President Donald Trump doesn’t appear to know what he’s doing in attempting to manage the U.S. response to the Coronavirus outbreak. Is concern over the virus a hoax? Is it a national emergency? Is it like the flu? Will a vaccine be available within weeks? Months? Trump has struggled through each one of these questions and many more in recent public appearances. This Saturday afternoon, he took to Twitter with a new tactic — tweeting an old video of an apparently Italian Air Force team putting on a ceremonial display of the colors of the Italian flag. Nice, Trump — but some actual answers to the questions that Americans have would be nice too!
Video of the event that Trump posted seems to have been on the internet since at least July 2019 and seems to depict the Freece Tricolori stunt pilot team of the Italian Air Force putting on a display at a British air show. Italy has been hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus outbreak, second only to China, where the virus originated. In Italy, over 21,000 people have been infected with the virus, and almost 1,500 have died — and the numbers are quickly climbing. In the last 24 hours or so alone, the country announced a stunning 3,500 or so additional cases and 175 deaths.
Trump captioned his video post:
‘THE UNITED STATES LOVES ITALY!’
THE UNITED STATES LOVES ITALY! pic.twitter.com/DESUJ4QM41
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020
COVID-19 UPDATE https://t.co/xzSHlNiS9K
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020
Around the same time, Trump also posted a video and recap of some of the latest administration updates on the Coronavirus response. At a Saturday afternoon press conference, the announcement came out that — among other things — the U.K. and Ireland would soon be added to the travel ban meant to try and help stem the spread of the virus. U.S. citizens are exempt and free to return home, with precautions in place.
Next on the agenda for the U.S. — besides dealing with the continually growing case count — is a Coronavirus relief funding package that the House passed late into the night as the weekend dawned. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has left the Senate on a recess until Monday evening, despite the acutely pressing situation.
Check out Twitter’s response
