House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says President Donald Trump’s attacks on China are an “interesting diversion.”
“What the president is saying about China is interesting — it’s an interesting diversion,” told reporters on Thursday afternoon, according to The Hill.
Pelosi’s comments come as Trump has repeatedly lashed out for China. He has suggested that the Chinese government could have stopped the spread of the coronavirus, but did not.
“There’s never been an attack like this. And it should have never happened, it could have been stopped at the source, could have been stopped at China,” Trump said last week.
But, Pelosi said Trump should focus more on getting the virus under control, “We should be using our energy on how we go forward [instead of] making judgments about what his administration did or didn’t do. We’re talking about going forward. There will be plenty of time for after-action review.”
She continued, “So instead of diverting attention from mistakes that may have been made here, let’s just put that all aside and go forward for what we can do working together for the good of the American people.”
House Democrats are expected to vote on a new $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Friday, but that’s about as far as that bill will get.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he wants to examine how effective the previous coronavirus relief bills have been before charging ahead with another massive spending bill.
And Trump said the bill is “dead on arrival,” as IJR reported.
Republicans have increasingly called for China to be held accountable for the spread of the coronavirus around the world. They have cited reports that allege the Chinese government took steps to curtail important information that could have stopped the spread of the virus.
Additionally, House Republicans announced the creation of a China task force to investigate “a wide range of China-related issues.”