CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For the first time in history there is a fully signed Presidential Disaster Declaration for all 50 States. We are winning, and will win, the war on the Invisible Enemy!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 12, 2020 2:25 pm
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “What is the plan to safely reopen America? So far, the Trump administration hasn’t supplied an answer. The plan has to start with responding effectively to the immediate medical crisis and ultimately lead to the widespread availability and administration of a vaccine. But we can’t stay home and just wait for the vaccine to arrive.”
-Joe Biden, “Joe Biden: My Plan to Safely Reopen America,” nytimes.com, Apr 12, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “First, we have to get the number of new cases of the disease down significantly. That means social distancing has to continue and the people on the front lines have to get the supplies and equipment they need. President Trump needs to use his full powers under the Defense Production Act to fight the disease with every tool at our disposal. He needs to get the federal response organized and stop making excuses. For more Americans to go back to their jobs, the president needs to do better at his job.”
-Joe Biden, “Joe Biden: My Plan to Safely Reopen America,” nytimes.com, Apr 12, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We should be running multiple times the number of diagnostic tests we’re performing right now. And we should be ready to scale up a second form of testing: rapid serology tests to tell who has already been infected with the coronavirus and has antibodies. This isn’t rocket science; it’s about investment and execution. We are now several months into this crisis, and still this administration has not squarely faced up to the ‘original sin’ in its failed response — the failure to test.”
-Joe Biden, “Joe Biden: My Plan to Safely Reopen America,” nytimes.com, Apr 12, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Safe and effective treatment can help manage the risk of the coronavirus. But of course, the only complete solution is finding a vaccine to extinguish the threat it poses. Scientists are making great strides on this, but discovering and testing a vaccine is only the first step: Manufacturing sufficient doses and distributing it to reach everyone is a huge challenge. The Trump administration should already be reporting to the American people on its efforts.
As we prepare to reopen America, we have to remember what this crisis has taught us: The administration’s failure to plan, to prepare, to honestly assess and communicate the threat to the nation led to catastrophic results. We cannot repeat those mistakes.”
-Joe Biden, “Joe Biden: My Plan to Safely Reopen America,” nytimes.com, Apr 12, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Governors, get your states testing programs & apparatus perfected. Be ready, big things are happening. No excuses! The Federal Government is there to help. We are testing more than any country in the World. Also, gear up with Face Masks!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 12, 2020 4:43 pm
CORONAVIRUS/OIL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC+ is looking to cut is 20 Million Barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported. If anything near this happens, and the World gets back to business from the Covid 19…..”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 13, 2020 8:31 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/USPS: “Our U.S. Postal Service workers are at the front lines of this crisis. Millions of people are relying on them for things like medicine and other essentials.
And the President is trying to let them fail. Congress should do everything it can to prevent this.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 13, 2020 12:46 pm
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: [Reporter: There’s a debate over what authority you have to order the country reopened. What authority do you have?] “When somebody is the President of the United States, the authority is total, and that’s the way it’s got to be…
We will soon finalize new and very important guidelines to give governors the information they need to start safely opening their states. My administration’s plan and corresponding guidelines will give the American people the confidence they need to begin returning to normal life. That’s what we want. We want to have our country open. We want to return to normal life… You asked, ‘Does the federal government have the power?’ The federal government has absolute power. It has the power. As to whether or not I’ll use that power, we’ll see.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 14, 2020
JOE BIDEN/OBAMA: “Look, they [Obama/Biden administration] had the H1N1, which is swine flu, and that was a big failure. That was a tremendous failure. They had a lot of failures. And you take a look at what — you take a look at the history. And, you know, 17,000 people died. And you talk about late? They were so late — they were late like it never even existed.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 14, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: “Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus…
The WHO pushed China’s misinformation about the virus, saying it was not communicable and there was no need for travel bans…
The WHO’s reliance on China’s disclosures likely caused a 20-fold increase in cases worldwide, and it may be much more than that.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 14, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The plans to reopen the country are close to being finalized, and we will soon be sharing details and new guidelines with everybody… And I will then be authorizing each individual governor, of each individual state, to implement a reopening and a very powerful reopening plan of their state at a time and in a manner as most appropriate…
[T]here are numerous states that are in great shape right now. They’re viewing the rest of the country like we don’t even believe this is happening… We’re going to let them open sooner than the date… But it’s going to be very, very soon — sooner than the end of the month.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 14, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/RACISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “COVID-19 is amplifying so many inequities in our society. We have to ensure support gets to those who need it immediately, and then do the necessary work to rip out the structural racism that creates these inequalities.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 13, 2020 12:46 pm
CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases… You already know we’ll be opening up states — some states much sooner than others. And we think some of the states can actually open up before the deadline of May 1st…
Do you think you’re getting honest numbers from some of these countries? Do you really believe those numbers in this vast country called China — and that they have a certain number of [coronavirus] cases and a certain number of deaths — does anybody really believe that?
