Ben Shapiro on Trump coronavirus address: Whoever greenlit that 'bleep show' should be fired
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro did not hold back in his criticisms of President Trump's national address on coronavirus Wednesday night, which he said was "marred by a bunch of screw-ups" that hampered the administration's efforts to contain the outbreak.
"Whoever greenlit this bleep show should be fired," Shapiro said on "The Ben Shapiro Show" Wednesday.
" I mean, seriously, it’s not entirely Trump's fault because he has speechwriters who do this thing for him," Shapiro continued, but "it did not steady the markets, it did not make people feel more secure."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CELEBS REACT TO TRUMP CORONAVIRUS ADDRESS
Trump announced in his remarks Wednesday that the U.S. is suspending all travel from Europe to the U.S. for 30 days beginning Friday at midnight in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The president said the new travel exemptions do not apply to the United Kingdom, but failed to clarify that U.S. citizens and permanent residents could return from Europe, forcing the administration to issue clarifications Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Whoever put that in the teleprompter needs to be fired forthwith."
"If you’re going to give a speech like this, you have to have everything locked down," Shapiro said. "You’re trying to provide a sense of solidity ... that you know what you’re doing. That the federal government has thought these policies out and that they are providing serious guidance to people."
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"Look, President Trump was serious about coronavirus which was a good thing," he continued, "but when you give a speech like this, you’ve got to make sure that everything is locked down."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shapiro further criticized Trump for suggesting that trade and cargo would be subject to the Europe travel ban, again forcing a clarification from the White House that only humans would be affected.
"Trump getting serious last night was a good thing even if the speech was a bit of a screwup."
"Mistake number two is that he announced that there would be basically bans on the importation of European goods which would shut down the entire global economy," Shapiro explained. "It turns out of course, that his executive order does no such thing. It doesn’t apply to trade and goods ... it applies only to humans."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump posted a clarification on his Twitter account Wednesday evening, but Shapiro said someone must be held accountable for the initial confusion.
"It’s in the teleprompter so I'm not sure how it’s an accident," he said. "Whoever put that in the teleprompter needs to be fired forthwith."
After rattling off additional descrepencies he found throughout Trump's speech, Shapiro turned his criticism to the mainstream media for taking issue with the president's labeling of the outbreak -- which originated in Wuhan, China -- as a '"foreign virus."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Trumps’s speech has serious problems ... but the media’s response is overwhelmingly stupid ... like incredibly stupid," Shapiro said.
"It’s good that the president is now taking this seriously because his prior response has been insufficient and put Trump aside, the administration’s response has been quite serious."
Shapiro went on, "The administration is on top of this to the extent that any federal administration is on top of it ... the problem has been a disconnect for Trump getting serious. Last night was a good thing even if the speech was a bit of a screwup," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta said moments after the address that Trump’s remarks could be seen as “smacking of xenophobia,” an indication that the media "has really gone off the rails," Shapiro said.
"Trump last night said, 'This is a major government response to the foreign virus,' and this immediately lead people in the media to whine about the fact that Trump said that the Wuhan virus is a foreign virus."
" I have a question ... why is that a big deal? " Shapiro continued. "It is a foreign virus. Why is that a problem? Is that an element of xenophobia? Seriously? This is what you’re focused on ... that Trump points out that another major virus comes from China and that maybe this will have implications on U.S. policy and yet your initial takeaway is 'that’s Trump being a racist against Chinese people?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That’s really where you’re going with this?" he went on.
"I'm sorry, I'm not going to consider you a serious person if you think that a major problem is for the President of the United States to point out that a foreign virus is indeed a foreign virus."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shapiro concluded, "if you’re really bi---ing at this point about calling it a foreign virus, your priorities are completely and utterly misplaced."