Trey Gowdy: Let health care professionals handle coronavirus advice, just be US President
Fox News contributor and former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy reacts to President Trump and Democrats clashing over the coronavirus response.
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President Trump should assume the role of "comforter in chief" to guide the American people through the coronavirus pandemic, and leave the medical advice to health care professionals, former House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said Sunday.
"This is an unprecedented event in our country, and it's hard to be a leader, which is why so few people raise their hands and say, 'I actually want to be the president of the United States,'" Gowdy said.
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"My advice to the president is to let the health-care professionals handle explaining our health-care response. He should be the comforter in chief, the encourager in chief, he should mix in hope with the reality of the statistics," the Fox News contributor continued, "but let the health-care professionals handle giving us advice on how we should treat this virus."
Gowdy made the comments on "Fox & Friends Sunday" reacting to calls from many Senate Democrats for the launch of a committee to investigate the Trump administration's handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
Trump came under fire last week after he appeared to suggest during a White House coronavirus briefing that light and disinfectants, respectively, might have the potential to treat the coronavirus -- prompting a number of stories condemning the comments.
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Trump later claimed that he was being "sarcastic" and that the media had taken his comments out of context, but Gowdy advised the president against dispensing medical advice -- which often has sparked contentious exchanges with reporters during the highly televised briefings.
"It is very frustrating to feel like you're constantly the object of unfair critique, but it has been that way for four years and I don’t think he needs to punch down the individual reporters during these White House briefings," Gowdy said, urging the president to "let the doctors handle those questions."
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He continued, "Be the president of the United States. That's an incredible honor very few people will ever have, so don't punch down the individual reporters, as tempting as it may be."
Gowdy said Trump has been fed up with the "D.C. media" who he said promoted the Democrats' agenda to launch numerous investigations into his administration.
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Democrats "wanted this president under investigation since the day of his inauguration and they want him under investigation until the next election, and they’re going to do it and do it with the aiding and abetting of the D.C. media," Gowdy said.
"It is all Trump all the time," he added, "so if he appears to be a little bit miffed at four years worth of investigation, I think that's the reason."
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