Trump Claims Mass Testing Isn’t Needed As He Itches To Reopen The Economy ‘Very Soon’

April 9, 2020
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April 9, 2020

Within the roughly 20 minutes that he spent at the podium of Thursday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump reiterated that he would like to reopen the economy “very soon.”

After touting that 2 million “highly sophisticated and highly accurate” COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the country, Trump downplayed the need for mass testing for all Americans when the country goes back to work.

“We want to have it and we’re going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes,” Trump said. “We’re talking about 325 million people and that’s not gonna happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else, either.”

Trump went on to say that although “other countries do it,” they do so in “a limited form” and that the U.S. will “probably be the leader of the pack.”

In response to the more than 16 million people who have filed for unemployment so far during the pandemic, Trump said that he believes the economy will “do very well” because he’s “had good, proper feelings about a lot things over the years.”

Scroll down for our full coverage of the briefing below:

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Within the roughly 20 minutes that he spent at the podium of Thursday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump reiterated that he would like to reopen the economy “very soon.”

After touting that 2 million “highly sophisticated and highly accurate” COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the country, Trump downplayed the need for mass testing for all Americans when the country goes back to work.

“We want to have it and we’re going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes,” Trump said. “We’re talking about 325 million people and that’s not gonna happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else, either.”

Trump went on to say that although “other countries do it,” they do so in “a limited form” and that the U.S. will “probably be the leader of the pack.”

In response to the more than 16 million people who have filed for unemployment so far during the pandemic, Trump said that he believes the economy will “do very well” because he’s “had good, proper feelings about a lot things over the years.”

Scroll down for our full coverage of the briefing below:

Notable Replies

  1. There’s a good chance Trump will be pressed about unemployment claims in the country reaching 6.6. million in the week ending on April 4, falling just short of the previous week’s record claim of 6,867,000.

    Trump: “Only 6.6 this week? And it was 6.8 last week? Hey! Winning!”

  2. The unemployment rate is now around 10%.
    That really fucks with Trump’s reelection plans, so I expect him to be especially combative today.

    It would not be surprising to see a full-scale meltdown if some enterprising reporter presses the issue. Let’s home one of them steps up to that task.

  3. Spoiler Alert: we will hear more about how the economy will soar like a rocket in May.

    There, I just saved you two hours that you would never get back.

  4. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    Why so early today? Is he trying to beat the hordes for a front row seat in the Sunday pews? Who am I kidding? There’s gotta be an early tee time involved.

  5. Go away trump
    i thought of posting something really really obscene and nasty but chose milquetoast instead.

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