Apparently, American manufacturing workers and scientists weren’t good enough to help America through the coronavirus crisis and we could only get through it with the help of those that caused it: China. That’s according to Beijing-loving New York Times columnist Tom Friedman during a Thursday night appearance on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time.
Just after noting that there would be an “explosion” in more domestic manufacturing of essential supplies needed in a pandemic once this crisis was over, Friedman immediately defended the communist regime from the current round of denunciations for their role in creating the crisis.
“This is not the time for a U.S.-China cold war. I can't think of anything more reckless. China is a source of capital that we are going to need when we want to grow out of this. It’s a source of manufacturing prowess,” he proclaimed.
Disregarding their lack of basic human rights and quality control standards, Friedman boast of how we’ll need China to bounce back. “These people can put up a hospital in a week. We may-- as their crisis winds down we may need to draw on that, their manufacturing prowess. At the same time, a source of science,” he said as if American manufacturers and scientists were somehow inferior.
Even though China had spent more time and resources to trying to cover-up the virus than fight it in the beginning and lies about their infection and death numbers, Friedman put the communists and President Trump on the same level and said he should feel guilty about a slow response. He also suggested both were trying to “deflect their guilt” to the other.
China murders its own people in cold blood. They don’t feel guilty about anything, Tom.
Friedman then proceeded to scold Trump for choosing now as the time to “make a point” about China, when we should be “leverage[ing] their manufacturing capacity” and “their scientific capacity”:
You know, one of my rules of life, Chris, is do you want to make a point or do you want to make a difference? You want to make a point about China, now? This is not the time. If you want to make a difference, then we should be talking to the Chinese every day. How do we leverage their manufacturing capacity, their scientific capacity, and ultimately, we're going to need their capital just as we did in 2008 to stabilize the global economy.
This was coming from the same guy, who just the day before, demanded that Trump surrender to China in the trade war with no concessions. “Trump needs to be doing two things. One is get on the phone with Xi Jinping and simply say, I'm lifting all the tariffs. We got to have the supply chains work. We can deal with the tariffs later. Let's you and I set up a coordinating committee,” he told CNN host Wolf Blitzer during The Situation Room.
Of course, host Chris Cuomo, who yesterday claimed the Wuhan Virus “could have come from anywhere,” declared Friedman one of American’s “better lights” and gave “a big amen” to his China praise.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
March 19, 2020
10:54:33 p.m. Eastern(…)
THOMAS FRIEDMAN: Another thing I'm sure you're going see is a huge explosion in 3D manufacturing so we aren't dependent on the massive long supply chains when we need whether it's special face masks or we do need ventilators. The ability to manufacture in this country close to home, I think there’s going to be an explosion of that too.
But let me just say one thing, Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO: Please.
FRIEDMAN: This is not the time for a U.S.-China cold war. I can't think of anything more reckless. China is a source of capital that we are going to need when we want to grow out of this. It’s a source of manufacturing prowess. These people can put up a hospital in a week. We may-- as their crisis winds down we may need to draw on that, their manufacturing prowess. At the same time, a source of science. Okay?
And really, both the President of China and the President of the United States now – Because they both feel guilty about, I think, acting too slowly early on, have found the perfect enemy to deflect, you know, their guilt, and it’s on each other. And it's absolutely the wrong time.
You know, one of my rules of life, Chris, is do you want to make a point or do you want to make a difference? You want to make a point about China, now? This is not the time. If you want to make a difference, then we should be talking to the Chinese every day. How do we leverage their manufacturing capacity, their scientific capacity, and ultimately, we're going to need their capital just as we did in 2008 to stabilize the global economy.
CUOMO: I give you a big amen. And I'm trying to follow it. I make a point of what the President does wrong in this situation to give him a chance to make a difference. That’s why I’m trying to keep him to account, because he’s got too big a stage and time is too short.
Tom Friedman. We need your head, we need your heart even more.
(…)
