After Monday’s White House coronavirus briefing devolved into an unhinged attack on the media — which included a White House-produced video clip pushing back on reports about the Trump administration’s early missteps in handling the COVID-19 outbreak — Trump claimed that his “authority is total” regarding the decision of when to reopen the economy.
“When somebody’s the President of the United States, the authority is total,” Trump said. “And that’s the way it’s gotta be. It’s total. And the governors know that.”
Pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about how “that is not true,” Trump had a sarcastic response to her question.
“You know what we’re gonna do? We’re going to write up papers on this,” Trump said. “It’s not going to be necessary because the governors need us one way or the other, because ultimately it comes with the federal government. That being said, we’re getting along very well with the governors.”
When Collins attempted to ask the President about who told him that he has “total authority,” Trump quickly cut her off by telling her “enough.”
Scroll down for the full coverage of the briefing:
After Monday’s White House coronavirus briefing devolved into an unhinged attack on the media — which included a White House-produced video clip pushing back on reports about the Trump administration’s early missteps in handling the COVID-19 outbreak — Trump claimed that his “authority is total” regarding the decision of when to reopen the economy.
“When somebody’s the President of the United States, the authority is total,” Trump said. “And that’s the way it’s gotta be. It’s total. And the governors know that.”
Pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about how “that is not true,” Trump had a sarcastic response to her question.
“You know what we’re gonna do? We’re going to write up papers on this,” Trump said. “It’s not going to be necessary because the governors need us one way or the other, because ultimately it comes with the federal government. That being said, we’re getting along very well with the governors.”
When Collins attempted to ask the President about who told him that he has “total authority,” Trump quickly cut her off by telling her “enough.”
Scroll down for the full coverage of the briefing: