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'It is what it is,' Trump says of rising coronavirus death toll as he insists outbreak is 'under control'

President Donald Trump said his administration has done an "incredible" job handling the coronavirus pandemic, and despite rising deaths, the outbreak is "under control" in a wide-ranging and contentious interview that aired on HBO Monday night.

Axios national political correspondent Jonathan Swan began the interview by asking Trump if his sometimes "wishful thinking" and "salesmanship" were suitable during a crisis that has killed more than 155,000 people in the USA.

"I think you have to have a positive outlook; otherwise, you would have nothing," Trump said. As he frequently has done in defending his record on the pandemic, the president pointed to the travel restrictions he imposed on China and Europe, arguing hundreds of thousands – a number he later put in the "millions" – more would have died without those actions. He added that even one death is too many.

"Those people that really understand it, that really understand it, they said it's incredible the job that we've done," Trump said.

"Who says that?" Swan asked, but Trump continued to talk about the China travel ban. Swan pointed out that the virus was already in the USA by the time Trump issued the ban. Experts have said there isn't enough data to conclude the restrictions made a significant difference. A study in the journal Science found the various travel limitations across the globe helped slow the spread of the pandemic but more was needed to contain it.

"Well, it's here now, and you're the president," Swan said when Trump blamed China for failing to stop the virus.

Swan pressed Trump on whether his positive spin on outbreak – telling people the outbreak is under control and not to worry about wearing masks – could put them in danger by "giving them a false sense of security."

"I've covered you for a long time. I've gone to your rallies. I've talked to your people. They love you. They listen to you," Swan said. "They don't listen to me or the media or (Dr. Anthony) Fauci. They think we're fake news. They want to get their advice from you."

"Many of them are older people, Mr. President," Swan said.

Trump said he thinks the outbreak is "under control." Swan asked how he could say that after the average number of daily deaths climbed back up past 1,000.

"They are dying, that's true. And it is what it is," Trump said. "But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control, as much as you can control it."

'You can't do that': Trump pushes back on data

When Swan cited rising deaths from COVID-19 in the USA, Trump argued that in comparison with other nations, the United States handled the virus well. The president produced a chart that he said showed the USA was lower in the number of deaths per confirmed cases. A glimpse of the graph showed it compared four lines of data, so it was unclear what the U.S. was being measured against since there are more than 190 countries in the world.

The USA does have a lower percentage of deaths per confirmed cases than several nations, including most members of the European Union. But the U.S. rate is higher than 98 other nations, including Australia, Japan and South Korea, according to data compiled by Statista.

Swan said he was referring to death as a proportion of population, where only six countries have fared worse than the USA, which leads the world in total deaths from the coronavirus.

"You can't do that," Trump said. "You have to go by the cases."

Swan pointed to South Korea, which has had 301 coronavirus deaths.

"You don't know that," Trump said of South Korea's death toll.

"You think they're faking their statistics? South Korea?" Swan asked.

"I won't get into that because I have a very good relationship with the country," Trump said.

Trump claims some 'say you can test too much' but won't specify who

Trump repeated his claim that the high number of cases in the USA is due to the high rate of testing – though Swan argued many other nations did not have to test as much because they had the virus better contained and that testing was not to blame for the rising number of hospitalizations and deaths.

"You know there are those that say you can test too much. You do know that," Trump said.

"Who says that?" Swan asked.

"Just read the manuals, read the books," Trump said.

"Manuals? What manuals?" Swan asked.

"Read the books," Trump said.

"What books?" Swan asked.

The president didn't specify what experts or materials he was referring to.

Trump conceded that in some places, test results were not available quickly enough. He said the aim was for all Americans to have access to the kind of same-day results that are available to the White House, though he did not say when he thought that would be accomplished.

Trump acknowledges New Hampshire rally canceled over COVID concerns

The president defended a fizzled attempt to restart campaign events in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he held his first and only rally in the months since the coronavirus crisis unfolded.

Amid concerns over a spike in coronavirus cases across the state, the rally June 20 at Tulsa's BOK Center, which holds 19,000 people, drew a crowd of 6,200, according to a Tulsa Fire Department estimate.

