President Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News, challenged his critics about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, threatened a veto for the defense bill, and speculated on whether to accept the results if his Democratic rival wins the presidency. in November.
Trump, in a contentious dispute that aired on Sunday, told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace that recent statistics on COVID-19 cases and deaths are misleading. Earlier in the discussion, the President questioned Wallace’s claim that the United States currently has the seventh highest death rate in the world.
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“I think we have one of the lowest death rates in the world,” Trump said, offering White House statistics that differed from those Wallace quoted.
Wallace later explained that his numbers came from Johns Hopkins University, which ranked the United States seventh in mortality, ahead of the United Kingdom and worse than Brazil and Russia. He noted that the White House table, which uses data from the European Center for Disease Protection and Control, has the United States ahead of Spain and Italy, but worse than Brazil and South Korea, with Russia and other countries. not included in the table.
From there, Trump rejected the statements of America’s top doctors, specifically CDC Director Robert Redfield and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci. Redfield said last week that he expects next fall and winter to be one of “the most difficult times we’ve ever experienced in American public health.”
When asked if he agreed with Redfield, Trump said he was unsure, but noted the mistakes the doctors have made.
“I don’t know and I don’t think he knows,” said Trump. I don’t think anyone knows about this. This is a very complicated deal. Everyone thought this summer would go away and come back in the fall. Well, when summer came, they used to say the heat: the heat was good and it really knocked it out, remember? And then I could come back in the fall. So they were wrong. “
Trump then addressed the perceived tension between himself and Fauci, who was the target of Trump Daniel Scavino’s help, who tweeted a cartoon depicting Fauci as a loser and an alarmist. When asked about this, Trump seemed to partially agree with that.
“Well, I don’t know if it’s a dripper,” Trump said before adding, “He’s a bit of an alarmist.” It’s okay. A little alarmist.
The president insisted that he and Fauci have “a great relationship,” but said he was “wrong” at the beginning of the pandemic in saying it would happen and that Trump’s ban on travel from China was a mistake.
“Then he admitted he was right,” said Trump.
When faced with the notion that he, too, had made mistakes, Trump did not back down.
“I guess everyone makes mistakes,” the president said, then added: “Eventually I’ll be right.” Eventually I’ll be right, ”referring to his past prediction that the virus would eventually go away.
“It will disappear and I will be right,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trump says he takes responsibility for what happens to the nation during the pandemic, as critics say the United States does not have a national plan.
“Look, I always take responsibility for everything because ultimately it is also my job. I have to put everyone online, “Trump said, while affirming that governors must also lead.
“Some governors have done well, some governors have done poorly,” he said.
Trump played down the recent increase in the number of national cases, claiming that it is the result of increased testing, with the implication that it is not a true increase in the severity of the pandemic, a claim that leading health experts have disputed. Trump pointed to new cases that include people with minor symptoms who recover quickly. At the beginning of the pandemic, it was mainly people with severe symptoms who were tested.
“No country has done what we have done in terms of testing. We are the envy of the world, “he said.
The Trump administration announced that they are supporting a lawsuit to revoke ObamaCare. When asked why he would oppose something people trust during a pandemic, Trump said he will replace it soon and that he “will sign a health care plan within two weeks.”
Switching to how Washington will help Americans deal with an ongoing economic crisis that has developed due to the pandemic, Trump warned that he cannot sign a new stimulus bill if it does not include certain provisions.
With the stimulus bill in place later this month, Republicans want the new legislation to include liability limits as states reopen, people return to work, and businesses deal with customers. Trump himself has pushed hard for a payroll tax cut, which would help employers.
When asked if he would only sign an invoice if it included these items, Trump did not give a firm answer.
“Well let’s see. But we need protection because companies are going to be sued just because someone entered. You don’t know where this virus comes from. They will sit in a restaurant. They will sue the restaurant, the guy is out of business.
Trump later said he would “consider not signing” a bill that does not include cutting payroll taxes.
Another bill Trump has threatened to veto is the National Defense Authorization Act, because it currently includes a provision to rename the currently named army bases for Confederate generals, including, as Wallace noted, if the military supports it.
