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Remarks by Trump, Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing, 04-23-2020
Last edited Fri Apr 24, 2020, 09:56 AM - Edit history (1)
Philip Rucker Retweeted“Mr. Trump rarely attends the task force meetings that precede the briefings, and he typically does not prepare before he steps in front of the cameras.”
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Take Camera 2
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Hat tip, Joe.My.God:
Trump Suggests “Injecting Disinfectant” To Treat COVID
Disturbing hostage-like situation unfolds as science guy tries to get off stage while President speculates about irradiating people's or injecting them with bleach.
Link to tweet
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 23, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
5:48 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Later this evening, we expect the House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. I’m grateful that Congress is answering my call to deliver these additional $320 billion in relief for the American worker and for small businesses.
At a time when many Americans are enduring significant economic challenges, this bill will help small businesses to keep millions of workers on the payroll. You see states are starting to open up now, and it’s very exciting to see. I think it’s very awe-inspiring. We’re coming out of it, and we’re coming out of it well.
And we’re — really, I’m very happy the governors have been — the governors, really, have been doing a really good job working with us, and it’s — it’s, really, pretty impressive to see. I’ve spoken to numerous leaders of countries over the last 48 hours, and they are saying we’re leading the way. We’re really leading the way in so many different ways.
I’m also very pleased that Harvard — as you know, it’s Harvard and Stanford and Princeton and numerous other universities and colleges, and also large businesses have sent funds back to us. And in some cases, I stopped funds that I looked at. And we are pleased to report that the funds have either not gone out or it’s about $350 million, and they’ve either not gone out or we’ve renegotiated it and they’re not getting them.
So — and it’s — in a couple of cases, they’re sending them back and sending them back immediately. So I think it was very nice. I want to thank Harvard in particular. They acted very quickly and decisively. And they agreed, when they heard the facts, that they should not be getting it. So we appreciate it very much from Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and other institutions.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT:
{snip}
With that, Mr. President, I’d be pleased to call Bill forward. Bill Bryan leads the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security and now will make a presentation on their recent study.
ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank you, Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Bill.
ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: — for this opportunity to do this today.
Good afternoon everybody. My name is Bill Bryan and I lead the Science and Technology Directorate at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Over the last several months, we’ve intensified the Department’s R&D efforts to identify and deliver information that informs our response to COVID-19. S&T is working to identify, develop, deploy, and deploy the tools and information to support our response to this crisis.
{snip}
So if you look at an 18-hour half-life, what you’re basically saying is that every 18 hours, the virus — it’s the life of the virus is cut in half. So if you start with 1,000 particles of the virus, in 18 hours, you’re down to 500. And 18 hours after that, you’re down to 250, and so on and so forth. That’s important, as I explain in the rest of the chart.
If you look at the first three lines, when you see the word “surface,” we’re talking about nonporous surfaces: door handles, stainless steel. And if you look at the — as the temperature increases, as the humidity increases, with no sun involved, you can see how drastically the half-life goes down on that virus. So the virus is dying at a much more rapid pace, just from exposure to higher temperatures and just from exposure to humidity.
If you look at the fourth line, you inject summer — the sunlight into that. You inject UV rays into that. The same effects on line two — as 70 to 35 degrees with 80 percent humidity on the surface. And look at line four, but now you inject the sun. The half-life goes from six hours to two minutes. That’s how much of an impact UV rays has on the virus.
{snip}
And thirdly, the virus dies the quickest in the presence of direct sunlight under these conditions. And when you — when you look at that chart, look at the aerosol as you breathe it; you put it in a room, 70 to 75 degrees, 20 percent humidity, low humidity, it lasts — the half-life is about an hour. But you get outside, and it cuts down to a minute and a half. A very significant difference when it gets hit with UV rays.
And, Mr. President, while there are many unknown links in the COVID-19 transmission chain, we believe these trends can support practical decision making to lower the risks associated with the virus.
{snip}
This is not the end of our work as we continue to characterize this virus and integrate our findings into practical applications to mitigate exposure and transmission. I would like to thank the President and thank the Vice President for their ongoing support and leadership to the department and for their work in addressing this pandemic. I would also like to thank the scientists, not only in S&T and the NBACC, but to the larger scientific and R&D community.
Thank you very much.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Bill.
Q Mr. Bryan —
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. So I asked Bill a question that probably some of you are thinking of, if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting.
ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: We’ll get to the right folks who could.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds — it sounds interesting to me.
So we’ll see. But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that’s — that’s pretty powerful.
