Trump claimed that states and media who are reporting inadequate access to coronavirus testing are all lying about the availability of tests for the virus.
Trump said:
Following the announcement of our reopening guidelines, there have been some very partisan voices in the media and politics who have spread false and misleading information about our testing capacities. Totally false and misleading. Demonstrating a complete failure to understand the enormous scope of the testing capabilities that we’ve brought online. And we started really from ground zero.
We started from really being very, very outdated and obsolete as a country from the past. And I will say this. If they didn’t understand it, it’s just really, unfortunately, I hate to say this, because we’ve been getting along very well, but it would be false reporting because they understand the capability. It’s going to be up to the states to use that capability. The states have local points where they can go. The governor can call the mayors and the mayors can call representatives. And everything is perfect.
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The press is getting the information about inadequate access to testing, not only from governors, but from hospitals, doctors, health care workers, and patients. Medical professionals are in universal agreement that access to testing remains a gigantic problem.
Trump doesn’t want to hear about testing, because he has convinced himself that testing is not important and necessary for reopening the economy.
It is not false reporting or misinformation. It’s a fact. The number of tests is not adequate for the amount of testing that needs to be done, and there is still not enough access to testing for all the at-risk individuals who need to be tested.
Trump was lying because he is in a rush to reopen the economy and save his reelection campaign.
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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
