On Friday the 13th of March 2020, days after calling COVID-19 a Democratic hoax that everyone needed to chill out about, Donald Trump has officially changed his tune about the coronavirus outbreak.
The Virus in Chief declared a national emergency that he said would give states and territories access to up to $50 billion in federal funds to deal with the pandemic.
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He said at the conference:
“I am officially declaring a national emergency, two very big words… I’m urging every state to set up emergency operations centers effective immediately.”
The president also gave more power to the health secretary, Alex Azar, who said he would now be able to give doctors and hospitals more flexibility to respond to the virus and treat people remotely.
As Trump put it, hospitals would now be able to “do as they want. They could do what they have to do.”
"I am officially declaring a national emergency"
US President Donald Trump says he has declared coronavirus a national emergency in order to "unleash the full power of the federal government"https://t.co/QQG1hsCO8i pic.twitter.com/Mr8dhZ2AIx
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 13, 2020
Donny went on to reveal that he was waiving interest on federal student loans “until further notice,” and that because oil prices are low, the government would buy “large quantities” of crude oil for the nation’s strategic reserve.
He also discussed the administration’s previously-promised efforts to drastically speed up coronavirus testing, teasing drive-through testing in high impacted areas and a new Google-provided website. Trump stated that millions of virus testing kits would soon become available (so hang tight, Heidi Klum!), but noted that he didn’t think many would be needed, specifically for those without symptoms. Uhh…
He said:
“We don’t want everybody taking this test. It’s totally unnecessary… This will pass, this will pass through, and we will be even stronger for it.”
Someone remind him you can carry the virus without showing symptoms!
Yeah, while many were relieved that appropriate measures are finally being taken, there were still many cringeworthy, scream-at-your-tv moments during Trump’s presser.
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Many on social media couldn’t help but comment on how the president, who has been exposed to coronavirus victims and hasn’t been tested, kept shaking hands with other people at the conference — something the CDC has recommended to not do for obvious, very common sense reason.
Thankfully, he eventually got a lesson in hygienic elbow bumping:
The president gets the elbow tap lesson. Watch. pic.twitter.com/b6ePCbuxc5
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) March 13, 2020
Eyes also rolled at Vice President Mike Pence‘s comment that Trump had “put the health of America first” throughout this entire process, with critics pointing out that Trump had intentionally tried to slow down coronavirus testing and urged people to go to work with coronavirus.
As we watch Trump declare a state of emergency because of the coronavirus, here’s a reminder that he called it a hoax just over a week ago. pic.twitter.com/iyIAPu6PzH
— Hutch (@hutchinson) March 13, 2020
Trump also denied taking responsibility for the slow response in making coronavirus testing available.
President Trump says "I don't take responsibility at all" for the lag in coronavirus testing, and does not answer when he can guarantee every American who needs a test can get one https://t.co/FIAmzRSbc2 pic.twitter.com/irrUE9eaZR
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 13, 2020
When asked if he would be tested himself, Trump said:
“Most likely, yeah.”
Um… you better, bish!
[Image via YouTube]
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