President Donald Trump is suggesting he may have misled the American people in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent widespread fear.
A reporter asked Trump on Wednesday if he misled the public in order to reduce panic.
“If you said in order to reduce panic, perhaps that’s so,” Trump said.
He added, “The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country, and I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic, as you say, and certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy.”
Watch his comments below:
“The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country, I love our country, and I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic, as you say,” President Trump says when asked if he downplayed the danger of COVID-19 to reduce panic. https://t.co/mllQOBC3Gh pic.twitter.com/e7YKU08KHT
— ABC News (@ABC) September 9, 2020
Trump stressed “we want to show confidence” and “we want to show strength as a nation.”
He argued the United States has done “well from any standard” in its response to the outbreak.
The president reiterated his belief that it is crucial not to generate fear among Americans.
“We don’t want to instill panic. We don’t want to jump up and down and start shouting that we have a problem that is a tremendous problem, scare everybody,” Trump said.
His comments come after the Washington Post released a review of reporter Bob Woodward’s new book drawing from interviews he had with Trump, as IJR previously reported.
According to Woodward, Trump told him in March, “I wanted to always play it down.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci weighed in on how Trump approached the crisis at the beginning, as IJR previously reported.
He told Fox News on Wednesday he “didn’t get any sense that he was distorting anything.”
Fauci also said Trump “really didn’t say anything different” from what he discussed with the coronavirus task force.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Trump “has never lied” about the coronavirus.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden slammed Trump by saying he “knowingly and willingly lied” to Americans.
