On 20 March, US president Donald Trump gave a press conference at the White House on the new coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. And during the conference, NBC reporter Peter Alexander asked Trump:
Is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of hope?
This question was in reference to Trump’s suggestion that the drug chloroquine could be used as a treatment for the coronavirus. Chloroquine is best known as an anti-malarial drug. On 19 March, Trump said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its use to treat coronavirus. And while the FDA is testing it to treat coronavirus, it hasn’t yet approved it.
The attack
In pushing Trump for an answer for the American people, Alexander may have been conscious that one of his NBC colleagues died recently as a result of the virus.
Later in the press conference, Alexander asked the president:
What do you say to the Americans who are scared, though? Nearly 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, millions, as you’ve witnessed, who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?
And as Vanity Fair reported, this was a “softball question”. So all Trump had to do was give a simple answer. But instead, he attacked Alexander, saying:
Q: What do you say to Americans who are scared
TRUMP: "I say that you're a terrible reporter, that's what I say."
Unreal. pic.twitter.com/RJ1aJXJUUh
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) March 20, 2020
Trump followed up by saying: “I think that’s a very nasty question”.
Reaction online
Pretty soon after this, people took to social media to express their disgust at Trump’s baseless attack:
You asked a great question. And you’re an excellent reporter. Trump is a dangerous, incompetent monster.
— Jodie (@JodieHMoss) March 20, 2020
Some people couldn’t understand why Trump couldn’t just answer this simple question:
Peter Alexander throws @realDonaldTrump a softball question. trump could have so easily acted presidential. Instead he embarrasses himself with a rage filled whiff!
— Edgeycated (@Edgeycated) March 20, 2020
The crazy thing is, it's such a softball question. It gives him the opportunity to comfort those who are afraid and this is how he reacts?!
— Matthew (@matthewsolomon) March 20, 2020
And filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu was enraged by Trump’s reaction:
https://twitter.com/NotNikyatu/status/1241060577952366592?s=20
So the scientist has to step in
Reporters were also unhappy with Trump’s response. Indeed, one journalist asked for Trump’s scientist Dr Fauci to step in and take questions. That reporter then asked Fauci to follow up on Alexander’s question:
could you please… address Americans in this country who are scared right now?
Fauci then had to clarify that what Trump said was based on Trump’s “feeling” and not based on “clinical evidence”.
Real leadership
Some people say you know a real leader during a crisis. This is a crisis. And as we’ve seen recently, Trump’s no leader. He’s shown little to no leadership during this crisis so far and has instead relied on his own baseless “hunch” to contradict real experts. And he’s added racism to explain away the horrors of this virus calling it the “Chinese virus”. Trump has never been fit to lead any democracy, so it’s quite tragic he’s at the helm at a time like this.
Featured image via Screengrab – RealClear Politics
