Trump: I Don’t Need Health Care Professionals At Coronavirus Briefings
[guest post by Dana]
With the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings abruptly stopping in April, President Trump made the decision to resume them this week. One can safely assume that he made the decision because of his sagging poll numbers and he now understands that Americans disapprove of the way he has handled the pandemic thus far:
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said Friday President Donald Trump should resume his coronavirus press briefings, as polls show growing American disapproval of the president’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conway said her opinion was different from that of other White House staff but told “Fox and Friends” Trump’s approval ratings were “much higher when he was out there briefing everybody on a day-by-day basis, just giving people the information.”
“I think the president should be doing that,” she said.
Noticeably absent from the pandemic updates, however, are any health care experts. Instead, infectious disease specialist Dr. Trump explained why he is flying solo at the briefings:
President Trump said Wednesday that the reason health experts like Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci no longer attend his coronavirus press briefings is because they brief him on “everything they know as of this point in time” and he passes the information on to the public.
Before they were canceled in April, Trump’s daily briefings grew infamous for being rife with misinformation, which his health experts would be forced to carefully contradict.
Here is part of the president’s exchange with a reporter:
REPORTER: “I don’t think we really got an explanation yesterday on why the health experts are no longer joining you these briefings. Can you explain why?”
TRUMP: “Because they are briefing me. I am meeting with them. I just spoke to Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx is right outside. And they are giving me everything they know as of this point in time and I’m giving the information to you and I think it’s probably a very concise way of doing it. It seems to be working out very well. And they are very much involved, the relationships they are all very good.”
Hours before Trump’s first coronavirus briefing, Dr. Fauci was still unclear on whether he was going to be asked to participate:
Are you going to be at the press briefing this afternoon?
To be honest with you, I don’t know. They haven’t really said who’s going to be there. I would assume, but I don’t know as a fact if I am going to be there.
Have you spoken with the White House about it?
No. But that’s not unlike them all of a sudden, middle of the day, to say, “Be down there at five o’clock.” So I’m not too — what’s the right word? — surprised that I haven’t heard anything yet.
Interesting. That means you weren’t involved in the discussions about relaunching them.
No.
Do you think they’re a good idea?
You know, it depends on how it goes. If they stick to public health and don’t get diverted into other types of discussions, I think it could be productive.
Disagreeing with Trump’s description of him as an “alarmist” during an interview with Chris Wallace last weekend, Fauci instead characterized himself as a “realist”. With that, after having repeatedly cautioned Americans about the “fundamentals” (wearing a mask, social distancing, and closing the bars, which he claims are the hot spots), Fauci recognized the tricky position he is in if he offers a professional opinion that differs from the president:
But Americans have already been told this, right? And we still don’t do those things. If you were an executive for the day, what lever would you pull?
But Jennifer, would you want me to say something that’s directly contrary to what the president is doing? That’s not helpful. Then all of a sudden you don’t hear from me for a while…I’ve just been doing this for so long, and I’m trying to do my best to get the message across without being overtly at odds…
Meanwhile, here is Trump praising Dr. Birx, who was notably absent from his coronavirus briefing:
Trump: She can take a scarf and do fifteen things with it pic.twitter.com/O1vtmtcFL0
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) July 23, 2020
As a reminder, this is the same Dr. Trump who suggested that people take hydroxychloroquine, echoed claims that everyone is lying about Covid, pushed a drug that Fauci said there was no evidence that it worked on coronavirus, and even mused about zapping patients with light or injecting disinfectant into the lungs as a potential cure for the coronavirus, and so forth. If you are the President of the United States, you have at your disposal an immense stable of health care experts from which to select to directly convey the latest data and relevant information to the American people. Trump is not that individual. Nor should he try to simply “relay” what he’s been told because we all know how reliable he is to relay information with any level of accuracy. This is just ridiculous. This is just another political ploy to make it “appear” as if this is about public health when we know it’s about goosing his slumping poll numbers. Americans have been clear that they want to know what is happening on the Covid front, and want to have current information readily provided to them by health care experts. This is but a way for Trump to get in front of the cameras, and gain some lost ground in the runup to the election.
