President Donald Trump continues to try and convince observers that he’s perfectly capable of handling the U.S. response to the Coronavirus, which has rocked China and is slowly seeping into other locales around the globe. This Wednesday evening, Trump held a press conference at the White House about the administration’s response to the illness, which so far has included a request for $2.5 billion in emergency funding, which is lower than what many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle feel is appropriate. At his press conference, Trump quickly pivoted into tirades against his political opponents.
He delivered one of these rants in response to a reporter’s question about a dip in the stock market, which clearly and cohesively began earlier this week. The reporter asked:
‘If the CDC is right in saying that spread is inevitable, are you going to be dealing with stock market issues and economy issues for some time to come?’
Trump punted any concern about the disease aside and focused on belittling Democrats, whose Tuesday debate he blamed for the stock market issues that started on Monday. Time is a funny thing sometimes! Trump might not grasp it…
He commented:
‘What I really about the stock market — which is something I know a lot about — I think it took a hit maybe for two reasons. I think they look at the people that you watched debating last night, and they say if there’s even a possibillity that can happen — I think it really takes a hit because of that, and it certainly took a hit because of this, and I understand that also, because of supply chains and various other things and people coming in.’
Trump blames the stock market slide first and foremost on Democrats, not the coronavirus outbreak pic.twitter.com/dWQNcRXYsw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2020
Later on during the press conference, he also defended his campaign’s new lawsuit against The New York Times over an opinion piece published late last year in which the author argues that the Trump campaign essentially established a quid pro quo understanding with Russia.
A reporter asked Trump:
‘Is it your opinion or is it your contention that when people have an opinion that’s different than yours, they should be sued?’
And he responded that yes, that’s pretty much exactly what he believes.
He insisted:
‘Well, when they get the opinion totally wrong as The New York Times did, and frankly, they’ve gotten a lot wrong over the last number of years, so we’ll see how that — let that work its way through the courts.’
Trump threatens more lawsuits against media outlets that express opinions he doesn’t like pic.twitter.com/7aq53B1CzH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2020
At his Wednesday press conference, Trump also announced Vice President Mike Pence as a chief response coordinator for the Coronavirus, although with his history of supporting rollbacks in basic health coverage, he’s not exactly a trustworthy choice here. Neither is the guy — Trump — who seems convinced that coverage of the virus is part of some kind of conspiracy meant to make him look bad, which is what he suggested on Twitter right before he announced his Wednesday press conference.
Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape! @CDCgov…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2020
At present, the virus continues to spread — a case of unknown origin was reported in the U.S. just this Wednesday.