“I don’t care what the military says. I do, I’m supposed to make the decision,” Trump said. “Fort Bragg is a big problem. We won two world wars, nobody knows General Bragg. We won two world wars. Go to that community where Fort Bragg is, in a great state, I love that state, go to the community, say how he likes the idea of renaming Fort Bragg, and then how are we going to name him? Are we going to name him by the Rev. Al Sharpton?
Trump said he did not want to erase the names of the bases used in those past wars, and stated that “most of the other people are also against it.”
The bill would also give soldiers a pay raise, but Trump insisted that they “get their pay raise.”
Later in the interview, Trump touted a recent stock market surge and his hopes for an economic recovery that will help him come in November.
“I think the economy is expanding and growing wonderfully,” he said. “Now, Democrats want to keep it closed as long as possible because they think that’s good for the election. But I think the economy is doing very well. Now we will go back and we will go back to a level that no one would have thought possible. “
Trump noted that NASDAQ recently hit a record high, and the Dow Jones is approaching a record high.
“We are going to have a stock exchange perhaps on November 3 that is the highest in history,” Trump predicted.
The conversation finally turned to a recent wave of violent crime in several major cities in the United States. Trump said the cities in question are led by Democrats and “are stupidly managed.”
“It was always bad, but now it’s totally out of control and it’s really because they want to unseat the police,” Trump said.
The president later claimed that his alleged November opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, wants to unseat police, citing a letter he signed with Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Biden and Sanders formed a Unity task force that has united the most progressive wing of the Democratic party with the more moderate side.
Wallace noted that the statute does not require the removal of police funds, but that Biden has called for the money previously earmarked for the police to be reallocated to other programs such as mental counseling. The concept of redistributing certain police funds to other programs has been closely related to those requesting disbursement.
When asked about racial tension in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Trump acknowledged how African Americans feel. When asked if he understood why black people are angry that they were killed and disproportionately killed by police compared to white people, Trump said yes.
“Of course I do. Of course I do,” Trump said. At the same time, the President noted that “many whites are also killed” and that “this is happening for a long time, long before I get here.”
As for the upcoming election, Trump had strong words for Joe Biden, taking personal and political photos of the alleged Democratic candidate.
“Biden wants to go in and ruin our country, triple his taxes,” Trump said, claiming that if he becomes president, Biden will be pushed to the left. “He will destroy this country, but it will not be him. It will be the radical left. The same type ideology that seized Venezuela, one of the richest countries in the world. Now they don’t have water, they don’t have food and they don’t have medicine. “
In the past, Trump took photos of Biden’s mental abilities, and continued down that path.
“Biden cannot put two sentences together,” said Trump. “They get it out of there. Go up, repeat, they ask you questions. He reads a teleprompter and then returns to his basement. You tell me that the American people want to have that at a time when we are in trouble with other nations seeking to make us numbers. “
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Wallace asked Trump if he believes Biden is senile, but Trump refused to go there, but still continued his attack.
“I do not want to say that. I would say that he is not competent to be president. To be president, you have to be strong and tough and many other things. It doesn’t even come out of its basement. They think, ‘Oh, this is a great campaign.’ So he comes in, then I will give a speech, it will be a great speech, and a young boy begins to write: “Vice President Biden said this, this, this, this.” He didn’t say it. Joe doesn’t know he’s alive, okay? He does not know that he is alive.
Trump later said that is why he will be victorious.
“[Y]You know why I am not going to lose, because the country, in the end, is not going to have a man who is shot. They shot him, they shot him mentally, ”Trump said.
However, when asked about the possibility of losing, Trump noted that he does not handle losing well and will not do well if it happens in November.
“I am not a good loser. I don’t like to lose, ”he said. “I don’t lose too often. I do not like lose “.
When asked if he is friendly, Trump said, “He won’t know until he sees it. It depends.” He then claimed that the vote by mail, which Democrats have pushed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, “will manipulate the election.”
When asked if this means he will not accept the election results, Trump said: “No. I have to see.”
When asked again if he would accept the results, Trump said: “No, I am not going to say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t say it last time either. “
