Trump claims he “performed up” the coronavirus after admitting to downplaying it

President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied downplaying the coronavirus risk, claiming he “performed up” the danger of the illness by means of his actions – regardless of privately admitting months earlier that “I all the time wished to downplay it”.

Trump spoke to voters in Philadelphia at an ABC Information Metropolis Corridor occasion that his steps within the Covid-19 disaster had saved lives early on and had demonstrated “motion, not by mouth.”

The president’s declare that “I hyped it up in some ways in relation to motion” got here lower than per week after audio was launched from an interview with veteran journalist Bob Woodward by which Trump mentioned of the coronavirus, “Me All the time wished to downplay it … I nonetheless prefer to downplay it as a result of I do not need to panic. ”

This clip was recorded in mid-March, greater than a month after Trump reportedly advised Woodward that the virus was “extra lethal than your worrying flu.”

Trump’s advisors, Woodward reported in his new e-book “Rage”, warned him in late January that the coronavirus “would be the biggest nationwide safety risk you face in your presidency.”

On the city corridor occasion on Tuesday night, a scholar requested Trump, “In the event you imagine it’s the president’s accountability to guard America, then why downplay a pandemic recognized to have an effect on households and low-income minorities disproportionately hurt? “

The president replied, “Yeah, I did not downplay it. I downplayed it in some ways by way of the motion.”

The coed seemed to be referring to the President’s recorded feedback with Woodward as she started a follow-up query: “Did not you admit it your self and say that you simply …”

However Trump lower them off. “I imposed a ban with China. I imposed a ban with Europe. And we’d have misplaced 1000’s of individuals if I hadn’t imposed the ban,” he mentioned.

“In order that was known as motion, not by mouth, however the truth is we did a really, superb job in placing this ban on. Whether or not you name it expertise or luck, it was crucial. So we saved a whole lot of lives once we did that. “

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, who housed the city corridor, mentioned: “The ban contained loopholes and the European ban took one other month to come back.”

The president replied, “Effectively, they have been American. I imply, when you have somebody in China who’s an American citizen, we needed to allow them to in.”

Multiple fact checks Trump’s declare that he “banned” China mentioned that 1000’s of foreigners continued to come back to the US within the months after the directive got here into drive in early February.

The Related Press present in July that “greater than 27,000 Individuals returned from mainland China within the first month after the restrictions went into impact.”

ABC’s 90-minute Metropolis Corridor, housed on the Nationwide Structure Heart in Philadelphia as per Pennsylvania’s social distancing guidelines, takes place simply seven weeks earlier than the presidential election between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. It aired at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday.