Trump Admits Coronavirus Will 'Get Worse' And Won’t Admit Past Failings
Donald Trump finally admitted that the Covid-19 pandemic would get worse in the US before getting better after months of resisting making a nationwide call for masks and pushing for schools and businesses to reopen.
“It will get worse before it gets better,” Trump said during a briefing Tuesday of the resurgence of the coronavirus across the country. “That’s something I don’t like saying, but it is.”
Trump also urged people in the US to wear masks for the first time during a live press conference, though he did not issue a national mandate.
“We’re asking everybody that, when you’re not able to socially distance, wear a mask,” Trump said. “Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They have an effect. We need everything we can get.”
However, Trump later claimed that the “virus will disappear” without providing proof.
No medical experts, including coronavirus task force members Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Deborah Birx, spoke.
This was the first time Trump has spoken at a White House task force coronavirus update since late April when the death toll in the US was nearing 55,000. As of Tuesday, the death toll was over 140,000 people, and there had been 3.8 million coronavirus cases reported in the US.
The president started the press conference by referring to the virus as the “China virus,” a phrase many have pointed out is offensive, and later blamed China for not stopping the spread of the pandemic.
“China should’ve stopped it,” Trump said.
While Trump praised himself for shutting down travel into the US earlier in the pandemic, he didn’t mention the administration’s failures, such as its inability to equip doctors with protective gear as the virus spread earlier this year.
Trump also made no mention of his efforts to reopen the US economy despite the public health threat posed by the virus.
He did highlight a surge of cases in Southern states and praised Florida governor Ron DeSantis for his handling of the outbreak....