{snip}
Q You said yesterday that you’re going to look into Senator McConnell’s suggestion for allowing states to declare bankruptcy versus the aid —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we’ll look into it, and I have been looking into it. I’ve been talking to a lot of the different senators, but I don’t want to talk about it now. That was a very interesting presentation.
Go ahead, Jon.
Q Well, I wanted to talk about McConnell’s suggestion that aid to the states amounts to a blue —
THE PRESIDENT: I just told you I’m not talking about it now.
Q — to a blue-state (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: I’ll talk about it later.
Q Okay.
THE PRESIDENT: I’d like to talk about something that, right now, is of more interest to people.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, on the subject of medical research: Why have you stopped promoting hydroxychloroquine as a cure?
THE PRESIDENT: I haven’t at all. I haven’t at all. What are you say- — we’ll see what happens.
Q You haven’t talked about it in several days.
THE PRESIDENT: We’ve had a lot of very good results and we had some results that perhaps aren’t so good. I don’t know. I just read about one, but I also read many times good. So I haven’t at all. And it’s a — it’s a great — for malaria, for lupus, for other things. And we’ll see what it is.
But, I guess, Deborah, they have many, many studies going on on that. So we’ll — we’ll be able to learn.
Q Have you looked at the veteran study that shows that — that the death rate is higher —
THE PRESIDENT: I have not. I haven’t seen it. I have not seen it.
Go ahead, please.
Q Mr. President, we’re now over 26 million new jobless claims over five weeks.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Yeah.
Q How — the Vice President talked about this summer getting better. But how — what do your economists tell you about the time it’s going to take to you and the U.S. to create the jobs back?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I know a lot about economists.
Q August?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q September?
THE PRESIDENT: Sure.
Q October?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me go. We — we know the rest of the question, right? So I — I know a lot about economists, and the answer is they have no idea. I think I have as good an idea as anybody, and I think our economy will start to pick up very substantially, as soon as the states get open.
And that’s happening as we speak, and it’s actually very exciting, and people are just — just thrilled to see it, because our country has to get back to work. They want to get back to work. You see that, whether it’s a demonstration or just in talking to people. They’re going to get back to work, and they’re going to get back to work very fast.
States are advanced. I look at Gavin Newson — was — Newsom was very nice today. He wrote a beautiful statement about — we sent him a lot of — a lot of things that he needed. Okay? Things — different things that he needed. We got — we got it taken care of. They’ve done very well in California, as you know. They’re doing really well in Florida. They’re doing well in a lot of places. New York and New Jersey got hit very hard. They’re doing very well.
I spoke again with Governor Cuomo, with Governor Murphy. They’re doing — they’re doing a great job. And here’s the thing: We have to see. They got hit hard. Everyone close together — tight in. People don’t realize New Jersey is very tight. You realize that because you’ve been covering it for a long time, but very tight. New York obviously is very tight. They’re doing a terrific job.
I — I think for the most part — I’ll be able to tell you when it’s all over, but a lot of the governors have done a really terrific job. Some I don’t think have, to be honest. But we’ll be talking about that in future.
Yes, go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. In a new interview today with Time Magazine, Dr. Fauci said that the U.S. is not in a situation where we can say we are where we want to be, with regard to testing capacity. He said we need much more testing capacity, as well as tests. So why do you keep saying we have a tremendous testing capacity? And do we have a national strategy that goes beyond tracking just what the states are doing?
THE PRESIDENT: The answer is yes. And the answer is — as you know, and as I’ve said many times — we’re very advanced in testing. Other countries are calling us to find out what are we doing.
And, by the way, within two weeks, you’ll see numbers and you’ll see different forms of testing — just like we came up with the Abbott Laboratories machine, which gives it to you in five minutes — that everybody wants. Everybody is asking, “Can we get that?” But you can only make them so fast. But, as you know, we’ve done more testing than every other nation combined, and that’s a big statement.
And, you know, when they talk about different tests and different things, we’re also a bigger nation than most. And so, when they look at statistics — because, statistically, we’re doing phenomenally, in terms of mortality, in terms of all of the different elements that you can judge. When you look, Germany and ourselves are doing very well.
We are very accurate in the reporting of numbers. In fact, I’ll go a step further. As you know, in New York, they actually added quite a few deaths to a list that was done in New York. And they added a number of deaths. We’re very, very — highly accurate.
And then you’ll look at certain lists of other countries. Some are so obvious just to look at, where obviously the number is ridiculous, in the form of low, because they’re not accurate counts. They’re not even close to accurate counts. In fact, they’re insulting to look at them.
So we’ve done very well. Again, testing — we’re doing very well on testing. We’ve tested far more than anybody else anywhere in the world. And within a short period of time, you’ll be hearing about new tests that are coming out that are going to be incredible.
Steve, go ahead.
Q Do you agree with Dr. Fauci that we’re just not there yet?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t agree with him on that. No, I think we’re doing a great job in testing. I don’t agree. If he said that, I don’t agree with him.
{snip}
Q Yes, Mr. President, after the presentation we just saw about the heat and the humidity, is it dangerous for you to make people think they would be safe by going outside in the heat, considering that so many people are dying in Florida, considering that this virus has had an outbreak in Singapore, places that are hot and —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, here we go.
Q — are humid?
THE PRESIDENT: Here we go. The new — the new headline is: “Trump Asks People to go Outside. That’s Dangerous.” Here we go. Same old group. You ready? I hope people enjoy the sun. And if it has an impact, that’s great. I’m just hearing this — not really for the first time. I mean, there’s been a rumor that — you know, a very nice rumor — that you go outside in the sun, or you have heat and it does have an effect on other viruses.
But now we get it from one of the great laboratories of the world. I have to say, it covers a lot more territory than just this. This is — this is probably an easy thing, relatively speaking, for you.
I would like you to speak to the medical doctors to see if there’s any way that you can apply light and heat to cure. You know — but if you could. And maybe you can, maybe you can’t. Again, I say, maybe you can, maybe you can’t. I’m not a doctor. But I’m like a person that has a good you know what.
Q But, sir, you’re the President.
THE PRESIDENT: Deborah, have you ever heard of that? The heat and the light, relative to certain viruses, yes, but relative to this virus?
DR. BIRX: Not as a treatment. I mean, certainly fever —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
DR. BIRX: — is a good thing. When you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But not as — I’ve not seen heat or (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s a great thing to look at. I mean, you know. Okay?
Q But respectfully, sir, you’re the President. And people tuning into these briefings, they want to get information and guidance and want to know what to do.
THE PRESIDENT: Hey — hey, Phil.
Q They’re not looking for a rumor.
THE PRESIDENT: Hey, Phil. I’m the President and you’re fake news. And you know what I’ll say to you? I’ll say it very nicely. I know you well.
Q Why do you say that?
THE PRESIDENT: I know you well.
Because I know the guy; I see what he writes. He’s a total faker.
Q He’s a good reporter.
THE PRESIDENT: So, are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? It’s just a suggestion from a brilliant lab by a very, very smart, perhaps brilliant, man. He’s talking about sun. He’s talking about heat. And you see the numbers. So that’s it; that’s all I have. I’m just here to present talent. I’m here to present ideas, because we want ideas to get rid of this thing. And if heat is good and if sunlight is good, that’s a great thing as far as I’m concerned.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, you, a couple days ago, said that you might reach out to Kim Jong Un directly, but also that you were working to find out if those reports about him being in possible medical trouble were true. I’m wondering if you’ve either —
THE PRESIDENT: I hope he’s not in medical trouble.
Q Well —
THE PRESIDENT: I hope he’s —
Q — have you heard anything from North Korea or —
THE PRESIDENT: I’ve gotten along very well with him. And you know, here we are. You would have been in a war with North Korea if I didn’t get elected President. Remember, I was going to be the one that took us into war, with my first day in office. Okay? Here we are. Look at what’s happened. Withdrawal. We’re bringing people home. We’re not going to serve as policemen all over the world. I don’t want to be policemen all over the world.
Q But have you been able to leverage that relationship?
THE PRESIDENT: And yet I’ve rebuilt our military to a level that it’s never been built at before.
Q Have you been able to get more information?
THE PRESIDENT: But it’s never recognized by the fake news.
Go ahead.
Q Have you been able to use that relationship to get more information about his status?
THE PRESIDENT: Uh, I think the report was incorrect. Let me just put it that way. I think the report was done by a network that was incorrect.
Q So you blame —
THE PRESIDENT: I’m hearing they used old documents. But I — that’s what I hear. I hear the report was an incorrect report. I hope it was an incorrect report.
Q When was the last time you heard from him?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to say.
Yeah.
Q Since you pointed to me, just a quick question about that. So you haven’t made any contact, though? Just to make sure.
THE PRESIDENT: With who?
Q The North Koreans.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to say. I won’t say that.
