Trump says US is ‘way ahead’ on coronavirus response due to his actions

President Trump early Friday tweeted that the U.S. was way ahead of the curve when it came to stemming the spread of coronavirus thanks to measures taken by his administration.

Trump accused the “Do Nothing Democrats” of placing fault on him and countered that the virus was spreading “very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border, and ended flights, VERY EARLY.”

So, the Coronavirus, which started in China and spread to various countries throughout the world, but very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border, and ended flights, VERY EARLY, is now being blamed, by the Do Nothing Democrats, to be the fault of “Trump”.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2020

In a follow-up tweet, the president said: “The Do Nothing Democrats were busy wasting time on the Immigration Hoax, & anything else they could do to make the Republican Party look bad, while I was busy calling early BORDER & FLIGHT closings, putting us way ahead in our battle with Coronavirus. Dems called it VERY wrong!”

The Do Nothing Democrats were busy wasting time on the Immigration Hoax, & anything else they could do to make the Republican Party look bad, while I was busy calling early BORDER & FLIGHT closings, putting us way ahead in our battle with Coronavirus. Dems called it VERY wrong!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2020

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Friday added to Trump’s criticisms, saying that the press was peddling a false narrative about the administration “scrambling” to contain the virus while saying he briefed Congress with other top health officials six weeks ago.

Democrats were critical of Trump’s decision on Wednesday to tap Vice President Pence to lead the effort to fight the virus in the U.S., citing his record on an HIV outbreak in Indiana while he was governor of the state.

The worst HIV outbreak in the state’s history happened in 2015 while Pence was at the helm. Many public health experts have said that the disastrous results could have been prevented if Pence and other state leaders declared a public health emergency quicker and approved needle exchanges.

“My objection is [Pence],” Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), who served as Health and Human Services secretary under former President Clinton, said Thursday. 

“He’s anti-science. He has a terrible record on AIDS and needle exchange,” she added.

In response, Pence on Thursday announced that career health official and Obama-era State Department appointee Debbie Birx would coordinate the government’s response to the virus.

The U.S., as of Friday, had 60 reported cases of the coronavirus, but no deaths.