Gov. Hogan reacts to criticism from Trump on state testing: 'I have no idea what he was upset about'
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan reacts on 'America's Newsroom' to President Trump suggesting he doesn't understand the capacity of federal testing in his state
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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, reacted on Sunday to President Trump’s comments on disinfectant and sunlight as a potential cure to coronavirus saying “some of the messaging” during White House news briefings “has not been great.”
Hogan made the comments on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday responding to Trump, in his White House coronavirus task force briefing Thursday, appearing to suggest that light and disinfectants might have the potential to treat the coronavirus.
“We had hundreds of calls in our hotline here in Maryland about people asking about injecting or ingesting these disinfectants, which is hard to imagine that people thought that that was serious, but people actually were thinking about this,” Hogan said on Sunday. “Was this something you could do to protect yourself?”
Trump’s comments prompted a number of stories condemning the statements, others seeking to defend the president and a scathing tweet from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The comments even prompted a statement from Reckitt Benckiser Group, the makers of Lysol, warning against improper use of disinfectant products.
The president's comments came after administration officials presented findings of a study that suggested increased heat, light and humidity in the summer could decrease the time it takes for the coronavirus to disperse on surfaces and in the air, and potentially slow the spread of the disease during the warmer months. They also said that isopropyl alcohol and bleach were highly effective in tests at killing the virus on surfaces -- with bleach killing it in as few as five minutes and isopropyl alcohol doing so in just 30 seconds.
WHITE HOUSE TOUTS TESTING PROGRESS IN ABRUPTLY SHORT PRESS BRIEFING
On Friday, the White House hit back at the media’s coverage, with Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany saying in a statement: “President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday’s briefing. Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines.”
Also on Friday, Trump insisted he was being “sarcastic” when he seemingly suggested that household disinfectants could be used as a treatment for the new coronavirus.
“I think it is always critically important … for a leader to put out the facts and to be as open and honest and transparent as possible and that's what I tried to do as the governor of my state, particularly in the middle of this crisis,” Hogan said on Sunday. “I think it’s critical that the president of the United States, when people are really scared and in the middle of this worldwide pandemic, that in these press conferences that we really get the facts out there.”
“Unfortunately, some of the messaging has not been great,” he continued. “I mean, the mixed messaging, I've raised concerns multiple times about conflicting messages.”
When asked if the president should stop holding the news briefings Hogan said, “I think having briefings to inform the public of what’s going on is important and I think his coronavirus team has really been doing a good job and there are some really smart folks on there that are providing valuable information.”
“I would hate to see that stop,” he continued, adding that he noticed the last briefing was “different.” He also noted that President Trump didn’t take any questions from reporters.
Friday’s record short coronavirus briefing lasted a little over 21 minutes.
“We didn't have a two-hour long press conference that went off into different topics,” Hogan noted on Sunday. “Perhaps that’s indicating a different strategy, and I think maybe some of his advisers are suggesting that maybe a different communication policy might be more helpful.”
A White House coronavirus news briefing was not held on Saturday.
There have been discussions within the White House about changing the format of the briefings to reduce the president’s role, the Associated Press reported, citing four White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke on condition of anonymity given they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
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Trump, who is known for changing his mind, has not committed to any permanent change in the format of the news briefings, the officials reportedly said.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson, Marisa Schultz, Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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