Anderson Cooper slammed President Donald Trump for his response to the spread of the coronavirus, echoing observations that February was a “lost month” in the U.S. response.
Cooper spoke after Monday’s press briefing with Jim Acosta, who said earlier the president’s performance was the biggest meltdown he’s ever seen from any president. Acosta reiterated that in talking with Cooper and brought up the video the White House aired, “which looked straight out of Beijing or Pyongyang.”
They showed the contentious exchange Trump had with CBS’ Paula Reid, who asked him what the administration did “with the time that you bought” to address the spread of the coronavirus early on in February.
Trump defended the administration’s response and repeatedly swiped at Reid, saying at one point, “You know you’re a fake.”
The president also brought up approval numbers for the press. Cooper remarked, “Like that’s a metric that matters when so many people are dying.”
“The fact he focuses on his ratings during these press conferences is pathetic,” he continued. “It is fascinating, a lot of epidemiologists and others have talked about this lost month of February. The comments she was making and the direction she was going in was, ‘Okay, you bought time with this alleged travel ban from China, wasn’t really a ban, tens of thousands of people still
You can watch above, via CNN.