Wikipedia, Skeptical Inquirer, and AI on Robert A. Baker plagiarism accusations

 The Wikipedia entry for University of Kentucky psychologist and skeptic Robert A. Baker recently (December 2023) restored a section on plagiarism accusations against him, which originated in a 1994 letter to the editor of Skeptical Inquirer from Jody Hey and were compounded by further accusations by Terence Hines and by me the same year. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia entry currently leaves the debate the same way the Skeptical Inquirer did in 1995, giving Baker the final word with a transparently false explanation.  Here's how the Wikipedia entry currently presents the issue:

Readers of Skeptical Inquirer, noticed in 1994 similarities between one of Baker's articles and William Grey's article Philosophy and the Paranormal, Part 2. After discovering this, Baker wrote to Grey apologizing for "forgetting both the direct quotation and the reference citation", he claims that it was an oversight. Grey publicly accepted Baker's apology in the Skeptical Inquirer.^[20] In the following year, author Terence Hines accused Baker of unattributed quotations from an article by Melvin Harris and from his own book Pseudoscience and the Paranormal.^[21] Baker responded in Skeptical Inquirer. stating that he used Melvin Harris' book Investigating the Unexplained as a source, rather than the article or Hines' book, and that he gave Harris credit but forgot the quotation marks.^[22]

This description is faulty in that it omits most of the evidence and is inconsistent with it. The most detailed account can be found in my 1994 report given to leaders at the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP, now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry or CSI) and subsequently published in 1995 to Usenet and its update. I've also assembled a chronology of events that led to my involvement and included legal threats from Baker, which I've now updated to include a letter from Paul Kurtz in his role as head of Prometheus Books noting that Baker's book Hidden Memories had been withdrawn from publication. While I've not exhaustively searched Baker's work, I found fairly consistent plagiarism in his books for Prometheus and his book reviews for Skeptical Inquirer throughout his career as a skeptic.

The rest of this post will first show that Baker's claim to have used Harris as a source, but not Hines, is false--there is clear evidence that Baker plagiarized Hines, whose book he did not cite (and his text matches Harris's article rather than the book where they differ). Second, it will show the heaviest section of plagiarism I identified in another Baker book, They Call It Hypnosis (1990, Prometheus Books). Finally, it will show that Baker's institution defined research misconduct in a way that includes what he did, and that Baker's own writing shows that he understood this to be misconduct.

The exchange between Hines and Baker in the pages of the July/August 1995 Skeptical Inquirer (pp. 44-46) focuses on a passage on p. 157 in chapter 4 of Baker's book, Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within (1992, Prometheus Books) and its resemblance to a passage on p. 74 in Hines' book, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (1988, Prometheus Books) where he quotes from p. 23 of an article by Melvin Harris, "Are 'Past-Life' Regressions Evidence of Reincarnation?", Free Inquiry, Fall 1986, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 18-23 (quotation marks as given in Hines):

"...every single piece of information given by Jane Evans can be traced to de Wohl's fictional account. She uses his fictional sequences in exactly the same order and even speaks of his fictional characters, such as Curio and Valerius, as if they had been real."

Hines notes that Baker uses nearly the same words in the same sequence, without quotation marks or references, on p. 157 of Hidden Memories:

Every single piece of information given by Mrs. Evans could be traced to De Wohl's book, and Mrs. Evans used his fictional sequences in exactly the same order as he had, and even spoke of De Wohl's fictional characters, Curio and Valerius, as if they had been real.

Here is how Harris makes the same statement on p. 162 of his book, Investigating the Unexplained (1986, Prometheus Books), which Baker claims is his source (italics in original):

In the same way every single piece of information given out by Jane Evans can be traced to De Wohl's fictional account. She uses his fictional sequences in exactly the same order and even speaks of his fictional characters--such as Curio and Valerius--as if they were real people.

Harris's article (p. 23):

In the same way, every single piece of information given by Jane Evans can be traced to De Wohl's fictional account. She uses his fictional sequences in exactly the same order and even speaks of his fictional characters, such as Curio and Valerius, as if they were real people. 

Baker's wording omits the "out" in the first sentence, uses commas instead of hyphens, and doesn't use the italicization, all matching the article rather than the book.

Baker cites neither Harris nor Hines in the notes for chapter 4 of his book. He does mention Melvin Harris twice on the page with no citation and no attributed quotations, including once in the same paragraph as the above quotations. Baker's discussion of other cases earlier in the chapter differs from Hines and Harris--all three discuss Bridey Murphy, but Baker's case is more extensive than Harris or Hines. I suspect his sources may be identifiable from the other references he gives at the end of the book for the chapter.

But when it comes to Baker's discussion of Jane Evans, he engaged in more plagiarism of Hines, as can be seen by comparing his text to Hines and to Harris's article and book. Harris discusses the case extensively on pp. 155-163 of his book, while Hines' and Baker's discussions are each less than two pages long.

Here is what Baker writes (pp. 156-157), with exact word matches with Hines highlighted in yellow, and with Harris' article in orange (and I found no matches to Harris's book which did not also match the article):

The second, and by far the most [Harris: much more] impressive, was the case of a Welsh housewife named Jane Evans, who described six past lives that were remarkable for the tremendous amount of accurate historical detail [Harris: amount of detail] they contained. In one of the lives she was a maid in the house of a wealthy [Baker, p. 157:] and powerful merchant in fifteenth-century France. Mrs. Evans described accurately the house and all of its furnishings in great detail, as well as the members of the merchant's family. She made one very significant error in her account, however. She said the merchant was unmarried [Hines: not married] and had no children. In truth he was married and had five children, circumstances no maid would be unaware of. The same failure to mention wife and children turned up in a novel that had been written about the merchant, titled The Moneyman by Thomas B. Costain (1948). According to Melvin Harris, who investigated the case, the evidence is overwhelming that this book was the source of all of Mrs. Evan's [sic; Hines: basis for Evans's] "memories" of her life in fifteenth-century France.

   In another life that she reported, Mrs. Evans was a woman named Livonia, who lived during the Roman occupation of Britain. Her account [Hines: knowledge] of the historical facts of this [Hines: that] period was so accurate that authorities [Harris: authority] on Roman Britain were astounded. Again, however, there were a few factual errors. Her knowledge [Hines: information] of the period was traced to the 1947 best-selling novel The Living Wood by Louis De Wohl. Every single piece of information given by Mrs. Evans could be traced to De Wohl's book, and Mrs. Evans used [Hines, Harris: she uses] his fictional sequences in exactly the same order as he had, and even spoke [Hines, Harris: speaks] of De Wohl's [Hines, Harris: his] fictional characters, Curio and Valerius, as if they had been [Hines, Harris: were] real. The historical errors in Mrs. Evan's [sic] account were also found in the book. As Harris clearly demonstrated, Mrs. Evans had [Harris: had] the ability to store vivid stories in her subconscious and then creatively combine and edit them to the point that [Harris: where] she herself became [Harris: becomes] a [Harris: one of the] character in the story [Harris: involved].

This last sentence is another in which Baker follows Harris's article more closely than his book, which suggests Baker used the article in addition to Hines (who doesn't quote this sentence).  Harris's book (p. 161) says "... Jane Evans has the ability to subconsciously store vivid accounts and combine and edit these creatively--to the point where she becomes one of the characters involved." The article (p. 22) says "...Jane Evans has the ability to store vivid tories in her subconscious and creatively combine and edit them to the point where she becomes one of the characters involved."

Overall, Baker follows Hines more closely than Harris, and when there are discrepancies between Harris's article and book, Baker follows the article.  While Harris names the maid (Alison), neither Hines nor Baker do. In structure, after introducing the maid, Hines and Baker mention Evans' description of the house and furnishings, but Harris only mentions that after describing Evans' "inside-knowledge of the intrigues surrounding the King's mistress, Agnes Sorel," which Hines and Baker omit. The sentences from Hines and Baker that immediately follow the house and furnishings differ slightly in wording but are strikingly similar:

Hines (p. 73): "Evans' account of her life in Coeur's house contains one most puzzling, and significant error. She says he was not married and had no children. But he was married and had five children--not the sort of thing the maid would be likely to overlook."

Baker (p. 157): "She made one very significant error in her acccount, however. She said the merchant was unmarried and had no children. In truth he was married and had five children, circumstances no maid would be unaware of."

Harris, by contrast, is quite different (p. 22): "In particular, the novel very neatly answers an important question raised by Iverson and other commentators: Why doesn't Alison know that her master is married? As Iverson puts it: 'How is it that this girl can know Coeur had an Egyption bodyslave and not be aware that he was married with five children?--a published fact in every historical account of Coeur's life?...If the explanation for the entire regression is a reading of history books in the twentieth century, then I cannot explain how Bloxham's subject would not know of the marriage.'"

For completeness, here's Harris's book, which differs very slightly (p. 158): "In particular, the novel very neatly answers an important question raised by Iverson and other commentators--a question prompted by the curious fact that Alison does not know that her master is married! As Iverson puts it: 'How is it that this girl can know Coeur had an Egyptian bodyslave and not be aware that he was married with five children?--a fact published in every historical account of Coeur's life? ... If the explanation for the entire regression is a reading of history books in the twentieth century, then I cannot explain how Bloxham's subject would not know of the marriage.'"

In short, Baker plagiarized Hines and Harris, and his explanation is not consistent with the facts, with the truth revealed in much the same way as the truth was revealed about Evans' stories being sourced from fiction.

Next, we turn to Baker's They Call It Hypnosis, where Baker repeatedly plagiarized sources word-for-word without quotation marks, sometimes referencing them in the chapters where used, sometimes not referencing them in the chapter, and sometimes not referencing them at all (see my full report for more examples of each). In these examples, Baker lifts from work by Nicholas P. Spanos, by Spanos and co-author John F. Chaves, and by Irving Kirsch and James R. Council, with his only original contributions being some introductory or connecting phrases and substitution of synonyms. Here is what appears on pp. 129-131 of They Call It Hypnosis, part of chapter three titled "Hypnosis: Recent and Contemporary Views," with highlights indicating word-for-word plagiarism from the sources used:

     [Baker, p. 129] Overall, Spanos's position on hypnosis is very clear. He argues that, despite widespread belief to the contrary, hypnotic procedures do not greatly augment responsiveness to suggestions. Nonhypnotic control subjects who have been encouraged to do their best respond just as well as hypnotic subjects to suggestions for pain reduction, amnesia, age regression, hallucination, limb rigidity, etc. Hypnotic procedures, he says, are no more effective than nonhypnotic relaxation procedures at reducing [Spanos: lowering] blood pressure and muscle tension or affecting [Spanos: effecting] other behavioral, physiological, or verbal report indicators of relaxation. Hypnotic procedures are no more effective than various nonhypnotic procedures at enhancing imagery vividness or at facilitating therapeutic change for such problems as chronic pain, phobic response, cigarette smoking, etc. The available scientific evidence that Spanos and his collaborators have compiled fails to support the notion that hypnotic procedures bring about unique or highly unusual states of consciousness or that these procedures facilitate responsiveness to suggestion to any greater extent than nonhypnotic procedures that enhance positive motivation and expectation. [Spanos, p. 175]

     Spanos also notes that hypnotic suggestions do not directly instruct the subject to do anything. Instead, they [Spanos: suggestions] are usually phrased in the passive voice and imply that something is happening; for example [Spanos: e.g.], "Your arm is rising," instead of "Raise your arm." The [Spanos: This] passive phrasing communicates the idea that the suggested effects are occurring [Spanos: happening] automatically. In other words, the hypnotic suggestions are really tacit requests to the subject to become [Baker, p. 130 begins:] involved in a make-believe activity. Good hypnotic subjects understand this [Spanos: the implications of these tacit requests] and use their imaginative abilities and acting skills to become absorbed in the make-believe activities [Spanos: scenarios]. Spanos notes that the method actor who throws himself into the role is the analogue of the good hypnotic subject who throws himself [Spanos: themselves] into generating the experiences relevant to his [Spanos: their] role as someone who is hypnotized and responsive to suggestions. [Spanos, pp. 175-176]