We are in a pandemic. America deserves better than this.
–Dana
Unbelievable. Yet so believeable…
Dana (25e0dc) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:09 amTo go after a side note – as any internet comment on a good post should – hydroxychloroquine is probably a good treatment. The study saying it was a hazard was spectacularly wrong (when hiring for this task, the models you want are statistical models and not clothing or non-clothing models).
It’s an anti-viral with some likely positive effects. It hasn’t met the sort of medical certainty that medical studies want, but I think it likely will.
JRM (de6363) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:18 amI’m glad he’s doing these. I think he’s a terrible president and bad for the country. I think the easiest way to get people to recognize that is to have them watch him do a press briefing on CV19.
If we could get a decent 3rd party candidate on all the ballots and have Joe B do a lot of press we might actually get a competent president in 2020
Time123 (306531) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:28 amTrump is up there alone because no one will stay “on message” with him as he wildly wends his way.
felipe (023cc9) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:32 amWell, also no one can stay “on message” with him.
felipe (023cc9) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:33 amObligatory movie reference:
felipe (023cc9) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:36 amWhat’s wrong with chloroquine?
Capsaicin Addict (041266) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:45 amNothing, but holding it out as a cure or preventative without good evidence has some downsides.
Time123 (653992) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:46 amWhat’s eating Gilbert Grape?
felipe (023cc9) — 7/23/2020 @ 11:47 amThe professionals would be helpful, but given most of the questions asked by the press in attendance are preening attempts to better position themselves in the woke ranks, why bother them. They’ve got work to do.
Colonel Haiku (5b7649) — 7/23/2020 @ 1:06 pmI don’t discount that the press have an agenda. However, that should not factor into the decision-making process about whether or not to have health care professionals speak directly to Americans. The president has the prerogative to not even allow questions, if he wants. Let him give a one minute welcome, here’s what we’re covering, then step aside and let top-notch virologists, infectious disease specialists, research scientist, and health care professionals handle the rest. Perhaps Fauci oversees the briefings, is responsible for the line-up, and closes the meeting. No need for Trump to do anything but give a short intro. Anything else is wasting time and space. Dismissing health care experts to wait outside is insane.
Dana (25e0dc) — 7/23/2020 @ 1:14 pmI agree, Colonel. Honestly, I think it would have been better if Trump could have performed the impossible task of letting Pence and the healthcare professionals give the briefs without him being present. I have no doubt the press would have been as hostile, but that hostility would have driven them together rather than apart. But what do I know? Nothing.
felipe (023cc9) — 7/23/2020 @ 1:18 pmI’m you on that, Dana. Even if the press complained that Trump refused to take questions himself, they could not complain that information was not made available.
felipe (023cc9) — 7/23/2020 @ 1:21 pm12… I agree with what you’ve contended, felipe. Excepting your last bit… you know much more than nothing. You’re the voice of reason.
Colonel Haiku (5b7649) — 7/23/2020 @ 1:29 pmI don’t discount that the press have an agenda
You are waaayyyyy too generous.
Colonel Haiku (5b7649) — 7/23/2020 @ 1:31 pmSo he can do what Obama did and just put a bunch of people in lab coats and have everyone assume they’re doctors. After all, at this point what difference does it make?
NJRob (f76b32) — 7/23/2020 @ 1:56 pmDespite Trump claim, 14 states say some orders for coronavirus supplies still unfilled
……
“My administration currently has zero unfilled requests for — unfulfilled requests for equipment or anything else that they need from the governors,” Trump said on Tuesday. “No governor needs anything right now and we think we’ll have it that way until the end because frankly we are stocked up and ready to go.”
