- President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will resume his press briefings on coronaviruses starting Tuesday.
- Trump said he is bringing them back in part because of the large audience that saw his previous reports.
- He said he will focus on the development of vaccines and therapeutic drugs.
- The president’s regular briefings ended shortly after he suggested in late April that Americans could inject disinfectant and “bring light into the body” to cure the virus.
- Trump’s approval rating in his response to the coronavirus has dropped significantly, even among Republican voters, since May, according to multiple recent polls.
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President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will resume his press briefings on coronaviruses, which ended shortly after suggesting that Americans could inject disinfectant and ultraviolet light into their bodies to cure the virus in April.
Trump said he will bring the briefings back, beginning Tuesday, in part because his previous briefings attracted large television audiences.
“I was doing it, and there were a lot of people watching, record numbers watching in cable television history, and there has never been anything like it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It is a great way to spread information to the public about where we are with vaccines and therapeutics.”
Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said last week that briefings helped increase the president’s approval rating toward the start of the pandemic.
“It is no coincidence that the president’s handling of the coronavirus was greater in public opinion when he was addressing himself [the crisis]”he told reporters.” He was there with his doctors and they all answered questions and presented information when the news was very serious and very sad. “
The president’s approval rating in his response to the coronavirus has dropped significantly since May, even among Republican voters, according to multiple recent polls.
Conway argued that “people want to know about the President of the United States.”
“I don’t think anyone needs to be there for two hours,” he continued. “It can be 20 minutes, 30 minutes. It can be two questions, they cannot be questions, respectfully, as long as the information is delivered.”
Trump was widely criticized for spreading false and misleading claims about the virus during his briefings earlier this spring, which often turned into campaign speeches.
—Steve Holland (@ steveholland1) July 20, 2020