Q Okay, so —
THE PRESIDENT: We have a good relationship with North Korea — as good as you can have. I mean, we have a good relationship with North Korea. I have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un, and I hope he’s okay. And somebody would say, “Oh, that’s terrible.” No, it’s not terrible. I hope he’s okay. And I think it was a fake report done by CNN.
Q So can I ask you a question?
THE PRESIDENT: What do you have? Go ahead.
Q No, I would like —
THE PRESIDENT: No, that’s enough.
Go ahead.
Q Can I ask —
Q But that wasn’t my question.
THE PRESIDENT: The problem is you don’t write the truth, so, you know, as far as I’m concerned —
Q What are you referencing?
THE PRESIDENT: — I want to go — I want to go to the next question.
Q But can I ask you a question about Rick Bright?
THE PRESIDENT: No, not CNN, please.
Go ahead.
Q The White House has not responded —
THE PRESIDENT: You don’t —
Q — to these allegations —
THE PRESIDENT: I told you —
Q — to Rick Bright.
THE PRESIDENT: — CNN is fake news. Don’t talk to me.
Go ahead, please.
Q He says he was — but he says he was retaliated against and that’s why he was removed from his job. Do you have a response to that?
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, next question.
{snip}
Q Yes. Thank you. Looking forward to November, to the election, given the risk that the flu and the coronavirus are coming back —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, that’s a — that’s a problem.
Q Yeah — there could be a problem. Do you think there is a risk that there’ll be — there will be some — there will be lack of agreement, lack of legitimacy to the results in a very close election, and people start saying, “Well, a whole bunch of people couldn’t go and vote because they were scared”?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in an election.
Q Is there a risk for legitimate elections?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Great question. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. We have a sleepy guy in a basement of a house that the press is giving a free pass to who doesn’t want to do debates because of COVID. And lots of things are happening. Right?
And I watched a couple of interviews, and I say, “Oh, I look forward to this.” But they’re keeping him sheltered because of the coronavirus. And he’s not moving around; he’s not moving too much. And then I watch what the press does to the Republican Party — and to me, in particular.
We had the greatest economy ever put together. We were doing — this is a month and a half ago. We were doing numbers, the like — the likes of which we’ve never done. African American, Asian American, Hispanic American — best employment numbers ever in the history of our country. Our employment numbers, the best in the history of our country: almost 160 million people. The stock market: record numbers, many, many times during my tenure. Many, many times.
But now we have a country that we had to close because of this. And, frankly, if we didn’t close it, we would have lost millions of people possibly, but certainly we would have lost a million people. You take the high number and cut it in half, cut it in half again. But whether it would have been 600, 700, 800, you take a look at the travesty that there is. You take a look at this horrible, horrible scene of hospitals with bodies in black body bags, right? Multiply that times 10, 15, or even 20, because that would have happened.
So we did the right thing. So far, we did the right thing. So far, we’ve called it right. We’ve mobilized like it was a military operation. And it was largely a militarily operation, between ventilators and testing and so many other things. And we’ve had a lot of good partners. Not all good partners, but we had a lot of good partners.
Gavin Newsom today thanked us very much. Gavin Newsom — California — thanked us so much for getting him all the things that he needed so he can keep going and keep doing a good job. We got it to him today. Tomorrow, we’re getting him even more. It would’ve been harder for him to get it than us. We agreed to get it. We got it on time. He said, “Promises made, promises kept.” He actually said that in a statement today.
We’ve done a good job. We’ve gotten very little credit for the great job we’ve done because of the media. Because the media is not an honest media, in my opinion. Much of it, not all of it. We have some great reporters that I have tremendous respect, but much of the media is not honest.
So I can’t tell you about the election. You have a Democrat Party and you have a large portion of the media automatically giving the guy a pass. He’s been given a pass. Whether or not he’s going to be the nominee, I have no idea, but he’s getting a pass.
And the media isn’t covering the great job that we’ve done, whether it’s Mike’s task force, which has been incredible; whether it’s the way we mobilized in a war-like operation to build these incredibly complex and very expensive ventilators. They’re very expensive to build and very complex. The job we’ve done has been an amazing job. And I’m not talking about me; I’m talking about everybody. I’m talking about the generals, the admirals, Deborah and Tony, and — and now Bill. I mean, something we hadn’t heard today.
So I can’t tell you what’s going to happen with the election. I think that had we not gone through a fake Russia, Russia, Russia deal; an impeachment hoax — it was a total hoax. From the day I got elected — but, you know, it wasn’t the day; it was many months before I got elected — this has been a witch hunt that was illegal. It was an illegal witch hunt. It was illegal.
