‘The Daily Show’ Asks ‘Is This How We Die?’ After Trump Announces Coronavirus Plans (Video)

Trump put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the effort to contain the virus

On Wednesday’s “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah took a long look at the burgeoning coronavirus issue and in a new segment pondered “Is This How We Die?”

First, Noah looked at the latest development, the announcement earlier in the day that Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to head up his task force to deal with the coronavirus.

“Yes, this is major news,” Noah said, holding back nervous laughter. “Vice President Mike Pence will be in charge of America’s efforts to contain the coronavirus. And I think this is great. ‘Cause Mike Pence has a lot of experience in this area. He’s been quarantining himself from women his whole life.”

But Noah noted that “some might be worried” because when Mike Pence was governor of Indiana, he refused to listen to the advice of public health advisers and instead based his HIV policy on his religious fundamentalist beliefs. The result: the worst HIV outbreak in the state’s history. (For those who forgot, what happened is that Pence slashed public health spending, shut down needle exchanges because he subscribed to the debunked claim that they encourage drug use, and otherwise ignored the growing opioid epidemic in Indiana.)

Even so, said Noah, “I’ll be honest: I still feel safer with him, than with Trump. Because Trump, if you saw the briefing, didn’t seem to know anything that we didn’t. He just gets his news online with us. He’s like ‘I saw a thing, it looks bad.”

Noah also noted how according to the Washington Post, Trump was primarily worried about the diseases effect on the economy and his reelection efforts when he was first briefed on the matter. Noah then rolled a clip from Trump’s Tuesday press conference, when while attempting to reassure Americans offered this tepid statement: “there’s a very good chance you’re not gonna die.”

“Ok. We’re definitely all gonna die. You know, Trump is great for jokes. But in times of crisis, Trump is the worst person to assure the nation,” Noah said, comparing Trump to a bad parent who can’t even reassure their kid there aren’t monsters under the bed.

Noah then took a look at the virus’ impact on other countries before concluding, if you take steps to prevent infection, “you’re probably not gonna die.” We’ll be cowering under a blanket if you need us.

Watch the clip above.

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