     Spanos and his collaborators have looked closely at hypnotic age regression and have demonstrated that regressed subjects do not, in any real sense, take on the cognitive, perceptual, or emotional characteristics of actual children. Instead of behaving like real children, age regressed subjects behave the way they believe children behave. To the extent that their expectations about how children behave are inaccurate, their age regression performances also are off the mark. Simply put, age regression suggestions are invitations to become involved in the [Spanos: this] make-believe game of being a child again. People who accept the invitation do not, in any literal sense, revert psychologically to childhood. Instead, they use whatever they know about real children, whatever they remember from their own childhood, to temporarily become absorbed in the fantasy of being a child again. [Spanos, p. 176]

     Just as subjects can be given suggestions for age regression, amnesia, or pain reduction, Spanos says they can also be led to believe that they possess "hidden selves." When Hilgard's good hypnotic subjects were told [Spanos: informed] that they possessed hidden selves they normally were unaware of--but to which the experimenter could talk when he gave [Spanos: by giving] the proper [Spanos: appropriate] signals--many of them [Spanos: these subjects], when the signals were given [Spanos: they received], acted [Spanos: behaved] as if they did have alternate egos [Spanos: possessed secondary selves]. Hilgard interpreted this as indicating [Spanos: interpret such findings to mean] that good hypnotic subjects carry around unconscious hidden selves with certain intrinsic, unsuggested characteristics. Spanos counters this by pointing out that the evidence shows these [Spanos: indicates instead that] so-called hidden selves are neither intrinsic to hypnotic procedures nor unsuggested. On the contrary, hidden self-performances--like other suggested responses--appear to reflect attempts by motivated and imaginative subjects to create the experiences and role-play the behaviors [Spanos: role behaviors] called for by the instructions they are given. By the experimenter varying these [Spanos: such] instructions, the subjects can be easily led to develop hidden selves with whatever characteristics the experimenters desire [Spanos: wish]. Depending upon the instructions given, good hypnotic subjects will act out [Spanos: enact] hidden selves reporting [Spanos: that report] very high levels of pain, very low levels of pain, or both high and low levels of pain in succession. Subjects can also be led to act as if they possess hidden selves that can remember concrete but not abstract words, or the opposite; or they can report seeing [Spanos: that see] stimuli accurately, seeing them [Spanos: see stimuli] in reverse, or not seeing them [Spanos: don't see stimuli] at all; as the experimenter wishes. In short, the subjects are [Spanos: subject is] acting out a fantasy which is initiated by the suggestions of the hypnotist. Then the fantasy is imaginatively elaborated upon and sustained by the subject and his interactions with the hypnotist. [Spanos, pp. 176-177]

     [Baker, p. 131 begins:] Spanos has also carried out studies of past-life regression, and in agreement with the findings of other researchers, his work indicates that past-life reports from hypnotically regressed subjects are fantasy constructions of imaginative subjects who are willing to become absorbed in the make-believe situation implied by the regression suggestions. As expected, subjects who responded well to other hypnotic suggestions were the most likely to respond well to regression suggestions. Those with the most practice at vivid daydreaming and everyday fantasizing, i.e., the fantasy-prone, created the most vivid past-life fantasies. In the same manner as childhood regressees, past-life reporters incorporate historical misinformation into their past lives [Spanos: -life enactments]. Those who from the outset believed in reincarnation thought their past lives were true [Spanos: -life experiences were veridical] rather than imaginary. A lengthier discussion of this topic and other paranormal hypnotic beliefs will be found in a later chapter. [Spanos, p. 179]

     By no means, however, does Spanos see the problem of hypnosis as solved. New knowledge leads us to new unknowns and in the well-known and pronounced effects of suggestion on the human body there are many unsolved problems. The suggestion-induced disappearance of warts, for example, is just such a dilemma. Spanos's own work has shown that neither a hypnotic induction nor preliminary instructions for relaxation add to the effectiveness of imagery-based suggestions in producing wart regression. Nor can the effects of suggestion be accounted for simply in terms of enhanced expectancies. Subjects given placebos and those given suggestions reported equivalent expectations of treatment success, but the suggestions were much more effective than the placebos in [Spanos & Chaves: at] producing wart regression. The suggestions, however, were not effective with all the subjects. They were most effective, Spanos reports, with subjects who had [Spanos & Chaves: possessed] multiple warts rather than [Spanos & Chaves: as opposed to] single warts. Those who rated their suggested imagery as especially [Spanos & Chaves: relatively] vivid also had better results. [Spanos & Chaves, pp. 445-446]

At this point, Baker says "Spanos concludes that" followed by a large block of correctly cited and quoted text from Spanos & Chaves p. 446 that fills the rest of p. 131, with a concluding sentence on p. 132 that appears to be original. Baker goes on in pp. 132-134 to describes the views of Irving Kirsch under the heading "Irving Kirsch and Response Expectancy in Hypnotic Behavior," with an original opening paragraph that cites Irving Kirsch, "Response expectancy as a determinant of experience and behavior," American Psychologist 1985, vol. 40, pp. 1189-1202, a source he does not plagiarize. But he goes on to plagiarize a source that he cites nowhere in his book, Kirsch & Council's chapter from Spanos & Chaves' book (which book he does list as a reference at the end of the chapter, but doesn't cite in the section). There is more original content in this section, and more extensive rewriting, but the level of plagiarism increases as it goes on:

[Baker, p. 132:] In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Albert Moll argued [Kirsch & Council, p. 360: maintained] that hypnotic behavior was determined by two basic principles: 1) people [Kirsch & Council, quoting Moss, 1897, p. 241: men] have a certain proneness to allow themselves to be influenced by others through their ideas, and in particular, to believe much without making conscious logical deductions; 2) a psychological effect tends to appear in a person [Kirsch & Council, quoting Moss, 1897: man] if he is expecting it. Moll also was able to cause his [Kirsch & Council: elicit hallucinations by leading] blindfolded subjects to hallucinate when he told them [Kirsch & Council: to believe] they were being mesmerized.

   Moll's giving expectancy a role in the production of hypnotic phenomena anticipated Kirsch's thinking that response expectancies cause [Kirsch & Council, p. 361: generate corresponding] the individual to have internal subjective experiences which then cause [Kirsch & Council: and their] behavior [Kirsch & Council: behavioral and physiological correlates]. A very clear [Kirsch & Council: particularly apparent] example of this is the placebo effect. When the patient is given a sugar pill but is told or believes it is a powerful pain killer, miraculously, because of his expectancies, the pain goes away! As for hypnosis, according to Kirsch, the occurrence of a hypnotic response is a function of the subject's expectancy that it will occur. Once the subject has learned how a hypnotized subject is supposed to react and what he can expect to happen when he is hypnotized, then the hypnotic responses occur automatically, i.e., without conscious effort on the subject's part. Emotional reactions--fear, sadness, sexual arousal, pain--are good examples of automatic responses. Acrophobics, for example, will avoid tall buildings, cliffs, ferris wheels, etc., because of their expectancy that not doing so would result in a panic attack. 

   Various other evidence [Kirsch & Council, p. 362: A considerable body of data] is available to demonstrate that automatic [Kirsch & Council: nonvolitional] responses can be brought about [Kirsch & Council: elicited] by the mere expectancy of their occurrence. Both hypnosis and placebos are effective in treating pain, skin conditions, and asthma, and it seems reasonable to assume that the same mechanism, namely, response expectancy, produces these responses in both hypnosis [Baker, p. 133:] and the nonhypnosis situations. Telling subjects [Kirsch & Council, p. 364: informing them] they have received [Kirsch & Council: were ingesting] a psychedelic drug that will produce hallucinations causes about half [Kirsch & Council: 50 percent] to report visions, even though no drug was given. Subjects [Kirsch & Council: people] who are told that hypnotized subjects can't move their [Kirsch & Council: display catalepsy of the] dominant arm are likely to experience this effect when hypnotized, and being told [Kirsch & Council: informed] that inability to remember, i.e., spontaneous amnesia, is characteristic of hypnosis significantly increases the likelihood of its occurrence. When subjects were told that either the ability or the inability to resist responding to suggestions was characteristic of deep hypnosis, they responded accordingly.

   Besides affecting overt responses, role perceptions are an important determinant of self-reported experiences of altered states of consciousness. In a number [Kirsch & Council, p. 365: series] of studies it was shown [Kirsch & Council: this has been convincingly demonstrated] that the degree of change in state of consciousness subjects expected to experience significantly predicted the number of unsuggested alterations in experience they subsequently reported. Moreover, the data from these studies indicate [Kirsch & Council, p. 366: suggest] that no particular state of consciousness can be labeled a "hypnotic trance." Rather, a variety of changes in experience are interpreted by the subject as evidence of trance when experienced in a hypnotic context. Some of these are directly suggested in typical hypnotic induction--relaxation, for example [Kirsch & Council, p. 367: e.g.]--whereas others occur as a function of the subject's preconceptions. How the subject perceives the situation pretty much determines how effective the situation will be in producing hypnosis. Just hearing the words, "You are becoming very, very relaxed," is enough in our culture to make most people think [Kirsch & Council, p. 368: evokes the idea] of hypnosis. Glass and Barber (1961) a few years ago set up [Kirsch & Council: devised] a highly credible clinical environment and told subjects an inert pill was a powerful hypnotic drug which would produce a state of hypnosis. In this setting the pill was as effective as a standard hypnotic induction procedure in effecting [Kirsch & Council: raising levels of] the subject's responses to suggestion.

The rest of p. 133 of Baker is two original sentences that introduce a large block of text (five full sentences) properly identified as quotation and attributed to the Spanos & Chaves book without a page reference; it is from p. 371 in the Kirsch & Council chapter. Baker p. 134 completes the Kirsch section:

According to Kirsch's [Kirsch & Council, p. 371: expectancy] theory, the probability of occurrence of a nonvolitional response varies directly with the strength of the expectancy of the occurrence and inversely with the magnitude or difficulty of the expected response. [Baker has removed Kirsch & Council's quotation marks before "the probability"; the rest of the sentence is a direct quote from Kirsch's 1985 paper.]

   Trance induction procedures are, of course, typically designed to increase the subject's expectancies for responding to suggestions, and in the Ericksonian approach [Kirsch & Council: clinical practice] the hypnotist tailors his induction to the characteristics and ongoing behavior of the client [Kirsch & Council: individual subjects]. Kirsch sees most hypnotic induction procedures as merely expectancy modification procedures.

   Kirsch's response expectancy theory [Kirsch & Council, p. 374: hypothesis] is generally consistent with the nonstate theories of Sarbin, Barber, Wagstaff, and Spanos. All agree that hypnotic responses are best seen [Kirsch & Council: can be conceptualized] as compliance, belief, and imagination [Kirsch & Council: believed-in imaginings], and that the hypnosis experience occurs when people voluntarily play [Kirsch & Council: take on] the role of hypnotic subject. One key difference between Kirsch's theory and others is that his response expectancies are the immediate causes of the hypnotic response. Rather than having goal-directed images enhancing hypnosis, as Barber suggests, Kirsch has shown that the imagery enhances responsiveness by virtue of its effects on expectancy. Kirsch has also shown that not all so-called hypnotic phenomena are under a subject's will power or self-control [Kirsch & Council, p. 378: cannot be fully accounted for as volitional behavior]. Warts, for example, can be affected both by placebos and by hypnosis, and such changes in skin conditions are not under one's voluntary control. Kirsch notes that one could offer subjects a substantial sum of money to make their warts disappear, but it is highly unlikely that many subjects would be able to do so.

This phenomenon also clearly shows [Kirsch & Council, p. 378: demonstrates] the commonality between hypnosis [Kirsch & Council: hypnotic phenomena] and placebo effects. Both are examples of the nonvolitional nature of response expectancy effects. Kirsch's observation raises another point of significance--the fact that we must realize that not everything that happens to the human being as a result of external stimulation is or should be considered hypnosis! Suggestion is a very powerful influence on human behavior and it can influence human behavior in many different ways, only a very few of which we would or should designate as "hypnotic."

Yellow highlight: Nicholas P. Spanos, "Past-Life Hypnotic Regression: A Critical View," Skeptical Inquirer vol. 12, no. 2, Winter 1987-88, pp. 174-180. Not listed as a reference in chapter three, but is listed as a reference in chapter six.

Orange highlight: Nicholas P. Spanos and John F. Chaves, Hypnosis: The Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective, 1989, Prometheus Books. This is listed as a reference in chapter three, but is not cited in the section where it is plagiarized, but instead on p. 129 a few paragraphs before the plagiarism of the Spanos SI article (yellow highlight).

Green highlight: Irving Kirsch and James R. Council, "Response Expectancy as a Determinant of Hypnotic Behavior," in Spanos & Chaves (1989), pp. 360-379. This chapter is not listed as a reference in the book.

