SHOT: Trump Praised His Own Coronavirus Response Today at a Press Conference: “I Think That We’re Doing A Great Job” And Claimed “We Have It Very Much Under Control In This Country.” [Donald Trump, Press Conference, New Delhi, India, 2/25/20]
CHASER: Hours Later, The CDC Warns The Spread Of Coronavirus In The U.S. Is Not A Question Of If, But When. “Americans should brace for the likelihood that the coronavirus will spread to communities in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday. ‘It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country any more but a question of when this will happen,’ said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.” [New York Times, 2/25/20]
- U.S. Coronavirus Outbreak Inevitable, CDC Official Says. “A coronavirus outbreak in the United States is now inevitable, a top CDC official said Tuesday, elevating concerns that the public health emergency could soon become a full-scale pandemic.” [POLITICO, 2/25/20]
BACKGROUND:
TRUMP ON THE CORONAVIRUS IN HIS OWN WORDS TODAY:
February 25, 2020: Trump Said Coronavirus Is “Very Well Under Control In Our Country.” “You ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country. We have very few people with it, and the people that have it are, in all cases, I have not heard anything other — maybe there’s something new.” [Donald Trump, Press Conference, New Delhi, India, 2/25/20]
February 25, 2020: Trump On Coronavirus Response: “I Think That We’re Doing A Great Job.” “I think that we’re doing a great job. I felt that — and the decision was made in Japan, let these Americans come back. We’ll see how they are, but they were immediately put into quarantine. There’s no problem whatsoever, they’re quarantined. We approved — I approved — $2.5 billion for just that purpose and also for working at getting a vaccine.” [Donald Trump, Press Conference, New Delhi, India, 2/25/20]
Trump: “We’re Down To Probably About 10 [Cases]. Most Of The People Are Outside Of Danger Right Now.” “They were in between countries where people weren’t going to take them, and they’re Americans. They’re fully quarantined. They call it ‘fully quarantined.’ We did the right thing. If you were out there and you were an American and you refuse to have any help from your country, these were wonderful people. It wasn’t their fault. We’re down to…we’re really down to probably about 10. Most of the people are outside of danger right now. We’ve had a very strict line on the people we’re taking and the areas from which we’ll take, and I did it very early. It’s never done before and I did it early. I think it was a good decision, as it turned out.” [Donald Trump, Press Conference, New Delhi, India, 2/25/20]