South Carolina Debate 2020: Dems slam 'great genius' Trump's response to coronavirus threat, prez hits back
The tenth Democratic presidential debate in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 25 saw candidates speaking on coronavirus, that has affected over 71,000 people across the globe and caused many deaths worldwide as well. In the US, there have been 57 confirmed cases of coronavirus although no death has been reported. The Donald Trump administration has claimed that it is doing well in tackling the health menace even as insiders fear that the crumbling stock market because of the disease doesn’t augur well for the country’s economy.
The debating Democratic candidates, however, were not very convinced with the current dispensation’s way of handling the threat that has seen San Francisco announcing a state of emergency.
Trump doesn't care about specialists' opinions, says Buttigieg
The candidates were speaking on US foreign policy when former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg brought up the matter of coronavirus. He alleged that President Trump cares little for the opinions of specialists like scientific advisers on the matter. Former Vice President Joe Biden praised the former Barack Obama administration over its response to the Ebola outbreak and claimed he has the required international experience to force China, the country of the virus’ origin, to cooperate with the US on the disease.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders mocked the president as a “great genius” who predicted that the virus would be gone by April. He stressed on tackling the issue globally through coordination with global players.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also lashed out at Trump saying the latter had fired the pandemic specialist in the US two years ago and there is nobody to figure out the steps now to deal with the health threat. He also alleged that Trump has defunded the Center for Disease Control and pointed out that the crashing stock market hinted at a big worry for the people of America. The Trump administration has indeed fired the entire pandemic response chain of command which includes the White House management infrastructure.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar also criticized Trump saying he tried to slash the funding for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
Trump defends his administration's response to coronavirus
The president himself jumped into action after seeing the Democrats taking him on over the coronavirus spread. In a couple of tweets, the Republican leader pointed out the fact that there has been no death from coronavirus in the country. He said the CDC and his administration are doing a great job in dealing with the virus and mocked the Dems’ opposing his decision to close certain borders to add that it turned out to be the right decision.
But in a piece of news that would leave the Trump administration rattled, the CDC said on Tuesday that the question no more was whether coronavirus would spread in the US but when.
"Now is the time for US businesses, hospitals, and communities to begin preparing for the possible spread of #COVID19," the agency wrote in a tweet, referring to the name the World Health Organization has given the deadly virus.