Remarks by Trump, Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing, 04-16-2020
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 16, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
6:06 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Our nation is engaged in a historic battle against the invisible enemy. To win this fight, we have undertaken the greatest national mobilization since World War Two. And thats exactly what its been.
Weve marshaled every instrument of American power, and weve unleashed our most potent weapon of all: the courage of the American people.
These have been trying times. A cruel virus from a distant land has unfairly claimed thousands of precious American lives. To every citizen who has lost a cherished loved one: Your pain is our pain. We mourn as one national family. Our country has come together. We draw solace from the faith that God has received, and the departed He has taken the departed into his eternal and loving embrace. They will never be forgotten.
{snip}
Governors will be empowered to tailor an approach that meets the diverse circumstances of their own states. Every state is very different. Theyre all beautiful. We love them all. But theyre very, very different. If they need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that. And if they believe it is time to reopen, we will provide them the freedom and guidance to accomplish that task and very, very quickly depending on what they want to do.
{snip}
Please, Mike.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. The members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force today joined the President to meet with a bipartisan group of members of the House and of the Senate to get their counsel on the development of what the President unveiled to Americas governors this afternoon.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, whats your message to those protesters were seeing we saw a lot in Michigan, but in other states that are saying that they are refusing to comply with the stay-at-home orders issued by governors and local officials? I mean, isnt it important for everybody to go along with this as we go through these phases?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, theyve been going through it a long time, Jon, and its been a tough process for people. You know, I told you this: Theres death and theres problems in staying at home too. Its not just, Isnt it wonderful to stay at home? Theyre having theyre suffering. This country wasnt built on that principle; it was built on an exact opposite principle, actually.
And I watched, in one particular state, where they were they want to get back. They want to get back. They were very strict sanctions that were put on people; that was probably the most strict of all.
But, I just think the American people have been incredible. When you look at
Q But would you urge those
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, when you look at what theyve done, when you look at what theyve been through, when you look at all of the death and all of the problems and all of the sickness, when you look at whats happened, I just think the American people have been incredible.
Q But would you urge those protesters to listen to local authorities?
THE PRESIDENT: I think theyre listening. I think they listen to me. They seem to be protesters that like me and respect this opinion. And my opinion is the same as just about all of the governors.
They all want to open. Nobody wants to stay shut, but they want to open safely. So do I. But we have large sections of the country right now that can start thinking about opening. Therell be some mitigation and theyll keep it going for a period of time including masks, by the way in areas that you wouldnt even think.
I asked a question today. I said, Why would they wear masks in Wyoming or Montana or North Dakota? And thats if somebody should come in from an area that isnt so successful, in terms of what theyve done.
So, that will be a governors choice, and well have no problem with it.
Q Mr. President, you spoke this afternoon with your new congressional advisory groups 32 bipartisan members of the House, 65 bipartisan members of the Senate one of the big topics was the fact that the Small Business Association loan pot of $350 billion has hit the cap. Its exhausted. Theres nothing moving on the $250 billion to replenish it.
What did you tell those bipartisan groups today about getting the move on to get some more money into the hands of small businesses?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. So, just for the viewers watching this or hearing you ask that question: Exhausted is a good thing, not a bad thing. It went quickly. It is so popular. The banks have been incredible, including 4,000 community banks. Four thousand. Most people didnt know you had that many banks. Four thousand
Q The bad thing is they still need a loan, though.
THE PRESIDENT: What they want is people want to keep this going. And were doing it to keep the small businesses open and to keep the workers paid. And we have a $250 billion request. The Democrats like it. The Republicans love it. And to be honest, I think its going to something is going to be happening. I hope so, because this is a very popular program. It was really executed flawlessly.
The first day, they changed an application a little bit. There was but when you look at what Bank of America did and what Wells Fargo did, and Citi and a lot of the banks but when you ask
Q So whats the hold-up now?
THE PRESIDENT: when you look at what all of the community banks did, its been really incredible.
Well, were negotiating with Democrats, and they should, frankly, approve it quickly. This is a great thing for our country. Its a great thing for small business and for the workers. And were having a hard time getting them to approve it. I think its going to happen. It should happen really unanimously. But theyre trying to get things and were not too happy with what theyre trying to get.
Please, go ahead.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.
Q when you see yourself getting back to campaigning then? I mean
Q Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: This is this is not campaigning. I want to make the country better. I dont care about campaigning. This is this is about making our country better. I think this team has been incredible, whether its Army Corps of Engineers, whether its FEMA.
One thing that happened on the call today that I noticed more than anything is Pete Gaynor. So many governors that, I want to thank you. Pete Gaynor called up. They had tornadoes in a big part of our country this weekend this week. And they were all saying that he has been unbelievable. They called one after another. They were thanking us for thats FEMA. And they were thanking us.
No, I want to heal this country. This this is a war. Weve been through a war. We have an invisible, as opposed to a visible, enemy. I think, in many ways, the invisible enemy is much more dangerous, is much tougher.
In the G7 today, I went through country after country. We were there. We all get along great. Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe Prime Minister of Japan and all of them. And their their countries have been devastated by this. Their economies have been devastated by this. A hundred and eighty-four countries all over the world.
And we went through one after another. And I was angry because it should have been told to us. It should have been told to us early. It should have been told to us a lot sooner. People knew it was happening, and people didnt want to talk about it. I dont know why, but were going to get to the bottom of it. But people should have
Q Angry with China? Or I mean
THE PRESIDENT: People Im not saying anything. Im saying people should have told us about this. They should have told the rest of the world too.
{snip}
END
7:19 P.M. EDT
Kali
(55,019 posts)Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)I won't accept the term "war" nor will I allow "invisible enemy" to fly, as I have said before.
That's typical of General Trump. He is, like it or not, a mastermind at manipulation. I wonder if he sits and thinks about it or if it has just become an unconscious competence. I guess, when you get really good at screwing so many people along the way and getting away with it and can launder money well with your close, underworld connections, (as one of them) then you should be well versed in playing suckers, I mean America, with great ease with a dual-purpose character that works both sides of the audience.
We can't be marks anymore. At least, those of us who are not already enchanted by the black, voodoo psych job that El Presidente is a professional at casting. When the confidence man aspect of his show is very clear, (and all it takes is careful observation and some research) then you know it as it is and are no longer a mark. We need to move in that direction. Yes, even people who don't think they are susceptible can be by way of buying into what he PRESENTS as who and what he is when that is no the case at all. This is the seeing the man behind the curtain threshold and it may do wonders to break the spell and wash his infection of America away for good.
Shermann
(7,440 posts)He just sort of threw it out there that he thought things would be fine in the fall. No graphs, no references to the models, no discussion of R-naught values like the Germans got. It was pretty thin stuff compared to what we've gotten in the past.
I'm afraid he may be compromised.