However, nearly half of the state officials with whom ABC News spoke, some of which are in states seeing a rise in coronavirus cases, said they’ve asked for a range of supplies, from thousands of N95 masks and ventilators to COVID-19 testing equipment, which have run in critically short supply in some areas. For this report ABC News reached out to officials in all 50 states, and 29 provided relevant responses to questions about supply orders.
Officials in Oregon, Indiana, Georgia, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan, Idaho, Utah and Washington each told ABC News they are either waiting for requests to be fulfilled, had identified orders that were never filled at all or have made recent requests that they understand are being processed.
RipMurdock (d2a2a8) — 7/23/2020 @ 2:13 pm……
Taylor gonna Taylor…
Colonel Haiku (5b7649) — 7/23/2020 @ 3:04 pmThird consecutive day of deaths over 1,000 which hasn’t been true since the end of May. But sure, no need for a scientist or someone with actual public health credentials to say anything to the U.S. That just might get between Trump and the thing he loves almost as much as he loves himself – t.v. ratings.
Victor (a225f9) — 7/23/2020 @ 4:03 pmWe are in a pandemic. America deserves better than this.
–Dana
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
H. L. Mencken
norcal (a5428a) — 7/23/2020 @ 5:09 pmDon’t quit your day job!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvFDufpVkDI
Colonel Haiku (5b7649) — 7/23/2020 @ 6:04 pmI wish he’d go back to entertainer-only mode, cause he’s funny and there’s something likable about him. Just don’t want him in charge of the country.
JRH (52aed3) — 7/23/2020 @ 6:40 pmFauci had more important things to do than attending Trump’s imbecilic monologue today:
Dr. Fauci takes a break from fighting the pandemic to throw the first pitch of the MLB season
Dave (1bb933) — 7/23/2020 @ 8:30 pmSorry Dave,
your link is wrong. He threw something, but that wasn’t a pitch.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 7/23/2020 @ 8:34 pmHe was demonstrating the recommended six foot separation for social distancing.
Perhaps with some margin of safety added.
Dave (1bb933) — 7/23/2020 @ 8:42 pmBut was it better than 50 cent?
urbanleftbehind (f252eb) — 7/23/2020 @ 8:46 pmIf TRump was 100% right about CV-19, the press and all the Never Trumpers would STILL be calling him a failure and misrepresenting what the said. What was wrong about his talking about HCQ? what was wrong about his “musing” to the DOCTORS about whether light and heat could be used to fight the virus?
That people categorizes these in a bad way and then links to MSM anti-Trump newspapers just shows its a waste of time for Trump or anyone on the Right to engage in a discussion about Trump’s role in fighting CV-19. The Left and the D’s have their propaganda points, and like Mueller-Trump-Russia will continue to chant them no matter how false.
As for Trump not having Dr. Fauci or Dr. Scarf – who I both like – its the entirely correct decision. As Trump says, he talks to them and relays their thoughts. The Press needs to have it filtered through Trump. After watching any number of these things, its obvious to anyone that the WH Press is UNINTERESTED in talking about CV-19 and the technical details. Their only interest is ORANGE MAN BAD and stirring up fake fights between the Doctors and Trump. Almost every question to Dr. F was a trap or gotcha question trying to get Dr. F to criticize Trump. Accordingly, there’s no reason to have him there.
rcocean (2e1c02) — 7/24/2020 @ 7:35 amFurther, if you look at the last press conferences, the WH Corps was more interested in talking about Joe Biden, Riots in the streets, why Trump wears a mask, the bill in congress. Questions on CV-19 almost Zero. Why waste the Doctors time?
rcocean (2e1c02) — 7/24/2020 @ 7:37 amTrump is not as mistreated as you seem to think. He wants people to think that because he says and does so many questionable things.
DRJ (aede82) — 7/24/2020 @ 7:47 amDRJ,
by the media? Yeah, he is. If he wasn’t we’ve have objective reporting on any treatments for the Wuhan Flu instead of constant doom and gloom and then parroting China’s propaganda about the “Trump Virus.”
NJRob (eb56c3) — 7/24/2020 @ 8:02 am