Here’s the story: We report everything. We’re reporting the cases, and our reporting is good. We’re reporting every death. In fact, I see, this morning, where New York added 3,000 deaths because they died. And they’re now saying — rather than, ‘It was a heart attack’ — they’re saying, ‘It was a heart attack caused by this.’ So they’re adding. If you look at it, that’s it.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 15, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new [coronavirus] cases. Hopefully that will continue and we will continue to make great progress. These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country, which we’ll be announcing…
We want to get our country open again. We want to have our sports leagues open. You want to watch sports. It’s important. We miss sports. We miss everything. We want to get back.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 15, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Major News Conference tonight, the White House at 6:00 P.M. (Eastern), to explain Guidelines for OPENING UP AMERICA AGAIN!”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 16, 2020 1:18 pm
BORDER/CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/NANCY PELOSI/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Crazy Nancy Pelosi deleted this from her Twitter account. She wanted everyone to pack into Chinatown long after I closed the BORDER TO CHINA. Based on her statement, she is responsible for many deaths. She’s an incompetent, third-rate politician! https://t.co/uWNI7DCG3o“
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 16, 2020 1:24 pm
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A prolonged lockdown combined with a forced economic depression would inflict an immense and wide-ranging toll on public health. This includes a sharp rise in drug abuse, alcohol abuse, suicide, heart disease, and many other dimensions of physical and mental wellbeing…
Therefore, my administration is issuing new federal guidelines that will allow governors to take a phased and deliberate approach to reopening their individual states…
I think 29 states are in that ballgame, not open — not for opening, but I think they’ll be able to open relatively soon.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 16, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It’s about testing, tracing, and treatment.
And – and so we’re way behind on the testing piece. And I don’t quite – I don’t quite understand why we’re taking so long to do the kinds of things that that have to be done… I don’t know why we don’t set up something like a Pandemic Production Board where we open up, you know, things that oversee, you know, surging production to test kits and – and lab supplies, coordinating the distribution to states, identifying and testing sites, and sufficient, you know, trade personnel to staff these things – trained personnel, and ensuring adequate lab capacity, and clear guidance on who needs a test…
[T]his ain’t going to be over till we have a vaccine, and we’re not going to be able to really make significant changes in the three phases the President’s talking about or any phases until we’re able to test much more broadly.”
-Joe Biden as quoted by CNN, “Chris Cuomo on His Wife’s Battle against Coronavirus; Joe Biden on the U.S. Battle Against Coronavirus; Mark Zuckerberg on How Facebook Is Battling Misinformation about Coronavirus. Aired 9-10p ET,” cnn.com, Apr. 16, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/ECONOMY/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Look, I think it’s a false choice to say you have to choose between the economy and our health.
If you don’t fix the health side, the economy is never going to get right. You’re never going to be back in that place. You’re never going to be at a place where you get to a remotely a new normal.
And we have to get back ultimately to normal, where people can gather. But that’s going to take a while until you have the vaccine. In the meantime, there seems to me there are things you can do…
They may have one person doing 50 percent of the job and another person doing another 50 percent. I think the federal government should just come in and make up the difference in the salaries, just make up the difference, to keep people employed.”
-Joe Biden as quoted by CNN, “Chris Cuomo on His Wife’s Battle against Coronavirus; Joe Biden on the U.S. Battle Against Coronavirus; Mark Zuckerberg on How Facebook Is Battling Misinformation about Coronavirus. Aired 9-10p ET,” cnn.com, Apr. 16, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/MINIMUM WAGE: “I think we have an opportunity now to significantly change the mindset of the American people, things they weren’t ready to do, you know, even two, three years ago.
They’re now going ‘Oh, my Lord! Look at all those people out there making minimum wage or saving their lives, look at all the people out there stocking the shelves, look at all the people who are making sure that they’re sanitizing the – the areas you go into,’ these are people who deserve to be treated better.
