Secretary Carson on potential mortgage relief in next phase of coronavirus stimulus
Coronavirus task force member and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson, joins 'America's Newsroom.'
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Dr. Ben Carson on Thursday appeared on “America’s Newsroom” to explain how the White House coronavirus task force is advising President Trump to reopen the economy.
“We had, going into the [coronavirus shutdown], a very strong economy,” the Housing and Urban Development secretary told host Sandra Smith.
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Carson said that the goal is to maintain the “strong financial and economic infrastructure” that already exists.
“So what we want to do is maintain that economy: Bridge the gap so that means we’re going to have to infuse some federal funds but we want to keep things going so that once the virus problem has been eliminated, we can go back.”
Carson’s comments came after Trump declared on Wednesday that the country has “passed the peak” in the number of new cases of the novel coronavirus while teasing an upcoming announcement on guidelines the White House will offer states for reopening the economy.
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The president did not reveal any details of the guidelines that the task force will release, but said he will be making an announcement Thursday afternoon.
“We think some states may be able to open before May 1,” Trump said of the date the White House has set for continued social distancing practices in the country. “We want to get our country open again.”
Carson highlighted that there does not need to be a waiting period until “every vestige” of the virus is gone.
“Common sense would dictate that if we wait until everything is going, our economy is gone also,” Carson said.
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Carson said that the White House coronavirus task force is taking into account all of the "medical, economic and social variables" to advise Trump on how to maintain American’s health and lifestyle.
Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly contributed to this report.
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