Filmmaker runs ‘Trump Death Clock’ on Times Square billboard

Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki has launched a digital billboard in New York City’s Times Square tracking the number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S., which he has dubbed the “Trump Death Clock.”

The billboard, which was set up last week, asserts that the deaths of U.S. residents due to COVID-19 are “due to POTUS’s inaction.” Jarecki explained in an op-ed for The Washington Post that President Trump’s “reckless handling of the coronavirus pandemic” was directly responsible for the deaths of Americans.

Today we launched a HUGE statement, The Trump Death Clock went live in Times Square to hold this President to account for the estimated 60% of COVID-19 that could have been prevented. #TrumpDeathClock https://t.co/o2CrIWYh2M pic.twitter.com/O9Zr9LyaXz

— TrumpDeathClock (@TrumpDeathClock) May 8, 2020

“This suffering cannot be forgotten. As of today, tens of thousands of Americans have lost their lives as a consequence of the administration’s failure to act sooner, so it’s no wonder the president excoriates reporters who ask him why he waited so long to implement the guidelines,” Jarecki wrote.

“Just as the names of fallen soldiers are etched on memorials to remind us of the cost of war, quantifying the lives lost to the president’s delayed coronavirus response would serve a vital public function,” he added.

Jarecki, a political documentary creator, has previously won two Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury awards and most famously co-directed Freakonomics, the movie based on the book by authors Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt.

Nearly 84,000 Americans have died from COVID-19-related causes so far, and the U.S. has reported more than 1.41 million cases of the disease nationally.