True to form in Sunday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force daily briefing, multiple White House reporters made complete fools of themselves, firing off snarky questions to President Trump taking issue with him showing hope amid this pandemic, the idea of anyone using hydroxychloroquine, and even wondering whether even grocery stories should be closed indefinitely.
It was at 8:02 p.m. Eastern when the briefing took a bizarre turn when EWTN's Owen Jensen asked Trump if even essential businesses are closed to further social distance:
Yeah, you know, obviously, we know anyone can spread the disease, alright? Unwittingly. So why not have a few businesses open? Why not just shut everything down. There are grocery stores that are open, fast food places. Why even take a little chance? Just shut it all down until we’re through.
Surprisingly, the President didn’t explode, instead calmly responding: “Well, we’re going to have to --- we’ll answer that question later. All I can say is that, right now, things are looking really good and opening up with a bang would be a great thing and there's nobody going to be happier than me.”
Rewinding to earlier in the briefing, two moments stood out. Associated Press White House correspondent Kevin Freking followed the leftist narrative bashing Trump for being upbeat in any sort of fashion and instead not sounding exclusively apocalyptic:
Mr. President, the surgeon general this morning was talking about the coming week being among the hardest and saddest weeks of our lives. He was talking about this being our Pearl Harbor, our 9/11 moment. You all are talking about glimmers of hope and stabilization. How are the American people supposed to bridge those different descriptions that they're getting from this administration?
Dr. Tony Fauci would address this theme later, but Trump stepped in here to insist that he doesn’t see a disconnect because while we’ll reach “a horrific point in terms of death,” that means we’ll be soon able to be on the downslope toward better days.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond was also there and trying to do his best Jim Acosta impression by ignoring the insistence of Trump and others at briefings recognizing hydroxychloroquine’s side effects and prescribing it should be a decision between a doctor and patient.
Instead, he felt like arguing (click “expand”):
DIAMOND: Mr. President, the doctors who are treating coronavirus patients, they have the medical expertise to determine whether or not they should prescribe hydroxychloroquine.
TRUMP: It’s true and many of them do.
DIAMOND: And there are already clinical trials in place ---
TRUMP: Sure.
DIAMOND: --- looking at hydroxychloroquine.
TRUMP: Sure.
DIAMOND: So ---
TRUMP: They should be finished in about a year
DIAMOND: --- why not just let the science speak for itself? Why are you promoting this drug –
TRUMP: I'm not. I'm not. I’m just ---
DIAMOND: You come out here ---
TRUMP: --- very simply --- I’m not at all. I’m not --- look. You know what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to save lives.
DIAMOND: --- but you come out here every day, right, sir? Talking about benefits of hydroxychloroquine.
TRUMP: I --- I want them to try it and it may work. It may not work, but if it doesn't work, it's nothing lost by doing it, nothing[.]
(….)
TRUMP: I don't want to wait a year and a half to find out. And only CNN would ask that question, fake news. [DIAMOND SHAKES HEAD]
In the briefing’s final minutes, Diamond tried to drive a wedge between Fauci and Trump by asking the former to comment on the drug’s effectiveness, but Trump interjected to slam the CNNer’s nonsense asking that question “15 times.”
Freking snagged the briefing’s final question and he chose to state how “records show that federal agencies” didn’t dispense medical equipment until mid-March. Predictably, Trump wasn’t happy and trashed him as a “wise guy” (click “expand”):
FREKING: Sir, on the equipment issue, records show that federal agencies did not begin ---
TRUMP: Oh stop it.
FREKING: --- did not begin ---
TRUMP: By the way, who are you with?
FREKING: Associated Press.
TRUMP: Who are you with?
FREKING: The Associated Press.
TRUMP: That’s another real beauty. That’s another beauty.
FREKING: Agencies did not dispensing respirators and N-95 masks ---
TRUMP: Are you ready? Are you ready?
FREKING: --- until mid-March.
TRUMP: Let me just answer your question because I know exactly --- you know, same question you ask all the time. Ready? They have an unbelievable job.
FREKING: That’s the first time I’ve asked this sir.
TRUMP: --- in delivering. For the Associated Press which is, you know, not so great. Not like it used to be. The people that you’re looking at, FEMA, the military, what they've done is a miracle, what they’ve done is a miracle in getting all of this stuff. What they've done for states is incredible and you should be thanking them for what they've done. Not always asking wise guy questions.
To see the relevant transcript from April 5’s briefing, click “expand.”
White House Daily Briefing
April 5, 2020
7:41 p.m. Eastern
KEVIN FREKING: Mr. President, the surgeon general this morning was talking about the coming week being among the hardest and saddest weeks of our lives.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Tough. tough week.
FREKING: He was talking about this being our Pearl Harbor, our 9/11 moment. You all are talking about glimmers of hope and stabilization. How are the American people supposed to bridge those different descriptions that they're getting from this administration?
