Wired reports:
President Donald Trump announced Friday that the US government’s coronavirus testing apparatus, which has lagged badly behind other developed nations, would soon get an assist from Google. The search and advertising giant will create a website, Trump said, that would help Americans figure out if they need a test for the virus, and if so where they can find one.
The only problem: There is no nationwide site like the one Trump described. And Google had no idea the president was going to mention one.
The Verge reported Friday afternoon that Verily had intended the site for health care workers only. After Trump unexpectedly publicized the effort, Verily decided it will let anyone visit it, but can still only provide people with testing site information in the San Francisco area.
The Fake and Corrupt News never called Google. They said this was not true. Even in times such as these, they are not truthful. Watch for their apology, it won’t happen. More importantly, thank you to Google! https://t.co/AuvpbXNouW
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2020
Among Trump’s most brazen lies was the whopper he told the nation about Google’s supposed plans for an all-purpose Coronavirus website. He just made the whole thing up as if nobody would bother checking — and as if he knew his credibility was zero anyway https://t.co/kf8s9SVFju
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 14, 2020
It was not just Trump saying it. Birx held up a placard to depict the “Google” site’s promised functionality. For people worried that they or loved ones might have been exposed to the virus, and concerned about testing shortages. But it was a total liehttps://t.co/eBh7m1HTQc
— Tom McCarthy (@TeeMcSee) March 14, 2020
What’s so fucked up about this moment in time is we’re facing a deadly crisis and the President just went on tv and LIED about having built a website with Google, LIED about firing the federal pandemic task force, LIED about tests being available and IT’S NOT EVEN A HEADLINE.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) March 14, 2020