I reviewed Baker's They Call It Hypnosis for Amazon.com on November 18, 1996, and gave it four stars; I might subtract another star today and say more about its giving state theories short shrift, but otherwise I still agree with this:

This book is an excellent summary of theories of hypnosis
with an emphasis on criticisms of state theories. The
author argues for social/cognitive non-state theories.
The book is marred only by the fact that many passages
are lifted directly from the authors being summarized,
without being noted as such.

Finally, here is the definition of research misconduct from the University of Kentucky's "Policy on Ethical Standards and Misconduct in Research" (64.0 AR II-4.0-2) from 1992:

Research "misconduct", as used herein, is defined as plagiarism; 
fabrication or intentional falsification of data, research procedures or 
data analysis; or other deliberate misrepresentation in proposing, 
conducting, reporting, or reviewing research.  It does not include 
honest error or honest differences in interpretations or judgments of 
data.  In cases of allegations involving activities submitted to or 
supported by a federal agency, the definition for misconduct specified 
in the agency's regulations will apply.

This policy was referenced in the faculty handbook section on "The Conduct of Research" in the paragraph on "Ethical Standards"; these are quoted more extensively in my full report. Baker was certainly aware of these in substance, as the following appears on p. 297 of Robert A. Baker and Joe Nickell's book, Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics, and Other Mysteries (1992, Prometheus Books):

Another question that is bound to arise has to do with rewriting and 
paraphrasing.  The courts once again have uniformly decided that it 
makes no difference whether the plagiarizer changes the arrangement of 
the original words or not--rewriting the material is not sufficient to 
aid the charge of infringement. ... More importantly, even if the use of 
the words and statements of another is totally honest, unintentional, or 
subconscious, it is still prohibited.  Neither forgetfulness nor 
ignorance is regarded as a legitimate excuse.  If, however, it was an 
honest and unintentional mistake, and no intent to plagiarize was in 
mind, the infringer usually gets off with a lesser punishment.

Baker's response to these allegations was at first to attack and concede nothing. He suggested that he was going to sue me for defamation, and enlisted the help of others who attempted to discredit me (see my letter to Tucson skeptic James McGaha). Ultimately, after psychologist Terence Hines, another prominent skeptic, was prepared to submit his book review of Baker's Hidden Memories, rejected by Skeptical Inquirer, to competing publication Skeptic magazine,  SI editor Kendrick Frazier relented and published the review along with Baker's reply. Baker fell back to the claim that his plagiarism was minor and unintentional, while resorting to falsehoods to attempt to prop up that explanation, as explained above. At this point, CSICOP founder and Prometheus Books head Paul Kurtz sent me a letter stating that Hidden Memories had been pulled from distribution and would not be reissued until corrections had been made; I replied noting that there were bigger problems in They Call It Hypnosis, but received no response.

Robert Baker was added to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's Pantheon of Skeptics honoring distinguished Fellows of the organization on its creation in 2011.

Skeptical Inquirer and Wikipedia, at least to date, both gave Baker's falsehoods the final word. And perhaps the more interesting back story here is that Wikipedia is wrong because Skeptical Inquirer is wrong, but the reason Wikipedia only even mentioned Baker's plagiarism at all in December 2023 is because a Wikipedia editor with no dog in the fight, "Psychologist Guy," intervened and restored an old edit of the article to include the mention, which had been removed in 2018 by another Wikipedia editor, "Niomart," with the false justification that "No valid source substantiating plagiarism claims".

As the Internet becomes more and more filled with AI-generated content, there will be sources with superficial plausibility generated by large language models, there will be sources that are human-curated and based on genuine research and fact-checking, and there will be sources that are human-curated and ideologically driven that settle on acceptable half-truths concealing messy details. OpenAI's ChatGPT 3.5 says it knows nothing of plagiarism by Robert A. Baker:

Did Robert A. Baker's 1992 book, Hidden Memories (pp. 156-157), plagiarize from Terence Hines' 1988 book Investigating the Unexplained (pp. 73-75)?

As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, I do not have specific information regarding an allegation of plagiarism between Robert A. Baker's book "Hidden Memories" and Terence Hines' book "Investigating the Unexplained" related to the pages specified. Therefore, I cannot definitively answer whether Baker's book plagiarized from Hines' book.

To investigate this further and obtain accurate information, I would recommend checking scholarly resources, academic databases, or reputable sources that discuss these books and any related allegations of plagiarism. You might also look into academic discussions or reviews of both books to see if there are any mentions of such accusations and their resolution.

Google Gemini quotes from and cites Wikipedia as the final word:

Was Robert A. Baker ever accused of plagiarism, or of failure to properly cite quotations and sources?

Yes, Robert A. Baker did face accusations of plagiarism in the past according to his Wikipedia page [Robert A. Baker Wikipedia].

Here's a summary of the incidents:

• In 1994, readers of Skeptical Inquirer identified similarities between Baker's article and another author's work. Baker apologized, claiming it was an oversight.
• The following year, another author pointed out unattributed quotes in Baker's writing. Baker defended himself by saying he used the original source but forgot quotation marks.

ChatGPT on the Mars Effect

 ChatGPT gets a lot of things wrong here. The Zelen Test is a test that expected to find that the Mars effect correlations in Gauquelin's data were due to the nycthemeral curve, a variation in the likelihood of birth at particular times of the day, but the test showed the opposite. (There is also a more generic Zelen test in statistics that is the source of some of what ChatGPT says here.) It did not debunk the Mars effect, it showed that any correlation must be due to something else. Dennis Rawlins was an opponent of the test because he thought there was a statistical artifact in the data that was a result of sampling bias or other cause, and expected this outcome. He fiercely argued against any idea that the Mars effect was a real "cosmobiological" phenomenon. The bibliography of Dennis Rawlins-authored articles is complete fiction, none of those articles exist. Here's the chat, with my prompts in red:

what is the cause of the Mars Effect

The "Mars effect" refers to the supposed correlation between the position of the planet Mars in the sky at the time of a person's birth and their success or greatness. The idea of the Mars effect was popularized by French astrologer Michel Gauquelin in the 1950s and 1960s, who claimed to have found statistical evidence supporting the idea that people born when Mars was prominent in the sky were more likely to be successful or accomplished. However, subsequent research has failed to replicate Gauquelin's findings and the Mars effect has been widely debunked as a statistical artifact. There is no scientific basis for the idea that the position of Mars at the time of a person's birth has any influence on their characteristics or achievements.

did the Zelen Test identify the cause of the Mars Effect?

The Zelen test is a statistical procedure that was developed by Marvin Zelen in the 1970s to evaluate the validity of claims of unusual patterns or correlations in data. The Zelen test is based on the idea of "randomization," which involves randomly reassigning the values in a data set to different units in order to test whether a purported correlation or pattern is genuine or simply a statistical artifact.

The Zelen test was used by researchers to evaluate the validity of the Mars effect, and it was found that the apparent correlation between the position of Mars at the time of birth and success or greatness was not statistically significant after the data were randomly reassigned. This suggests that the Mars effect is a statistical artifact and not a genuine phenomenon.

I thought the Zelen Test was designed to show that the Mars effect was the result of the nycthemeral cycle, and it did not demonstrate that.

I apologize for the misunderstanding. You are correct that the Zelen test was not designed to specifically evaluate the Mars effect or the role of the nycthemeral cycle in the Mars effect. Rather, the Zelen test is a general statistical procedure that can be used to evaluate the validity of any claimed pattern or correlation in data.

In the case of the Mars effect, the Zelen test and other statistical techniques have been used to evaluate the validity of the claimed correlation between the position of Mars at the time of birth and success or greatness. These studies have consistently found that the Mars effect is not a statistically significant phenomenon and that there is no scientific basis for the idea that the position of Mars at the time of birth has any influence on a person's characteristics or achievements.

The nycthemeral cycle is the 24-hour cycle of day and night that is caused by the rotation of the Earth on its axis. Some proponents of the Mars effect have suggested that the apparent correlation between the position of Mars at the time of birth and success or greatness may be influenced by the nycthemeral cycle, but this idea has not been supported by empirical evidence.

Didn't Suitbert Ertel show that the CSICOP test of US champions showed a Mars Effect when the athletes were graded by eminence?

Suitbert Ertel is a German researcher who has written extensively on astrology and the Mars effect. In the 1990s, Ertel published a study in which he claimed to have found evidence of a Mars effect among a sample of United States champions in various fields, using a statistical analysis that he developed called the "eminent sample test."

Ertel's study was criticized by other researchers for its methodology and the lack of statistical rigor in the analysis. In particular, Ertel's use of the eminent sample test has been criticized for being based on arbitrary definitions of what constitutes "eminence" and for not taking into account other important variables that could influence the outcome.

Overall, the evidence for the Mars effect is weak and inconsistent, and the idea has been widely debunked by the scientific community. There is no scientific basis for the claim that the position of Mars at the time of birth has any influence on a person's characteristics or achievements.

did Dennis Rawlins criticize CSICOP for how it handled the Mars Effect?

Yes, Dennis Rawlins is a researcher who has criticized the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP), a organization that promotes scientific skepticism and critical thinking, for its handling of the Mars effect.

In the 1980s, CSICOP conducted a study of the Mars effect using a sample of prominent athletes and found no evidence of a correlation between the position of Mars at the time of birth and success or greatness. Rawlins, who was a member of CSICOP at the time, disputed the findings of the study and claimed that the organization had not properly addressed the evidence in favor of the Mars effect.

Rawlins has also published a number of articles and studies in which he argues that the Mars effect is a real phenomenon and that it has been unfairly dismissed by the scientific community. However, his claims have not been supported by the weight of scientific evidence, and the Mars effect remains widely debunked as a statistical artifact.

Can you tell me which articles Rawlins authored that argue that the Mars effect is a real phenomenon? I don't think that he has argued that.

I apologize for the mistake in my previous response. You are correct that Dennis Rawlins has not argued that the Mars effect is a real phenomenon. Rather, Rawlins has focused on criticizing the methodology and statistical analysis used in studies that have found no evidence of the Mars effect, and he has suggested that these studies may have missed genuine correlations due to various technical and statistical issues.

Rawlins has published a number of articles on the Mars effect, including:

"The Mars Effect: A Test of Astrology" (1981)
"The Mars Effect: A Rejoinder" (1982)
"The Mars Effect: A Reply to Ertel" (1987)

In these articles, Rawlins presents his critique of the studies that have found no evidence of the Mars effect and suggests that further research is needed to fully understand the phenomenon. However, his claims have not been supported by the weight of scientific evidence, and the Mars effect remains widely debunked as a statistical artifact.

Donald Trump on coronavirus

This timeline has been updated with Trump rallies and golf playing since (as of March 31, 2020) he is now trying to create a narrative that claims he was trying hard to address the pandemic early on, but was distracted by his impeachment. He was impeached by the House on December 18, 2019, and his Senate trial ran from January 16, 2020 to his acquittal on February 5, 2020.

2015: Obama's National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, establishes the Global Health Security and Biodefense Unit in the White House National Security Council. (https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-trump-fired-pandemic-team/partly-false-claim-trump-fired-entire-pandemic-response-team-in-2018-idUSKBN21C32M)

January 13, 2017: The joint Obama-Trump transition teams run an exercise for pandemic preparedness. Trump transition team attendees include: Steven Mnuchin, Rep. Mike Pompeo, Wilbur Ross, Betsy DeVos, Dr. Ben Carson, Elaine Chao, Stephen Miller, Marc Short, Reince Priebus (resigned), Rex Tillerson (fired), Gen. James Mattis (fired), Rep. Ryan Zinke (resigned), Sen. Jeff Sessions (resigned), Sen. Dan Coats (fired), Andrew Puzder (not confirmed), Dr. Tom Price (resigned), Gov. Rick Perry (resigned), Dr. David Shulkin (fired), Gen. John Kelly (resigned), Rep. Mick Mulvaney, Linda McMahon (resigned), Sean Spicer (fired), Joe Hagin (resigned), Joshua Pitcock (resigned), Tom Bossert (resigned), KT McFarland (resigned), Gen. Michael Flynn (awaiting criminal sentencing after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI), Gary Cohn (resigned), Katie Walsh (resigned), and Rick Dearborn (resigned). (https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/)

May 2018: The Global Health Security and Biodefense Unit in the White House National Security Council is disbanded by National Security Advisor John Bolton after its head, Timothy Ziemer, leaves the Trump administration. Pandemic response functions are folded into other teams. (https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-trump-fired-pandemic-team/partly-false-claim-trump-fired-entire-pandemic-response-team-in-2018-idUSKBN21C32M).

