Sweden.
It's the Canada of Europe.
And unlike most countries in the world,
Sweden decided against a mandatory shutdown,
and, instead, they just told their citizens
to be responsible and keep their distance.
Now, it appears that there have been upsides
and downsides to this approach.
On the downside, Sweden has experienced
almost triple the deaths of its neighboring countries
who did impose lockdowns.
But on the upside,
the Swedish ambassador has now said
that Stockholm could achieve herd immunity by May.
Yeah, and herd immunity is when so many people have immunity
that the disease can't spread as easily anymore.
It's sort of like when so many of your friends
have watched a bad TV show
that it spares you from having to feel the pain for yourself.
And if Sweden achieves herd immunity,
I'm really gonna be happy for them.
Although I will be honest. It always makes me nervous
to hear people referred to as a herd.
'Cause nothing good ever happens to a herd.
It's usually, "Get that herd into the slaughterhouse!"
It's never, "I have a bunch of Amazon gift cards
for that herd!" So Sweden's plan
is sure to set off a big philosophical debate.
Should countries get slammed by coronavirus quickly
and then get it over with?
Or should they try to spread out the pain
over a longer period of time?
In other words, is it better to be punched once by Mike Tyson
or punched 5,000 times by Michael Cera?
Either way, a guy with a funny voice is hitting you.
And, look, I hope Sweden is right
and every other country is wrong.
Because if they are right,
then we can end the lockdown
and finally get back to our normal lives, you know?
Like going out to dinner with our friends and get--
Ah, I forgot.
Oh, I have a thing that night.
Sorry, guys, I got to cancel.
But let's move on. Because while Sweden is experimenting
with its unconventional strategy,
we're learning more about President Trump's
unconventional strategy of completely ignoring
the pandemic as it was brewing.
REPORTER: Breaking overnight. The Washington Post reports
U.S. intelligence officials warned President Trump
about the coronavirus threat
in at least 12 classified briefings
back in January and February.
But the Post reports the president
"failed to register the threat."
Yes, it's being reported
that Trump ignored 12 coronavirus warnings
in his daily intelligence briefings.
And, honestly, I'm-I'm not surprised.
I mean, if they gave him the information in a briefing,
of course he's not gonna get it.
'Cause if you really want the president to pay attention,
you've got to make that information kid-friendly.
Then it sinks in.
"So what you're saying is the sick duck
"got all the other duckies sick
"and now that duck has to sit by itself.
I get it. Sad duck."
All right, and, finally,
because Trump has turned every press briefing
into a Joe Biden campaign ad,
you could be forgiven for not remembering that Mike Pence,
vice president and man from the crosswalk symbol,
is technically in charge of the coronavirus task team.
And, yesterday, when he was asked
why America just got to the testing levels
he promised all the way back in early March,
Pence had a pretty unconvincing answer.
Mr. Vice President, back in early March,
you said we'd be at four million tests by the following week.
We're just now got there in the last few days.
So what have you learned about what went wrong, uh,
you know, a month and a half or over the last month and a half?
I appreciate the question, but it represents
a-a misunderstanding, uh, on your part,
and, uh, and frankly, the...
a lot of the people in the public's part
about the difference between having a test,
versus the ability to actually process the test.
So when you said, four million tests seven weeks ago,
you were just talking about tests being sent out,
not actually being-being completed?
I'm-I'm a little confused.
Jon, I think, precisely correct.
Ah.
I see what Mike Pence is saying.
"You're supposed to just have the tests, not use them.
You know, like a penis."
Like, what kind of excuse is that?
Mike Pence sounds like some kind of weird, shitty dad.
"I promised you kids that we could go to Disneyland,
"not go inside Disneyland.
"Now wave to Goofy through the bars.
Come on. Wave to him. Wave."
Oh, and in other Mike Pence news,
today, the vice president toured the famous Mayo Clinic
to meet with coronavirus patients and doctors.
And it turns out, he didn't wear a mask.
Yes, at the Mayo Clinic, which is totally against the rules.
In fact, it seems like they told him to,
and he said, he didn't want to wear a mask.
So I guess he was just like,
"It's okay, everybody. I don't believe in science."
And dude, come on. What are you doing? Wear a mask!
We know you have one at home.
We know what you've got, Mike.