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Months of Chaos and Mismanagement Followed the President’s Smug Remark

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One hundred days ago today, President Trump joined members of the Coronavirus Task Force at a press briefing and praised his administration for having what he considered “control” over the coronavirus crisis in the United States. In addition to calling the virus “something that we have tremendous control over,” Trump made the debunked claim that “young people and people of good health, and groups of people, just are not strongly affected.” At that same briefing Dr. Anthony Fauci tempered President Trump’s claims, saying, “The worst is, yes, ahead for us. It is how we respond to that challenge that’s going to determine what the ultimate endpoint is going to be.

Meanwhile on March 15, the CDC was recommending gatherings in the U.S. of no more than 50 people — a number that the next day would be contradicted by President Trump — and the number of positive cases in the U.S. rose by as much as 30% over each 24 hour period. Even the Federal Reserve recognized the grave concerns presented by the COVID-19 crisis. In the months to follow, that “response” to the “challenge” Fauci mentioned would go from bad to worse — resulting in nothing short of an utter disaster.

“One hundred days ago, like today, President Trump used his position of power to mislead and misdirect from the public health crisis that his administration let spiral out of control,” said Jenna Kruse, spokesperson for Accountable.US. “Claiming to have ‘control’ over the deadly pandemic while thousands of Americans got sick was among the many of serious missteps the Trump administration committed during this vital window when real leadership could have helped mitigate the impact of the pandemic and save lives.” 

Follow along as Accountable.US tracks day-by-day the Trump administration’s failures 100 days ago on its website and on social media.

100 DAYS AGO TUESDAY: March 15, 2020

  • During a Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, Trump said both “Relax. We’re doing great. It all will pass,” in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic and, “It’s incredible. But it’s something that we have tremendous control over. I think, very important, the young people and people of good health, and groups of people, just are not strongly affected.”
  • During that same Task Force briefing, Dr. Fauci stepped in to stress the severity of the situation: “The worst is, yes, ahead for us. It is how we respond to that challenge that’s going to determine what the ultimate endpoint is going to be.”
  • Only for President Trump to shift the numbers the following day, the CDC officially recommended public gatherings of no more than 50 people.

… VERSUS A SAMPLING OF THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES: 

  • “Public Health Experts Reject President’s View of Fading Pandemic” – New York Times, 6/22/20
  • “A week after Pence bragged about improvement, the pandemic is obviously getting worse” – Washington Post, 6/22/20
  • “US COVID-19 cases rise, marking ugly contrast with Europe” – The Hill, 6/22/20​

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