I think you’re going to see minimum wages going up. I think you’re going to see the ability of us to provide for significant healthcare for every single American.”
-Joe Biden as quoted by CNN, “Chris Cuomo on His Wife’s Battle against Coronavirus; Joe Biden on the U.S. Battle Against Coronavirus; Mark Zuckerberg on How Facebook Is Battling Misinformation about Coronavirus. Aired 9-10p ET,” cnn.com, Apr. 16, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WHO: “Why did the W.H.O. Ignore an email from Taiwanese health officials in late December alerting them to the possibility that CoronaVirus could be transmitted between humans? Why did the W.H.O. make several claims about the CoronaVirus that ere either inaccurate or misleading….”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 17, 2020 8:20 am
CORONAVIRUS/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “….testing that you should be doing. We have given New York far more money, help and equipment than any other state, by far, & these great men & women who did the job never hear you say thanks. Your numbers are not good. Less talk and more action!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 17, 2020 11:11 am
CORONAVIRUS/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Governor Cuomo should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining’. Get out there and get the job done. Stop talking! We built you thousands of hospital beds that you didn’t need or use, gave large numbers of Ventilators that you should have had, and helped you with….”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 17, 2020 11:11 am
CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “China has just announced a doubling in the number of their deaths from the Invisible Enemy. It is far higher than that and far higher than the U.S., not even close!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 17, 2020 11:30 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUP AS PRESIDENT: “The States have to step up their TESTING!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 17, 2020 11:32 am
CORONAVIRUS/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Cuomo ridiculously wanted ’40 thousand Ventilators’. We gave him a small fraction of that number, and it was plenty. State should have had them in stockpile!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 17, 2020 12:00 pm
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump is not responsible for COVID-19, but he is responsible for our slow, uncoordinated response.
Experts say that if we had acted two weeks earlier, more lives could have been saved.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 17, 2020 6:20 pm
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We’ve got to open up our country. We’re going to open it up in quadrants. We’re going to open it up in states. Some of the states should get together and they should work on their own borders and everything, because you don’t want to have people pouring through the border of a state that isn’t infected and you have people coming perhaps outside… I think the schools are going to be open soon.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 17, 2020
CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: [Reporter: The investigation into whether the virus escaped from this lab in Wuhan, how active is that?] “A lot of people are looking at it. It seems to make sense. They talk about a certain kind of bat, but that bat wasn’t in that area. If you can believe this, that’s what they’re down to now, is bats. But that bat is not in that area. That bat wasn’t sold at that wet zone. It wasn’t sold there. That bat is 40 miles away. So a lot of strange things are happening, but there is a lot of investigation going on and we’re going to find out.
All I can say is, wherever it came from — it came from China — in whatever form, 184 countries now are suffering because of it. And it’s too bad, isn’t it? And it could have been solved very easily. When it was just starting, it could have been solved really very easily.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 17, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN: “We’re in the middle of a global pandemic. No one feeling ill should have to choose between earning a paycheck or staying home to recover. We need to provide paid sick leave to everyone who needs it immediately.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 17, 2020 10:00 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The uncomfortable truth is that Donald Trump left America exposed and vulnerable to this pandemic. He ignored the warnings of health experts and intelligence agencies and put his trust in China’s leaders instead. Now, we’re all paying the price.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 17, 2020 2:02 pm
CAMPAIGN/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/RALLY: “I hope we can do rallies. It’s great for the country. It’s great spirit. It’s great for a lot of things. It’s a — for me, it’s a tremendous way of getting the word out.
If you look at our success rate, we’ve had tremendous success. We win where we have rallies, including endorsements of candidates. Our success rate is, I think, unparalleled. There’s nothing like it.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 17, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/FEMA/MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Spending the morning speaking to @fema and Military relative to CoronaVirus. Also, spoke to leaders of various countries including Poland, South Korea and Bahrain. Last night had a very gold conversation with the President of Mexico on numerous topics. Border is very strong!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 18, 2020 10:51 am
CORONAVIRUS/JARED KUSHNER/TRUMP PEOPLE: “There were three phases [of the coronavirus pandemic]. There’s the panic phase, the pain phase and then the comeback phase. I do believe that last night symbolized kind of the beginning of the comeback phase. That doesn’t mean there’s not still a lot of pain and there won’t be pain for a while, but that basically was, we’ve now put out rules to get back to work. Trump’s now back in charge. It’s not the doctors. They’ve kind of – we have, like, a negotiated settlement.”
