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President Donald Trump defended retweeting a claim that the CDC, doctors, and the media are lying about the coronavirus because, in his view, the overriding sentiment among the public is that Covid-19 testing is “a trap.”

Speaking with CBS’ Catherine Herridge, the president stood behind his Monday morning retweet of former game show host Chuck Woolery — who claimed that “everyone” is lying about the virus for political purposes.

“The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19,” Woolery wrote. “Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election.”

Herridge confronted Trump about the mixed messaging resulting from his retweet.

“You understand this is confusing for the public,” Herridge said.

“No,” Trump said, interjecting.

“Who do they believe?” Herridge said. “You, or the medical professionals like Dr. [Anthony] Fauci?”

“I reposted a tweet that a lot of people feel,” Trump said. “But all I’m doing is making a comment. I’m just putting somebody’s voice out there. There are many voices. There are many people that think we shouldn’t do this kind of testing, because all we do, it’s a trap.”

The president did not explicitly say that he agreed with what

he deems to be the public view that testing is a trap, but also did not say that he disagreed. Trump has repeatedly asserted that increased testing has been detrimental because it has resulted in more positives. At a rally on June 20, he told the crowd, “When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases. So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please!’” Days later, he claimed that remark was “semi-tongue-in-cheek,” and denied that he ordered testing to be slowed.

Watch above, via CBS.

Tags: Catherine Herridge, CBS, CBS This Morning, Chuck Woolery, Coronavirus, Donald Trump, Testing