President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic again became the top news story and campaign issue Wednesday following the publication of book excerpts quoting Trump as intentionally minimizing the threat.
“I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told veteran journalist Bob Woodward for his forthcoming book Rage during a conversation on March 19, which occurred days after he declared a national emergency. “I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic.”
Meanwhile, Trump was trying to reassure the public that the virus was “going to disappear” and the government had the outbreak under control.
Trump also made clear that he had a sense of the nature and scale of the threat of the coronavirus. “You just breathe the air, and that’s how it’s passed … And so, that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu,” he said.
He sought to correct the record during a Wednesday press briefing when he told reporters that he wanted to prevent widespread panic about the virus.
“I don’t want to create panic, as you say. And certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence. We want to show strength. We want to show strength as a nation. And that’s what I’ve done,” he said.
Democrats sought to portray Trump as cynical.
Donald Trump lied, and people died.
When I think about how many Americans died in March, and April, and May, and on, it enrages me.https://t.co/BIamS7sgPL
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 9, 2020
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden accused him of lying and putting the public in danger.
“He knew and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat posed to the country for months,” Biden said at a campaign stop in Warren, Michigan.
To date, more than 6.3 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the United States, and over 190,500 people have died.
Woodward also reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said Trump’s “sole purpose is to get reelection” and that his “attention span is like a minus number.”
Fauci contested Woodward’s reporting in a Fox News feature Wednesday: “If you notice, others have said that. You know, you should ask others. I don’t recall that at all.”
The chief of the National Institutes of Health confirmed Wednesday that a “spinal cord problem” caused the suspension of the phase three trial of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine.
NIH Director Francis Collins, testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, revealed that the problem that led to the pause in the trial is a rare affliction known as transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder that causes inflammation of the spinal cord. Collins said that all of the doses of the vaccine will be thrown away if it is confirmed that it is related to the adverse event.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot confirmed that the phase three trial was also briefly shut down in July when another participant developed neurological problems. However, that participant was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which was unrelated to the vaccine.
Fauci further sought to reassure the public that the pause is normal and shows the companies are putting patient safety before speed.
“In some respects, it shows that the system works,” Fauci said Wednesday on Fox News. “In other words, the checks and balances that you have when you do a trial that is a large number of people, that’s carefully watched and carefully controlled.”
Trump’s Nevada campaign co-chairman announced Wednesday that upcoming campaign stops have been canceled after state officials warned that the campaign would be in violation of the statewide limit on large gatherings, the Associated Press reported.
Campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said that the president would still be traveling to Nevada on the dates planned and the campaign would release additional details soon.
Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt said Wednesday that the cancellations were partisan in nature, calling them acts of “partisan political retribution.”
“This is unprecedented – to cancel an incumbent President’s campaign stop inside 60 days of a major contested election in a swing state,” Laxalt said. “This isn’t over!”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that the ban on indoor dining in New York City would be lifted on Sept. 30. Restaurants will be allowed to resume indoor services at 25% capacity, and guests will be temperature-checked at the door. Each restaurant will have enhanced filtration, and one member of each party will provide contact information for contact tracing purposes. They can remain open until midnight at the latest, while bars must remain closed to customers.
“Because the compliance has gotten better, we can now take the next step,” Cuomo said in a press conference on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health walked back an announcement made just hours earlier that trick-or-treating would be canceled due to the coronavirus. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said safety guidelines had been “slightly revised” to distinguish between activities originally prohibited under the health officer order from activities that are “not recommended,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
“This year, it’s just not safe to celebrate in the ways we usually do,” Ferrer said. “We are recommending that trick-or-treating not happen this year.”
The county health department announced earlier Wednesday that door-to-door trick-or-treating would be canceled this year due to worries that people will not be able to maintain social distancing measures.
