Trump’s chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, compared the coronavirus to a hoax and claimed that the media was using panic to bring down Trump.
Mulvaney said at CPAC, “The press was covering their hoax of the day because they thought it would bring down the president. The reason you’re seeing so much attention to it today is that they think this is going to bring down the president. That’s what this is all about.”
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At CPAC, Mulvaney dismisses coronavirus concern as media panic https://t.co/z9nd8Q5YMc pic.twitter.com/kFDBDfkMMc
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— POLITICO (@politico) February 28, 2020
The coronavirus has killed thousands of people around the world. It is is not a hoax or a plot to bring down Donald Trump.
Mulvaney’s comments were unfathomably reckless and irresponsible. There are thousands of people under quarantine in the United States due to concerns about the spread of a potential pandemic, but Mick Mulvaney is intentionally misleading people about a possible public health crisis because he is trying to protect Donald Trump politically.
Trump’s chief of staff also told people to turn off their TVs for 24 hours, because the coverage is media panic. Turning off the TV isn’t going to make a global health crisis go away. It also isn’t going to prevent what could be another 1,000 point loss on the Dow.
The White House is treating a potential pandemic like a political problem, and the results could be disastrous if the US experiences a coronavirus outbreak.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
