‘There Are 220,417 Reasons to Talk About Coronavirus’: CNN’s Keilar Destroys Trump for Calling Network ‘Dumb Bastards’ Over Their Covid Coverage

CNN’s Brianna Keilar opened CNN Newsroom by shooting back at President Donald Trump for insulting the network for the volume of airtime they have devoted to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump, while raging at the media on Monday during a campaign rally in Arizona, referred to CNN as “dumb bastards” — seething “that’s all they cover: Covid, Covid, Covid.” Keilar responded by saying the president “made clear he wants to ignore” the pandemic, and she swiftly reminded viewers of how many American people have died to the virus.

“There are 220,417 reasons to talk about coronavirus,” Keilar said. “There are nearly 60,000 cases per day in the U.S. and rising. The person whose response failed on most objective measures is not fixing his government’s approach to the crisis. Instead, he is suggesting we ignore it.”

Keilar went on to rip Trump’s failure to acknowledge the massive loss of life the country has seen throughout the year, emphasizing the Covid-19 body count on repeat.

“We cover Covid for them and the ones who they leave behind, forced to say good-bye through a phone screen,” Keilar said.

From there, Keilar cycled through a multitude of interviews CNN conducted with those who’ve lost loved ones to the virus, and those who’ve witnessed the devastation of the pandemic. After that, Keilar remarked “a president is supposed to come in and show leadership that can help Americans push through when they’re already spent.”

“Instead, he’s talked more in the past 24 hours about Anthony Fauci’s pitching arm than any of the victims that you just saw there, or the ones who are suffering and struggling,” Keilar said. “This is why we cover Covid.”

Watch above, via CNN.