President Donald Trump is dodging responsibility as the coronavirus outbreak morphs into a global pandemic swiftly spreading across America and stock markets tank. He’s instead accusing Democrats and the media of inflaming the crisis.
The deflection campaign is a fresh example of Trump deploying his trusted method for winning his battles: flinging disinformation, alternative facts and biting attacks at his enemies.
But the President’s efforts to create an alternative reality are being badly outpaced by the facts of an emergency that defies political pressure. The total number of cases in the US has soared past 560. His upbeat public rhetoric is also starkly at odds with increasingly dire warnings from inside his own administration about draconian steps that may need to be taken.
Trump’s leadership will come under new scrutiny Monday after a bruising open to the week on Wall Street where trading was halted after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 7%. CNN’s Kevin Liptak reported there is now growing distrust between public health officials and the White House’s political team with the former trying to present a realistic picture to the public while Trump aides seek to minimize the virus.
The outbreak — which CNN now considers a pandemic — and signs of a disorganized response also raised questions about the President’s apparent lack of concern about the latest developments.
Source:CNN