TRUMP: I don't think they are so different. I think we all know that we have to reach a certain point, and that point is going to be a horrific point in terms of death, but it's also a point at which things are going to start changing. We're getting very close to that level right now, and the next week and a half, two weeks are going to be --- I think they’re going to be very difficult, but at the same time, we understand what they represent and what that time represents and hopefully we can get this over with, because this is a very horrible thing for the world and look, we're one country out of 182 now that have --- 182 countries. I have a friend of mine said he didn't know we had so many countries in the world. 182 countries are now affected by this, so we want to get it over with.
(….)
7:48 p.m. Eastern
JEREMY DIAMOND: Mr. President, the doctors who are treating coronavirus patients, they have the medical expertise to determine whether or not they should prescribe hydroxychloroquine.
TRUMP: It’s true and many of them do.
DIAMOND: And there are already clinical trials in place ---
TRUMP: Sure.
DIAMOND: --- looking at hydroxychloroquine.
TRUMP: Sure.
DIAMOND: So ---
TRUMP: They should be finished in about a year
DIAMOND: --- why not just let the science speak for itself? Why are you promoting this drug –
TRUMP: I'm not. I'm not. I’m just ---
DIAMOND: You come out here ---
TRUMP: --- very simply --- I’m not at all. I’m not --- look. You know what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to save lives.
DIAMOND: --- but you come out here every day, right, sir? Talking about benefits of hydroxychloroquine.
TRUMP: I --- I want them to try it and it may work. It may not work, but if it doesn't work, it's nothing lost by doing it, nothing [INAUDBILE DIAMOND SHOUTING] because we know long-term -- what I want, I want to save lives. I don't want it to be in a lab for the next year and a half as people are dying all over the place.
DIAMOND: It is already out there. Doctors are able to prescribe it off label, right?
TRUMP: That’s right All I’m doing is saying --
DIAMOND: So what do you accomplish?
TRUMP: --- well, I will tell you what I accomplish. We bought massive amounts of it, 29 million doses of it. We have it coming to all of the labs. We're actually now doing it here. In case it does work, we want to have it and we have given it to drugstores. We're sending it all over. FEMA is doing it. We're doing it through different channels, so many different channels, including the companies that make it. [INAUDIBLE DIAMOND SHOUTING] It's a very special thing. Now, it may not work, in which case hey, didn't work, and it may work, in which case, it’s going to save a lot of lives. Now, a lot of people are saying if the people walking in prior to getting it, if they take it, it has a profound effect. Well, maybe it does ---
DIAMOND: Where’s the conclusive medical evidence on that?
TRUMP: --- maybe it doesn't. I don't want to wait a year and a half to find out. And only CNN would ask that question, fake news. [DIAMOND SHAKES HEAD]
(….)
8:02 p.m. Eastern
OWEN JENSEN: Yeah, you know, obviously, we know anyone can spread the disease, alright? Unwittingly.
TRUMP: Right.
JENSEN: So why not have a few businesses open? Why not just shut everything down. There are grocery stores that are open, fast food places. Why even take a little chance? Just shut it all down until we’re through.
TRUMP: Well, we’re going to have to --- we’ll answer that question later. All I can say is that, right now, things are looking really good and opening up with a bang would be a great thing and there's nobody going to be happier than me.
(….)
8:20 p.m. Eastern
DIAMOND [TO FAUCI]: Would you also weigh in ---
TRUMP: And we’ve made great progress with the antibody testing. Fantastic progress
DIAMOND [TO FAUCI]: --- and would you weigh in on this issue of hydroxychloroquine? What do you think about this and what does --
TRUMP: You know how many times he’s answered that question?
DIAMOND: --- but he’s a doctor.
TRUMP: 15 times. You don't have to ask the question.
DIAMOND: He's --- he’s your medical expert, correct?
TRUMP: He’s answered that question 15 times.
(….)
8:20 p.m. Eastern
FREKING: Sir, on the equipment issue, records show that federal agencies did not begin ---
TRUMP: Oh stop it.
FREKING: --- did not begin ---
TRUMP: By the way, who are you with?
FREKING: Associated Press.
TRUMP: Who are you with?
FREKING: The Associated Press.
TRUMP: That’s another real beauty. That’s another beauty.
FREKING: Agencies did not dispensing respirators and N-95 masks ---
TRUMP: Are you ready? Are you ready?
FREKING: --- until mid-March.
TRUMP: Let me just answer your question because I know exactly --- you know, same question you ask all the time. Ready? They have an unbelievable job.
FREKING: That’s the first time I’ve asked this sir.
TRUMP: --- in delivering. For the Associated Press which is, you know, not so great. Not like it used to be. The people that you’re looking at, FEMA, the military, what they've done is a miracle, what they’ve done is a miracle in getting all of this stuff. What they've done for states is incredible and you should be thanking them for what they've done. Not always asking wise guy questions.