-Jared Kushner in an Apr. 18, 2020 interview with Bob Woodward, audio recording available in an Oct. 28, 2020 article titled “Jared Kushner bragged in April that Trump was taking the country ‘back from the doctors’,” at cnn.com
CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/FAKE NEWS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “While we mourn the tragic loss of life — and you can’t mourn it any stronger than we’re mourning it — the United States has produced dramatically better health outcomes than any other country, with the possible exception of Germany…
So when the fake news gets out there and they start talking about the United States is number one — but we’re not number one; China is number one, just so you understand. China is number one by a lot. It’s not even close. They’re way ahead of us in terms of death. It’s not even close. You know it. I know it. And they know it. But you don’t want to report it. Why? You’ll have to explain that. Someday I’ll explain it.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 18, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump may not like it, but it’s his responsibility to step up and lead our nation’s testing strategy. Mass testing is key to reopening the economy and returning to some semblance of normalcy.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 18, 2020 10:30 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump left our country unprepared and unprotected for the worst public health and economic crisis in our lifetime — and now we’re paying the price.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 18, 2020 2:44 pm
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just like I was right on Ventilators (our Country is now the ‘King of Ventilators’, other countries are calling asking for help-we will!), I am right on testing. Governors must be able to step up and get the job done. We will be with you ALL THE WAY!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 19, 2020 11:36 am
CORONAVIRUS/DEMS/ECONOMY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “.@FoxNews ‘Dems say President Trump is trying to open the United States Economy too quickly’, but, if I took even a little more time, they would loudly chant that I am moving too slowly. Just political talking points for them. For me it’s about lives & the future of our Country!”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 19, 2020 2:14 pm
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “’On February 19th there was a Democratic Debate, in Las Vegas. Three words weren’t said: Virus, CoronaVirus, or COVID19. NEVER came up!’ @BretBaier”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 19, 2020 2:18 pm
CORONAVIRUS/TREASURY/TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER: “To provide additional authority to the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to respond to the [coronavirus] national emergency…
The Secretary shall consider taking appropriate action under section 1318(a) of title 19, United States Code, to temporarily extend deadlines, for importers suffering significant financial hardship because of COVID-19, for the estimated payments described therein, other than those assessed pursuant to sections 1671, 1673, 1862, 2251, and 2411 of title 19, United States Code.”
-Donald Trump, “Executive Order on National Emergency Authority to Temporarily Extend Deadlines for Certain Estimated Payments,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 19, 2020
[Note: Read the full Executive Order signed by Donald Trump.]
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We also are going to be using, and we’re preparing to use, the Defense Production Act to increase swab production in one U.S. facility by over 20 million additional swabs per month…
You must remember that the governors wanted to have total control over the opening of their states, but now they want to have us, the federal government, do the testing. And again, testing is local. You can’t have it both ways.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 20, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/PROTESTS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: [Reporter: “If there were groups of people planning to protest tomorrow against the government shutdown, what would be your advice?”] “People feel that way. You’re allowed to protest. I mean, they feel that way. I watched a protest and they were all six feet apart. I mean, it was a very orderly group of people. Some governors have gone too far. Some of the things that happened are maybe not so appropriate…
As far as protesters — you know, I see protesters for all sorts of things. And I’m with everybody. I’m with everybody.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 20, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/ENVIRONMENT/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “At a time when studies are linking air pollution with COVID-19 mortality rates for the most vulnerable in our society, the Trump Administration is rolling back environmental protections — allowing more poison into our air.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 19, 2020 11:01 am
CORONAVIRUS/DEMS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Last month all you heard from the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats was, ‘Ventilators, Ventilators, Ventilators.’ They screamed it loud & clear, & thought they had us cold, even though it was the State’s task. But everyone got their V’s, with many to spare. Now they scream….”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 20, 2020 10:37 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “This pandemic has reaffirmed the importance of keeping vital supply chains at home. We cannot outsource our independence. We cannot be reliant on foreign nations. I’ve been saying this for a long time. If we’ve learned one thing it’s: Let’s do it here, let’s build it here, let’s make it here. We’ve got the greatest country in the world. We’ve got to start bringing our supply chains back.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 20, 2020
MITT ROMNEY: [Reporter: “On Thursday, the White House announced a congressional task force for reopening America. It included every Republican senator but Mitt Romney… Does that show that you’re still holding a grudge against Mitt Romney?”]
