Trump says 'LameStream' media is trying to keep country closed 'as long as possible' to hurt his 2020 bid
President Donald Trump is getting restless over the coronavirus lockdown with each passing day. He was recently spotted saying that his administration is mulling reopening the economy for he feared that the shutdown could push people towards depression and suicides. He even gave a hint in an interview this week that the reopening could be done by Easter although his idea found little takers.
It has been warned that if the shutdown is lifted, the US could see the outbreak worsening and overwhelming the healthcare system which is already under big duress.
The 73-year-old Republican was more forthright during his coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, March 25, saying the media wanted to see him doing badly in the November general election. Trump’s response to the pandemic has come under wide criticism and he has also been accused of not going for aggressive testing initially so that his electoral prospects did not take a hit. Trump recently claimed himself to be a “wartime president” for his response to the crisis but his critics were not convinced. They felt the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, received a better response than the president while leading the anti-pandemic mission.
“The media would like to see me do poorly in an election,” Trump said in his daily briefing at the White House.
The commander-in-chief has always had a sour relationship with mainstream media which he accuses of treating him unfairly. The equation plummeted further in the times of coronavirus as stories criticizing the Trump administration kept on surfacing in the media as a response to the pandemic that has killed over 670 people in the country so far besides affecting almost 52,000.
Apart from adequate testing kits, the White House also faced flak for the shortage of surgical masks and ventilators required by health care officials.
Trump shot a series of tweets to vent his anger against the “fake news” and accused it of running a campaign with an aim to see him lose the election which he is predicted to win.
In a tweet, Trump said, “The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success. The real people want to get back to work ASAP. We will be stronger than ever before!”
In another, he attacked CNN accusing it of reporting that he himself is isolated in the White House. He said the news was all made up and called the news outlet “corrupt”. In another attacking tweet, he said he is having a super tight schedule and has “no time for stupidity”. He said his administration was overworking to ensure the safety of the American people.
Trump hits back at CBS reporter
On the question of reopening the country when the threat is still not over, Trump faced numerous questions from the media. However, he was seen linking them to a grand plan to defeat him in the polls.
Responding to CBS’ Paula Reid, Trump said, “I think there are certain people who would like it not to open so quickly and they think that would be very good as far as defeating me at the polls.”
“There are people in your profession that would like that to happen. I think it's very clear -- I think it's very clear that there are people in your profession that write fake news,” said Trump and added, “You do.”
The current administration has come under a massive challenge in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The stock market has plummeted and all gains that were made since the maverick Republican took office in 2017 have been wiped out. Experts have also warned that the unemployment rate in the country could go up to 20-30 percent as a fallout. When Trump’s team was banking heavily on the well-functioning economy as a trump card in this year’s election, the outbreak of the pandemic has left it in big trouble.
On the question of reopening the economy by Easter, however, Trump appeared to be defensive a day after he floated his idea. On Wednesday, he said he would not make a hasty decision to reopen the economy and consult experts like Dr Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx -- both of whom are in his coronavirus task force led by Vice President Mike Pence.
“I'm not going to do anything rash or hastily,” Trump said while warning that some areas of the nation were battling high rates of the outbreak and needed to observe strict guidelines.