And with all of that, I’m doing fine, because the people see we’re doing a great job. And you know what? We’ll continue to do a great job.
If we had an honest press, this country would be even greater.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
END
6:52 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 23, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
5:48 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Later this evening, we expect the House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. I’m grateful that Congress is answering my call to deliver these additional $320 billion in relief for the American worker and for small businesses.
At a time when many Americans are enduring significant economic challenges, this bill will help small businesses to keep millions of workers on the payroll. You see states are starting to open up now, and it’s very exciting to see. I think it’s very awe-inspiring. We’re coming out of it, and we’re coming out of it well.
And we’re — really, I’m very happy the governors have been — the governors, really, have been doing a really good job working with us, and it’s — it’s, really, pretty impressive to see. I’ve spoken to numerous leaders of countries over the last 48 hours, and they are saying we’re leading the way. We’re really leading the way in so many different ways.
I’m also very pleased that Harvard — as you know, it’s Harvard and Stanford and Princeton and numerous other universities and colleges, and also large businesses have sent funds back to us. And in some cases, I stopped funds that I looked at. And we are pleased to report that the funds have either not gone out or it’s about $350 million, and they’ve either not gone out or we’ve renegotiated it and they’re not getting them.
So — and it’s — in a couple of cases, they’re sending them back and sending them back immediately. So I think it was very nice. I want to thank Harvard in particular. They acted very quickly and decisively. And they agreed, when they heard the facts, that they should not be getting it. So we appreciate it very much from Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and other institutions.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT:
{snip}
With that, Mr. President, I’d be pleased to call Bill forward. Bill Bryan leads the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security and now will make a presentation on their recent study.
ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank you, Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Bill.
ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: — for this opportunity to do this today.
Good afternoon everybody. My name is Bill Bryan and I lead the Science and Technology Directorate at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Over the last several months, we’ve intensified the Department’s R&D efforts to identify and deliver information that informs our response to COVID-19. S&T is working to identify, develop, deploy, and deploy the tools and information to support our response to this crisis.
{snip}
So if you look at an 18-hour half-life, what you’re basically saying is that every 18 hours, the virus — it’s the life of the virus is cut in half. So if you start with 1,000 particles of the virus, in 18 hours, you’re down to 500. And 18 hours after that, you’re down to 250, and so on and so forth. That’s important, as I explain in the rest of the chart.
If you look at the first three lines, when you see the word “surface,” we’re talking about nonporous surfaces: door handles, stainless steel. And if you look at the — as the temperature increases, as the humidity increases, with no sun involved, you can see how drastically the half-life goes down on that virus. So the virus is dying at a much more rapid pace, just from exposure to higher temperatures and just from exposure to humidity.
If you look at the fourth line, you inject summer — the sunlight into that. You inject UV rays into that. The same effects on line two — as 70 to 35 degrees with 80 percent humidity on the surface. And look at line four, but now you inject the sun. The half-life goes from six hours to two minutes. That’s how much of an impact UV rays has on the virus.
{snip}
And thirdly, the virus dies the quickest in the presence of direct sunlight under these conditions. And when you — when you look at that chart, look at the aerosol as you breathe it; you put it in a room, 70 to 75 degrees, 20 percent humidity, low humidity, it lasts — the half-life is about an hour. But you get outside, and it cuts down to a minute and a half. A very significant difference when it gets hit with UV rays.
And, Mr. President, while there are many unknown links in the COVID-19 transmission chain, we believe these trends can support practical decision making to lower the risks associated with the virus.
{snip}
This is not the end of our work as we continue to characterize this virus and integrate our findings into practical applications to mitigate exposure and transmission. I would like to thank the President and thank the Vice President for their ongoing support and leadership to the department and for their work in addressing this pandemic. I would also like to thank the scientists, not only in S&T and the NBACC, but to the larger scientific and R&D community.
Thank you very much.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Bill.
Q Mr. Bryan —
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. So I asked Bill a question that probably some of you are thinking of, if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting.
ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: We’ll get to the right folks who could.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds — it sounds interesting to me.
So we’ll see. But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that’s — that’s pretty powerful.
{snip}
Q You said yesterday that you’re going to look into Senator McConnell’s suggestion for allowing states to declare bankruptcy versus the aid —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we’ll look into it, and I have been looking into it. I’ve been talking to a lot of the different senators, but I don’t want to talk about it now. That was a very interesting presentation.
Go ahead, Jon.
