Trump disputes fall spike in COVID-19 cases
The president took offense at a Washington Post headline at Wednesday's briefing, even as medical experts seem certain that the virus will be a problem in the fall
WASHINGTON (WLNE)– President Donald Trump wasted little time at Wednesday’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing before turning to one of his favorite subjects- his distrust of the nation’s news media.
Trump took particular offense with a Washington Post headline published Tuesday, “CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus likely to be even more devastating”.
The article centers around an interview with Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the article, Redfield warns that the fall may be a challenging time for combating the coronavirus pandemic, as it coincides with the seasonal influenza virus.
At the briefing, Trump walked back a statement made moments before, claiming Redfield was misquoted in the article, saying instead that the headline was “totally inaccurate”.
The president then introduced Redfield, and asked him to clarify.
“I didn’t say that this was going to be worse,” Redfield said. “I said it was going to be more difficult and potentially complicated because we’ll have flu and coronavirus circulating at the same time.”
Reporters at the briefing asked Redfield if he had been misquoted as the president suggested.
“I’m accurately quoted in The Washington Post as ‘difficult’, but the headline was inappropriate,” Redfield said.
The Washington Post quotes Redfield in the article as saying, “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through.”
At the briefing, Redfield said that efforts by the American public at mitigating the virus, along with greater health infrastructure, could have an impact during the fall flu season.
In particular, Redfield suggested that individuals may be more likely to get a flu vaccine than they had in the past.
The exchange highlighted not just the contentious nature of the relationship between the press and the president, but contradictions that have surfaced between Trump and his own medical experts.
As a reporter attempted to question Redfield, Trump interjected with his own thoughts on the matter.
“Excuse me, but we may not even have Corona coming back,” Trump said.
The president’s assertion was later contradicted by Dr. Anthony Fauci, a senior member of the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force, in Wednesday’s briefing, even as the doctor held out hope that the country would be better prepared to confront the virus in the fall.
“[W]hat Dr. Redfield was saying, first of all, is that we will have coronavirus in the fall,” Fauci said. “What happens with that will depend on how we are able to contain it when it occurs. And what we are saying is that in the fall, we will be much, much better prepared to do the kind of containment compared to what happened to us this winter. “
©WLNE-TV/ABC 6 2020
