“Real Time,” host Bill Maher blasted the media for the way that they are covering the coronavirus, saying that their end-of-the-world coverage is making President Donald Trump sound like an optimist, which is a mistake because optimists have a history for winning elections in the United States. “You know, the problem with nonstop gloom and doom is it gives Trump the chance to play the optimist, and optimists tend to win American elections,” Maher said.

He then went on to cite examples of how the media has made the conditions sound worse than how it really is. The host and comedian explained that the pandemic is not a small matter but the constant gloomy coverage is somehow making things worse. He then showed an example of media coverage which plays on the fear of the public. The first example was a report from the Washington Post which compares the situation to being in a war zone. However, Maher pointed out that the image is that of a man handling eggs in a store that is stocked with food. He said that aside from the health workers who are doing a tremendous job of fighting the virus, ordinary Americans have it easy and is in no way comparable to a war zone. He also called out the Inside Edition for comparing the death toll to an apocalypse. While the number of deaths is truly alarming, it is not in the proportion that some feared it would be.

This constant highlighting of fear and death regarding the coronavirus is in part caused by the media’s dislike of President Trump. They are countering anything that he does or says. When he imposed travel bans to prevent the virus from entering and spreading in the United States, the media accused him of being racist and said that it would not be effective. After the virus started to spread in the country, the media accused him of not doing enough including not banning travels from other countries earlier.

They have also railed on the President for trying to sound optimistic when the disease was just starting to spread in New York. They said that he was downplaying the disease and that he was not taking enough precautions although he was obviously trying to give hope to Americans.