With millions of Americans concerned about coronavirus, radio host Rush Limbaugh is providing some perspective on the actual number of fatalities from COVID-19 compared to those from other causes.
On his Wednesday broadcast, Limbaugh cited a list from worldometers.info that rounded up the worldwide deaths from Jan. 1 through March 25 of 2020:
“Coronavirus: 21,000 deaths.
Seasonal flu: 113,000.
Malaria: 228,000.
Suicide: 249,000.
Traffic fatalities, 313, almost 314,000 deaths.
HIV/AIDS, 391,000 deaths.
Alcohol related deaths, 581,000.
Smoking-related deaths, 1,162,000.
Cancer deaths, 1,909,000 deaths.
Deaths attributed to starvation, 2,382,000 deaths.
And death by abortion, 9,900,000.”
“I’m not trying to make any correlation,” Limbaugh explained.
“I’m not trying to say, ‘Hey, we’re overreacting to coronavirus death.’ I’m just giving you the stats here. You can react to these stats however you wish.”
He added: “You still have some really shocking numbers. Because we don’t talk about it. We got suicide hotlines. We try to teach people to drive safely. We do whatever we do with HIV/AIDS. We tell people to drink responsibly, tell people not to smoke, try to devise cancer treatments, we try to feed people.”
Limbaugh even mentioned efforts by his hometown of Palm Beach, Florida: “The town website where I live is chiding people for being on the beach, for standing too close together while their dogs are pooping. I mean, you wouldn’t believe it. I’ve seen it all.”
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