US President Donald Trump used his daily corona crisis press conference on Monday to praise his policy for the pandemic and defend itself against continued criticism.
Trump particularly lashed out at media outlets and experts who found that he was doing too little throughout February, when there were already clear signs that the corona epidemic had also reached the US.
The president even showed a promotional video showing several governors praising his corona policy. American media speak of a press conference that was more like a campaign meeting, such as Trump who regularly holds.
In fact, during his daily press talk, Trump is supposed to inform the public about the corona crisis, which has also killed thousands in the US. A journalist who asked him about what he did in February during the press moment was told that she works for a channel that is ‘fake’ and that he has indeed done a lot.
“The President of the US determines everything”
The President stressed that he has the authority to get the US economy going again.
With this, he responded to governors who argue that the White House is legally incapable of determining whether people in US states should return to work. According to the constitution, the president cannot determine or enforce this, critics say.
“The President of the United States determines everything,” said Trump. “The President’s authority is all-encompassing. If we leave that to the states, a huge problem arises that this country has never experienced.”
Trump said the virus would go away on its own
In late March, Trump called for Americans to return to work after Easter, because quarantine measures are harming the U.S. economy.
In February, Trump was asked several times about the corona crisis. He stated several times that the virus was hardly a threat to the country and that Washington was in control of the matter. “The virus disappears by itself,” he claimed. In addition, Trump called the Democrats’ attacks on his statements a hoax.
White House says it will not fire critical virologist Fauci
In the news conference on Monday, the Republican President stressed that he will not fire Anthony Fauci, an authoritative virologist who assists the White House in the fight against the corona virus. Trump retweeted messages containing the hashtag #FireFauci earlier this week.
In recent weeks, Fauci has regularly commented on Trump’s statements about the corona crisis. He argued that earlier government intervention could have saved many American lives. He also criticized Trump’s claim that the drug hydroxychloroquine helps against COVID-19 because it has not been proven.
More than 23,000 Americans died from COVID-19
On Monday, Fauci said at the press conference that he is satisfied with the way Trump has followed up on his previous opinions. Nearly 600,000 coronavirus infections have now been confirmed. More than 23,000 American corona patients have died.
The virus strikes black Americans much harder than white Americans, because many African Americans live in densely populated neighborhoods. Also, many black Americans do not have good health insurance. Fauci also made very critical statements about this recently.
Follow the latest developments around the virus in us live blog.
The coronavirus in short
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