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.
Man Sucked Into Jet Engine at Denver Airport Had Lengthy Rap Sheet, Once Arrested for Attempted Murder
James Talarico enlists Barack Obama to help win over black voters after contentious Texas primary
Keystone XL Pipeline 2.0: Trump Signs Permit for Massive New US-Canada Oil Pipeline – Some of 42,000 Jobs Biden Killed Could Return
Singham-backed, pro-China group drops huge sum on Manhattan HQ as feds probe shadowy network
Inside the ‘digital lockdown’ for US officials as Trump arrives in China
Move to oust Nancy Guthrie sheriff fails as Pima County supervisors refer perjury allegations to AG
Marco Rubio spotted in Nike tracksuit aboard Air Force One during trip to China, igniting memes online
Rubio wears Nike tracksuit aboard Air Force One in parody of Maduro capture
High school student with history of anger issues charged with murder of homeless woman in Las Vegas
Nebraska’s Pillen wins Republican renomination in bid for second term as governor
Lawsuit: ChatGPT Told Florida State Shooter that Killing Children Would Get Him ‘More Attention’ Than Targeting Adults
House GOP launches new task force, probes alleged Medicaid fraud in Ohio
Republican Ricketts wins GOP primary in Nebraska, advances to key Senate showdown
Poll: Rubio Opens Up Double-Digit Lead on Vance, AOC Leads 2028 Democratic Field
Big city Democrat mayor arrested at ICE protest faces voters in re-election bid
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.
Man Sucked Into Jet Engine at Denver Airport Had Lengthy Rap Sheet, Once Arrested for Attempted Murder
James Talarico enlists Barack Obama to help win over black voters after contentious Texas primary
Keystone XL Pipeline 2.0: Trump Signs Permit for Massive New US-Canada Oil Pipeline – Some of 42,000 Jobs Biden Killed Could Return
Singham-backed, pro-China group drops huge sum on Manhattan HQ as feds probe shadowy network
Inside the ‘digital lockdown’ for US officials as Trump arrives in China
Move to oust Nancy Guthrie sheriff fails as Pima County supervisors refer perjury allegations to AG
Marco Rubio spotted in Nike tracksuit aboard Air Force One during trip to China, igniting memes online
Rubio wears Nike tracksuit aboard Air Force One in parody of Maduro capture
High school student with history of anger issues charged with murder of homeless woman in Las Vegas
Nebraska’s Pillen wins Republican renomination in bid for second term as governor
Lawsuit: ChatGPT Told Florida State Shooter that Killing Children Would Get Him ‘More Attention’ Than Targeting Adults
House GOP launches new task force, probes alleged Medicaid fraud in Ohio
Republican Ricketts wins GOP primary in Nebraska, advances to key Senate showdown
Poll: Rubio Opens Up Double-Digit Lead on Vance, AOC Leads 2028 Democratic Field
Big city Democrat mayor arrested at ICE protest faces voters in re-election bid
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.”
Man Sucked Into Jet Engine at Denver Airport Had Lengthy Rap Sheet, Once Arrested for Attempted Murder
James Talarico enlists Barack Obama to help win over black voters after contentious Texas primary
Keystone XL Pipeline 2.0: Trump Signs Permit for Massive New US-Canada Oil Pipeline – Some of 42,000 Jobs Biden Killed Could Return
Singham-backed, pro-China group drops huge sum on Manhattan HQ as feds probe shadowy network
Inside the ‘digital lockdown’ for US officials as Trump arrives in China
Move to oust Nancy Guthrie sheriff fails as Pima County supervisors refer perjury allegations to AG
Marco Rubio spotted in Nike tracksuit aboard Air Force One during trip to China, igniting memes online
Rubio wears Nike tracksuit aboard Air Force One in parody of Maduro capture
High school student with history of anger issues charged with murder of homeless woman in Las Vegas
Nebraska’s Pillen wins Republican renomination in bid for second term as governor
Lawsuit: ChatGPT Told Florida State Shooter that Killing Children Would Get Him ‘More Attention’ Than Targeting Adults
House GOP launches new task force, probes alleged Medicaid fraud in Ohio
Republican Ricketts wins GOP primary in Nebraska, advances to key Senate showdown
Poll: Rubio Opens Up Double-Digit Lead on Vance, AOC Leads 2028 Democratic Field
Big city Democrat mayor arrested at ICE protest faces voters in re-election bid
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.
