Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) slammed Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin Thursday after she parroted false COVID numbers for children in Texas.
The Texas Tribune erroneously reported that 5,800 children had been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas during one week in August. That number for COVID-19 cases actually refers to the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 since March 2020, or over about a year and a half since the start of the pandemic in the U.S.
In a since-deleted tweet, Rubin used the false COVID-19 data to slam Republicans and the pro-life movement.
“Unconscionable: Over 5,800 children in Texas were newly hospitalized with COVID-19 in the seven-day period ending on Aug. 8, a 37% increase from a week prior. where is the pro-life movement ?? it’s now a death cult,” Rubin tweeted.
Crenshaw blasted back: “You’re a liar and an idiot. The number you referenced is TOTAL hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic. Not newly hospitalized.”
You’re a liar and an idiot. The number you referenced is TOTAL hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic. Not newly hospitalized. https://t.co/1I7CRES2qA
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) August 12, 2021
The Texas Tribune later corrected its error by posting the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 over a nearly six-week period from July 1 to August 9. As The Daily Wire reported:
The Texas Tribune has corrected a glaring error that stated 5,800 children had been hospitalized within a seven-day period in August. The 5,800 figure, however, referred to children hospitalized with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
“An earlier version of this story overstated the number of children who have been hospitalized in Texas recently with COVID-19,” the Tribune said in a correction. “The story said over 5,800 children had been hospitalized during a seven-day period in August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number correctly referred to children hospitalized with COVID-19 since the pandemic began.”
“In actuality, 783 children were admitted to Texas hospitals with COVID-19 between July 1 and Aug. 9 of this year,” the correction noted of the six-week period.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently had to walk back an error it made in reporting Florida’s COVID-19 numbers, but not before the Florida Health Department slammed the agency’s “false” data and called for a correction. As The Daily Wire reported:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its Florida COVID-19 case count on Wednesday, apparently in response to a public complaint from the Florida Department of Health.
As The Daily Wire reported on Tuesday, Florida blasted the CDC for posting COVID-19 case numbers the Florida Health Department said were “false” and combined several days of data, “creating a scary graph misleading the public.
At the time, the department, which resorted to posting its complaint on social media, said that they “anticipated[d]” a correction from the CDC.
“Wrong again,” the Florida DOH noted on Twitter. “The number of cases [CDC] released for Florida today is incorrect. They combined MULTIPLE days into one. We anticipate CDC will correct the record.”
Related: ‘Wrong Again’: Florida Blasts CDC For Posting False Covid Numbers