Biden Campaign Statement on Stanford Study Showing Grim Toll of Trump's Superspreader Rallies

A stunning new study from Stanford University estimates that 18 of Donald Trump's rallies between June and September — a fraction of the total number of rallies his campaign has held — resulted in 30,000 additional COVID-19 cases, and 700 deaths.

This study adds to a mounting body of evidence, including recent reports from USA Today, CNN and the Center for American Progress that have shown how Trump's campaign rallies have "left a trail of coronavirus outbreaks in his wake."

Worst yet, the Stanford study doesn't even include superspreader events that Trump has hosted at the White House like his norm-busting South Lawn convention event in August, the Rose Garden event in September that is believed to have played a role in the White House outbreak that infected Trump himself, or last week's South Lawn swearing-in of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. They also don't include the last five weeks of events across the country, taking place as cases spikes and hospitalizations rise.

As America approaches 100,000 new COVID-19 cases each day because of the Trump administration's decision to surrender to the virus, new polling shows that Americans widely condemn Donald Trump's reckless campaign events. But asked yesterday by ABC News if he thinks there's any danger in continuing to host campaign rallies as cases surge, Trump responded: "No, I don't at all, no."

Statement by Andrew Bates, Biden for President Director of Rapid Response:

"The same president whose disastrously mismanaged response has failed our nation for eight months, who dismissed thousands of deaths by saying 'it is what it is', and whose administration privately told Wall Street the truth about this outbreak while lying to the American people for his own optics not only has no plan to defeat the pandemic — he's even costing hundreds of lives and sparking thousands of cases with super spreader rallies that only serve his own ego.

"The worst part is that this doesn't even capture Trump's many superspreader events on White House grounds or the last five weeks of events across the country. How many more lives have been upended in that time? How many more empty seats are there at kitchen tables across America because of Donald Trump's ego? Joe Biden knows the presidency is the duty to care and to fight for all Americans, regardless of their politics. Donald Trump doesn't even care about the very lives of his strongest supporters."

Washington Post: Stanford study estimates that 18 crowded Trump rallies ultimately resulted in 30,000 coronavirus cases

A new study from Stanford University estimates that 18 of Trump's recent large-scale campaign rallies ultimately resulted in 30,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and probably led to more than 700 deaths among attendees and others infected by them.

The study, released Friday by Stanford economics professor B. Douglas Bernheim and three doctoral students, examined rallies staged by Trump between June 20 and Sept. 30 and looked at the trajectory of cases in the counties in which they were held.

"Our analysis strongly supports the warnings and recommendations of public health officials concerning the risk of COVID-19 transmission at large group gatherings, particularly when the degree of compliance with guidelines concerning the use of masks and social distancing is low," the authors said. "The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death."

Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the study's findings.

During the closing weeks of the campaign, Trump has touted his ability to draw large crowds and mocked Biden for holding "drive-in" events with far fewer attendees.