He went out of his way to say the novel coronavirus originated in China and that it was “foreign” (xenophobic much?), and he looked like Mayor Quimby debating Sideshow Bob — but that wasn’t even the worst of it.
During last night’s Oval Office address, Donald Trump — despite reading from a prepared statement — flubbed a few key elements of his own administration’s coronavirus response.
The president said, for example, “To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days.” That's not necessarily wise — even Trump's own former homeland security advisor has said this won't make much of a difference — and given the wide number of exceptions, what the Republican said wasn't even an accurate description of the policy.
He added that prohibitions will apply to “tremendous amount of trade and cargo,” but that wasn't true, either, and White House officials “scrambled” last night “to fix his apparent misstatement.”
Trump went on to tell the public, “Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of health insurance industry who have agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing.” A spokesperson for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the leading trade association for the nation's private health insurers, soon after clarified to a Politico reporter that the president didn't get this right, either: insurers waived co-pays for coronavirus testing, but “not for treatment.”
Whoops.
On the bright side, he did finally look presidential — much like William Henry Harrison on day 28.
Seriously, has anyone tested him for COVID-19? Because he looks like much of the rest of the country feels right now.
I know the tests are in short supply (for God knows what reason), but he is the president, right? He rubs elbows, midsections, and buttocks with a lot of people. We don’t need him to be disease vector on top of everything else.
Is Trump still chafing your arse-cheeks? Then Dear Fcking Lunatic: 101 Obscenely Rude Letters to Donald Trump and its boffo sequels Dear Prsident A**clown: 101 More Rude Letters to Donald Trump and Dear F*cking Moron: 101 More Letters to Donald Trump by Aldous J. Pennyfarthing are the pick-me-up you need! Reviewers have called these books “hysterically funny,” “cathartic,” and “laugh-out-loud” comic relief. And they’re way, way cheaper than therapy.
