As the coronavirus continues to make its way across the globe, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves Monday to claim that the fear of the virus is being overblown. Limbaugh told his listeners that the coronavirus is “the common cold folks,” and “is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump.”
Medical ethicist Art Caplan said the assertion is nonsense during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday. He said that while the coronavirus shares some similarities to the common cold it is much more fatal than a cold, and should be taken more seriously.
President Donald Trump has also downplayed the dangers of the coronavirus and Caplan criticized Trump’s response to the spread of the virus.
“I don’t think it’s being weaponized to bring down Donald Trump,” Caplan said. “I’ll flip it around and say to Rush: A president who doesn’t believe in science. A president who’s been trimming the centers for disease control. A president who’s chopped proposed cutbacks to the NIH and the CDC in his budget right now in the middle of the epidemic. Is that the right person to lead us through the epidemic?”
Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center.
