President Donald Trump lashed out at Fox News host Chris Wallace after he was challenged on the false premise that the United States has the "lowest" COVID-19 mortality rate in the world.
"I think we have one of the lowest mortality rates," Trump argued in an interview that aired on Sunday.
"That's not true," Wallace pointed out. "We have 900 deaths on a single day this week. You can check it out."
At that point, Trump turned to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who was off camera, to back him up.
"I heard we have one of the lowest, maybe the lowest mortality rate anywhere in the world," Trump told McEnany, refusing to look at Wallace. "Do you have the numbers, please? Because I heard we have the best mortality rate."
McEnany interrupted the interview to deliver a piece of paper.
"Number one low mortality rate," Trump insisted, flashing the piece of paper at Wallace.
"I hope you show this because it shows what fake news is," the president griped.
"I don't think I'm fake news," Wallace replied.
"Today, you are," Trump shot back.
"I put the facts on," Wallace observed.
"You said we had the worst mortality rate in the world!" Trump exclaimed.
At that point, Fox News paused the interview to fact check the president.
According to numbers from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. ranks seventh in mortality.
