CNN’s Zakaria Rips ‘Ritual Praise’ of Trump From Coronavirus Experts: This Administration is ‘Copying the Wrong Korea’

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria ripped President Donald Trump for continuing to demand North Korean levels of adulation from his administration instead of doing more to stop the coronavirus.

In his Sunday monologue, Zakaria panned the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus, saying they could’ve tackled the pandemic a lot better if they followed the steps that other countries took to reduce their case numbers and halt viral spread. While Zakaria gave Trump credit for banning most people traveling from China to the U.S., the CNN host assessed that the time it bought “was wasted,” and that the country is now in a “fiasco” because too many people haven’t been tested for the virus yet.

After making further criticisms for Trump’s error-filled national address on the pandemic, Zakaria summed up that “this crisis seems to have been designed to bring out the worst of Trump.”

“The president doesn’t like or trust experts, often explaining he knows more than they do,” Zakaria said. “He has bluffed and fibbed his way through much of his life, and thinks nothing of doing so again, except this time we are not charmed or amused by the bluster, but rather, frightened.”

As Zakaria concluded by remarking on how Trump “views everything from the narcissistic prism of his ego,” he also ripped administration officials and scientific experts who had to sing his praises while addressing the situation. This culminated in a broad comparison between the Trump administration and North Korea.

“He dismisses opposing views and insists even the senior most members of his administration repeatedly praise him and his leadership at all times. Watching the heads of America’s leading science agencies prefacing their statements with ritual praise for the dear leader has been deeply depressing. Come to think of it, the Trump Administration has been copying the wrong Korea. Instead of the intelligence and expertise of South Korea, it is emulating the sycophancy, incompetence and propaganda of North Korea.”

Watch above, via CNN.