President Donald Trump still believes the coronavirus “will disappear” despite the country’s record-breaking surge in coronavirus cases.
During an interview with Fox Business Wednesday, Trump expressed confidence about a rapid, “V-shaped” economic recovery and the coronavirus disappearing.
“We’re headed back in a very strong fashion with a ‘V,'” Trump said, referring to a V-shaped recovery. “And I think we’re going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope.”
Fox reporter Blake Burman asked Trump for clarity regarding his stance on the coronavirus and whether or not he really believes the virus will go away.
The president responded, “I do. Yeah, sure. At some point, and I think we’re going to have a vaccine very soon, too.”
See Trump’s remarks below:
Trump ludicrously claimed to Fox Business just now that "I think we're gonna be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point that's going to sort of just disappear, I hope." (The virus will not disappear on its own.) pic.twitter.com/ZkLtjKUEDu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 1, 2020
The president’s latest remarks follow multiple comments that resulted in him being accused of downplaying the severity of the coronavirus. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Trump has made multiple, contradicting statements alluding to the idea of the virus may somehow disappear.
Trump’s previously claimed the virus is “going to disappear, one day. It’s like a miracle. It will disappear.” That remark was made just two weeks before the United States shut down due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
During a recent interview, the president expressed similar sentiments saying the coronavirus is “dying out.” However, the statistics say otherwise. More than 37 states are seeing increases in cases, as of Sunday, with seven states recently reporting their highest hospitalizations since the pandemic began.
Multiple states have also been forced to halt their reopening.
As of Thursday morning, there are more than 2.7 million known coronavirus cases in the United States. The death toll has also passed 130,000.
On Wednesday, the U.S. recorded nearly 50,000 which is the highest number of cases reported in a single day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the president insists a vaccine will be coming “very soon,” scientific experts have warned about the dangers associated with rushing a vaccine.
However, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a Senate hearing this week, “Hopefully there will be doses available by the beginning of next year. These are things that we feel aspirationally hopeful about and we will continue to pursue this.”