Kamala Harris Shreds Trump For Wasting America’s Time With Juvenile Press Briefings

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:00 pm

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) tore into Donald Trump on Thursday for wasting the country’s time each day with childish and fact-free coronavirus press conferences.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Brian Williams, the California senator called the president “juvenile” and said he is “incapable” of providing the leadership our country needs in the middle of a crisis.

“In reference to the comments by the president, they’re juvenile,” Sen. Harris said of new attacks Trump launched at Joe Biden during Thursday’s coronavirus briefing.

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“Frankly, I think it’s a bit of a waste of time to talk about [Trump] if we’re looking for solutions to the crisis,” she added. But we should talk about his failure of leadership in terms of knowing that we need a new president and we need to elect Joe Biden in November to get to that place.

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Sen. Harris said:

In reference to the comments by the president, they’re juvenile. So I don’t think anyone in my party is actually going to respond to that. But we have responded, and I think many Americans are responding to the lack of leadership that this president has provided from day one. He rejected information he received from the American intelligence community. He minimized the seriousness of this. I believe there were 34 times he went on camera between January and early March and basically minimized the seriousness of the coronavirus and its impact on our country. He called it a hoax. He has tried to muzzle public health experts. He most recently fired the guy who is in charge of basically coming up with a treatment and a vaccine. And this is who he is. That’s why we have looked elsewhere for leadership and we are looking to Joe Biden for leadership in November. But the reality of it is that this the a pandemic that is by nature a public health crisis and we need a public health response and we need at the head of the public health response a president of the United States who embraces truth, who speaks truth, who embraces science and speaks in a way that’s about elevating public discourse, but also lifting up the American people in terms of their condition and also in terms of their spirits, and Donald Trump is incapable of any of that. So, frankly, I think it’s a bit of a waste of time to talk about him if we’re looking for solutions to the crisis, but we should talk about his failure of leadership in terms of knowing that we need a new president and we need to elect Joe Biden in November to get to that place.

Harris’ takedown of the president comes at a time when she’s viewed as one of the most likely Democratic leaders to be chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate.

The former vice president said that by May 1 he plans to announce members of a selection committee to help him choose his vice presidential pick.

Trump’s daily ‘briefings’ are bad for the country

As Sen. Harris noted on Thursday, Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings have been a disaster on multiple levels.

From a public health perspective, the president has used these news events to spread misinformation that could do actual harm – whether it’s repeatedly pushing a deadly drug or claiming that injecting bleach could be a viable treatment for the coronavirus.

From a political standpoint, Trump has used these daily ramblings to further divide a country that was already polarized – at a time when national unity is more important than it’s ever been.

The longer the country is forced to endure these press conferences, the clearer it is that the best way for the American people to get through this crisis is to ignore the unstable man in the White House.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.