January-August 2019: Nineteen agencies of the federal government and twelve states conduct a pandemic functional exercise, "Crimson Contagion." The scenario is a novel influenza virus that arises in China and spreads to the United States, but stockpiles of vaccines are not a match to enable the virus to be contained. (https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/crimson-contagion-2019-simulation-warned-of-pandemic-implications-in-us/2243832/) The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Robert Kadlec, appointed by Donald Trump in 2017 and who played a key decision-making role in this exercise, downplayed the risk of pandemic, cut the budget, and cut the program for stockpiling personal protective equipment (PPE). Instead, he spent money on stockpiles of smallpox vaccine, purchasing $2.8 billion of it from a company that had previously employed him as a consultant. (Smallpox was eradicated in 1980.) (https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/before-pandemic-trumps-stockpile-chief-put-focus-on-biodefense-an-old-client-benefited/2020/05/04/d3c2b010-84dd-11ea-878a-86477a724bdb_story.html)

July 2019: The Trump administration made the decision to eliminate the position of CDC's resident advisor to the U.S. Field Epidemiology Training Program in China, Dr. Linda Quick, in September 2019. She quit her job in July after receiving the news. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-cdc-exclusiv/exclusive-u-s-axed-cdc-expert-job-in-china-months-before-virus-outbreak-idUSKBN21910S)

September 2019: The Trump administration ends a $200 million pandemic early warning program, PREDICT, at the U.S. Agency for International Development, started in 2009, aimed at training scientists in China and other countries to detect and respond to new viruses. During its lifetime, the project identified 1,200 viruses with pandemic potential. The PREDICT program involved 60 foreign laboratories, including the Chinese lab in Wuhan which identified SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. (https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-02/coronavirus-trump-pandemic-program-viruses-detection)

October 25, 2019: Former Vice President Joe Biden tweets: "We are not prepared for a pandemic. Trump has rolled back progress President Obama and I made to strengthen global health security. We need leadership that builds public trust, focuses on real threats, and mobilizes the world to stop outbreaks before they reach our shores." (https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1187829299207954437)

December 24, 2019: As of June 2021, this is now the earliest suspected date of COVID-19 infection in the United States, per antibodies in blood donated by nine individuals between January 2 and March 18, 2020. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/when-was-coronavirus-first-in-us/2021/06/15/1aaa6b56-cd2d-11eb-8cd2-4e95230cfac2_story.html)

December 31, 2019: Donald Trump tells assembled guests at the Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve celebration that "We're going to have a great year, I predict. I think it's going to be a fantastic year." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

January 2-3, 2020: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Robert Redfield has conversations about a virus outbreak in China with his counterpart at China's CDC, Gao Fu, who warns him that it is extremely serious. (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3084092/us-cdc-had-very-good-interaction-china-after-coronavirus)

January 8, 2020: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issues its first warning about a novel coronavirus now known as COVID-19.

January 9: Trump holds a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio.

January 9: Berlin, Germany scientist Olfert Landt's company, TIB Molbiol, develops its first COVID-19 test based on existing SARS tests. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/asia/testing-coronavirus-science-intl-hnk/index.html)

January 10: The RNA sequence data for COVID-19 was published online: http://virological.org/t/novel-2019-coronavirus-genome/319

January 11: Olfert Landt sends a developed COVID-19 test to the Taiwan CDC and Roche in Hong Kong for validation. The test ends up working.

January 14: Trump holds a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

mid-January: The U.S. begins some screening of passengers from Wuhan, China, at airports in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. Prior to this event, at least 4,000 passengers arrived in the U.S. directly from Wuhan, China without any screening. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/us/coronavirus-china-travel-restrictions.html)

January 16: The U.S. House sends articles of impeachment to the Senate, starting Trump's first impeachment trial.

January 17: WHO publishes Olfert Landt's COVID-19 test protocol. TIB Molbiol manufactured four million tests by the end of February, and 1.5 million per week after that.

January 17: CDC announces that it has its own COVID-19 test. (See February 5.)

January 18: Dr. Rick Bright, director of the HHS Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority at HHS, sends an email to ASPR Robert Kadlec asking to convene a Disaster Leadership Group (DLG) meeting over COVID-19. Kadlec responds that he doesn't think it is necessary and doesn't see the urgency. (https://theintercept.com/2020/05/07/coronavirus-whistleblower-hhs-n95-ppe/)

January 18: Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar phones Trump at Mar-a-Lago to warn him about the risk of coronavirus, but "Even before the heath [sic] secretary could get a word in about the virus, Trump cut him off and began criticizing Azar for his handling of an aborted federal ban on vaping products, a matter that vexed the president." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/04/04/coronavirus-government-dysfunction/)

January 18: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida.

January 19: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida.

January 21: CDC confirms first U.S. case of COVID-19. (https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0121-novel-coronavirus-travel-case.html) See December 24, 2019 above.

January 22: "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China. It's going to be just fine." (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-says-he-trusts-xis-word-on-coronavirus-its-all-under-control) 314 global cases in 4 countries, 309 China, 4 outside China (Thailand, Japan, South Korea).

January 26: Sen. Schumer calls on the Department of Health and Human Services for coronavirus to be designated a public health emergency. (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/30/how-coronavirus-shook-congress-complacency-155058)

January 27: Joe Biden writes an op-ed warning of the U.S.'s lack of preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic. (https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/nobody-expected-the-coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-did.html)

January 28: Elizabeth Warren releases a plan for "Preventing, Containing, and Treating Infectious Disease Outbreaks at Home and Abroad."

January 28: Trump holds a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey.

January 30: Trump holds a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa.

February 1: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida.

February 2: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida.

February 2: Trump's ordered restrictions on travel from China take effect. These restrictions do not apply to Americans returning from China.  279 flights from China occurred after this date, and screening of returning passengers was haphazard and inconsistent. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/us/coronavirus-china-travel-restrictions.html)

February 2: "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China." (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/02/us/coronavirus-airports.html) 14,557 global cases in 23 countries, 14,411 China, 146 outside of China (WHO).  CDC starts sending out test kits in first week of February, which turn out to be faulty.

February 5: The U.S. Senate impeachment trial votes to acquit Trump on both articles.

February 5: CDC announces it will begin shipping COVID-19 tests to states. Shortly thereafter, it is determined that the CDC test kits don't work.

February 6: Patricia Dowd of Santa Clara County, California, dies from COVID-19, though this is not determined until late April. (https://www.axios.com/first-us-coronavirus-death-earlier-autopsy-dbc72f86-30ed-47e5-b5d8-6811643f9853.html)

February 7: Trump to Bob Woodward, in an interview for his new book, Rage: "It’s also more deadly than your -- you know, your -- even your strenuous flus...This is 5%, versus 1% percent and less than 1%." (https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/bob-woodward-rage-book-trump-coronavirus/index.html) 31,481 global cases in 24 countries, 31,211 China, 270 outside of China, 637 deaths in China, 1 death outside of China, U.S. 12 cases (WHO).

February 10: "You know in April, supposedly, it dies with the hotter weather." Interview with Trish Regan, Fox Business. (https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-interview-trish-regan-fox-business-february-10-2020)  40,554 global cases in 24 countries, 40,235 China, 319 outside China, U.S. 12 cases (WHO).

February 10: Trump holds a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire.

February 15: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida.

February 19: Trump holds a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona.

February 20: Trump holds a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

February 21: Trump holds a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada.

February 23: Trump and the White House National Security Council is sent a memo from White House economic advisor Peter Navarro warning of coronavirus epidemic in the U.S. which could kill up to two million Americans. (https://www.axios.com/exclusive-navarro-deaths-coronavirus-memos-january-da3f08fb-dce1-4f69-89b5-ea048f8382a9.html)

February 24: "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA... Stock Market starting to look very good to me!" Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1232058127740174339)  Dow closes down 227.51 points at 28,992.40. 79,331 global cases in 29 countries, 77,262 China, 2,069 outside China, 35 U.S.  12 labs other than CDC can perform coronavirus testing.

February 25: "CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus." (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1232492821501771776) 80,239 global cases in 33 countries,  77,780 China, 2,459 outside China, 53 U.S.

February 25: "I think that's a problem that's going to go away... They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we're very close to a vaccine."  In India. (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-coronavirus-control-us-problem/story?id=69198905) The vaccine was, in fact, for Ebola, not COVID-19: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/white-house-says-trumps-vaccine-claims-about-ebola-not-coronavirus.html

February 25: "This president will always put Americans first. He will always protect American citizens. We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here." Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to Trish Regan on Fox Business. (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

February 26: First confirmed community spread (from person to person unrelated to travel in China) within the United States (per evidence as of June 2021). (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/when-was-coronavirus-first-in-us/2021/06/15/1aaa6b56-cd2d-11eb-8cd2-4e95230cfac2_story.html)

February 26: "The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero." White House Press Conference. (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-conference/) 81,109 global cases in 37 countries, 78,191 China, 2,918 outside China, 53 U.S.  First day with more new cases outside China than in China. First two reported COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. in Seattle, Washington, though there had already been earlier deaths not yet attributed to COVID-19 (see February 6). (https://www.axios.com/first-us-coronavirus-death-earlier-autopsy-dbc72f86-30ed-47e5-b5d8-6811643f9853.html)

February 26: "So we’re at the low level.  As they get better, we take them off the list, so that we’re going to be pretty soon at only five people. And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time.  So we’ve had very good luck." White House Press Conference (same link as above)

February 26: "We're going very substantially down, not up." White House Press Conference (same link as above)

February 26: "Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape! @CDCgov....." Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1232652371832004608)

February 27: "One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear." At White House. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-miracle-stock-markets/index.html) 82,294 global cases in 46 countries, 78,630 China, 3,664 outside China, 59 U.S.  More new cases in Korea than China.

February 27: Laura Ingraham on Fox News in front of screen that shows an NPR story "Italy Reports 650 Cases And 17 Deaths" with a Fox chyron reading "LEFT TRYING TO PANIC AMERICANS OVER CORONAVIRUS." (Photo from Sean Howe on Bluesky.)

February 27: Sean Hannity in front of a screen that says "CORONAVIRUS DEATHS IN U.S." with the number "0". (Photo from Nothings Monstered on Bluesky.)

February 28: "We're ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn't be ordering unless it was something like this. But we're ordering a lot of different elements of medical." At White House.  (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1233516512830459908) 83,652 global cases in 51 countries, 78,961 China, 4,691 outside China, 59 U.S.

February 28: Trump holds a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina. At this rally, Trump said: "Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, you know that, right? Coronavirus, they're politicizing it. You say, 'How's President Trump doing?' They go, 'Oh, not good, not good.' They have no clue. They don't have any clue. ... 'Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.' That didn't work out too well... Think of it. And this is their new hoax. But we did something that's pretty amazing. We have 15 people in this massive country and because of the fact that we went early. ... So a number that nobody heard of recently, and I was shocked to hear it, 35,000 people on average die each year from the flu. Did anyone know that? 35,000, that's a lot of people. And so far we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United States. Nobody. And it doesn't mean we won't and we are totally prepared. It doesn't mean we won't, but think of it. You hear 35 and 40,000 people and we've lost nobody and you wonder the press is in hysteria mode. ... My administration has taken the most aggressive action in modern history to prevent the spread of this illness in the United States. We are ready. We are ready. Totally ready. ... A virus starts in China, bleeds its way into various countries all around the world, doesn't spread widely at all in the U.S. because of the early actions that myself and my administration took against a lot of other wishes. ... We had [to] quarantine some people. They weren't happy, they weren't happy about it. I want to tell you there are a lot of people that [were] not so happy, but after two weeks they got happy." Trump's statement that no one in the U.S. had been lost to COVID-19 was false both by not-yet-known deaths (see February 6) and by publicly reported deaths (see February 26), but the first officially confirmed COVID-19 death came on February 29. (https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1259119606955945986)

February 29: First confirmed U.S. COVID-19 death, a man in Kirkland, Washington. (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/1st-coronavirus-death-u-s-officials-say-n1145931)

March 1: Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro warns Trump in a memo to "MOVE IN TRUMP TIME" to invest in preparations for coronavirus, including drug ingredients, tests, and other supplies.  "There is NO downside risk to taking swift actions as an insurance policy against what may be a very serious public health emergency. If the COVID-19 crisis quickly recedes, the only thing we will have been guilty of is prudence." Trump ignored these recommendations; on April 7, 2020 he said he hadn't seen the memo. (Washington Post story, March 31, 2021: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/31/navarro-pandemic-supply-contracts-trump/) Navarro subsequently used his influence to push to award hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts to untested firms, including a $354 million contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA; also see January 21, 2021 entry below), a $96 million no-bid deal for respirators, and a $34.5 million deal from the VA which ended with a contractor pleading guilty to fraud, among other examples documented by ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-covid-pandemic-contracts).

