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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly unleashed on President Trump in a call with colleagues Monday, calling his administration’s delay in ensuring coronavirus testing and supplies “almost sinful,” as he now weighs when to reopen the economy.
During a phone call with House Democrats Monday, Politico reported, Pelosi, D-Calif., also claimed Trump was putting Americans in danger by allegedly rushing to bring life back to normal and end social distancing guidelines.
TRUMP SAYS DECISION TO REOPEN ECONOMY AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS COMING 'SHORTLY'
Trump has not yet announced a decision on those measures, but has underscored his authority on the matter.
“The more misrepresentations he puts out there, the more it obscures the truth,” Pelosi reportedly told Democrats on the call, according to Politico. “We have to insist upon the truth—what they’re saying is not knowledge, is not facts, is not real.”
Politico reported that Pelosi doubled down on her criticisms over lack of testing, calling it “a complete failure,” and saying that without an adequate plan to test Americans, it would be impossible to guarantee a safe reentry.
“And we cannot let them lie about it,” she reportedly said.
Pelosi’s comments come as the president and White House officials have suggested they are hoping to reopen much of the economy as soon as May 1. The latest White House “slow the spread” social distancing guidelines are set to expire in just two weeks—on April 30.
On Monday, Trump told reporters that he has “total” authority on when to reopen the U.S. and said he believes that the economy will "boom" when ready, while stressing that he wants Americans to be “very, very safe.”
The president is planning to launch an "Opening our Country" task force focused on that effort.
The president vowed Friday to listen to experts should they recommend a further extension of the White House social distancing guidelines.
The president went on to vow that he would listen to experts before making any decision, saying: "We’re not doing anything until we know that this country is going to be healthy. We don’t want to go back and start doing it over again.”
Last week, when asked about reopening the economy, the president said: “I would say without question it’s the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make.”
"It's been my honor to be the president for the American people… I have a big decision coming up and I only hope to God it’s the right decision," Trump said.
Meanwhile, states across the nation are weighing their own plans to slowly reopen the economy.
On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and governors from Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware announced a “coordinated” regional response effort to reopen amid the coronavirus crisis.
"We should start looking forward to 'reopening', but reopening with a plan and a smart plan because if you do it wrong, it can backfire," Cuomo said during the event.
He added: "No one has done this before—it's one step forward after research and consultation with experts—I'm not a public health expert but this has to be informed by experts.”
As of Tuesday morning, the U.S. reported more than 582,500 positive cases of COVID-19 and more than 23,600 deaths.
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