"First of all, we had 12,000 people, not 6,000, which you reported and other people reported," Trump told Swan. "But you couldn't even get in, it was like an armed camp."

The Trump campaign blamed low turnout on protesters outside the arena, but USA TODAY journalists at the rally did not witness any demonstrations that blocked the highly secured entrances.

Trump suggested he canceled a New Hampshire rally July 12 over coronavirus concerns, though his campaign cited weather related to Tropical Storm Fay when it abruptly scrapped plans for the Portsmouth rally.

"We were going to have a great crowd in New Hampshire, and I canceled it for the same reason," Trump told Swan, who had twice referred to the decision to cancel the planned Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida, because of the outbreak.

The president tweeted a day before the canceled event that he was "forced to reschedule" by the storm.

New Hampshire and Oklahoma health officials warned residents against attending Trump rallies over fear of spreading the virus.

Trump defended his decision to hold the Tulsa rally, telling Swan he selected the city because it "was a very good area at the time."

Health officials had called for the rally to be postponed out of concern about a surge in cases. Tulsa's top health department official said last month that Trump's rally, along with protests, "more than likely" contributed to another uptick in cases.

Trump on John Lewis' legacy: 'He didn't come to my inauguration'

Trump declined to praise civil rights icon John Lewis, who died last month from pancreatic cancer. The president's three predecessors honored the Democratic congressman at his funeral.

Swan asked Trump how he thought history would remember Lewis, a leading member of the civil rights movement who was jailed and endured police beatings, spoke at the historic March on Washington and was a member of the original Freedom Riders.

"I don't know. I don't know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration," Trump said. "I never met John Lewis, actually, I don't believe."

Lewis skipped Trump's inauguration in 2017, arguing that he didn't see him as a "legitimate" president because of Russian interference in the 2016 election. He refused to attend events with Trump, including the dedication of a civil rights museum in Mississippi.

The interview took place last week while Lewis was lying in state at the Capitol, where Republicans and Democrats alike paid tribute to the congressman's three decades of service and his fight against discrimination and segregation of Black Americans. Former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama delivered remarks at his funeral in Atlanta. Trump did not pay his respects at the Capitol, nor did he attend Lewis' funeral.

The president shrugged off the civil rights icon's record when asked whether he found him impressive.

"I can't say one way or the other. I find a lot of people impressive. I find many people not impressive, but no, he didn't come to my inauguration," he said. "He should've come. I think he made a big mistake."

When pressed to put the pair's strained relationship aside and offer his thoughts on Lewis' legacy, Trump relented: "He was a person that devoted a lot of time and a lot of heart to the civil rights. But there were many others, also."

Trump claimed during the interview that he's done more for Black Americans than any president, including Lyndon B. Johnson, who passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

The president said he had "no objection" to a call to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where Lewis marched with voting rights activists in 1965, after the Georgia congressman.

Trump: 'I do wish' Ghislaine Maxwell well

Trump stood by his statement July 21 at a White House news conference where he said, "Frankly, I wish her well," when asked about the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell on charges of helping procure teenage girls for investment banker Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell last year.

The president, who used to socialize with Epstein and Maxwell, implied he meant he didn't want anything bad to happen to her like Epstein, who was "either killed or committed suicide in jail."

New York City's chief medical examiner determined Epstein died by suicide after hanging himself with a bedsheet. His ties with powerful figures such as Trump and Clinton left ripe ground for conspiracy theories about his death, which were fed by the news that surveillance video outside Epstein's cell had been inadvertently deleted. Attorney General William Barr said he agreed Epstein committed suicide, which he attributed to a "perfect storm of screw-ups" by prison officials.

"Her boyfriend died in jail. And people are still trying to figure out, 'How did it happen? Was it suicide? Was he killed?' And I do wish her well. I'm not looking for anything bad for her. I'm not looking bad for anybody," said Trump, who has often called for the incarceration of his political opponents.

The president said he did not understand why people made "such a big deal" out of his well wishes for the woman accused of child sex trafficking.

"I do, I wish her well," he repeated.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump tells Axios rising COVID-19 death toll 'is what it is'