Ahead of Thursday’s NFL Draft, there was a rhetorical pummeling at the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing as the horribly biased Washington Post White House bureau chief, Philip Rucker found himself flattened by President Trump as “total faker” after he insisted that it was “dangerous for you to” encourage people to go outside as the temperatures warm up despite the presence coronavirus.
And less than ten minutes later, “fake news” CNN was panned as the creators of a “fake report” about North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un being in “grave danger.”
But first, Rucker fired off this obnoxious question in reaction to a DHS presentation on how the virus could struggle when exposed to the sun with high humidity and temperatures:
Mr. President, after the presentation we just saw about the heat and humidity, is it dangerous for you to make people think they would be safe by going outside in the heat considering some of the people are dying in Florida and considering that this virus has had an outbreak in Singapore, places that all hot and are humid.
Trump didn’t miss a beat, groaning: “Yeah, here --- here we go. Here we go. The new headline is Trump asked people to go outside. That’s dangerous. Here we go. Same old group.”
He added that he “hope[s] people enjoy the sun and if it has an impact, that's great.”
After asking Dr. Deborah Birx to chime in, Rucker again blabbered and Trump offered quite the comeback, leaving Rucker with a look of dread and sadness (click “expand”):
RUCKER: But respectfully, sir, you’re the President and people tune into these briefings. They want to get information and guidance and want to know what to do. They’re not ---
TRUMP: Hey, Phil!
RUCKER: --- looking for rumors.
TRUMP: 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. I know you well, because I know the guy. I see what he writes. He's a total faker. 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 the heat is good and sunlight as good, that's a great thing as far as I'm concerned.
In other words, it was par for the course considering Rucker represents a liberal media that would go to any and all lengths to fear-monger Americans (beyond what are already scary times) into spending 2021 or even 2022 (as per the Harvard study) locked in their homes.
Fireworks came at the 6:43 p.m. Eastern when Trump finished out a question about Kim by blasting the Jim Sciutto report that triggered the swirling news about North Korea as “an incorrect” and “fake report done by CNN.”
Having made the “incorrect” line while pointing at CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, she came to blows with the President as he was trying to move to Wall Street Journal’s Catherine Lucey (click “expand”):
COLLINS: So, can I ask you a question?
TRUMP [TO LUCEY]: What do you have? Go ahead.
COLLINS: So, I’m ---
TRUMP: No, that’s enough. Go ahead.
LUCEY: Can I ask ---
COLLINS: But that wasn’t my question.
TRUMP: The problem is you don’t write the truth. So, you know, as far as I’m concerned,
COLLINS: What are you referencing?
TRUMP: I want to go to the next one.
COLLINS: Can I ask you a question about Rick Bright?
TRUMP: No, not CNN, please. [TO LUCEY] Go ahead.
COLLINS: The White House has not responded to these allegations from Rick Bright.
TRUMP: I told you, CNN is fake news, don't talk to me.
COLLINS: He says ---
TRUMP [TO LUCEY]: Go ahead, please.
COLLINS: But he says he was retaliated against and that’s why he was removed from his job. [TRUMP TURNS AWAY FROM PODIUM, GLARES AT PENCE] Do you have a response to that?
TRUMP: Okay, next question.
Collins refused to mention any of the holes in Bright’s story that outlets like Politico noted, but it was unsurprising since those represented inconvenient facts for Zuckerville.
To see the relevant transcript from April 23’s briefing, click “expand.”
White House Press Briefing
April 23, 2020
6:38 p.m. EasternPHILIP RUCKER: Mr. President, after the presentation we just saw about the heat and humidity, is it dangerous for you to make people think they would be safe by going outside in the heat considering some of the people are dying in Florida and considering that this virus has had an outbreak in Singapore, places that all hot and are humid
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, here --- here we go. Here we go. The new headline is Trump asked 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 --- you know, and a very nice rumor that you go outside in the sun or you have heat, 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, covers a lot more territory than just this. This is --- this 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, that --- if you could. Maybe you can, maybe you can't. Again, I say, maybe you can, maybe you can’t. I'm not a doctor. [REPORTERS SHOUTING] I am a person that has a good you-know-what. [POINTS TO BRAIN]
RUCKER: But, sir, you’re the President
TRUMP: Deb, have you ever heard of that? The heat and the light relative to --- certain virus, yes. But relative to this virus.
DR. DEBORAH BIRX: Not as a treatment. I mean, certainly fever ---
TRUMP: Yeah.
BIRX: --- is a good thing when you have a fever. It helps your body respond. But not as --- I have not seen heat for viruses.
TRUMP: I think it’s a great thing to look at, I mean, you know --- okay?
RUCKER: But respectfully, sir, you’re the President and people tune into these briefings. They want to get information and guidance and want to know what to do. They’re not ---
TRUMP: Hey, Phil!
RUCKER: --- looking for rumors.
TRUMP: 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. I know you well, because I know the guy. I see what he writes. He's a total faker. 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 the heat is good and sunlight as good, that's a great thing as far as I'm concerned.
(….)
6:43 p.m. Eastern
TRUMP: I think the report was incorrect, let me just put it that way. I think the report was done by a network [POINTS TO KAITLAN COLLINS] that was incorrect. [INAUDIBLE JUSTIN SINK QUESITON] I'm hearing they used old documents, but I --- that's what I hear. I hear that report was an incorrect report.
COLLINS: Mr. President ---
TRUMP: I hope it was an incorrect report.
COLLINS: --- since you ---
JONATHAN KARL: When was the last time you heard from him?
TRUMP: I don’t want to say.
COLLINS: --- since you pointed to me, just a quick question about that, so you haven't made any contact though? Just to make sure.
TRUMP: With who?
COLLINS: The North Koreans.
TRUMP: I don't want to say. I won’t say that.
COLLINS: Okay, so ---
TRUMP: 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 was “oh, that's terrible,” but I hope he's okay. And I think it was a fake report done by CNN.
COLLINS: So, can I ask you a question?
TRUMP [TO CATHERINE LUCEY]: What do you have? Go ahead.
COLLINS: So, I’m ---
TRUMP: No, that’s enough. Go ahead.
CATHERINE LUCEY: Can I ask ---
COLLINS: But that wasn’t my question.
TRUMP: The problem is you don’t write the truth. So, you know, as far as I’m concerned,
COLLINS: What are you referencing?
TRUMP: I want to go to the next one.
COLLINS: Can I ask you a question about Rick Bright?
TRUMP: No, not CNN, please. [TO LUCEY] Go ahead.
COLLINS: The White House has not responded to these allegations from Rick Bright.
TRUMP: I told you, CNN is fake news, don't talk to me.
COLLINS: He says ---
TRUMP [TO LUCEY]: Go ahead, please.
COLLINS: But he says he was retaliated against and that’s why he was removed from his job. [TRUMP TURNS AWAY FROM PODIUM, GLARES AT PENCE] Do you have a response to that?
TRUMP: Okay, next question.
