Trump is being asked about getting the nation back to work, and he says that not working can also have serious consequences for people, but praises the administration’s success with the virus.
Acknowledging that every death is one too many, he says: “In terms of the deaths … we’re at the lowest level predicted, and we might not even hit that.”
Then he appears to lay out his re-election strategy, pretty much in dot-point form:
1. Get rid of the virus
2. Get the country back to work “quickly and safely”
3. Economically, he says quarter three will be a “transition” quarter, improved in quarter 4, and then a “great year” next year.
It’s six months exactly until the US election will be held (3 November), and he is asked about whether he will hold election rallies:
“Everyone wants the rallies… but I don’t think you can a rally with an empty stadium,” he says, adding that he hopes he will be able to to them in the last couple of months.
And the event wraps up.
Mike Pence is finally getting a word in. He’s being asked about not wearing a mask when he visited the Mayo clinic last week, an event that was widely publicised. He apologises.
“I didn’t think it was necessary, but i should have worn a mask at the Mayo clinic,” he says.
The vice president then goes on to reassure that he “knows we’ll get through this (pandemic)“ and thanks the American people for what they’ve done.
Steve Mnuchin has still barely said a word.
The vice president, Mike Pence, and Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, have joined the broadcast alongside Trump, but they are barely getting a word in.
Trump is asked if he is considering tariffs as a way of punishing China.
“It’s the ultimate punishment, I’ll tell you that. We are all playing a complicated game of chess or poker…but it’s not checkers, I’ll tell you that.”
“Tariffs at a minimum are the greatest negotiating tool,” he says.
He then attacks the World Health Organization for their involvement in managing the virus. He says the WHO missed “every call” on the virus.
He’s also strongly targeting China: “Don’t forget China tried to blame it first on some of our soldiers. Then they tried to blame it on Europe.”
Asked if the virus came from a lab, by intent or by accident, he says:
“I think they made a horrible mistake and they didn’t want to admit it.
“My opinion is they made a mistake, they tried to cover it … they couldn’t put out the fire. They stopped people going into China but didn’t stop people going around the world.
“They knew they had a problem. I think they were embarrassed about the problem,” Trump says.
Will this affect his relationship with President Xi? He’s reluctant to blame Xi directly.
“I did a great trade deal with him. I’m not going to say anything. He’s a strong man,” he says.
“But this should never have happened. They should have put it out. They should have let us and other countries in to put it out.”
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Trump is asked about the relationship with China, including on trade, and he’s not happy about it: “China never gave 10 cents to our country … they ripped off our country … I’ve told this to President Xi … I get along with him … (but) he should have done something different on this.”
He then goes on to list all the successful trade deals he has done … with South Korea, Japan and others. The message is that the economy will bounce back next year.
“This country is going to grow like crazy,” he says.
Now he’s being asked about whether the manufacture of drugs will be brought back on shore, antibiotics and the like. He doesn’t give specifics but says “America first” was his election mantra, and reiterates that he thinks there will be a vaccine soon.
“We’re gonna have a vaccine by the end of the year. I firmly believe it,” he says.
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Trump’s virtual town hall is back from an ad break, and the next video call is from a business which has not qualified for any financial support.
“At some point we have to open up our country. We can’t stay closed as a country or we won’t have a country left.”
Trump says the “greatest thing we can do is get rid of the virus”.
He’s now pushing the economic recovery he expects next year. “We did the right thing (closing businesses down), but we never want to do it again,” he says.
The next question is from a Trump supporter who asks why he doesn’t answer questions at news conferences and goes off on other tangents about positive decisions he’s made. He launches into a long rant about how hostile the press is and that he has been treated worse than Abraham Lincoln by the press.
“The media might as well be in the Democrat (sic) party,” he says.
Then lists what else he sees as his successes….killing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, killing Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, launching space force.
The Fox anchor suggests he will be judged at the election on his handling of the virus. He doesn’t agree.
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Meanwhile in Michigan:
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan issued a rebuke of the armed protesters who gathered inside the state capitol last week in defiance of statewide lockdown orders, saying the demonstrators embodied some of the “worst racism” of the nation’s history.
“Some of the outrageousness of what happened at our capitol depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country,” Whitmer said during a Sunday interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
Last week Donald Trump had said of the protesters: “These are very good people.”
Hundreds of protesters, many not wearing protective face masks and some armed legally with “long guns”, gathered inside the statehouse in Lansing on Thursday as lawmakers debated the Democratic governor’s request to extend her emergency powers to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The tightly packed crowd attempted to enter the floor of the legislative chamber and were held back by a line of state police and capitol staff, according to video footage posted by local journalists.
It’s worth noting that this Fox News “virtual town hall” as they are calling it, is a very controlled interview environment, compared with President Trump’s usual daily White House briefings. He is being interviewed with two Fox news anchors and taking some phone calls.
Fox has selected the questions to put to Trump from “thousands” of video questions and calls it has received from viewers over the past week.
When asked about why he didn’t act on the virus earlier, he was quick to point out that many people, including he says, disease expert Anthony Fauci, said Covid-19 “was going to pass”.
He indicates the US intelligence community will release a report on the virus on Monday.
He’s now being asked about what measures are being taken to protect nursing homes: “The nursing home issue is ground zero”
“What we’re doing is legislation immediately about how many people can be in (visit) … it’s the one thing about this disease that everyone has learned … is that it’s so contagious.”
He reminds viewers that nursing homes are a matter for states.
He’s saying elective surgery must recommence, but again, it’s up to the state governors. “They have to get back,” he says. “You think they’re making a lot of money? They’re losing a fortune. they have to get back to elective surgery.”
The network is taking an ad break.
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Trump says he is ‘very confident’ there will be vaccine by end of the year
President Trump is giving a sit-down interview with Fox news, and taking calls from viewers about the coronavirus.
Asked about a Covid-19 vaccine, he says: “We are very confident we are going to have a vaccine by the end of the year.”
Trump is asked about schools going back in the US in September: “We have to go back,” he says, adding that he is concerned about some older teachers and their possible exposure to the virus.
He’s criticising the Democrat’s response to the pandemic, implying it would suit their political purposes if the virus outcome was worse.
He talks about hydroxychloroquine, reminding viewers that he doesn’t own shares in the company that produces it: “We don’t lose anything with hydroxy …. people aren’t dying from it.”
He’s asked why he didn’t act earlier on the virus, and says his intelligence was that “on January 23 I was told there could be a virus coming but it was of no real import,” and then reminds viewers he stopped flights from China early.
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