Larry Kudlow Publicly Embarrassed During Failed ‘CNN Sunday’ Appearance

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President Donald Trump’s team continues to maintain their relentlessly rosy outlook for the near future in the United States, no matter the increasingly desperate tolls from the Coronavirus pandemic. This weekend on CNN, Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow even tried to defend his insistence earlier in the year that the virus was “contained.” Under no reasonable guideline was the virus contained, but this weekend, he insisted that his “quote then was based on the actual facts… and it was contained” — which is just not true by any stretch of the imagination, no matter Kudlow’s attempt to laser focus on the few supposedly great economic indicators.

Asked if there was a “disconnect” between those pushing for economic recovery and those pushing for a public health recovery, Kudlow insisted:

‘My quote then was based on the actual facts, which at the time, there were only 40 or 50 cases, and it was contained, particularly after President Trump boldly put up travel restrictions with China… Yes, some doctors were more fearful, other doctors had many different things to say. I don’t want to play this game of who said what and when… I think this sort of ankle-biting that is going on in Washington is just incorrect… We did what we had to do as soon as the situation became much clearer.’

Watch below:

Kudlow’s insistence that the Trump administration acted swiftly and effectively is incorrect. Well over 1.1 million Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and one set of supposedly great travel restrictions that still allowed tens of thousands of flights from China after their implementation was far from enough to avert the crisis.

This weekend, as other Trump advisers have done before, Kudlow also insisted that the U.S. economy was poised for a quick rebound following the economic upheaval of the social distancing measures enacted in attempts to stem the spread of the Coronavirus.

Kudlow told CNN host Jake Tapper:

‘From our perspective too, Jake, look – we know the economy is still in a terrible contractionary phase. Tremendous hardships everywhere; that’s why we’ve put up several rescue packages led by President Trump and with the bipartisan support of the Congress. So, we are working through that, and it’s going to be very difficult in the months ahead, no question. Having said that, I will note that the Congressional Budget Office and a bunch of private forecasters — Wall Street Journal surveys and so forth — are looking for a very strong second-half economic rebound and suggesting that 2021 next year could be one of the fastest growth rebounds in American history or recent history.’

Watch below:

Where is the evidence for this? The financial services organization S&P has reported that getting back to pre-Coronavirus levels in the job market could take years after the virus passes. Amidst the economic crisis accompanying the public health crisis of the pandemic, thousands and thousands of businesses may never reopen at all. In the San Francisco Bay area alone, a local restaurant association suggested that half of local San Francisco restaurants may never reopen at all.