White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Friday accused the press of not adequately reporting on the coronavirus’ threat to Americans because the media was too busy covering President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, which Mulvaney referred to as “the hoax of the day.”
Addressing an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday, Mulvaney also accused the press of pushing their agendas by inaccurately reporting that the Trump Administration is “scrambling” to contain the outbreak.
Mulvaney said despite briefing Congress and other top health officials six weeks ago concerning the health threat, the press chose to focus on Trump’s impeachment trial because they “thought it would bring down the president.”
He added:
“The reason you’re seeing so much attention to it today is that they think this is going to be the thing that brings down the president. That’s what this is all about it.”
See Mulvaney’s comments below:
Both Trump and Mulvaney have downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak affecting the United States but recognized the possibility of future school closures, limits on public gatherings, and alternatives to public transportation.
Addressing the audience at CPAC on Friday, Mulvaney said:
“Are you going to see some schools shut down? Probably. May you see impacts on public transportation? Sure. We know how to handle this.”
During a news conference on Wednesday, Trump explained that compared to China, the risk of the coronavirus is “very low” in the U.S.
Early Friday morning, Trump tweeted:
“So, the Coronavirus, which started in China and spread to various countries throughout the world, but very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border, and ended flights, VERY EARLY, is now being blamed, by the Do Nothing Democrats, to be the fault of ‘Trump.’”
Trump’s remark contradicts a statement issued on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting that the spread of the coronavirus in the United States “appears to be inevitable.”
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar announced that the US now has 60 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Of the 60 confirmed cases, 42 people are former passengers on a cruise ship, three Americans returned from Wuhan, China, one patient contracted the illness through unknown means, and the remaining 14 patients had either returned from China themselves or are a spouse of someone who recently returned from China, reported CNN.