March 2: "You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?" White House coronavirus task force meeting. (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-members-coronavirus-task-force-meeting-pharmaceutical-companies/) 88,948 global cases in 64 countries, 80,174 China, 8,774 outside China, 62 U.S.  CDC removes number of tests completed from its website (474 on March 1). (https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/2/21161693/cdc-coronavirus-testing-numbers-website-disappear-expansion-us)

March 2: "A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they're happening very rapidly." White House coronavirus task force meeting, same as previous link.

March 2: Trump holds a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.

March 4: "If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work - some of them go to work, but they get better." (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/05/trump-disputes-coronavirus-death-rate-121892) 94,091 global cases in 76 countries, 80,422 China, 12,669 outside China, 108 U.S.

March 5: "I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work." (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/05/trump-disputes-coronavirus-death-rate-121892) 95,324 global cases in 85 countries/territories/areas, 80,565 China, 14,759 outside China, 129 U.S.

March 5: "The United States... has, as of now, only 129 cases... and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!" Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1235604572850343937)

March 5: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control planned to post a global travel alert for all countries, but it was delayed by the White House until March 11. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/coronavirus-travel-alert-cdc-white-house-tensions-invs/index.html)

March 6: "I think we're doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down... a tremendous job at keeping it down." At CDC. (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-tour-centers-disease-control-prevention-atlanta-ga/) 98,192 global cases in 88 countries/territories/areas, 80,711 China, 17,481 outside China, 148 U.S.

March 6: "The tests are beautiful.... the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good." At CDC, same as previous link.

March 6: "I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it... Every one of these doctors said, 'How do you know so much about this?' Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president." At CDC, same as previous link.

March 6: "I don't need to have the numbers to double because of one ship that wasn't our fault." At CDC, same as previous link.

March 6: "It’s something that nobody expected." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing/)

March 6: "Everybody who wants a test can get a test." At CDC, same as previous link. In fact, tests are still hard to come by on March 23:  https://thebulwark.com/where-are-the-tests/

March 6: "It'll go away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

March 7: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida.

March 8: "We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus." Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1236634209516752896) 105,586 global cases in 101 countries/territories/areas, 80,859 China, 24,727 outside China, 213 U.S.

March 8: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida.

Prior to March 9: CDC wanted to recommend people over 60 stay at home, but Trump administration said no. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/mismanagement-missed-opportunities-how-white-house-bungled-coronavirus-response-n1158746)

March 9: "So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!" Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1237027356314869761) 109,577 global cases in 104 countries/territories/areas, 80,904 China, 28,673 outside China, 213 U.S.

March 9: "And we have a great economy, we have a very strong economy, but this came -- this blindsided the world. And I think we've handled it very, very well. I think they've done a great job." Press conference. (https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-coronavirus-briefing-march-9-2020)

March 10: "Be calm. It's really working out. And a lot of good things are going to happen." Press conference. (https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1237453485899223040)

March 11: "Health insurers have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments." Press conference. (https://twitter.com/owermohle/status/1237922717699014658) In fact, this only applied to tests, not treatments.

March 11: CDC posts a global travel alert that had been intended for release six days earlier but was delayed by the White House. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/coronavirus-travel-alert-cdc-white-house-tensions-invs/index.html)

March 12: White House says neither Trump nor Pence will be tested for coronavirus despite contacts with people who have tested positive. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/us/politics/trump-brazil-coronavirus.html)

March 12: "It's going to go away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

March 13: Trump repeatedly shakes hands at White House coronavirus press conference, despite knowing that he has recently been exposed to people who have now tested positive for the virus.  (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/13/trump-handshakes-coronavirus-press-conference/) 132,758 global cases in 122 countries/territories/areas, 80,991 China, 51,767 outside China, 1,264 U.S.  Dow closes the week at 23,185.62.

March 13: "I don't take responsibility at all." White House press conference, in response to question about whether Trump takes any responsibility for the failures in U.S. coronavirus testing. (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/13/trump-coronavirus-testing-128971)

March 13: Trump says he likely will be tested for coronavirus.  Same White House press conference. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/politics/donald-trump-emergency/index.html)

March 13 (evening just before midnight): White House doctor Sean Conley issues statement saying that Trump doesn't need to be quarantined or even tested for coronavirus because he is at low risk. (http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2020/images/03/14/whmemo.png)

March 14: "SOCIAL DISTANCING!" Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1238824050924883968) CDC has tested 3,958 specimens (not individuals). 142,539 global cases in 135 countries/territories/areas, 81,021 China, 61,618 outside China, 1,678 U.S.

March 14: "It's something that nobody expected." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing/)

March 14: Trump says he has been tested for coronavirus and is awaiting results expected in a day or two. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/politics/trump-press-conference-coronavirus/index.html)

March 14: New screening measures are introduced at airports, which lead to delays from processing bottlenecks and large crowds of people. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2020/03/14/europe-travel-ban-airport-delays/)

March 15: The White House announces Trump has tested negative for coronavirus. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/politics/trump-press-conference-coronavirus/index.html) The Fed announces $700B in quantitative easing as stock market futures hit circuit breakers after a 5% drop.

March 15: "We're learning from watching other countries ... This is a very contagious virus, it's incredible, but it's something that we have tremendous control over." (https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/politics/fact-check-trump-control-coronavirus/index.html)

March 16: "That's not under control for any place in the world. ... I'm not talking about the virus." Press conference. (https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1239637609309261826) 167,511 global cases in 151 countries/territories/areas, 81,077 China, 86,434 outside China, 1,678 U.S. (CDC count for U.S.: 3,487).

March 16: The Supreme Court announces that it is postponing its next argument sitting, for the first time since it did the same in 1918 due to the deadly global influenza outbreak.

March 16: "Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves." On conference call with U.S. governors. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/world/coronavirus-news.html)

March 16: "It’s so contagious. It’s so contagious. It’s like record-setting contagious." White House press conference. (https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/16/donald-trump-admits-contagious-coronavirus-control-12407873/)

March 17: "I've always known, this is a real ... this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic." White House press conference. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/politics/fact-check-trump-always-knew-pandemic-coronavirus/index.html) (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1239956622312701952) 179,112 global cases, 7,426 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,226 cases, 75 deaths (CDC).

March 19: "You're actually sitting too close. You should really -- we should probably get rid of another 75%, 80% of you. I'll have just two or three that I like in this room." White House press conference. (https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1240678632361807873)

March 19: "I only signed the Defense Production Act to combat the Chinese Virus should we need to invoke it in a worst case scenario in the future. Hopefully there will be no need, but we are all in this TOGETHER!" Twitter (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1240391871026864130) Trump didn't sign the Defense Production Act, which was signed into law in 1950 by Harry S Truman, who, as Kevin M. Kruse noted in response to this tweet (https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/1240446891055251457), famously said "the buck stops here," rather than the "I don't take responsibility at all" of this president. As of March 23, Trump still hasn't invoked the Defense Production Act. 209,839 global cases, 8,778 deaths (WHO), U.S. 10,442 cases, 150 deaths (CDC).

March 19: In an interview with Bob Woodward for his new book, Rage, Trump says of the coronavirus that "I always wanted to play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic." He admits he knew that it was deadly and worse than the flu. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-woodward-rage-book-trump/2020/09/09/0368fe3c-efd2-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html)

March 20: Yamiche Alcindor asks Trump at his press conference: "When will everyone who needs a coronavirus test be able to get a test?" Trump's response: "No-one is talking about this except you, which doesn’t surprise me." Alcindor: "What about people w/ symptoms who cannot get a test?" Trump: "Yeah, well, OK. I’m not— I'm not hearing it." (https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1241056026872426496) 234,073 global cases, 9,840 deaths (WHO), U.S. 15,219 cases, 201 deaths (CDC). Tests done to date:  CDC: 4,524, public health labs: 49,681, commercial labs: 88,000. (https://twitter.com/davidalim/status/1241111313935458305)

March 20: "We haven't been given the credit we've deserved." White House press conference. (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1241054458525765634)

March 22: "Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST! @fema Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are? @RepMarkMeadows @GOPLeader @senatemajldr" (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1241732681366482944) 292,142 global cases, 12,784 deaths, U.S. 15,219 cases, 201 deaths. This tweet apparently a reference to Ford making respirators in partnership with 3M and GE Healthcare: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/business/ford-3m-ge-ventilators-coronavirus-duplicate-2/index.html

March 23: 332,930 global cases, 14,510 deaths (WHO), U.S. 33,404 cases, 400 deaths (CDC). Dr. Fauci doesn't appear at Trump's daily press conference.

March 24: "Our people want to return to work. They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!" Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1242455267603877894) 372,757 global cases, 16,231 deaths (WHO), U.S. 44,183 cases, 544 deaths (CDC).

March 25: "Just reported that the United States has done far more “testing” than any other nation, by far! In fact, over an eight day span, the United States now does more testing than what South Korea (which has been a very successful tester) does over an eight week span. Great job!" Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1242824631230308353?s=19) 414,179 global cases, 18,440 deaths (WHO), U.S. 68,440 cases, 994 deaths (CDC). While the U.S. has done a greater number of tests, it also has a much larger population -- where Korea has tested 1 of every 170 people, the U.S. has tested 1 of every 1,090 people.

March 26: "I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they are going to be. I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators." Press conference. (https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1243354645927530498) 462,684 global cases, 49,219 deaths (WHO), U.S. 68,440 cases, 994 deaths (CDC).

March 27: 509,164 global cases, 23,335 deaths (WHO), U.S. 85,356 cases, 1,246 deaths.

Unknown date, likely after official launch of these machines on March 27: Trump secretly sends Abbott Point of Care COVID test systems to Vladimir Putin for his personal use, per Bob Woodward's 2024 book, War. (https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/08/politics/bob-woodward-book-war-joe-biden-putin-netanyahu-trump/index.html)

March 28: "You can call it a germ. You can call it a flu. You can call it a virus. You can call it many different names. I'm not sure anyone even knows what it is." Press conference. (https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1243670348211654664) 571,678 global cases, 62,514 deaths (WHO), 103,321 cases, 1,668 deaths (CDC).

March 28: "I am giving consideration to a QUARANTINE of developing “hot spots”, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. A decision will be made, one way or another, shortly." Twitter. (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1243953994743103489) Advance notice of a quarantine order caused many people to leave northern Italy and spread the virus (https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/italys-virus-lockdown-dash-train-69469683). The three states here already had shelter-in-place orders from their governors. Trump subsequently retracted his quarantine suggestion in a pair of tweets (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1244056559577071616).

March 29: "We sent thousands of generators to New York ... the people in New York never distributed the generators." Press conference, Trump means ventilators. (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1244394071982051329) 634,835 global cases, 29,957 deaths (WHO), U.S. 122,653 cases, 2,112 deaths (CDC).

March 29: "You’re talking about 2.2 million deaths ... So if we can hold that down, as we’re saying, to 100,000, it’s a horrible number, maybe even less, but to 100,000, so we have between 100 [thousand] and 200,000, we altogether have done a very good job." (https://www.vox.com/2020/3/30/21199586/us-coronavirus-deaths-trump-200000-good-job)

March 30: "It will go away. You know it--you know it is going away, and it will go away, and we're going to have a great victory." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

March 30: Dr. Stephen M. Hahn of the FDA tweets that the FDA has issued an authorization (on March 29) to Battelle for an N95 mask decontamination system recommended by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine; Trump retweets it with thanks to DeWine. The system does not work and the authorization is revoked by April 30, 2021. (https://twitter.com/SteveFDA/status/1244472087831552004)

March 31: "It's going to go away, hopefully at the end of the month. And, if not, hopefully it will be soon after that." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

April 1: "They're doing tests on airlines--very strong tests--for getting on, getting off. They're testing on trains--getting on, getting off." White House briefing. There is no such testing occurring, this is complete fabrication. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/fact-check-trump-plane-and-train-passengers-tested-for-the-coronavirus/index.html) 823,626 global cases, 40,598 deaths (WHO), U.S. 186,101 cases, 3,603 deaths (CDC).

