Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump says Mexico has 'big coronavirus problems' despite US having three times as many deaths as Mexican Covid-19 cases

Donald Trump said California was lucky to have him as president, whilst citing Mexico’s coronavirus problems

Gino Spocchia
Monday 04 May 2020 10:46 EDT
Comments
Trump closes Canada and Mexico borders as part of coronavirus response

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump has said that Mexico was having ‘big coronavirus problems’ despite the country’s number of cases being about one third of the United States death toll.

The president, who congratulated himself on having a “very tight” border with Mexico, made the statement despite all confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Mexico standing at 23,471 - almost three times less than all American deaths.

In comparison, the US passed the one million mark for coronavirus cases last week, whilst having the highest death toll of any country anywhere, at almost 69,000 on Monday.

Whilst the US president has been criticised for his management of the crisis, Trump has made repeated claims about border closures during the pandemic in a bid to deflect blame.

“Mexico is sadly experiencing very big CoronaVirus problems, and now California, get this, doesn’t want people coming over the Southern Border. A Classic!”, said Trump on Twitter on Monday.

He added: “They are sooo lucky that I am their President. Border is very tight and the Wall is rapidly being built!”

Trump has claimed that his shutdown of US borders have helped to stop the spread of the pandemic in the US, despite those decisions coming much later than the first reported cases.

The agreement made between the US and Mexico to stop non-essential travel between the two countrys came on March 20, when the US already had almost 20,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases.

At the same time, the president has claimed that his ban on some Chinese arrivals at the beginning of February had prevented the spread of Covid-19.

In comments made to CNN last month, Democrat house speaker Nancy Pelosi ridiculed the president’s claims.

“Actually tens of thousands of people were allowed in from China, it wasn't as it was described as this great moment,” Ms Pelosi said.

She added: “So if you're going to shut the door because you have an evaluation because of an epidemic, then shut the door”.

President Trump’s comments on Monday come despite his own administration and US multinationals pressuring Mexico to keep operating factories during the pandemic that are deemed crucial to supply chains feeding the US.

“The destruction of the economy is also a health threat,” said the US ambassador to Mexico, Christopher Landau, on Twitter in April. “There are risks everywhere, but we don’t all stay at home for fear we are going to get in a car accident.”

The situation has led to outbreaks of Covid-19 infections at a number of factories along the US-Mexico border.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in