After being asked when coronavirus tests will be widely available, Trump threw a fit and said that the media made him get tested.
Trump said, “You should only — I didn’t have any symptoms and I got a test but I got a test because you people were driving everybody crazy. I had no symptoms, but I had to test. My doctor told me don’t get it, you don’t need it. Everybody said you don’t need it but I had to do it because the press was going crazy. And then after I got it, they said you shouldn’t have gotten it, you had no symptoms. The whole thing. If you get it, it’s no good. But I’m a unique case unfortunately. People that don’t show symptoms and people that have doctors that say they shouldn’t get it, I would rely on that, yes. I would rely on that.”
Video:
Trump throws a fit because the media made him get a coronavirus test, and tells people not to get tested unless they have symptoms. pic.twitter.com/bIN5oCLroE
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 19, 2020
Trump’s advice was the opposite of what medical experts and experiments are suggesting. The best way to halt the spread of the virus is to mass test people whether they have symptoms or not. Mass testing helps to catch people who are spreading the virus but have no symptoms.
Donald Trump always should have been tested. He is an obese man over age 70 who was exposed to the virus. Trump is angry at the media for forcing him to do the right thing.
Trump isn’t leading by example, and he is making the crisis worse by complaining about doing the right thing.
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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