Eric Swalwell praises Pence over coronavirus response, then warns Trump could be spreading misinformation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. praised Vice President Mike Pence's leadership in response to the coronavirus outbreak Wednesday, adding that although he is rooting for President Trump to succeed and keep America healthy, he is discouraged by reports of multiple "false claims" about the contagion.
"We [in Congress] worked in a bipartisan way to pass an $8.3 billion package [last week] -- we want the president to succeed," Swalwell said on "The Story."
"I met with Vice President Mike Pence with our caucus last week, and I thought he had a pretty good handle on how our government works, he's got relationships with governors that I think have been productive, he's been working with experts and he assured us every decision he makes would be based on science."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP: 'CORONAVIRUS DOESN'T CARE WHAT PARTY YOU'RE IN'
However, Swalwell criticized Trump by claiming he had read a report asserting the president had made "29 false claims about coronavirus."
"I am frankly most concerned about the president," Swalwell said before mentioning the report. "So we can have the best intentions, the best experts, everyone doing what they're supposed to do and then the person of the top could set us back with misinformation."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Host Martha MacCallum warned the lawmaker that disseminating politically-charged reports like "29 false claims about coronavirus" would not be "particularly helpful" -- adding that there is a lot the government and the public do not know about the illness, and therefore it could be hard to empirically determine what is true and what is false.
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She then played a clip of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, praising the president. The federal and state administrations have battled in court over a variety of issues in recent months.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Swalwell said he appreciated that development, adding that Trump's success is key to America's health.
"We need to work together, and you're going to see tomorrow we will roll out the [emergency coronavirus] package to further assist the administration."