Trump news - live: President baselessly accuses CDC of exaggerating number of Covid deaths as toll hits 350k

Chantal Da Silva
President Donald Trump in Florida on New Year’s Eve (AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump in Florida on New Year’s Eve (AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump baselessly accused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of exaggerating the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and resulting deaths in the US as the country’s death toll surpassed 350,000.

In a tweet on Sunday morning, the president said the number of cases and deaths of what he branded “the China Virus” was “far exaggerated in the United States because of [the CDC’s] ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries".

The president did not provide any evidence for his claim, but asserted that other countries were “purposely” reporting “very inaccurately and low”.

Meanwhile, in the US, he suggested, the approach has been: “When in doubt, call it Covid”.

There is no evidence to suggest that the current tally of coronavirus case numbers and resulting death toll have been exaggerated.

On Sunday, the death toll in the US passed 350,000 as experts continued to sound the alarm that another surge was expected following gatherings over the holidays.

Trump also made unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Georgia in a separate string of tweets.

His comments came as two key Georgia runoff elections that could determine the fate of Joe Biden's legislative agenda are set to take place on Tuesday.

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