11/24/2023 0 Comments Trump press conference disinfectantMore critical was a question asked by Olivia Nuzzi, correspondent for New York magazine, who asked Trump whether he deserved to be reelected given the death toll from coronavirus is now close to that of the number of Americans who died in Vietnam. Pence responded, “I appreciate the question, but it represents a misunderstanding on your part and frankly a lot of people in the public’s part in the difference between having a test versus the ability to process a test.” Karl asked the Vice President, “What have you learned about what went wrong …over the last month and a half or two months and what is going to go right now? What lessons have you learned?” We just now got there in the last few days.” He also noted that Vice President Mike Pence said in early March “we said we would be at 4 million tests by the following week. “By my count, only 69 drive through test sites have been set up by the companies that were here,” Karl said. ABC News’ chief White House correspondent Jon Karl noted that in a previous briefing on March 13, also held in the White House Rose Garden, where companies like Walmart also talked up the coming availability of drive-through testing. The White House released a checklist outlining seven key actions they have taken to scale up testing capacity, with a yet to be completed eighth item - to “coordinate with governors to support testing plans and rapid response programs.”Įven with the upbeat pronouncements, some reporters still questioned past promises that have been made and for more specifics about the current plans. The responsibility, however, falls to the states to implement. In the new plan, all 50 states would receive enough tests each month to screen 2% of their population. was well ahead of any other country in tests performed. “The testing is not going to be a problem at all,” Trump said, noting that the U.S. The White House also unveiled a testing blueprint, designed to guide states as they begin to reopen their economies. This was reinforced when Trump called up a parade of CEOs to talk about their own plans to assist, either through the production of badly needed supplies or to make their own tests available to the public. The focus of Monday’s press conference was on testing, and the administration’s plans to dramatically scale it up through the month of May. Then, early on Monday afternoon, Trump’s appearance before the media was back on. While more were planned for later in the week, they may have “a new look to them. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said a briefing on Monday’s schedule would be canceled. “You have to step away from the media analysis and remind everybody that some people are taking what he says quite literally and will do what the president suggests,” Naftali said.Įarlier on Monday, it looked as if the briefings were in for some retooling, or that the president would scale them back altogether. Trump’s disinfectant comments were the subject of late night humor and social media memes, but Naftali also said that there is a potentially tragic side to the remarks. Tim Naftali, presidential historian for CNN and clinical associate professor of history at New York University, said that “I always believed that the most damning response to a political leader is ridicule.” Moreover, recent polls have shown rising dissatisfaction with Trump’s response to the pandemic, after an initial rally around the leader in the midst of a national emergency. The makers of Clorox and Lysol each issued warnings in the wake of his remarks on Thursday. But the president’s suggestions about disinfectants - which he later said was a note of sarcasm - has drawn ridicule and, more seriously, genuine concern that members of the public would ingest household cleaning products. The White House had indicated that changes were afoot to the nightly events, which have drawn sizable audiences and also allowed Trump to command the bully pulpit in the midst of a national emergency. Conan O'Brien Says Trump Jokes Aren't FunnyĪs MSNBC’s Brian Williams told viewers afterward, the event was billed as a “news conference on reopening of the country and testing,” but the president “got into the same familiar pattern we’ve seen day after day after day of taking questions from and answering and sparring with journalists.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |