President Donald Trump and the White House coronavirus task force spent nearly 20 minutes answer questions from CNN’s Jim Acosta on Tuesday.
Acosta brought up about 15 different questions and interjections as the task force offered him detailed information about the virus and President Trump’s response to the outbreak.
Trump was non-combative with Acosta, referring to him as “Jim” throughout the briefing and did not berate him or any other reporter as “fake news” for their questions.
Acosta first asked Dr. Anthony Fauci to repeat that Americans should expect at least 100,000 Americans to die from the virus and whether the country could handle 50,000 deaths a month.
“The answer is yes,” Fauci said. “As sobering as that number is, we should be prepared for it.”
Fauci said that it would be difficult and that what was happening in New York City should be a wakeup call to what the rest of the country could face.
Muslim Mayor of Dearborn Invites Rapper Booted from Stadium Tour Over Anti-Israel Rant to Perform in City
Internet Trolls Karen Bass After She Deflects Blame for City’s Crumbling Roads
Most of School’s 9/11 Curriculum Focuses on Muslim Acceptance, Teachers Told Not to ‘Center’ on the Terrorists
Congress faces AI test as debate explodes over industry regulation
El-Sayed grilled on Piker, Israel and socialist ties after Mike Rogers skips Senate debate
US military releases footage of massive operation to rescue injured airman stranded inside Iran
Multiple death sentences in different states are set to be carried out within 24 hours: ‘Not very common’
Texas Senate candidate Talarico said US was ‘backsliding’ on democracy in resurfaced clip
7 Republicans rebel against Trump, vote with Dems to rein in Iran war powers
Fourth Florida resident dies after contracting flesh-eating bacteria linked to oysters
Washington Democrat claims majority of recent DHS arrestees posed ‘no threat to public safety’
Injured climber crawls ‘through the night’ to safety after falling 500 feet down California mountain
Republican upsets party-backed rival to challenge first openly trans member of Congress
Lawmakers throw out ‘Trojan horse’ activists they say are engaged in American subversion
Watch: Accused Child Sex Predator Literally Faints in Front of Judge After Learning Penalty He’s Facing
Dr. Deborah Birx said that it was essential for metro areas in the country to act quickly to stop the spread of the virus, and Fauci said that the numbers could be even lower.
“Now is the time to put your foot on the accelerator because that’s the only thing that’s going to stop those peaks,” he said.
Acosta then asked President Trump if he would order cities to “get with the program” on social distancing, especially states like Florida that had not enacted a “stay at home” order.
Trump said that many cities were doing very well at containing the virus, some doing an incredible job in comparison with New York City.
Acosta asked Trump about whether there was a ventilator shortage and whether the federal government was stockpiling the devices so they could “pick and choose” who got them.
Trump said the federal government was not sending ventilators to states for stockpiling but would hold on to them until they were needed so they could deploy them quickly.
“We are ready, Jim, depending on what happens, and we have a stockpile and that’s why it’s called a stockpile,” Trump said.
Acosta asked whether hospitals should be prepared for a “medical war zone.”
“They’re going to be facing a war zone — that’s what it is,” Trump said.
Acosta later asked what he described as “uncomfortable” and “painful” questions about whether the president and his team could have prevented the number of deaths by enacting restrictions on Americans as early as January and February.
Muslim Mayor of Dearborn Invites Rapper Booted from Stadium Tour Over Anti-Israel Rant to Perform in City
Internet Trolls Karen Bass After She Deflects Blame for City’s Crumbling Roads
Most of School’s 9/11 Curriculum Focuses on Muslim Acceptance, Teachers Told Not to ‘Center’ on the Terrorists
Congress faces AI test as debate explodes over industry regulation
El-Sayed grilled on Piker, Israel and socialist ties after Mike Rogers skips Senate debate
US military releases footage of massive operation to rescue injured airman stranded inside Iran
Multiple death sentences in different states are set to be carried out within 24 hours: ‘Not very common’
Texas Senate candidate Talarico said US was ‘backsliding’ on democracy in resurfaced clip
7 Republicans rebel against Trump, vote with Dems to rein in Iran war powers
Fourth Florida resident dies after contracting flesh-eating bacteria linked to oysters
Washington Democrat claims majority of recent DHS arrestees posed ‘no threat to public safety’
Injured climber crawls ‘through the night’ to safety after falling 500 feet down California mountain
Republican upsets party-backed rival to challenge first openly trans member of Congress
Lawmakers throw out ‘Trojan horse’ activists they say are engaged in American subversion
Watch: Accused Child Sex Predator Literally Faints in Front of Judge After Learning Penalty He’s Facing
Both Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci said it was unclear when the virus started spreading throughout the country without being diagnosed.
“In a perfect world, it would have been nice to know what was going on there, and we didn’t,” Fauci said. “But I believe, Jim, that we acted very, very early in that.”
Trump reminded Acosta that he was the one that leveled a travel ban on China in January.
Acosta then asked Trump if he “lulled Americans into a false sense of security” by downplaying the possible impact of the virus in the United States and whether his understanding of the virus had “evolved.”
“I knew how bad it was. All you have to do is to look at what was going on in China,” Trump said.
He defended his early comments as an effort to offer hope to the American people.
“It would be so much easier to be negative,” he said. “I’m a positive person … This is really easy to be negative about, but I want to give people hope too.”
Muslim Mayor of Dearborn Invites Rapper Booted from Stadium Tour Over Anti-Israel Rant to Perform in City
Internet Trolls Karen Bass After She Deflects Blame for City’s Crumbling Roads
Most of School’s 9/11 Curriculum Focuses on Muslim Acceptance, Teachers Told Not to ‘Center’ on the Terrorists
Congress faces AI test as debate explodes over industry regulation
El-Sayed grilled on Piker, Israel and socialist ties after Mike Rogers skips Senate debate
US military releases footage of massive operation to rescue injured airman stranded inside Iran
Multiple death sentences in different states are set to be carried out within 24 hours: ‘Not very common’
Texas Senate candidate Talarico said US was ‘backsliding’ on democracy in resurfaced clip
7 Republicans rebel against Trump, vote with Dems to rein in Iran war powers
Fourth Florida resident dies after contracting flesh-eating bacteria linked to oysters
Washington Democrat claims majority of recent DHS arrestees posed ‘no threat to public safety’
Injured climber crawls ‘through the night’ to safety after falling 500 feet down California mountain
Republican upsets party-backed rival to challenge first openly trans member of Congress
Lawmakers throw out ‘Trojan horse’ activists they say are engaged in American subversion
Watch: Accused Child Sex Predator Literally Faints in Front of Judge After Learning Penalty He’s Facing
Finally, Acosta asked if Trump was finally taking responsibility for failing to act sooner.
“You don’t like the question, but are you now taking responsibility for how things go at this point?” Acosta asked.
“I don’t mind your question,” Trump said. “I think it’s actually — I know you well enough. It’s not meant to be a fair question, but it is a fair question.”
Trump said that he felt that he had done a “great job” handling the virus, noting that early models showed that two million people could have died.
“We had great professionals, great military, really great governors and politicians, I cannot say enough about what’s going on,” Trump said. “I think we’re way ahead of schedule in terms of numbers … the country has done a great job.”
Story cited here.
