Monday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing was a barn burner. Between the video showing the liberal media downplaying the virus, clips of Democrats praising President Trump, and reporters losing it, it had everything. But most notable was CBS White House correspondent Paula Reid getting in a shouting match with Trump that seemed to imply she was blaming him for the deaths of over 23,000 Americans.
An otherwise respectable reporter, Reid instead decided to provide for the viewing public her best impression of reporters with names like Alcindor, Alexander, Acosta, Karem, and Ryan.
Reid set the stage for her Trump battle by drawing a rare and glare from NIH’s Dr. Tony Fauci when she wondered whether he was “voluntarily” clarifying comments from a day prior on CNN or was he making them under coercion from Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
“No. I am doing it. Everything I do is voluntary, please. Don't even imply that,” he replied, silently lingering at the podium for a few extra seconds to fire some non-verbal darts.
Later, Trump was torching Joe Biden and the left for initially condemning his China travel ban as racist, unnecessary, and xenophobic when Reid lost it (click “expand”):
REID: But what did you do with that time that you --- the argument is that you bought yourself some time and you didn’t need to prepare hospitals. You didn't use it to ramp up testing. Right now, nearly 20 million people are unemployed.
TRUMP: You're so --- you’re so --- you’re so disgraceful. It's so disgraceful the way you say that.
REID: Tens of thousands of Americans are dead.
TRUMP: Let me just --- listen --- I just went over it.
REID: How is this video or this rant supposed to make people feel confident ---
TRUMP: I just went over it.
REID: --- in an unprecedented crisis.
TRUMP: Nobody thought we should do it and when I did it ---
REID: But what did you do with the time that you bought?
TRUMP: You know what we did?
REID: The month of February.
TRUMP: You know what we did?
REID: That entire video has a gap. The entire month of February.
TRUMP: What do you do? What do you do when you have no case in the whole United States?
Trump eventually replied that the federal government had done “a lot and, in fact, we’ll give you a list,” but Reid wasn’t interested and instead continued to berate about “a gap” and thus the administration has cost lives.
The President was fiery, but hadn’t resorted to calling her “fake” or any other name. That would change as he punched back: “Look, look. You know you’re a fake. You know that. Your whole network, the way you covered is fake and most of you --- not all of you but the people are wise to you. That's why you have a lower --- a lower approval rating than you ever have before times probably three.”
Continuing to show that any liberal media claims that they only want to inform the public and move the country forward, Reid continued to berate Trump about the death toll and unemployment numbers as if to --- again --- suggest this were of his making because of some inaction that the liberal media themselves had pushed for.
The back-and-forth then concluded (click “expand”):
REID: I don’t think the unemployed people right now care ---
TRUMP: No.
REID: --- about why Joe Biden didn’t apologize to you.
TRUMP: That’s very important. Why did Democrats think I acted too quickly? You know why? Because they really thought that I acted too quickly. We have ---
REID: The question is what you did in February.
TRUMP: -- done a great job. Now, I could have --- I could have kept it open. I could have done what some countries are doing. They’re getting beat up pretty badly. I could have kept it open. I thought of keeping it open because nobody’s ever heard of closing down a country, let alone the United States of America. But if I would have done that, we would have had hundreds of thousands of people that would right now be dead. We’ve done this right and we really --- we really have done this right. The problem is the press doesn't cover it the way it should.
To see the relevant transcript from April 13’s briefing, click “expand.”
White House Coroanvirus Task Force briefing
April 13, 2020
5:56 p.m. EasternPAULA REID: Are you doing involuntarily or did the President and Vice President ask you?
DR. TONY FAUCI: No. I am doing it. Everything I do is voluntary, please. Don't even imply that. [GLARES]
(….)
6:24 p.m. Eastern
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: When on January 31, I instituted the ban, Joe Biden went crazy. He said you don't need ban. You --- he didn’t go crazy, like he’s --- didn't even know what the hell the ban was. But he --- [KAITLAN COLLINS SHOUTING] --- so he didn’t go crazy.
REID: Your --- your [INAUDIBLE] --- what did you do in that time?
TRUMP: He called me xenophobic. Wait a minute. He called me xenophobic. He called me a racist because he has since apologized and he said I did the right thing. [TO COLLINS] So when you say why didn't you do this, every Democrat thought I made a mistake when I did it. I saved tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of lives by that.
REID: But what did you do with that time that you --- the argument is that you bought yourself some time and you didn’t need to prepare hospitals. You didn't use it to ramp up testing. Right now, nearly 20 million people are unemployed.
TRUMP: You're so --- you’re so --- you’re so disgraceful. It's so disgraceful the way you say that.
REID: Tens of thousands of Americans are dead.
TRUMP: Let me just --- listen --- I just went over it.
REID: How is this video or this rant supposed to make people feel confident ---
TRUMP: I just went over it.
REID: --- in an unprecedented crisis.
TRUMP: Nobody thought we should do it and when I did it ---
REID: But what did you do with the time that you bought?
TRUMP: You know what we did?
REID: The month of February.
TRUMP: You know what we did?
REID: That entire video has a gap. The entire month of February.
TRUMP: What do you do? What do you do when you have no case in the whole United States?
REID: You had cases in February.
TRUMP: Excuse me. You reported it. Zero cases, zero deaths on January 17.
REID: January. But for the entire month of February ---
TRUMP: January. I said in January.
REID: Your video has a complete gap in February.
TRUMP: On January 17 ---
REID: What did your administration do in February with the time that your travel ban bought you?
TRUMP: A lot.
REID: What?
TRUMP: A lot and in fact, we'll give you a list. What we did --- in fact, part of it was up there. We did a lot.
REID: It wasn’t in the video. There was a gap.
TRUMP: Look, look. You know you are a fake. You know that. Your whole network, the way you covered is fake and most of you --- not all of you but the people are wise to you. That's why you have a lower --- a lower approval rating than you ever have before times probably three.
REID: 20 million people are unemployed.
TRUMP: And when you ask me that question ---
REID: Tens of thousands of Americans are dead.
TRUMP: --- let me ask you this. Why didn't Biden --- why did Biden apologize? Why did he write a letter of apology?
REID: I don’t think the unemployed people right now care ---
TRUMP: No.
REID: --- about why Joe Biden didn’t apologize to you.
TRUMP: That’s very important. Why did Democrats think I acted too quickly? You know why? Because they really thought that I acted too quickly. We have ---
REID: The question is what you did in February.
TRUMP: -- done a great job. Now, I could have --- I could have kept it open. I could have done what some countries are doing. They’re getting beat up pretty badly. I could have kept it open. I thought of keeping it open because nobody’s ever heard of closing down a country, let alone the United States of America. But if I would have done that, we would have had hundreds of thousands of people that would right now be dead. We’ve done this right and we really --- we really have done this right. The problem is the press doesn't cover it the way it should.
