More Americans have died from COVID-19 in the first three weeks of Joe Biden's presidency than during the entire Vietnam War, a grim milestone for a leader who vowed to make ending the pandemic "the first priority, the second priority, and the third priority" of his administration.
The COVID-19 death count since Biden took office on Jan. 20 surpassed 60,000 over the weekend. That is more than the 58,220 American soldiers who died in the Vietnam War between 1964 and 1975.
Numerous media outlets marked the occasion when COVID-19 deaths surpassed Vietnam War deaths under former president Donald Trump. NPR, among others, reported at the time:
In not even three months since the first known U.S. deaths from COVID-19, more lives have now been lost to the coronavirus pandemic on U.S. soil than the 58,220 Americans who died over nearly two decades in Vietnam.
New York magazine correspondent Olivia Nuzzi noted the milestone during a press conference in April 2020. "If an American president loses more Americans over the course of six weeks than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War, does he deserve to be reelected?" she asked Trump.
Because the Washington Free Beacon appears to be one of the only media outlets whose dedication to the truth compels us to diligently track COVID-19 deaths under Biden, the milestone has received far less coverage this time around.
To put that number into greater context: The COVID-19 death toll on Biden's watch is the equivalent of 25 Pearl Harbors and 20 9/11s.