April 1: By this date the U.S. government took delivery of one million test kits, manufactured in China, from Cogna Technology Solutions in the United Arab Emirates, which had been purchased by "WH" (White House) at Jared Kushner's direction. Another 2.5 million test kits were delivered by April 20.  However, these were contracted for illegally, so the U.S. government refused to pay for them, and they were also contaminated and did not work, probably due to improper storage in the UAE after delivery from China. The White House coronavirus task force's national testing program developed in March was never put into effect, because of lack of support from Donald Trump and a political calculation that COVID-19 was largely a blue state problem. (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/how-jared-kushners-secret-testing-plan-went-poof-into-thin-air)

April 2: "Scarf is generally better than a mask because it's thicker." White House briefing. (https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1245852819753705473) 896,540 global cases, 72,839 deaths (WHO), U.S. 213,144 cases, 4,513 deaths (CDC).

April 3: The U.S. federal government seizes orders of personal protective equipment (PPE) destined for France and Germany at the Port of New York, along with equipment ordered by individual states, most notably Massachusetts. The Governor of Massachusetts makes arrangements via the Chinese ambassador to the UN for one million N95 masks to be put on the New England Patriots' plane as a "private humanitarian effort", which are successfully delivered to Boston.  972,640 global cases, 50,325 deaths (WHO), U.S. 239,279 cases, 5,443 deaths (CDC).

April 3: "In one case, an order of 200,000 masks for Germany made by U.S.-listed multinational 3M Co in China were “confiscated” in Bangkok, Berlin Secretary of Interior Andreas Geisel, said in a statement, calling it an “act of modern piracy.”" ... "At the same time, 3M said Friday that the White House ordered it to stop all shipments to Canada and Latin America of respirators that it manufactures in the United States, despite what 3M called “significant humanitarian implications.”" (https://globalnews.ca/news/6775423/coroanvirus-global-face-mask-competition/)

April 3: "It is going to go away...It's going--I didn't say a date. ... I said 'it's going away' and it is going away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

April 7: Trump announces he is "going to put a hold" on funding to the World Health Organization. He later says he had merely promised to consider doing so. (https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1247646160069652482) 1,279,722 global cases, 72,614 deaths (WHO), U.S. 374,329 cases, 12,064 deaths (CDC).

April 7: Trump fires the Inspector General responsible for oversight on distribution of the $2.3 trillion COVID-19 rescue package.

April 7: "It did go--it will go away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

April 10: "The germ has gotten so brilliant that the antibiotic can't keep up with it ... there's a whole genius to it ... not only is it hidden, but it's very smart." White House daily briefing. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections, not viruses. (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1248698754556923904) 1,521,252 global cases, 92,798 deaths (WHO), U.S. 459,165 cases, 16,570 deaths (CDC).

April 10: "The Invisible Enemy will soon be in full retreat!" Trump on Twitter (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1248630671754563585)

April 13: Trump to Bob Woodward, in an interview for his new book, Rage: "This thing is a killer if it gets you. If you're the wrong person, you don't have a chance. ... So this rips you apart. ... It is the plague." (https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1305665212201275396) 1,773,084 global cases, 111,652 deaths (WHO), U.S. 554,849 cases, 21,942 deaths (CDC).

April 14: The Trump administration halts funding of WHO pending review of its handling of COVID-19. 1,844,863 global cases, 117,021 deaths (WHO), U.S. 579,005 cases, 22,252 deaths (CDC).

April 21: 2,397,216 global cases, 162,956 deaths (WHO), U.S. 776,093 cases, 41,758 deaths (CDC).

April 23: "And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out, in a minute. ... Is there a way we can do something like that? By injection, inside, or almost a cleaning, ’cause you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. You’re going to have to use medical doctors, right? But it sounds interesting to me." (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-suggests-injection-disinfectant-beat-coronavirus-clean-lungs-n1191216) Breitbart's attempt to save this nonsense still seems to leave it as nonsense: https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/04/23/fact-check-no-trump-didnt-propose-injecting-people-with-disinfectant/ 2,544,792 global cases, 175,694 deaths (WHO), U.S. 828,441 cases, 46,379 deaths (CDC).

April 24: Trump's VP Mike Pence says, "I truly do believe that if we all continue to do that kind of social distancing and other guidance broadly from federal and state officials, that we’re going to put this coronavirus in the past ... I believe by early June we’re going to see our nation largely past this epidemic. ... I think honestly, if you look at the trends today, that I think by Memorial Day weekend [May 23-25] we will have this coronavirus epidemic behind us." (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-24/pence-says-coronavirus-outbreak-could-be-over-by-memorial-day) 2,626,321 global cases, 181,938 deaths (WHO), U.S. 86,585 cases, 48,816 deaths (CDC.

April 26: After a series of excuses to explain his April 23 injection comments, including that he was just being sarcastic to see what the press would do with it (which undermined Breitbart and anyone else arguing that it was serious and accurate), Trump took no questions at his April 24 briefing, did not present at all at his April 25 briefing, and canceled his briefing on April 26.  2,804,796 global cases, 193,710 deaths (WHO), U.S. 928,619 cases, 52,459 deaths (CDC).  The Washington Post summed up Trump's daily coronavirus briefings: 28 hours of Trump in 35 briefings since March 16, using 60% of the time.  In the past 21 days, 13 hours of Trump, of which two hours was spent attacking others, 45 minutes praising himself, and 4.5 minutes expressing condolences for coronavirus victims.  In 113 of the 346 questions he has answered, he attacked someone.  In 25 percent of his statements he has made false statements. He played self-praising videos three times. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/13-hours-of-trump-the-president-fills-briefings-with-attacks-and-boasts-but-little-empathy/2020/04/25/7eec5ab0-8590-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html)

April 27: Trump at press conference at the White House rose garden: "So, yeah, we’ve lost a lot of people.  But if you look at what original projections were — 2.2 million — we’re probably heading to 60,000, 70,000.  It’s far too many.  One person is too many for this." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-33/) 2,878,196 global cases, 198,668 deaths (WHO), U.S. 928,619 cases, 52,459 deaths (CDC).

April 29: 3,018,952 global cases, 207,973 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,005,147 cases, 57,505 deaths (CDC).

April 30: The Trump administration killed the CDC's guidance document for how to safely re-open American businesses. (https://apnews.com/9c4d5284ba4769d3b98aa05232201f88) 3,090,445 global cases, 217,769 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,031,659 cases, 60,057 deaths (CDC).

May 3: "We're going to lose anywhere from 75, 80, to 100,000 people. That's a horrible thing." A moment of honesty from Trump, Fox News town hall at the Lincoln Memorial. (https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/495905-trump-predicts-virus-death-toll-could-reach-100000-in-the-us) 3,349,786 global cases, 238,628 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,122,486 cases, 65,735 deaths (CDC).

May 5: "I'm viewing our great citizens of this country to a certain extent and to a large extent as warriors. They're warriors. We can't keep our country closed. We have to open our country ... Will some people be badly affected? Yes." Trump at Honeywell, at a mask factory not wearing a mask, in Phoenix, Arizona. By "be badly affected" he means death and permanent damage to lungs and other organs. (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1257778264241844224) 3,517,345 global cases, 243,401 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,171,510 cases, 68,279 deaths (CDC). Today the White House National Economic Council projected U.S. deaths to drop to zero by May 16, just a day after a leaked CDC presentation projected 3,000-15,000 deaths per day by June 1.

May 5: The White House coronavirus task force aims to wind down by around Memorial Day, May 25. (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/politics/white-house-coronavirus-task-force-winding-down/index.html)

May 6: 3,588,773 global cases, 247,503 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,193,813 cases, 70,802 deaths (CDC).

May 7: "Testing is somewhat overrated." (https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1258481384513056769) 3,672,238 global cases, 254,045 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,219,066 cases, 73,297 deaths (CDC).

May 8: "Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive. ... This is why the whole concept of tests aren't necessarily great." Regarding Pence's press secretary and Stephen Miller's wife, Katie Miller, who has tested positive for COVID-19, as did one of Trump's valets. (https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1258893514139668481) 3,759,967 global cases, 259,474 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,248,040 cases, 75,477 deaths (CDC).

May 9: Ivanka Trump's personal assistant tests positive for COVID-19. (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ivanka-trump-personal-assistant-test-positive-coronavirus) 3,855,788 global cases, 265,862 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,274,036 cases, 75,477 deaths (CDC).

May 14: "Don't forget, we have more cases than anybody in the world, but why? Because we do more testing. When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn't do any testing we would have very few cases. They don't want to write that. It's common sense." (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1261017121078861826) 4,248,389 global cases, 294,046 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,384,930 cases, 83,947 deaths (CDC).

May 15: "It'll go away--at some point, it'll go away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

May 17: 4,525,497 global cases, 307,395 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,467,065 cases, 88,709 deaths (CDC).

May 19: CDC guidance for businesses which was originally intended for release on April 30 is released. The guidance for churches and religious congregations was removed. (https://twitter.com/Porter_Anderson/status/1263051970429976576) 4,731,458 global cases, 316,169 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,504,830 cases, 90,340 deaths (CDC).

May 21: Trump calls for 300 million doses of vaccine to be ready by January. (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/12/11/trump-administration-purchases-additional-100-million-doses-covid-19-investigational-vaccine-moderna.html)

May 23: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 5,103,006 global cases, 333,401 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,595,885 cases, 96,002 deaths (CDC).

May 24: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 5,204,508 global cases, 337,687 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,622,114 cases, 97,049 deaths (CDC).

May 25: 5,304,772 global cases, 342,029 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,637,456 cases, 97,669 deaths (CDC).

May 26: Trump says if he hadn't taken swift action in response to COVID-19, "we would have lost 1 1/2 to 2 Million People." (https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1274725458869997570) 5,404,512 global cases, 343,514 deaths (WHO), U.S. 1,662,414 cases, 98,261 deaths (CDC).

June 12: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 7,410,510 global cases, 418,294 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,016,027 cases, 113,914 deaths (CDC).

June 13: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 7,553,182 global cases, 423,349 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,038,344 cases, 114,625 deaths (CDC).

June 14: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 7,690,708 global cases, 427,630 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,063,812 cases, 115,271 deaths (CDC).

June 15: Trump says if he hadn't taken swift action in response to COVID-19, "we would have lost possibly 2.5, 3 million people."  (https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1274725458869997570) 7,823,289 global cases, 431,541 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,085,769 cases, 115,644 deaths (CDC).

June 15: "At some point, this stuff goes away. And it's going away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

June 16: Vice President Mike Pence publishes an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal with the headline "There Isn't a Coronavirus Second Wave."  (For image: https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1419350836547932165) Pence was mistaken. U.S. 2,104,346 cases, 116,140 deaths (CDC).

June 20: Trump holds a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trump says if he hadn't taken swift action in response to COVID-19, "we would have had I would say probably 4 million deaths, 3 million deaths, 2 million deaths."  (https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1274725458869997570)

Also at Tulsa rally: "When you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people. You're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down, please." (https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1274500811486228482) 8,525,042 global cases, 456,973 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,215,618 cases, 119,055 deaths (CDC).

June 21: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 8,708,008 global cases, 461,715 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,248,029 cases, 119,615 deaths (CDC).

June 23: Questioned about his claim that he asked for testing to be slowed, which staffers had claimed was a joke, Trump stated that he wasn't joking.  (https://twitter.com/weijia/status/1275422015059615750)

On Twitter he repeated his claim that more cases are caused by more testing: "Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding. With smaller testing we would show fewer cases!" (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1275381670561095682)

June 23: At the Students for Trump Rally at the Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, Trump seemed not to know what the 19 in COVID-19 means: "I could give you 19 or 20 names. ...I said, 'What's the 19?' COVID-19, some people can't explain what the 19, give me, COVID-19, I said, 'That's an odd name.'" (https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4888678/user-clip-trump-19-covid-19-means)

June 27: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 9,653,048 global cases, 491,128 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,459,472 cases, 124,976 deaths (CDC).