Q Well, I wanted to talk about McConnell’s suggestion that aid to the states amounts to a blue —
THE PRESIDENT: I just told you I’m not talking about it now.
Q — to a blue-state (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: I’ll talk about it later.
Q Okay.
THE PRESIDENT: I’d like to talk about something that, right now, is of more interest to people.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, on the subject of medical research: Why have you stopped promoting hydroxychloroquine as a cure?
THE PRESIDENT: I haven’t at all. I haven’t at all. What are you say- — we’ll see what happens.
Q You haven’t talked about it in several days.
THE PRESIDENT: We’ve had a lot of very good results and we had some results that perhaps aren’t so good. I don’t know. I just read about one, but I also read many times good. So I haven’t at all. And it’s a — it’s a great — for malaria, for lupus, for other things. And we’ll see what it is.
But, I guess, Deborah, they have many, many studies going on on that. So we’ll — we’ll be able to learn.
Q Have you looked at the veteran study that shows that — that the death rate is higher —
THE PRESIDENT: I have not. I haven’t seen it. I have not seen it.
Go ahead, please.
Q Mr. President, we’re now over 26 million new jobless claims over five weeks.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Yeah.
Q How — the Vice President talked about this summer getting better. But how — what do your economists tell you about the time it’s going to take to you and the U.S. to create the jobs back?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I know a lot about economists.
Q August?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q September?
THE PRESIDENT: Sure.
Q October?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me go. We — we know the rest of the question, right? So I — I know a lot about economists, and the answer is they have no idea. I think I have as good an idea as anybody, and I think our economy will start to pick up very substantially, as soon as the states get open.
And that’s happening as we speak, and it’s actually very exciting, and people are just — just thrilled to see it, because our country has to get back to work. They want to get back to work. You see that, whether it’s a demonstration or just in talking to people. They’re going to get back to work, and they’re going to get back to work very fast.
States are advanced. I look at Gavin Newson — was — Newsom was very nice today. He wrote a beautiful statement about — we sent him a lot of — a lot of things that he needed. Okay? Things — different things that he needed. We got — we got it taken care of. They’ve done very well in California, as you know. They’re doing really well in Florida. They’re doing well in a lot of places. New York and New Jersey got hit very hard. They’re doing very well.
I spoke again with Governor Cuomo, with Governor Murphy. They’re doing — they’re doing a great job. And here’s the thing: We have to see. They got hit hard. Everyone close together — tight in. People don’t realize New Jersey is very tight. You realize that because you’ve been covering it for a long time, but very tight. New York obviously is very tight. They’re doing a terrific job.
I — I think for the most part — I’ll be able to tell you when it’s all over, but a lot of the governors have done a really terrific job. Some I don’t think have, to be honest. But we’ll be talking about that in future.
Yes, go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. In a new interview today with Time Magazine, Dr. Fauci said that the U.S. is not in a situation where we can say we are where we want to be, with regard to testing capacity. He said we need much more testing capacity, as well as tests. So why do you keep saying we have a tremendous testing capacity? And do we have a national strategy that goes beyond tracking just what the states are doing?
THE PRESIDENT: The answer is yes. And the answer is — as you know, and as I’ve said many times — we’re very advanced in testing. Other countries are calling us to find out what are we doing.
And, by the way, within two weeks, you’ll see numbers and you’ll see different forms of testing — just like we came up with the Abbott Laboratories machine, which gives it to you in five minutes — that everybody wants. Everybody is asking, “Can we get that?” But you can only make them so fast. But, as you know, we’ve done more testing than every other nation combined, and that’s a big statement.
And, you know, when they talk about different tests and different things, we’re also a bigger nation than most. And so, when they look at statistics — because, statistically, we’re doing phenomenally, in terms of mortality, in terms of all of the different elements that you can judge. When you look, Germany and ourselves are doing very well.
We are very accurate in the reporting of numbers. In fact, I’ll go a step further. As you know, in New York, they actually added quite a few deaths to a list that was done in New York. And they added a number of deaths. We’re very, very — highly accurate.
And then you’ll look at certain lists of other countries. Some are so obvious just to look at, where obviously the number is ridiculous, in the form of low, because they’re not accurate counts. They’re not even close to accurate counts. In fact, they’re insulting to look at them.
So we’ve done very well. Again, testing — we’re doing very well on testing. We’ve tested far more than anybody else anywhere in the world. And within a short period of time, you’ll be hearing about new tests that are coming out that are going to be incredible.
Steve, go ahead.
