CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We’ll be invoking the Defense Production Act, just in case we need it. In other words, I think you all know what it is, and it can do a lot of good things if we need it…
I think we’re doing a really good job. We started off with a termination of the border — the people coming in from China, where this all started. That meant I took it very seriously. And when I use the word ‘calm’ — ‘calm’ doesn’t mean that I’m not taking it seriously. ‘Calm’ means — and we should be calm. We should be extremely calm.
But, yeah, 95 percent within the Republican Party, and over 50 percent. And I also have — we have very great approval numbers. I mean, people like the job that we’re doing. And when you compare this to other epidemics, or if you want to use a different term, you can, but within this country — and you look at what’s happened over the years, this is being handled very, very professionally.”
-Donald Trump, White House, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Mar. 18, 2020