NYT: Trump Shouted At Azar Over Administration’s Initial Messaging On Coronavirus

SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 05: President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News Town Hall event on March 05, 2020 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Among other topics, President Trump discussed his administration's res... SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 05: President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News Town Hall event on March 05, 2020 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Among other topics, President Trump discussed his administration's response to the Coronavirus and the economy. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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President Trump was upset with Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar over his own administration’s initial messaging on the coronavirus, claiming that it scared people, according to a new New York Times report on the White House’s internal debate over how to inform the public about the outbreak.

After Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned reporters on Feb. 25 that a “disruption” to day-to-day life was imminent, Trump called Azar.

Per the Times, Trump “shouted” at his health and human services secretary, saying Messonnier’s message “scared people,” in the Times’ words.

Trump was reportedly “alarmed,” in the Times words, questioning whether the U.S. was really at a point where it needed to start closing schools, an official who heard the call told the Times.

Read the full Times report here. 

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Notable Replies

  1. We’re all gonna die.

  2. It’s just a cold donnie, nuthin’ ta get worked up about…unless it’s you who gets infected. then the whole goddamned world will be treated to your extended victimhood.
    Germs donnie… they’re out ta git youse, as they say it in Queens (and among his “friends” in “Joisey” he can call on in a pinch to take care of people in the Sicilian manner of cement over shoes and such)

  3. Oh bother- no we are not.

    Now Trump with his Bozo the Clown version of Xi Jinping behaviour, he just may get a bunch of his True Believers sick.

    And the death rate of the 60+ doesn’t encourage for his core demographic.

  4. So a crazy idea occurred to me. Imagine a world in which the medical infrastructure across the country effectively collapses. Imagine a world where members of congress die of the coronavirus. Both of these things are happening elsewhere.

    Will this FINALLY be enough for us to remove Trump prior to the election? It seems somewhat plausible to me. Ehhh, nevermind, I’m delusional. Republicans would rather die on the Trump titanic than lift a finger for the well being of the republic.

  5. Trump “shouted” at his health and human services secretary, saying Messonnier’s message “scared people,”

    No Captain Chaos, you are the one scaring people!

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