“Yeah, it does. Yeah. No, I’m not a fan of Mitt Romney at all. No, I had 52 Republican senators… I just don’t think — you know, I’m not a fan of Mitt Romney. I don’t really want his advice.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 20, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 20, 2020 9:06 pm
CORONAVIRUS/GOP/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party. Thank you! This must also mean that, most importantly, we are doing a good (great) job in the handling of the Pandemic.”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 21, 2020 6:15 am
CORONAVIRUS/LEGISLATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I urge the Senate and House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act with additional funding for PPP, Hospitals, and Testing. After I sign this Bill, we will begin discussions on the next Legislative Initiative with fiscal relief….”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 21, 2020 11:49 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The frustration is, he’s leaving so many people behind. Look at all the first responders. Look at all the people who are putting themselves in harm’s way. Literally, they’re risking their lives, and some are losing their lives. … What I focus on is, look at the damage being done to so many families that wouldn’t have to be done if we had just taken action and prepared.
Or, even if he didn’t know how to prepare, if once it became to clear to him, if he stopped slow motioning everything. Everything with him is slow motion. We gotta move quickly, provide all this gear for people, the testing materials. There’s so much we can do to change this.”
-Joe Biden in an Apr. 21, 2020 interview with James Corden as quoted by Christopher Rosen, “Joe Biden Prioritizes Empathy in Scorching Trump Takedown,” vanityfair.com, Apr. 22, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It was clear to me that when the Trump administration transitioned from [the Barack Obama administration], they had no interest in talking about pandemics. We warned them about them. We had been concerned there would be future pandemics. We had set up an office within the White House to have a pandemic office. They just disregarded all of it and it was clear to me at that time the president had no sense: no sense of science, no sense of responsibility. It just really worried me that he was both qualified and competent to deal with something like this. It’s not anything he’s ever dealt with or had any inclination to deal with.”
-Joe Biden in an Apr. 21, 2020 interview with James Corden as quoted by Christopher Rosen, “Joe Biden Prioritizes Empathy in Scorching Trump Takedown,” vanityfair.com, Apr. 22, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We’re opening up America again. Twenty states representing 40 percent of the U.S. population have announced that they are making plans and preparations to safely restart their economies in the very near future… My administration has worked aggressively with Congress to negotiate this critical 482-billion-dollar funding package. We reached a deal that includes $382 billion in crucial small-business support to keep workers on the payroll; $75 billion to aid hospitals, which really need the aid, and very badly — I’m very proud of that; and $25 billion to support coronavirus testing efforts.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 21, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We have a solemn duty to ensure these unemployed Americans regain their jobs and their livelihoods. Therefore, in order to protect American workers, I will be issuing a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States… It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad. We must first take care of the American worker — take care of the American worker.
This pause will be in effect for 60 days… This order will only apply to individuals seeking a permanent residency. In other words, those receiving green cards — a big factor — it will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 21, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I do want to mention a man who’s done a very good job for us: Dr. Robert Redfield. He was totally misquoted in the media on a statement about the fall season and the virus. Totally misquoted. I spoke to him. He said it was ridiculous. He was talking about the flu and corona coming together at the same time. And corona could be just some little flare-ups that we’ll take care of. We’re going to knock it out. We’ll knock it out fast. But that’s what he was referring to: coming together at the same time…
But we may have a big flu season. But that’s different. Flu is very different from corona… And, Doctor [Birx], wouldn’t you say there’s a good chance that COVID will not come back? And if it does comes back, it’s in a very small, confined area that we put out.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 22, 2020
CONGRESS/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN: “As Congress reaches a new deal on economic relief measures, including more funds for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses, I am grateful to Democratic leaders for securing more funds for hospitals and testing, and more resources for smaller lenders and community-based financial institutions, as well as the depleted Emergency Injury Disaster Loan and Emergency Economic Injury Grant programs. These hard-fought improvements will help deserving small businesses who were shut out in the first round of funding.”
