Bloomberg hits Trump in campaign ad on coronavirus

White House hopeful Mike Bloomberg released a new campaign ad on Wednesday hitting President Trump over his administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 30-second clip splices together media coverage of the spread of the coronavirus and its related effects on the stock market. The ad argues that Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, effectively dealt with crises during his oversight of America’s biggest city and would be better able to grapple with the outbreak.

“Managing a crisis is what Mike Bloomberg does,” says a male narrator. “In the aftermath of 9/11, he steadied and rebuilt America’s largest city, oversaw emergency response to natural disasters, upgraded hospital preparedness to manage health crises, and he’s funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics.” 

The ad comes amid an avalanche of scrutiny over the government’s handling of the outbreak, which has spread to several continents as it continues to ravage across China.

The fears over the virus’s spread spiked this week when health officials warned an outbreak within the U.S. is likely, if not inevitable.

“It’s not a question of if this will happen but when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illnesses,” Nancy Messonnier, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters this week. “Disruption to everyday life might be severe.”

Bipartisan lawmakers have expressed skepticism on whether the government is taking serious enough action to grapple with the disease, with some warning that the $2.5 billion the administration requested in additional funding to combat the virus was insufficient. 

Trump has blamed the media and Democrats for “doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible.” Larry Kudlow, the White House’s top economic adviser, also asserted Tuesday that the virus was “contained.”

Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape! @CDCgov…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2020

More than 77,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in China, where the outbreak first hit, but more than 2,000 cases have been identified in other countries. Fifty-seven cases have been confirmed in the U.S.