President Donald Trump said Thursday that coronavirus would “disappear,” but noted the spread of the virus may worsen before improving.
“It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear,” Trump said at a reception in the White House Cabinet Room.
Trump added that “from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better. Could maybe go away. We’ll see what happens. Nobody really knows.”
Trump also said that “the 15 [people being diagnosed with Coronavirus on U.S. soil] will soon be down to three, four.”
Trump has been criticized for mishandling the outbreak — both in dismissing its potential severity and in appointing Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the administration’s response to the outbreak. Pence had previously mismanaged an outbreak of HIV while he was governor of Indiana, and has a questionable record on public health issues.
However, Trump has maintained that his administration has responded effectively to the virus and there is little concern to the public.
SLIDESHOW: DONALD TRUMP’S 30 CRAZIEST TWEETS!
“So, the Coronavirus, which started in China and spread to various countries throughout the world, but very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border, and ended flights, VERY EARLY, is now being blamed, by the Do Nothing Democrats, to be the fault of ‘Trump,'” tweeted the in third-person on Friday.
He tweeted the same day a “thank you” to Pence and health officials working to control the Coronavirus.
Two days prior, an official at the Department of Health and Human Services filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that workers who received the first repatriated U.S. citizens were not provided with protective gear or sufficient training, sparking renewed concerns over the administration’s handling of the situation.
