Trump 'willing to work with anybody', even China, if their coronavirus vaccine brings good results
President Donald Trump’s unpredictability came to the fore once again on Tuesday, July 21, when he said that the US would join hands with China if it were inching closer to finding a vaccine for the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit almost 15 million people worldwide and claimed more than 616,000 lives. The US is the worst-hit nation with nearly four million people affected and a death toll of more than 142,000. The Trump administration has been attacking China over the origin of the disease on its soil last year and even accused it of misleading the world about the danger. Trump has also blasted the World Health Organization a number of times after accusing it of treating China favorably and called the coronavirus as Chinese virus on endless occasions.
However, the media saw Trump having a mixed take on Tuesday, July 21. Speaking at a coronavirus briefing at the White House, something he has done after a while, the president repeatedly labeled the virus as “China virus" but also spoke in favor of cooperating with the Asian powerhouse on the question of creating the vaccine the entire planet is frantically searching for.
“Yesterday, a study by a Chinese company showed some promising results for its coronavirus vaccine candidate. If China were first in developing the vaccine, or even if it weren’t, would the administration be willing to work with China to bring a successful Chinese vaccine to the US?” the president was asked at the media session.
“Yeah, we’re willing to work with anybody that’s going to get us a good result,” the president responded before praising America’s own efforts in finding the remedy for the deadly disease. “We are very close to the vaccine. I think we’re going to have some very good results. We are already in testing. Nobody thought that would be possible.”
DoJ accused China of trying to steal US research
The president’s words came the same day the justice department accused two Chinese hackers of working to steal coronavirus research from the US and across the world. The duo allegedly had the backing of Beijing which has slammed Washington’s criticism saying the latter was trying to hide its own failure in containing the outbreak by putting the blame on others.
Trump’s favorable words on cooperating with China, with whom he is also fighting a devastating trade war, came a day after researchers said a vaccine candidate developed by the latter’s CanSino Biologics and military research unit appeared to be safe and also induced immune responses.
Till April, Trump made regular appearances before the media with his coronavirus task force members, including some top experts. However, those briefings courted more controversy than assuring people about the health threat. Some of his most controversial moments at those briefings included the advice to people that they should inject themselves disinfectants to treat the virus. The comment saw a backlash and Trump tried to firefight the damage by saying it was only a sarcastic remark but in vain.
The handling of the coronavirus pandemic has earned the Trump administration more brickbats and the president’s chances of getting re-elected have been imperiled.