-Joe Biden, “Joe Biden Calls on Trump Administration to Ensure that Relief Funds Get to Deserving Small Businesses,” medium.com, Apr. 21, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN: “I know COVID-19 is causing many people to feel anxious about what the future holds or lonely during this time of social distancing — and that’s okay, just know that you’re not alone.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 21, 2020 4:15 pm
CORONAVIRUS/ECONOMY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “’Economic impact of Covid-19.’ @foxandfriends Very interesting analysis. Light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 22, 2020 5:50 am
CORONAVIRUS/ECONOMY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “States are safely coming back. Our Country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again. Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!). Their lives will be better than ever…WE LOVE YOU ALL!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 22, 2020 6:53 am
CDC/CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “CDC Director was totally misquoted by Fake News @CNN on Covid 19. He will be putting out a statement.”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 22, 2020 9:17 am
IMMIGRATION/JOBS: “U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration was at the heart of the Republican’s winning 2016 campaign and has remained at the forefront of his White House agenda…
In his latest move, Trump plans to sign an executive order temporarily suspending the process to grant foreigners ‘green cards’ for permanent residence, in order to protect American jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.”
-John Whitesides, “Factbox: Trump and Biden take sharply different paths on immigration,” reuters.com, Apr. 22, 2020
CLIMATE CHANGE/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN: “This year, Earth Day comes amid global crises: the difficult, immediate, and undeniable reality of pandemic disease, and the existential threat of climate change — which we are already experiencing and which threatens equally deadly results in the near future if we fail to act. COVID-19 and the climate emergency both underscore the fragility of life on this planet, the connections that bind us to our fellow humans, and the responsibility we all have to meet these global threats with urgent action, ambitious plans, and every tool at our disposal.”
-Joe Biden, “Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on Earth Day,” medium.com, Apr. 22, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Workers, like grocery store cashiers, are on the front lines of this crisis risking their lives every day to combat COVID-19 and keep this country running. President Trump is refusing to do his job, but we’ve got to do ours.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 22, 2020 8:45 pm
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “.@foxandfriends We now have many Ventilators to spare. Thank you to all! https://t.co/brNmQKZ1FL“
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 23, 2020 7:09 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Please study this closely. We saved many lives with our fast action on CoronaVirus! https://t.co/IKtkciXEEO“
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 23, 2020 7:16 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “So I asked Bill [Bryan, acting undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate] a question… So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light… And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting…
And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it [coronavirus] out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that… But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that’s — that’s pretty powerful.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 23, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOBS/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Today, we learned that another 4.4 million people filed new unemployment claims last week, bringing the total number of Americans filing new unemployment claims to 26 million since this crisis started, with many more feeling the direct economic impact of this pandemic.
These aren’t just overwhelming numbers or aggregate statistics — every one is a life thrown into uncertainty, a family unable to make ends meet, a community worried about how it will recover. Every worker left wondering when they will next see a paycheck is part of this American crisis — and Donald Trump isn’t doing enough for them.”
-Joe Biden, “Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on the Latest Unemployment Filing Numbers,” medium.com, Apr. 23, 2020
CONGRESS/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOBS/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Congress gave President Trump the tools to keep people on payroll in the CARES Act, but he hasn’t fully used them. Instead of standing by while the economy sheds millions of jobs each week during this pandemic, Trump should be working around the clock to keep as many people as possible attached to their jobs. That’s what I would be doing if I were in the Oval Office right now.
I would be doing everything in my power to expand short-time compensation programs for workers. I like to call it ’employment insurance.’ So for example, if a company has to make cutbacks,, instead of laying people off, its employees would remain employed but working reduced hours. The federal government would cover the difference for the duration of the crisis.”
-Joe Biden, “Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on the Latest Unemployment Filing Numbers,” medium.com, Apr. 23, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “UV light? Injecting disinfectant?
Here’s an idea, Mr. President: more tests. Now. And protective equipment for actual medical professionals.”