June 28: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 9,843,073 global cases, 495,760 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,504,175 cases, 125,484 deaths (CDC).

July: Trump administration signs a deal with Pfizer for 100 million doses of its vaccine (enough for 50M people to each get two shots), but passes on an opportunity to get another 100M doses, with the result that Pfizer can't guarantee any more doses than the original 100M until after June 2021. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/us/politics/trump-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine.html)

July 1: Trump tells Fox Business that he expects the coronavirus will "just sort of disappear," as he claimed back on February 27. (https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1278404618511421445) 10,357,662 global cases, 508,055 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,624,873 cases, 127,299 deaths (CDC).

July 3: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 10,710,005 global cases, 517,877 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,732,531 cases, 128,648 deaths (CDC).

July 5: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 11,125,245 global cases, 528,204 deaths (WHO), U.S. 2,789,678 cases, 129,305 deaths (CDC).

July 9: Trump tweet: "For the 1/100th time, the reason we show so many Cases, compared to other countries that haven't done nearly as well as we have, is that our TESTING is much bigger and better. We have tested 40,000,000 people. If we did 20,000,000 instead, Cases would be half, etc. NOT REPORTED!" Trump shows that he doesn't understand what per-capita means, doesn't know what fractions are, and doesn't know when to capitalize. (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1281206354334625793) 11,874,226 global cases, 545,481 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,047,671 cases, 132,056 deaths (CDC).

July 10: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Doral, Florida. 12,102,328 global cases, 551,046 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,106,931 cases, 132,855 deaths (CDC).

July 11: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 12,322,395 global cases, 556,335 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,173,212 cases, 132,666 deaths (CDC).

July 12: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 12,552,765 global cases, 561,617 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,236,130 cases, 134,572 deaths (CDC).

July 18: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 13,876,441 global cases, 593,087 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,630,587 cases, 138,782 deaths (CDC).

July 19: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 14,043,176 global cases, 597,583 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,698,161 cases, 139,659 deaths (CDC).

July 19: "I will be right eventually. You know, I said, 'it's going to disappear.' I'll say it again." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

July 21: In an interview with Bob Woodward for his new book, Rage, Trump says "The virus has nothing to do with me. It's not my fault." (https://twitter.com/gelles/status/1303748083688378368) 14,562,550 global cases, 607,781 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,819,139 cases, 140,630 deaths (CDC).

July 22: Trump on Fox News: "It makes us look bad... if instead of 50 million [tests], we did 25 million, we'd have half the number of cases." (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1286141652558643200) 14,765,256 global cases, 612,054 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,882,167 cases, 141,677 deaths (CDC). U.S. deaths have risen to over 1,000 per day again, last seen on June 26.

July 22: Trump on Fox News: "Watch: On November 4, everything will open up." (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1286144789352787969)

July 22: California passes New York for total COVID-19 cases.

July 23: "The country is in very good shape, other than if you look south and west. That will all work out." Trump press conference announcing the cancellation of the Republican National Convention activities in Jacksonville, Florida. (https://twitter.com/scottbix/status/1286421527408381957) 15,012,731 global cases, 619,150 deaths (WHO), U.S. 3,952,273 cases, 142,755 deaths (CDC).

July 25: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. Florida passes New York for total COVID-19 cases. 15,581,009 global cases, 635,173 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,099,310 cases, 145,013 deaths (CDC).

July 26: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 15,785,641 global cases, 640,016 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,163,892 cases, 145,942 deaths (CDC).

July 28: It's publicly announced that Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to provide a $765 million loan to Kodak to allow it to start manufacturing pharmaceutical precursors, including for hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug touted by the president for COVID-19 treatment but which has been found in randomized controlled trials to be ineffective for that purpose. The primary shareholder of Kodak, Ted Suhl, a Trump supporter, was convicted of bribery charges for a Medicare scam but had his prison sentence commuted by Trump. Kodak executives were awarded stock options the day before the announcement, which caused Kodak's stock price to soar. (https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/kodak-pharma-stock-active-ingredient) 16,341,920 global cases, 650,805 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,280,135 cases, 147,672 deaths (CDC).

August 1: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 17,396,943 global cases, 675,060 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,542,579 cases, 152,870 deaths (CDC).

August 2: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 17,660,523 global cases, 680,894 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,601,526 cases, 154,002 deaths (CDC).

August 3: Trump interview with Jonathan Swan airs. Trump says the U.S. is doing the best in the world with COVID-19 in "numerous categories."  Swan: "Oh, you're doing death as a proportion of cases. I'm talking about death as a proportion of population. That's where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc." Trump: "You can't do that." Swan: "Why can't I do that?"(https://twitter.com/axios/status/1290497186489348096) 17,918,582 global cases, 686,703 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,649,102 cases, 154,471 deaths (CDC).

August 3: From the same Swan interview: Trump: "Other countries don't test like we do, so they don't show cases." Swan: "We're testing so much because it's spread so far in America." Trump: "...Jonathan, when I took over, we didn't even have a test." Swan: "Why would you have a test? The virus didn't exist?" Full interview: https://www.axios.com/full-axios-hbo-interview-donald-trump-cd5a67e1-6ba1-46c8-bb3d-8717ab9f3cc5.html

August 4: Trump, who on July 28 touted his use of the Defense Production Act to lend $765 million to Kodak, now that the SEC is investigating the circumstances around Kodak's announcement of the loan and stock activity, now says "I wasn't involved in the deal." (https://twitter.com/VickyPJWard/status/1290790397065793538) 18,142,718 global cases, 691,013 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,698,818 cases, 155,204 deaths (CDC).

August 5: "This thing's going away. It will go away like things go away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

August 7: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 18,902,735 global cases, 709,511 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,858,596 cases, 158,887 deaths (CDC).

August 8: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 19,187,943 global cases, 716,075 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,920,369 cases, 160,220 deaths (CDC).

August 9: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 19,462,112 global cases, 722,285 deaths (WHO), U.S. 4,974,959 cases, 161,284 deaths (CDC).

August 10: Trump says that the influenza pandemic of "1917" (it was in 1918, but Trump always incorrectly says 1917) probably ended World War II. (https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1292956445944606721) 19,718,030 global cases, 728,013 deaths (WHO), U.S. 5,023,649 cases, 161,842 deaths (CDC).

August 15: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ, as his brother dies at the age of 71. 21,026,758 global cases, 755,786 deaths (WHO), U.S. 5,285,546 cases, 167,546 deaths (CDC).

August 16: Trump (possibly) plays golf at the Trump National in Bedminster, NJ. 21,294,845 global cases, 761,779 deaths (WHO), U.S. 5,340,232 cases, 166,696 deaths (CDC).

August 19: "“You’re killing me! This whole thing is! We’ve got all the damn cases,” Mr. Trump yelled at Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, during a gathering of top aides in the Oval Office on Aug. 19. “I want to do what Mexico does. They don’t give you a test till you get to the emergency room and you’re vomiting.”" (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html)

August 22: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 22,812,491 global cases, 795,132 deaths (WHO), U.S. 5,598,547 cases, 174,645 deaths (CDC).

August 23: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia, while tweeting "Happy Sunday! We want GOD!" (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/23/trump-religion-god-400250) 23,057,288 global cases, 800,906 deaths (WHO), U.S. 5,643,812 cases, 175,651 deaths (CDC).

August 30: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia with Trey Gowdy and Jason Chaffetz. 24,854,140 global cases, 838,924 deaths (WHO), U.S. 5,934,824 cases, 182,149 deaths (CDC).

August 31: "It's going to go away." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

September 5: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 26,468,031 global cases, 871,166 deaths (WHO), U.S. 6,181,474 cases, 187,159 deaths (CDC).

September 6: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 26,763,217 global cases, 876,616 deaths (WHO), U.S. 6,226,879 cases, 188,051 deaths (CDC).

September 9: The White House orders an end to airport screenings for travelers entering the United States--no symptom or temperature checks, nothing. (https://twitter.com/weinbergersa/status/1303750595724140550) 27,486,960 global cases, 894,983 deaths (WHO), U.S. 6,310,663 cases, 189,147 deaths (CDC).

September 9: Trump administration Health and Human Services science adviser Paul Alexander wrote an email to Michael Caputo, Health and Human Services public affairs chief, touting two examples where the CDC had changed wording in reports in response to his influence, to downplay the coronavirus pandemic. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/09/cdc-covid-political-interference/)

September 11: Trump HHS science adviser Paul Alexander asked White House adviser Scott Atlas to help him write an op-ed "timed for the election" to oppose advice from an upcoming CDC report. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/09/cdc-covid-political-interference/)

September 15: Trump says the pandemic will end due to "herd mentality." (https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1306039211150237698)  He chides Joe Biden for not implementing a nationwide mask mandate (as a private citizen?). (https://twitter.com/Olivianuzzi/status/1306038681837490176) 29,155,581 global cases, 926,544 deaths (WHO), U.S. 6,537,627 cases, 194,092 deaths (CDC).

September 15: "It is going away. And it's probably going to go away now a lot faster because of the vaccines." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

September 18: Jon Karl of ABC News: "How is it that you don't trust your own experts? Do you think you know better than they do?" Trump: "Yeah, in many cases I do."  (Narrator: He doesn't.) (https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1307069420590829571) 30,055,710 global cases, 943,433 deaths (WHO), U.S. 6,656,799 cases, 197,116 deaths (CDC).

September 20: Trump plays golf at the Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. 30,675,675 global cases, 954,417 deaths (WHO), U.S. 6,748,935 cases, 198,754 deaths (CDC).

September 21:  "It affects virtually nobody."  (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1308209927274536961) 30,949,804 global cases, 959,116 deaths (WHO), U.S. 6,786,352 cases, 199,024 deaths (CDC).

September 26: Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination event at the White House Rose Garden, at which Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) sat, maskless, a few seats away from president of Notre Dame, Rev. John Jenkins, also maskless. Video from the event shows Sen. Lee hugging people at the event. Both reported that they tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, October 2, as do three other attendees, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, and presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway (after being outed by her daughter on TikTok). (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/white-house-covid-cases-amy-coney-barrett-nomination-event.html) 32,429,965 global cases, 985,823 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,009,216 cases, 203,180 deaths (CDC).

September 27: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 32,730,945 global cases, 991,224 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,059,087 cases, 204,033 deaths (CDC).

September 29: The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is held at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, writes in his November 2021 memoir, The Chief's Chief, that Trump knew he was infected with COVID-19 prior to the debate. (https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-donald-trump-joe-biden-health-campaigns-0f7315791a3ead1919842c894bedb68f)

September 30: Hope Hicks, senior counselor to the president, reports symptoms of COVID-19 while flying on Air Force One to Trump's rally in Minnesota. She tests positive for COVID-19 the morning of October 1, which is publicly reported in the afternoon. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also tests positive for COVID-19, publicly reported on October 2, after the president's report. 33,502,430 global cases, 1,004,421 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,168,077 cases, 205,372 deaths (CDC).

October 1: Trump attends a fundraiser at his golf club in New Jersey, possibly while knowing he was COVID-19 infected. He said on Fox News on Thursday evening that he was still awaiting test results, but we now know he already had a positive result from a rapid test when he said that. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-didnt-disclose-first-positive-covid-19-test-while-awaiting-a-second-test-on-thursday-11601844813) 33,842,281 global cases, 1,010,634 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,213,419 cases, 206,402 deaths (CDC).

October 1: Trump possibly plays golf at the Trump National, Bedminister, New Jersey.

October 2: President Donald Trump and his wife Melania both report positive test results for COVID-19. Trump's former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, tweets that Trump is "asymptotic" [sic], but the White House reports that he has mild symptoms including lethargy, but within hours reports more symptoms, and the fact that Trump has been given a maximum dose of an experimental antibody drug treatment from Regeneron (on Thursday evening, Oct 1). Trump goes to Walter Reed Hospital in the afternoon. 34,161,721 global cases, 1,016,918 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,260,465 cases, 207,302 deaths (CDC).

October 3: Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security committee, reports that he has also tested positive for COVID-19 (but was not in attendance at the Saturday Rose Garden event). White House physician Dr. Sean Conley stated that we are "72 hours" into Trump's diagnosis and "48 hours" into treatment, which implies he knew he was positive on the morning of September 30, not on October 1 or 2. A White House official subsequently "clarified" saying that he meant 3 days (i.e., >48 hours), not 72 hours, and 2 days (i.e., >24 hours), not 48 hours.