Q Do you agree with Dr. Fauci that we’re just not there yet?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t agree with him on that. No, I think we’re doing a great job in testing. I don’t agree. If he said that, I don’t agree with him.
{snip}
Q Yes, Mr. President, after the presentation we just saw about the heat and the humidity, is it dangerous for you to make people think they would be safe by going outside in the heat, considering that so many people are dying in Florida, considering that this virus has had an outbreak in Singapore, places that are hot and —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, here we go.
Q — are humid?
THE PRESIDENT: Here we go. The new — the new headline is: “Trump Asks People to go Outside. That’s Dangerous.” Here we go. Same old group. You ready? I hope people enjoy the sun. And if it has an impact, that’s great. I’m just hearing this — not really for the first time. I mean, there’s been a rumor that — you know, a very nice rumor — that you go outside in the sun, or you have heat and it does have an effect on other viruses.
But now we get it from one of the great laboratories of the world. I have to say, it covers a lot more territory than just this. This is — this is probably an easy thing, relatively speaking, for you.
I would like you to speak to the medical doctors to see if there’s any way that you can apply light and heat to cure. You know — but if you could. And maybe you can, maybe you can’t. Again, I say, maybe you can, maybe you can’t. I’m not a doctor. But I’m like a person that has a good you know what.
Q But, sir, you’re the President.
THE PRESIDENT: Deborah, have you ever heard of that? The heat and the light, relative to certain viruses, yes, but relative to this virus?
DR. BIRX: Not as a treatment. I mean, certainly fever —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
DR. BIRX: — is a good thing. When you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But not as — I’ve not seen heat or (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s a great thing to look at. I mean, you know. Okay?
Q But respectfully, sir, you’re the President. And people tuning into these briefings, they want to get information and guidance and want to know what to do.
THE PRESIDENT: Hey — hey, Phil.
Q They’re not looking for a rumor.
THE PRESIDENT: Hey, Phil. I’m the President and you’re fake news. And you know what I’ll say to you? I’ll say it very nicely. I know you well.
Q Why do you say that?
THE PRESIDENT: I know you well.
Because I know the guy; I see what he writes. He’s a total faker.
Q He’s a good reporter.
THE PRESIDENT: So, are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? It’s just a suggestion from a brilliant lab by a very, very smart, perhaps brilliant, man. He’s talking about sun. He’s talking about heat. And you see the numbers. So that’s it; that’s all I have. I’m just here to present talent. I’m here to present ideas, because we want ideas to get rid of this thing. And if heat is good and if sunlight is good, that’s a great thing as far as I’m concerned.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, you, a couple days ago, said that you might reach out to Kim Jong Un directly, but also that you were working to find out if those reports about him being in possible medical trouble were true. I’m wondering if you’ve either —
THE PRESIDENT: I hope he’s not in medical trouble.
Q Well —
THE PRESIDENT: I hope he’s —
Q — have you heard anything from North Korea or —
THE PRESIDENT: I’ve gotten along very well with him. And you know, here we are. You would have been in a war with North Korea if I didn’t get elected President. Remember, I was going to be the one that took us into war, with my first day in office. Okay? Here we are. Look at what’s happened. Withdrawal. We’re bringing people home. We’re not going to serve as policemen all over the world. I don’t want to be policemen all over the world.
Q But have you been able to leverage that relationship?
THE PRESIDENT: And yet I’ve rebuilt our military to a level that it’s never been built at before.
Q Have you been able to get more information?
THE PRESIDENT: But it’s never recognized by the fake news.
Go ahead.
Q Have you been able to use that relationship to get more information about his status?
THE PRESIDENT: Uh, I think the report was incorrect. Let me just put it that way. I think the report was done by a network that was incorrect.
Q So you blame —
THE PRESIDENT: I’m hearing they used old documents. But I — that’s what I hear. I hear the report was an incorrect report. I hope it was an incorrect report.
Q When was the last time you heard from him?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to say.
Yeah.
Q Since you pointed to me, just a quick question about that. So you haven’t made any contact, though? Just to make sure.
THE PRESIDENT: With who?
Q The North Koreans.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to say. I won’t say that.
Q Okay, so —
THE PRESIDENT: We have a good relationship with North Korea — as good as you can have. I mean, we have a good relationship with North Korea. I have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un, and I hope he’s okay. And somebody would say, “Oh, that’s terrible.” No, it’s not terrible. I hope he’s okay. And I think it was a fake report done by CNN.
Q So can I ask you a question?
THE PRESIDENT: What do you have? Go ahead.
