100,000, that is a small city in America.wiped out. And we should point out this did not have to happen. A Columbia University study showed, had the U.S. taken action sooner and encouraged people to stay home, put social distancing guidelines in place earlier just by one week -- one week -- more than half the number of deaths and infections could possibly been prevented.
Take a look at the COVID deaths in other countries across the globe. This graphic shows six countries with the highest death tolls around the world. The United States -- I'm guessing we don't have it, so let's just pass on by and just say that this did not have to happen.
Here's another perspective -- if you compare the United States death toll to other developed nations like these three -- South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand -- the U.S. death toll is so high compared to these other countries, you can barely see all the lines.
To be fair, the population in each of these countries is smaller than the U.S., but, at nearly 100,000 deaths, the U.S. has nearly 30 percent of the world's fatal cases even though we account for only four percent of the world's population.
