President Donald Trump has offered praise to West Virginia for its handling of the coronavirus, but Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has something different to say.
Trump’s comments came just before West Virginia reported its first case of the coronavirus. West Virginia was reportedly the last state to confirm a coronavirus case.
During his press conference on Tuesday, Trump began to discuss field hospitals and providing equipment to medical personnel.
He went on to say how West Virginia did not need it because he believed that there were no reported cases of the coronavirus at the time.
“We’re not going to need them in West Virginia where so far I guess they have none,” Trump said, adding, “The governor, he must be doing a good job.”
Watch Trump’s comments below:
Trump today praised West Virginia, the only state without reported coronavirus cases. "The governor … he must be doing a good job"https://t.co/TBwkpfcnDJ pic.twitter.com/fPA3u257id
— POLITICO (@politico) March 17, 2020
Trump responded to a reporter asking for clarification on whether it was a reporting issue or if West Virginia really did not have any cases.
“I just see West Virginia is the only one that has no cases,” Trump said, adding, “So obviously that’s being treated differently than in New York or California.”
While the West Virginia governor was being praised for the state’s reported success at the time, Manchin claims that the report of no cases was not for the right reasons.
During a CNN interview on Wednesday, Manchin started out by explaining that he wished Trump did not hold the state up to such a high standard and the one reason why West Virginia was the last state to confirm a coronavirus case.
According to Manchin, the state was just beginning to test and up until a few days ago, West Virginia only conducted 40 tests. It is now up to approximately 130.
“What we did, they didn’t test,” Manchin said, adding, “We have no testing, we’re not prepared, people think that we’re immune from this.”
Watch Manchin’s comments below:
JUST NOW: @Sen_JoeManchin
— John Berman (@JohnBerman) March 18, 2020
none to happy his state of WV was being held up as beacon of success in Coronavirus. He says it is for all the wrong reasons.
@NewDaypic.twitter.com/1wo3n4wu9K
Manchin continued to point out that the state does need testing kits and additional supplies.
“When it hits my state, and it has hit, it’s going to be absolutely catastrophic,” Manchin said.
According to reports, every state in the United States now has confirmed cases of the coronavirus.