Q No, I would like —
THE PRESIDENT: No, that’s enough.
Go ahead.
Q Can I ask —
Q But that wasn’t my question.
THE PRESIDENT: The problem is you don’t write the truth, so, you know, as far as I’m concerned —
Q What are you referencing?
THE PRESIDENT: — I want to go — I want to go to the next question.
Q But can I ask you a question about Rick Bright?
THE PRESIDENT: No, not CNN, please.
Go ahead.
Q The White House has not responded —
THE PRESIDENT: You don’t —
Q — to these allegations —
THE PRESIDENT: I told you —
Q — to Rick Bright.
THE PRESIDENT: — CNN is fake news. Don’t talk to me.
Go ahead, please.
Q He says he was — but he says he was retaliated against and that’s why he was removed from his job. Do you have a response to that?
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, next question.
{snip}
Q Yes. Thank you. Looking forward to November, to the election, given the risk that the flu and the coronavirus are coming back —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, that’s a — that’s a problem.
Q Yeah — there could be a problem. Do you think there is a risk that there’ll be — there will be some — there will be lack of agreement, lack of legitimacy to the results in a very close election, and people start saying, “Well, a whole bunch of people couldn’t go and vote because they were scared”?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in an election.
Q Is there a risk for legitimate elections?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Great question. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. We have a sleepy guy in a basement of a house that the press is giving a free pass to who doesn’t want to do debates because of COVID. And lots of things are happening. Right?
And I watched a couple of interviews, and I say, “Oh, I look forward to this.” But they’re keeping him sheltered because of the coronavirus. And he’s not moving around; he’s not moving too much. And then I watch what the press does to the Republican Party — and to me, in particular.
We had the greatest economy ever put together. We were doing — this is a month and a half ago. We were doing numbers, the like — the likes of which we’ve never done. African American, Asian American, Hispanic American — best employment numbers ever in the history of our country. Our employment numbers, the best in the history of our country: almost 160 million people. The stock market: record numbers, many, many times during my tenure. Many, many times.
But now we have a country that we had to close because of this. And, frankly, if we didn’t close it, we would have lost millions of people possibly, but certainly we would have lost a million people. You take the high number and cut it in half, cut it in half again. But whether it would have been 600, 700, 800, you take a look at the travesty that there is. You take a look at this horrible, horrible scene of hospitals with bodies in black body bags, right? Multiply that times 10, 15, or even 20, because that would have happened.
So we did the right thing. So far, we did the right thing. So far, we’ve called it right. We’ve mobilized like it was a military operation. And it was largely a militarily operation, between ventilators and testing and so many other things. And we’ve had a lot of good partners. Not all good partners, but we had a lot of good partners.
Gavin Newsom today thanked us very much. Gavin Newsom — California — thanked us so much for getting him all the things that he needed so he can keep going and keep doing a good job. We got it to him today. Tomorrow, we’re getting him even more. It would’ve been harder for him to get it than us. We agreed to get it. We got it on time. He said, “Promises made, promises kept.” He actually said that in a statement today.
We’ve done a good job. We’ve gotten very little credit for the great job we’ve done because of the media. Because the media is not an honest media, in my opinion. Much of it, not all of it. We have some great reporters that I have tremendous respect, but much of the media is not honest.
So I can’t tell you about the election. You have a Democrat Party and you have a large portion of the media automatically giving the guy a pass. He’s been given a pass. Whether or not he’s going to be the nominee, I have no idea, but he’s getting a pass.
And the media isn’t covering the great job that we’ve done, whether it’s Mike’s task force, which has been incredible; whether it’s the way we mobilized in a war-like operation to build these incredibly complex and very expensive ventilators. They’re very expensive to build and very complex. The job we’ve done has been an amazing job. And I’m not talking about me; I’m talking about everybody. I’m talking about the generals, the admirals, Deborah and Tony, and — and now Bill. I mean, something we hadn’t heard today.
So I can’t tell you what’s going to happen with the election. I think that had we not gone through a fake Russia, Russia, Russia deal; an impeachment hoax — it was a total hoax. From the day I got elected — but, you know, it wasn’t the day; it was many months before I got elected — this has been a witch hunt that was illegal. It was an illegal witch hunt. It was illegal.
And with all of that, I’m doing fine, because the people see we’re doing a great job. And you know what? We’ll continue to do a great job.
If we had an honest press, this country would be even greater.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
END
6:52 P.M. EDT
4 replies
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And then that smarmy smirk from the idiot child when he thinks he’s proven his point.