October 8: Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo: "Do you feel that you are contagious?" Trump: "I don't think I'm contagious at all." (He is almost certainly still contagious.) (https://twitter.com/karentravers/status/1314175678271586305) 35,659,007 global cases, 1,044,269 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,475,262 cases, 210,232 deaths (CDC).

October 8: Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar says the Trump administration hopes to have 100 million doses of vaccine (for 50 million people) ready by the end of the year.  This quantity was later reduced to 40 million doses for 20 million people. (https://www.hhs.gov/about/leadership/secretary/speeches/2020-speeches/secretary-azar-delivers-remarks-operation-warp-speed-goldman-sachs-healthcare-virtual-event.html)

October 10: "It's going to disappear, it is disappearing." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

October 15: Trump possibly plays golf at the Trump National, Doral, Florida. 38,394,169 global cases, 1,089,047 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,894,768 cases, 216,025 deaths (CDC). A second presidential debate scheduled for this date at the Arsht Center in Miami, Florida is cancelled due to COVID-19.

October 16: Trump possibly plays golf at the Trump National, Doral, Florida. 38,789,204 global cases, 1,095,097 deaths (WHO), U.S. 7,958,254 cases, 216,917 deaths (CDC).

October 22: A third (second, after the second one is cancelled) presidential debate is held at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

October 23: "We're rounding the corner beautifully." (https://twitter.com/JDiamond1/status/1319801872513929216) 41,570,883 global cases, 1,134,940 deaths (WHO), U.S. 8,387,047 cases, 222,447 deaths (CDC).

October 24: At rally in Lumberton, NC: "That's all I hear about now. Turn on TV, 'Covid, Covid, Covid Covid Covid.' A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. 'Covid Covid Covid Covid.' By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore ... 'please don't go and vote, Covid!'" What Trump describes regarding a plane crash not being reported has never happened, but COVID-19 is killing twice that many people every day in the United States. About 309 people have died in airplane and helicopter crashes globally so far in 2020; the most recent single plane crash with more than 500 fatalities was the worst such crash ever, and it occurred in August 12, 1985, Japan Air Lines Flight 123 from Tokyo to Osaka. (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1320053682759663622) 41,570,883 global cases, 1,134,940 deaths (WHO), U.S. 8,469,976 cases, 223,393 deaths (CDC).

October 24: "It is going away; it's rounding the turn." (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444)

November 3: The U.S. presidential election occurs, with an all-time high voter turnout. 46,840,783 global cases, 1,204,028 deaths (WHO), U.S. 9,268,818 cases, 230,893 deaths (CDC).

November 7: It becomes clear that Joe Biden has won more than 270 electoral votes and will be the next U.S. president. Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 49,106,931 global cases, 1,239,157 deaths (WHO), U.S. 9,714,600 cases, 235,475 deaths (CDC).

November 8: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 49,578,590 global cases, 1,245,717 deaths (WHO), U.S. 9,808,411 cases, 236,547 deaths (CDC).

November 13: It has become mathematically impossible for Trump to win in Arizona, and it is now clear that the election result is 306 electoral votes to Biden and 232 for Trump, the same margin in electoral votes that Trump had over Hillary Clinton in 2016 that he called a "landslide" (it's not, but it's not particularly close, either). The big difference is that Biden also won the popular vote by millions of votes, and the total margin in the swing states is larger for Biden than it was for Trump in 2016. 52,487,476 global cases, 1,290,653 deaths (WHO), U.S. 10,508,864 cases, 242,216 deaths (CDC).

November 14: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 53,164,303 global cases, 1,300,576 deaths (WHO), U.S. 10,690,665 cases, 243,580 deaths (CDC).

November 15: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 53,766,728 global cases, 1,308,975 deaths (WHO), U.S. 10,846,373 cases, 244,810 deaths (CDC).

November 21: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 57,274,018 global cases, 1,368,000 deaths (WHO), U.S. 11,843,490 cases, 253,600 deaths (CDC).

November 22: Trump possibly plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 57,882,183 global cases, 1,377,395 deaths (WHO), U.S. 12,028,081 cases, 255,076 deaths (CDC).

November 26: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 60,074,174 global cases, 1,416,292 deaths (WHO), U.S. 12,498,734 cases, 259,005 deaths (CDC).

November 27: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 60,534,526 global cases, 1,426,101 deaths (WHO), U.S. 12,823,092 cases, 262,673 deaths (CDC).

November 28: Trump possibly plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 61,299,371 global cases, 1,439,784 deaths (WHO), U.S. 12,999,664 cases, 263,956 deaths (CDC).

December 5: Trump holds a "victory rally" in Valdosta, Georgia, a misinformation-filled rally in state he lost to Joe Biden. 65,257,767 global cases, 1,513,179 deaths (WHO), U.S. 14,255,535 cases, 277,825 deaths (CDC).

December 10: U.S. sets a new record for daily new cases (+231,396) and a new record for daily new deaths (+3,411). 68,165,877 global cases, 1,557,385 deaths (WHO), U.S. 15,271,571 cases, 288,762 deaths.

December 11: The Trump administration purchases an additional 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine (bringing the total to 200 million doses for this vaccine). (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/12/11/trump-administration-purchases-additional-100-million-doses-covid-19-investigational-vaccine-moderna.html)

December 12: U.S. sets a new record for daily new cases (+244,011), beating the record set on December 10. 69,808,588 global cases, 1,588,854 deaths (WHO), U.S. 15,718,811 cases, 294,535 deaths.

December 13: Trump plays golf at the Trump National, Potomac Falls, Virginia. 70,461,926 global cases, 1,599,704 deaths (WHO), U.S. 15,932,116 cases, 296,818 deaths (CDC).

December 14: The electoral college votes, electing Joe Biden as president, 306 votes to Trump's 232. 71,051,805 global cases, 1,608,648 deaths (WHO), U.S. 16,113,148 cases, 298,266 deaths (CDC).

December 17: U.S. sets a new record for daily new deaths (+3,435), beating the record set on December 10. 72,851,747 global cases, 1,643,339 deaths (WHO), U.S. 16,756,581 cases, 306,427 deaths (CDC).

December 18: U.S. sets a new record for daily new deaths (+3,444), beating the record set December 17. [no WHO data update on dashboard], U.S. 16,987,911 cases, 309,880 deaths (CDC).

December 19: U.S. sets a new record for daily new cases (+403,359), beating the record set on December 12. 74,299,042 global cases, 1,669,982 deaths (WHO), U.S. 17,391,270 cases, 312,636 deaths (CDC).

December 24: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida. 77,530,799 global cases, 1,724,904 deaths (WHO), U.S. 18,391,571 cases, 325,096 deaths (CDC).

December 25: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida. 78,194,947 global cases, 1,736,752 deaths (WHO), U.S. 18,584,924 cases, 327,900 deaths (CDC).

December 27: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida. 79,232,555 global cases, 1,754,493 deaths (WHO), U.S. 18,909,910 cases, 330,901 deaths (CDC).

December 28: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida. 79,673,754 global cases, 1,761,381 deaths (WHO), U.S. 19,055,869 cases, 332,246 deaths (CDC).

December 30: Trump plays golf at the Trump International, West Palm Beach, Florida. 80,773,033 global cases, 1,783,619 deaths (WHO), U.S. 19,432,125 cases, 337,419 deaths (CDC).

December 31: The year ends with only about 2.6 million doses of vaccine administered, against the administration's goal of 20 million doses, largely due to failure to fund the "last mile" of distribution. (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/30/coronavirus-vaccine-target-trump-452558) 81,475,053 global cases, 1,798,050 deaths (WHO), U.S. 19,663,976 cases, 341,199 deaths (CDC). The U.S. sets a new record for COVID-19 deaths in a single day, 3,764.

January 6, 2021: As Congress begins counting the electoral votes, Donald Trump gives a speech to a gathering crowd which incites them to storm the U.S. Capitol and break in and vandalize it, causing Congress to recess during the very beginning of debate over Rep. Paul Gosar's (R-AZ) baseless objection to the electoral votes of Arizona.  Five people died in the melee -- one woman was shot in the chest inside the Capitol, three died from "medical emergencies," and a Capitol Police officer dies from injuries inflicted by the crowd. (Another Capitol Police officer commits suicide days later.) Congress reconvened in the evening and confirmed early the next morning that Joe Biden won the electoral college vote, 306-232. 81,810,000 global cases, 1,854,195 deaths (WHO), U.S. 20,960,096 cases, 356,005 deaths (CDC).

January 13, 2021: The House votes to impeach Trump a second time, 232-197, with 10 Republicans including #3 Republican in the House, Liz Cheney, voting to impeach. U.S. 22,740,142 cases, 379,255 deaths (CDC).

January 15, 2021: The Trump administration vows to release a reserve of additional doses of vaccine so that states can use held-back second doses as first doses for more people, but it turns out the reserve didn't exist. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/15/trump-vaccine-reserve-used-up/) U.S. 23,193,703 cases, 387,255 deaths  (CDC).

Some date in January prior to January 20, 2021: Donald and Melania Trump are secretly vaccinated against COVID-19 at the White House. This is not made public until March 1, 2021. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/01/politics/trump-melania-vaccinated-white-house/index.html)

January 20, 2021: Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president, and spent the afternoon signing executive orders including rejoining the World Health Organization. On his first day in office (Jan 21) he rolled out a national coronavirus plan which included a goal to administer 100 million vaccinations in the next 100 days. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/politics/biden-national-coronavirus-plan/index.html) U.S. 24,876,261 cases, 400,306 deaths (CDC).

January 27, 2021: The Washington Post reported that "Federal officials repeatedly raided a fund earmarked for biomedical research in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, spending millions of dollars on unrelated salaries, administrative expenses, and even the cost of removing office furniture, according to the findings of an investigation int a whistleblower complaint" shared with the Post. The funds were taken from hundreds of millions of dollars for vaccine and drug research by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which Health and Human Services officials in the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response (Dr. Nicole Lurie, June 2009-January 2017) at HHS referred to as the "bank of BARDA." The whistleblower reports not seeing such misuse under Lurie's predecessor as assistant secretary for preparedness and response. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/27/barda-health-funds-misappropiated/)

February 6, 2021: The U.S. Senate votes to acquit Donald Trump a second time, on incitement of insurrection, 57-43, in a bipartisan majority that failed by 10 votes to reach 2/3. 7 Republican Senators voted with the majority. Trump's impeachment trials were the third and fourth impeachment trials of a U.S. president; he is the first president to be impeached twice and the first president to receive bipartisan votes to convict in a Senate impeachment trial.

July 4, 2021: The U.S. falls short of President Biden's call for 70% of Americans to be vaccinated by July 4, not due to unavailability of vaccine but due to Republican resistance to getting vaccinated. About 67% of the adult U.S. population has been vaccinated. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-covid-19-vaccine-goal-missed/) 183,560,151 global cases, 3,978,581 deaths (WHO, July 5), U.S. 33,530,880 cases, 603,018 deaths (CDC).

May 11, 2023: The Centers for Disease Control marks the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/end-of-phe.html)

July 21, 2023: President Joe Biden appoints retired Maj. Gen. Paul Friedrichs to move from his role leading global health security and biodefense at the White House National Security Council to lead a new Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy in the Executive Office of the President. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-selects-retired-general-lead-new-pandemic-response-office-rcna95577)

Also see:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/26/trumps-coronavirus-commentary-pollyannaish-downright-false/

And:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/11/fact-check-a-list-of-28-ways-trump-and-his-team-have-been-dishonest-about-the-coronavirus/

And:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus/608647/

And: Linda Qiu, "Analyzing the Patterns in Trump's Falsehoods About Coronavirus"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-factcheck.html

And: Ryan Goodman and Danielle Schulkin, Just Security, Timeline of the Coronavirus Pandemic and U.S. Response

And: Eric Lipton, David Sanger, et al., New York Times, "He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump's Failure on the Virus"

And: Garrett Graff, Wired, "An Oral History of the Pandemic Warnings Trump Ignored"

And: Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes, The Atlantic, "What's So Hard to Understand About What Trump Has Said? A clarifying look at the president's response to coronavirus, in his own words"
And: Daniel Dale and Christopher Hickey, CNN, "Timeline: Tracking Trump's rising coronavirus death toll estimates"

And: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_post-election_Donald_Trump_rallies#2020_campaign_rallies

And: https://trumpgolfcount.com/displayoutings