Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of the former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, says he holds President Donald Trump entirely responsible for the 200,000 deaths from COVID-19.
During an appearance on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday, Chelsea was asked, “How much do you blame [Trump] and his response? Or the lack thereof?”
“I blame him pretty fundamentally,” she responded. “I think it’s unconscionable that he lied to the American public about Covid. That he’s continued to lie to the American people. That he has such a blatant disregard for public health.”
She alluded to a portion of journalist Bob Woodward’s new book “Rage” that shows Trump knew far more about COVID-19 and the threat it posed as early as February and adopted a strategy of downplaying the threat of the virus during the early weeks of the outbreak.
Trump has denied that he lied to the American people about the threat of the virus, as IJR reported. However, he also said that “perhaps” he misled the public.
She continued, “I blame him, full stop. I also blame him for all he’s not doing now to help prepare for when the scientists have proven a vaccine is safe and effective at scale. I blame him for not marshaling a real effort to build public confidence and demand for a vaccine that is proven safe and effective.”
Watch the video below:
.@ChelseaClinton tells @TheView “it’s unconscionable that [Pres. Trump] lied to the American public about COVID.”
— The View (@TheView) September 22, 2020
“There’s a lot of blame for the president and his administration for where we are and where we’re supposed to be,” she adds. https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/kUp7O1xTEL
She also accused Trump of not having a national strategy to ensure that Americans can be vaccinated. However, last week, the Trump administration did release a plan to distribute a vaccine once it receives authorization.
Trump has claimed that he “up-played” his response to the coronavirus and argued that he was trying to avoid panic by downplaying the risk of the virus in the early days of the outbreak.
Clinton’s comments come as the U.S. has surpassed 200,000 deaths from COVID-19, and there are more than 7 million cases reported in the country.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also said he hold Trump responsible for the death toll from the virus, as IJR reported.
During a CNN town hall on Sept. 17, Biden said, “If the president had done his job, had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive.”