Anderson Cooper: Donald Trump's Latest Coronavirus Ploy Is 1 Of His Most Offensive Yet

CNN ’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday rebuked President Donald Trump and members of his administration who suggest the coronavirus death toll is lower than the reported number as they argue to reopen the economy.

The host of “Anderson Cooper 360” said he couldn’t think “of anything more offensive to a family than to have the death of their loved one, the reason for the death of their loved one, you know, rewritten by the White House or the administration in order for whatever political purpose that may be.”

“It’s so fundamentally wrong to do that,” he added.

CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta earlier told Cooper that Trump and some of his senior aides now feel the death “number may be overcounted at this point.”

Acosta, citing a senior administration official, noted “the grim death toll obviously guides their policy” and “they can’t be in as much of a hurry to reopen these states and schools and all other facets of daily life if those numbers are weighing down those decisions.”

More than 85,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the U.S., more than any other country in the world. Public health experts believe the true death toll may actually be even higher due to inconsistencies in testing and reporting.