House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused President Trump of downplaying the threat of the coronavirus to help the stock market, which she said increased the fatality rate that has now risen past 180,000 people.
“His delay, distortion, and denial of what was happening caused many deaths,” the California Democrat told reporters Thursday during a weekly news conference.
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Pelosi made the accusation in response to a new book by Bob Woodward in which Trump said he did not want to create panic about the coronavirus, even though it was deadly.
“I want to always play it down,” Trump told Woodward.
[Read more: Trump newly under fire for coronavirus response thanks to Woodward book]
Trump defended his comments to reporters on Wednesday, but Pelosi suggested that if the president had sounded a louder alarm about the coronavirus, more people would be alive today.
“Columbia University put out statistics six months ago about how many people would still be alive if the if the science was followed, so this is a tragedy beyond words,” Pelosi said.
She accused Trump of showing “contempt for the American people and their health” and said that his refusal to take the threat seriously left the country unprepared.
Pelosi did not address Trump’s effort to ramp up the production of ventilators, testing, personal protective gear, or vaccine development.
Instead, she suggested Trump has virtually ignored the virus.
“He didn’t want to hit the panic button,” Pelosi said. “Why? Because of the stock market?”
Pelosi said Trump continues to ignore science and said a minimum of 3 million tests should be administered every day in order to track and eradicate the virus.
