By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald J. Trump’s existence in a parallel universe simply is something to behold.

Here’s the latest. Trump said the United States has “turned the corner” on the coronavirus pandemic and is hurtling toward something resembling a normal life prior to the pandemic’s arrival.

Not so fast, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and a key member of the White House coronavirus pandemic response team. We haven’t turned anything like a corner, Fauci said. He explained that the infection and death rates continue on their upward trajectory.

“I have to disagree with that,” Fauci said of Trump’s assessment.

This is precisely what many of us have been saying about Trump’s inability to speak the truth about matters that demand only the truth. Accordingly, Trump the politician cannot be trusted to tell us the truth when he is in the midst of a political campaign in which he is fighting desperately to keep his job.

It is no great scoop to realize that Trump thinks first of his political fortunes. The rest of us? Hah! Trump will continue to soft-pedal the consequences of the pandemic for as long as he continues to run for re-election.

Here, though, is the real rub: Trump’s base of supporters will believe the self-serving politician before they trust the learned opinion of a man who has spent his entire adult life waging war against infection diseases. They will forgo masks in large gatherings of fellow Trumpkins. They won’t heed the advice of Dr. Fauci and other medical experts who warn them of what can happen to them if they fail to follow proper preventative measures.

Trump will continue to lie about “turning the corner.” Medical experts such as Dr. Fauci will seek to correct him. Trump won’t care what the experts say. The experts will continue issue warnings.

Parallel universes remain impenetrable. In this instance they also are profoundly dangerous.