New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi took her turn as being the reporter of the day trying to get some spotlight time via Trump’s Wuhan virus pressers. It seems that at almost every one of these, some intrepid “journalist” goes out of their way to ask a question so ridiculous that it can’t be ignored just because of its sheer idiocy.

But remember, these are the best and brightest among us.

Video: Truly pathetic end to today's Coronavirus Task Force briefing as NY Mag's Olivia Nuzzi wondered -> "If an American president loses more Americans over the course of six weeks than died in the entirety of the Vietnam war, does he deserve to be re-elected?" pic.twitter.com/bN6mn6b14n

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2020

There’s so much wrong with this that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Did Trump order the virus to descend on the world and I’m just unaware? Because I’m pretty sure Vietnam was a voluntary operation, regardless of how necessary one may think it was or wasn’t. In contrast, Trump has absolutely nothing to do with the actual situation we are in now. One can try to critique on the margins, but no President could have avoided what happened in New York, which has essentially become the only place in the United States with an outbreak bad enough to compare to places like Italy. Remove New York City and we look on par with Germany.

But past that, let’s talk about deaths. Did you know that total deaths in 2020 are actually down compared to 2019? The reason is simple. Less people are dying of car wrecks and various other accidents that occur with mass movement of people. So by Nuzzi’s logic, Trump should absolutely be re-elected, right? I mean, he’s saved more lives than he’s lost if we are gonna play this stupid game.

Of course, even if you want to take her question at face value, it makes vast assumptions that simply aren’t realistic. Remember when Trump suggested quarantining New York and everyone flipped their lids? The only thing that likely could have lightened this outbreak to some major degree would have been shutting down the subways early on, something the New York leadership still refuse to do. There was no world in which Trump attempts to do that and he’s not called Hitler with an orange hue.

Surprisingly enough, Trump didn’t flip on out Nuzzi here, though her question certainly deserved ridicule. He actually went on to acknowledge the deaths and then talk about his record. Perhaps someone has gotten into his ear about the constant conflict? In my view, his answer made her look incredibly small and petty, so it was the right move in this situation.

But this is journalism these days. Ask asinine questions to try to get a viral clip going. Rinse and repeat.