Since the White House daily coronavirus briefings ended in April, Donald Trump and his federal public health chiefs often seem to abandon even the appearance of unity on dealing with the pandemic.
Their messages have diverged increasingly as Covid-19 is surging in many US states amid rapid reopening, setting recent records in Texas, Florida, Arizona and California. Even as the previous world hotspot, New York, improves, America in total now exceeds 2.3m cases and 121,000 deaths.
Here’s what the president and his top experts are saying, in contradiction of each other.
How widespread coronavirus is in the US
Donald Trump:
17 June: “We’re very close to a vaccine … but even without that … it’s fading away, it’s going to fade away.”
17 June: “The numbers are very minuscule compared to what it was. It’s dying out.”
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and White House coronavirus taskforce member:
9 June: Coronavirus won’t “burn itself out with mere public health measures … we’re going to need a vaccine for the entire world.” It is his “worst nightmare … where is it going to end? We’re still at the beginning of it.”
23 June: “We’re now seeing a disturbing surge of infections…the virus is not going to disappear.”
Handling the pandemic
Trump:
1 May: “I think we did a spectacular job … I’d rate it a 10.”
Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
23 June: “We have all done the best that we can do to tackle this virus and the reality is that it’s brought this nation to its knees.”
Testing in the US
Trump:
15 June: “If you don’t test you don’t have any cases. If we stopped testing right now we would have very few cases, if any.”
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)Our testing is so much bigger and more advanced than any other country (we have done a great job on this!) that it shows more cases. Without testing, or weak testing, we would be showing almost no cases. Testing is a double edged sword - Makes us look bad, but good to have!!!
June 15, 2020
18 June: “I personally think testing is overrated, even though I created the greatest testing machine in history … in many ways, it makes us look bad.”
20 June: “Testing is a double-edged sword … you’re going to find more cases. So I said to my people: ‘Slow the testing down, please!’”
Fauci:
23 June: “I know for sure, to my knowledge, none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing. That just is a fact. In fact, we will be doing more testing … when you get an increase in the percentage of tests that are positive, that’s an indication that you do have additional infections.”
Redfield:
23 June: “All of us have been and continue to be committed to increasing readily, timely access to testing.”
Masks
Trump:
7 May: Tells aides that wearing one would “send the wrong message”.
21 May: Says he wouldn’t wear a mask in public because he “didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it”.
26 May: “Oh, OK, you want to be politically correct,” to reporter who declines to remove mask during White House press conference.
18 June: Tells the Wall Street Journal that some people may be wearing masks not as a preventive measure but as a way to signal disapproval of him.
Dr Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus taskforce coordinator:
24 May: “There is clear scientific evidence now… to show that a mask does prevent droplets from reaching others … out of respect for each other, we need to be wearing masks in public when we cannot social distance.”
Fauci:
27 May: “I want to protect myself and protect others, and also because I want to make it be a symbol for people to see that that’s the kind of thing you should be doing.”
Dr Jerome Adams, US surgeon general:
13 June: “Just a reminder – wearing a face covering is a small inconvenience that provides big benefits.”
U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General)Just a reminder- wearing a face covering is a small inconvenience that provides big benefits, and gives us our best chance for an effective and lasting reopening of America. If everyone does their part to slow the spread, then everyone wins!https://t.co/p9quSwl3rE
June 13, 2020
Reopening the economy
Trump:
4 May: “We did the right thing and now we’re bringing the country back.”
5 May: “We have to get our country open, we can’t keep our country closed … will some people be affected badly? Yes.”
Fauci:
5 May: “How many deaths and how much suffering are you willing to accept to get back to what you want to be some form of normality, sooner rather than later?”
16 June: “When I look at the TV and I see pictures of people congregating at bars when the location indicates they shouldn’t be doing that, that’s very risky.”
Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime)"If you “leap frog… you’re inviting rebound,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci of some state’s plans to open sooner than what many scientists recommend.
May 5, 2020
“Rebound is going to give you spikes and spikes are going to give you the kind of (death) numbers,” new studies are suggesting. pic.twitter.com/PkNSYIIjxC
source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/25/trump-fauci-redfield-cdc-coronavirus-messages
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