-Joe Biden, Twitter.com, Apr. 23, 2020 8:41 pm
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/FAKE NEWS: “I once mentioned that maybe it does go away with heat and light. And people didn’t like that statement very much. The — the fake news didn’t like it at all. And I just threw it out as a suggestion, but it seems like that’s the case, because when it’s on a surface that would last for a long time, when that surface is outside, it goes away very quickly. It dies very quickly with the sun.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 23, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/GOVERNMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Getting VERY good reviews of the job the Federal Government is doing on CoronaVirus. Ventilators, building hospitals, beds and yes, Testing, have been handled incredibly well. Testing is getting exponentially better every day. Love seeing our Country safely opening up!”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 24, 2020 8:38 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Our Country wants to move safely forward. There is a tremendous pent up demand. We will open big!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 24, 2020 8:53 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Great conversation with President Lenin Moreno of the Republic if Equador. We will be sending them desperately needed Ventilators, of which we have recently manufactured many, and helping them in other ways. They are fighting hard against CoronaVirus!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 24, 2020 8:59 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just spoke to my friend, President Joko Widodo of the Republic of Indonesia. Asking for Ventilators, which we will provide. Great cooperation between us!”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 24, 2020 9:12 am
BORDER/CENTRAL AMERICA/CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just spoke to President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador. Will be helping them with Ventilators, which are desperately needed. They have worked well with us on immigration at the Southern Border!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 24, 2020 9:20 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I (or @VP) never gave Governor Brian Kemp an OK on those few businesses outside of the Guidelines. FAKE NEWS! Spas, beauty salons, tattoo parlors, & barber shops should take a little slower path, but I told the Governor to do what is right for the great people of Georgia (& USA)!”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 24, 2020 9:40 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Great conversation with President Lenin Moreno of the Republic of Ecuador. We will be sending them desperately needed Ventilators, of which we have recently manufactured many, and helping them in other ways. They are fighting hard against CoronaVirus!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 24, 2020 9:59 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19: “The U.S. passed 50,000 coronavirus deaths on Friday [Apr. 24, 2020] and is closing in on nearly 1 million infections as several states around the nation begin implementing plans for reopening businesses and easing social distancing.”
-Michael James, “U.S. hits 50,000 deaths from coronavirus – just as many states announce plans to ease social restrictions,” usatoday.com, Apr. 24, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I want to thank Congress for answering my call to pass this critical funding. And the bill includes, as you probably know — you’ve been watching it over the last week as it matured unto this this point — $320 billion to refill the Paycheck Protection Program, helping keep millions and millions of American workers on the payroll. Great for small businesses. Great for the workers.
Thirty billion dollars to the Paycheck Protection funds will be reserved for small financial institutions, including those that serve minority and distressed communities, extending vital relief to thousands of African American and Hispanic American small-business owners and their employees.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump at a Signing Ceremony for H.R. 266, Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 24, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: [Reporter: “Mr. President, can you clarify your comments about injections of disinfectant? They were quite provocative.”] “No, I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen. Now, disinfectant for doing this maybe on the hands would work. And I was asking the question of the gentleman who was there yesterday, Bill, because when they say that something will last three, or four hours, or six hours, but if the sun is out or if they use disinfectant, it goes away in less than a minute. Did you hear about this yesterday? But I was asking a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. But it does kill it and it would kill it on the hands and that would make things much better. That was done in the form of a sarcastic question to the reporters. Okay?”
-Donald Trump as quoted by Rev, “Transcript: Donald Trump Signs Relief Bill, Says Comments on Injecting Disinfectant Were ‘Sarcastic,’” rev.com, Apr. 24, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID/FEDERAL FUNDING/LEGISLATION: “Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act [H.R. 266]
Became law April 24, 2020 [signed into law by Donald Trump]
At $483 billion, the measure authorized more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program and funding for COVID-19 testing.”
-Nicholas Wu and Javier Zarracina, “All of the COVID-19 stimulus bills, visualized,” usatoday.com, Mar. 11, 2021
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Many testing sites are, and have been, open & available. Just passed 5 Million Tests, far more than any other country in the world. In fact, more than all other major countries combined! Don’t believe the Fake News! https://t.co/uTSMAvj7R3“
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 25, 2020 7:59 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It is a wonderful feeling to know that our States are loaded up with Ventilators, many brand new and high quality just off of our production lines, and that we are now in a position to help other countries that so desperately need them. Every person needing a Ventilator got one!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 25, 2020 9:51 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We have now Tested more than 5 Million People. That is more than any other country in the World, and even more than all major countries combined!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 25, 2020 9:57 am
CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/DEMS/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Do Nothing Democrats are spending much of their money on Fake Ads. I never said that the CoronaVirus is a ‘Hoax’, I said that the Democrats, and the way they lied about it, are a Hoax. Also, it did start with ‘one person from China’, and then grew, & will be a ‘Miracle’ end!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 25, 2020 10:06 am
