A day after saying during a press conference at the White House that his administration will “spend whatever is appropriate” to combat coronavirus, President Trump again touted his administration’s response to the outbreak in a meeting ahead of an African American History Month reception Thursday night.
After saying that “we’re almost all better now” and that “it would be really nice if we could be recognized by the press fairly,” Trump discussed how he delivered a “very good” and “calming” press conference on his administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak Wednesday night.
“It was a very good press conference — basically it was a calming press conference,” Trump said. “It was a press conference to say we’re doing well.”
Trump also said that “this is really above politics,” regarding the funding to combat coronavirus, according to a White House pool report Thursday night.
On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) 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. The next day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) torched Trump for attempting to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the CDC in his new budget proposal, which he issued following reports of coronavirus cases.
Trump also seemed to suggest that the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. would be worse if it hadn’t been for him.
“15 people is almost, I would say, a miracle,” Trump said, referring to the amount of confirmed cases in the U.S., according to Bloomberg News reporter Josh Wingrove in a Thursday evening tweet.
However, Trump added that the coronavirus outbreak could worsen before getting better.
“It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear. And from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better,” Trump said. “It could maybe go away. We’ll see what happens. Nobody really knows. The fact is the greatest experts I’ve spoken to them all, nobody really knows.”
When asked about how stocks have continued to take a significant tumble as of Thursday, Trump took the opportunity to blame the press and Democrats.
According to a White House pool report Thursday evening, Trump said the press is “out of line” and that Democrats should not make his administration’s response to coronavirus a political issue given how the country is pulling together.
Trump also argued that markets are factoring the possibility of a Democrat winning the presidential election “into the equation,” Bloomberg News reporter Josh Wingrove said in a Thursday evening tweet.
Watch Trump’s remarks below:
Trump says coronavirus press conference was "calming" pic.twitter.com/Kr6y5rOcjr
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 28, 2020
Trump on coronavirus: "It could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows." pic.twitter.com/sH9K2dvTsF
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 28, 2020
