The Huffington Post reports:
Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that President Donald Trump is merely being “optimistic” with remarks that downplayed the coronavirus outbreak.
Pence was pressed during an appearance on CNN by politics anchor Wolf Blitzer to explain why Trump hadn’t ordered a national lockdown in the days since he had stopped “belittling the enormity of this crisis.” Pence rejected the criticism.
“I don’t believe the president has ever belittled the threat of the coronavirus,” Pence said, adding: “He expressed gratitude and confidence in health care workers in this country, and the American people can be assured President Trump is going to continue to be confident that we will meet this moment.”
VP Mike Pence: “The President is an optimistic person. We’ve been, from the very beginning when the President suspended all travel from China & stood up the White House Coronavirus Task Force in January, we have been hoping for the best but planning for the worst.” pic.twitter.com/zSsKorfH0n
— The Hill (@thehill) April 1, 2020
Mike Pence was left flustered when CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer confronted him about Trump’s lengthy period of downplaying the coronavirus threat, insisting the president is just an “optimistic person” and never “belittled” the crisishttps://t.co/ffcL4fO3gx
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 1, 2020