CORONAVIRUS/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Was just informed that the Fake News from the Thursday White House Press Conference had me speaking & asking questions of Dr. Deborah Birx. Wrong, I was speaking to our Laboratory expert, not Deborah, about sunlight etc. & the CoronaVirus. The Lamestream Media is corrupt & sick!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 25, 2020 3:30 pm
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Remember, the Cure can’t be worse than the problem itself. Be careful, be safe, use common sense!”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 25, 2020 5:17 pm
CORONAVIRUS/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I never said the pandemic was a Hoax! Who would say such a thing? I said that the Do Nothing Democrats, together with their Mainstream Media partners, are the Hoax. They have been called out & embarrassed on this, even admitting they were wrong, but continue to spread the lie!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 25, 2020 5:23 pm
CORONAVIRUS/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “There has never been, in the history of our Country, a more vicious or hostile Lamestream Media than there is right now, even in the midst of a National Emergency, the Invisible Enemy!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 27, 2020 8:41 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “[W]e continue to mourn with thousands of families across the country whose loved ones have been stolen from us by the invisible enemy. We grieve by their side as one family — this great American family…
We also stand in solidarity with the thousands of Americans who are ill and waging a brave fight against the virus. We’re doing everything in our power to heal the sick and to gradually re-open our nation, and to safely get our people back to work. They want to get back to work, and they want to get back to work soon. There’s a hunger for getting our country back, and it’s happening, and it’s happening faster than people would think.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 27, 2020
NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “If I weren’t President, you’d be in war. You would’ve been in war with Korea. You would have been in war with North Korea if I wasn’t President — that, I can tell you. He expected that — that, I can tell you.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 27, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/ECONOMY/JOE BIDEN: “We all agree on the need to reopen the economy and allow some semblance of normalcy as soon as possible. The economic pain and suffering are simply too great to delay unnecessarily. But it is wrong to talk about ‘choosing’ between our public health and our economy. That’s a false choice. If we don’t beat the virus, we will never get back to full economic strength.”
-Joe Biden, “Statement by Vice President Joe Biden and the Biden for President Public Health Advisory Committee on Testing,” medium.com, Apr. 27, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/JOE BIDEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We are now several months into this crisis, and this administration refuses to own up to the original sin of its failed response — the failure to test. Failed leadership, bureaucracy, and a lack of urgency have slowed the testing production process and continue to put us behind nations like Italy, Canada, and Germany in terms of per capita testing. Last week, we marked the deaths of 50,000 people from COVID-19 in the United States — each one a life cut tragically short. Our nation is now the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic with more known cases than any other nation in the world.
This isn’t rocket science. It just takes investment and execution — both of which have been gravely lacking.”
-Joe Biden, “Statement by Vice President Joe Biden and the Biden for President Public Health Advisory Committee on Testing,” medium.com, Apr. 27, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “We are doing far more, and better, Testing than any other country in the world, and yet the media does nothing but complain. No matter how good a job is done, the same as with the Ventilators, they will never say we are doing a great job, they will only viciously gripe!”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 28, 2020 7:06 am
CORONAVIRUS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Many States moving to SAFELY & QUICKLY reopen!”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 28, 2020 8:38 am
BUSINESS/CORONAVIRUS/TEXAS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Texas to open businesses in phases beginning Friday. Great job being done by @GregAbbott_TX”
-Donald Trump, Twitter.com, April 28, 2020 8:42 am
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Now that our experts believe the worst days of the pandemic are behind us, Americans are looking forward to the safe and rapid reopening of our country.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump on Supporting our Nation’s Small Businesses Through the Paycheck Protection Program,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 28, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: [Reporter: Some health experts say the U.S. needs 5 million tests per day by June in order to safely reopen.] “Well, it will increase it and it’ll increase it by much more than that in the very near future. We’re way ahead of everyone on testing. We haven’t been given the press — in terms of, I think, fairness of the press — but that’s okay…
We are way ahead on testing. We are the best in the world on testing. We’ve tested much more than anybody else, times two — or every country combined…
[W]e’re going to be there [5 million tests per day] very soon. If you look at the numbers, it could be that we’re getting very close.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 22, 2020
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/EXECUTIVE ORDERS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It is important that processors of beef, pork, and poultry (“meat and poultry”) in the food supply chain continue operating and fulfilling orders to ensure a continued supply of protein for Americans… Under the delegation of authority provided in this order, the Secretary of Agriculture shall take all appropriate action under that section to ensure that meat and poultry processors continue operations consistent with the guidance for their operations jointly issued by the CDC and OSHA.”
-Donald Trump, “Executive Order on Delegating Authority Under the DPA with Respect to Food Supply Chain Resources During the National Emergency Caused by the Outbreak of COVID-19,” whitehouse.gov, Apr. 28, 2020
[Note: Read the full Executive Order signed by Donald Trump.]