Media hit Trump on Coronavirus as he blames Democrats and coverage

close

Video

Trump taps Pence to lead coronavirus response as US sees first case unrelated to travel

Former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt tells 'America's Newsroom' that he believes the Trump administration is doing its best to prepare the American people.

Everyone is saying the country should come together in battling the coronavirus, and yet the entire effort is cloaked in political partisanship.

That only intensified after President Trump held an evening news conference, which was widely panned by the media.

It’s probably not realistic to expect a suspension of political sniping in the face of a potential emergency. During past crises, such as Ebola and the BP oil spill during the Obama years, presidents have routinely been challenged for being too slow or not doing enough. But a crisis unfolding in this polarizing atmosphere, with the stock market already in correction territory, feels very different.

WHY BERNIE EMERGED LARGELY UNSCATHED FROM CBS DEBATE FIASCO

Trump took a shot at the media as the Chinese virus was spreading around the globe, tweeting:

“Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible.”

Actually, figures show the two networks haven’t been covering the virus more than Fox News and other outlets, and overall I think the press has been relatively restrained in covering the possible pandemic.

The Democrats, meanwhile, starting taking shots at the administration, with Nancy Pelosi saying its response was “too late and anemic.” Both media and political critics noted that Trump had tried to cut certain health programs that would come in handy right about now.

At a news conference Wednesday evening, Trump said he doesn’t think he’s on a different page from federal health officials, even though they think a serious outbreak in the U.S. is “inevitable” and he does not. The president talked about how tens of thousands of Americans die each year from the flu, and said if Democrats (and some Republicans) want to provide more than the $2.5 million he’s requested in emergency aid, he’s happy to take it.

But Trump’s tone grew sharper under questioning from reporters, as he said “Speaker Pelosi is incompetent” and “she’s trying to create a panic and there’s no reason to panic because we have done so good.”

Seconds after the Trump presser, liberal commentators and even some anchors started ripping him for being more optimistic than his own federal health officials. Some also ripped the choice of Mike Pence to oversee the effort, claiming he was anti-science as Indiana’s governor.

The criticism mounted yesterday. The New York Times led off a piece recalling “Sharpie-gate,” when Trump used a pen to alter a hurricane map, saying such incidents undermined his credibility.

“Now, as the coronavirus races across the globe and has begun to threaten the United States, Mr. Trump could face a moment of reckoning. Maintaining a calm and orderly response during an epidemic, in which countless lives could be at stake, requires that the president be a reliable public messenger.”

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE'S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAY'S HOTTEST STORIES

The paper went on to say: “For three and a half years, Mr. Trump has repeatedly proved an unreliable narrator on a range of subjects…In his response to the coronavirus, Mr. Trump has made inaccurate or questionable claims, twice misstating the number of Americans infected with the virus and insisting that it ‘miraculously goes away’ when warmer spring weather arrives — a prediction that health experts have said is premature.”

The Washington Post portrayed a president mostly interested in promoting himself:

“We really think we’ve done a great job in keeping it down to a minimum. And again, we’ve had tremendous success — tremendous success, beyond what people would have thought.”

And: “We’re doing great. Other countries have not been doing great."

And: “So far, we’ve done a great job.”

The Post also noted that Trump blamed a 2,000-point decline in the Dow, now down over 3,000 points, in part on the prospect that a Democrat (meaning Bernie Sanders) might win the White House. But the campaign has been going on for a year.

Some criticism of the administration is inevitable and actually healthy. But some of the attacks are so reflexive that it seems those hostile to Trump have simply switched their focus from Russia to Ukraine to the coronavirus.

Any president has to walk a fine line in a public emergency, careful not to scare people (or spook the markets) while also offering a realistic assessment of the threat and the country’s ability to respond.

It does make you wonder, though: Is there any threat to America big enough that it doesn’t become mired in perpetual partisanship? And isn’t that a kind of sickness?