McCarthy: It Wasn’t Partisan For Trump To Insult Dems At Coronavirus Presser!

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during his weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol on February 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. The White House earlier this week put for... WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during his weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol on February 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. The White House earlier this week put forward a $2.5 billion request for emergency funding to fight the coronavirus to which McCarthy responded, "I think $2 billion is a little low, I think we're probably looking at $4 billion in this process, having spoken to Democrat House members from Appropriations." (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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It’s come to this — arguing over partisanship as a global health crisis unfolds.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), with a straight face, denied Thursday that President Trump was being partisan when he slammed Democratic leaders during a statement on the outbreak of Coronavirus the night before.

During a Thursday morning press conference, McCarthy was asked about why he believes that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were being partisan in response to the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus.

Citing how the President called Pelosi “incompetent” and Schumer “crying Chuck Schumer” during Wednesday night’s presser, the reporter asked whether Trump himself was being partisan in the midst of a health scare.

“I don’t believe so, because he was referring to a question on the basis of what those leaders had already said,” McCarthy said, before listing criticisms by Pelosi, Schumer and House Judiciary chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)

Earlier Thursday, Pelosi criticized the “chaotic response” by the administration.

On Wednesday, Schumer countered Trump on his proposal for emergency funding to combat the coronavirus by asking for $8.5 billion — three times more than the Trump administration’s $2.5 billion request.

In a Tuesday statement, Nadler called the Trump administration’s preparation “dangerously inadequate.”

McCarthy added Thursday that the Trump administration is set to brief all members of Congress Friday before arguing that “the idea [that Democrats] would take it to that level right now” harms the American public.

Watch McCarthy’s remarks below:

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