A member of the New York Times editorial board tweeted partial comments President Trump made to governors, during which he told them to start obtaining respirators on their own, with the board member failing to include his subsequent statement that they have the administration’s backing.
In a video call on Monday, Trump told governors, “Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves,” according to a transcript obtained by the New York Times.
The outlet’s Mara Gay tweeted out the quote but did not include the second half of Trump’s statement in which he said, “We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.”
“Trump told governors this morning they are on their own,” Gay wrote, linking out to a New York Times story that included the full quote.
Trump told governors this morning they are on their own:
“Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves,” Mr. Trump told the governors during the conference call, a recording of which was shared with The New York Times. https://t.co/K0sont7MBc— Mara Gay (@MaraGay) March 16, 2020
In a Monday press conference, Trump told reporters that if states can get ventilators and respirators “directly, it’s always going to be faster if they can get them directly if they need them, and I have given them authorization to order directly.”
The president accused journalists of spreading “fake news” the day before, saying “it would be great if we could really give the news correctly. It would be so, so wonderful.”
Earlier this month, Gay erroneously claimed that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg could have given $1 million to every American instead of spending $500 million on his failed presidential bid.
The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
