Over the past 24 hours, the mainstream press has kept up a steady drumbeat of stories while building a narrative about the states that have re-opened their economies after the Wuhan coronavirus has peaked there. And if you happened to see the chyrons on many news broadcasts, you’d be excused for thinking something was going terribly wrong.

For example, this was the headline from Thursday night’s “CBS Evening News”: Arizona hospitals overwhelmed as coronavirus cases rise

Though, CBS News went with a less hyperbolic headline on Friday morning: At least 14 states see increase in coronavirus hospitalizations since Memorial Day

Then on this morning’s “Good Morning America,” ABC News: New coronavirus hotspots emerge as state cases spike amid reopening

Unfortunately for them, former New York  Times reporter and author Alex Berenson was watching them — and swiftly eviscerated them like a hot knife through butter:

In a Twitter thread Friday afternoon, he wrote:

“1/ Hey, wonder why CNN and the rest of Team Apocalypse are screaming so hard about new “cases” (aka positive tests, which are actually falling nationally, btw)? It might because daily US Covid deaths have fallen two-thirds in six weeks. True story, not that you’ve heard it…”

He continued, exposing what he sees as malfeasance by blue states eager to inflate their COVID death count:

“BTW – the real drop is even sharper, because the lockdown states have looking through their files and adding as many deaths as they can. Positive test of a 93-year-old on April 16 who died a week later? Check. “Presumed positive” on May 1? Checkity-check!”

Then finished with the suggestion to, “Announce ’em today!”

1/ Hey, wonder why @cnn and the rest of Team Apocalypse are screaming so hard about new “cases” (aka positive tests, which are actually falling nationally, btw)? It might because daily US Covid deaths have fallen two-thirds in six weeks. True story, not that you’ve heard it… pic.twitter.com/2tMHlMFKFa

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 12, 2020

BTW – the real drop is even sharper, because the lockdown states have looking through their files and adding as many deaths as they can. Positive test of a 93-year-old on April 16 who died a week later? Check. "Presumed positive" on May 1? Checkity-check! Announce 'em today!

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 12, 2020

On Thursday afternoon, when the “states are in a panic over ‘spikes’ in rising cases” narrative began, particularly about my purplish-red state of Arizona, Berenson was there:

Yeah, about that panic in Arizona… https://t.co/938LBTfynz

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 11, 2020

He wrote, “About that panic in Arizona…”

The letter, co-signed by every major hospital system in the state, put it plainly: [emphasis mine]

Recently there have been local and national media reports regarding the increase in confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Arizona and how our state is managing the COVID-19 crisis. As representatives of the largest health systems representing 80% of care provided in this state, we would like to assure the public that we have available bed capacity and surge plans are in place to continue to serve the people of Arizona. We are well prepared to manage an increase in patient volume.

And in his press conference Thursday, Arizona governor Doug Ducey (R) echoed that:

As our state gradually reopens & more people move about, we’re seeing increased transmission, which is to be expected. This is happening around the country. To be clear, however: our hospitals have capacity & anyone who might need health care due to #COVID19 has access to it. 3/ pic.twitter.com/ER8Xu4uJoH

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 11, 2020

Ducey wrote, in part:

Today, we are prepared. We’ve grown the supply chain for PPE, stocked up on critical medical supplies like ventilators, built out more capacity at our hospitals and added additional surge beds on top of that, if needed, which today it is not. To be clear, however: our hospitals have capacity & anyone who might need health care due to #COVID19 has access to it….

As our sister site PJ Media reported, Berenson made news of his own recently when Amazon (briefly) refused to publish – as written – his book, Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns: Part 1: Introduction and Death Counts and Estimates.

You can watch him in a follow-up interview with Lou Dobbs, Thursday night on Fox Business Network below:

https://youtu.be/FvLrT-sw8J4?t=201