In response to Trump’s White House press conference on China, Coronavirus War Room Director Zac Petkanas issued the following statement:
“During his press conference on China today at the White House, Donald Trump attempted to shift the blame to China. But the truth is that his failures alone are to blame for the more than 100,000 American deaths and more than 41 million who have filed for unemployment.
“No matter how much Trump tries to shift the blame overseas, he can’t erase the fact he spent months praising China’s response to the coronavirus, often amplifying their propaganda and lavishing praise on President Xi Jinping. Even Trump’s much-touted China travel ban was a failure. Although he likes to point to it as evidence that he acted early and decisively to stop the virus, it was ineffective and too little too late, and allowed over 400,000 people to come into the country before it was put in place, and another 40,000 after.”
See below for key points on Trump’s months-long praise of China and his ineffective travel ban:
Trump Repeatedly Praised China’s Response To Coronavirus
IN LATE JANUARY & FEBRUARY, TRUMP AMPLIFIED CHINESE PROPAGANDA ON THEIR HANDLING OF THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
- CNN Reported That Trump Praised China’s Response To Coronavirus 12 Times Between January 24th And February 29th. [CNN, Nathan McDermott & Andrew Kaczynski, 3/25/20]
- On January 24th, Trump Claimed That China Was Working “Very Hard” To Contain Coronavirus And Thanked President Xi On Behalf Of The American People. [Twitter, @realDonaldTrump, 1/24/20]
- During An Appearance On Fox News On January 30th, Trump Claimed That China Was “Working Very Hard” To Address The Coronavirus Outbreak. [CNN, Nathan McDermott & Andrew Kaczynski, 3/25/20]
- Trump On February 7th: “Great Discipline Is Taking Place In China, As President Xi Strongly Leads What Will Be A Very Successful Operation.” [Twitter, @realDonaldTrump, 2/7/20]
- February 18: Trump: “President Xi Loves The People Of China, He Loves His Country, And He’s Doing A Very Good Job.” [CNN, Nathan McDermott & Andrew Kaczynski, 3/25/20]
- February 23rd: Trump Did Not Believe President Xi Needed To Respond Differently To The Coronavirus Outbreak. QUESTION: “Do you think President Xi should be doing something different?” THE PRESIDENT: “No, I think President Xi is working very, very hard. I spoke to him. He’s working very hard. I think he’s doing a very good job. It’s a big problem. But President Xi loves his country. He’s working very hard to solve the problem and he will solve the problem. Okay?” [Remarks by President Trump, 2/23/20]
ASKED ABOUT TRUSTING THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT’S HANDLING OF THE CORONAVIRUS, TRUMP RESPONDED BY CALLING THEM “VERY TOUGH” AND “VERY SMART”
- Trump On Xi On February 26th: “He Is Working So Hard. And They’re Very Tough And Very Smart.” [White House Press Briefing, 2/26/20]
- Trump Praised China On February 25th, 26th And 29th. “In news conferences on February 25 and 26,Trump again praised China for ‘working very hard’ to fight coronavirus. On February 29, he praised measures put in place by China and said similar measures could be put in place in the US to prevent spread. ‘We’ve been in very close contact with China, including myself with President Xi. He very much wanted this to happen,’ said Trump. ‘He wanted this to get out and finished and be done. He worked — he’s been working very, very hard, I can tell you that. And they’re making a lot of progress in China.’” [CNN, Nathan McDermott & Andrew Kaczynski, 3/25/20]
TRUMP CONTINUED TO PRAISE CHINA’S RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS WHILE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WERE IN LOCKDOWN
- March 27: Trump Tweeted That He Had “Much Respect” For How Chinese President Xi Was Handling The Crisis. Trump tweeted, “Just finished a very good conversation with President Xi of China. Discussed in great detail the CoronaVirus that is ravaging large parts of our Planet. China has been through much & has developed a strong understanding of the Virus. We are working closely together. Much respect!” [Twitter, @realDonaldTrump, 3/27/20]
Trump’s China Travel Ban Did Little To Stop Travel From China Or Stop The Spread Of The Virus
Donald Trump is quick to point to his China travel restrictions as evidence that he acted early and effectively to curb the spread of coronavirus within the United States. But the facts show that Trump’s travel restrictions are nothing but smoke and mirrors. Contrary to what he claims, he didn’t act early, didn’t actually stop travel, and didn’t stop the spread of the virus in the United States.
DESPITE TRUMP TAKING CREDIT FOR BLOCKING TRAVEL FROM CHINA, THE BAN DID NOT STOP THE VIRUS FROM BECOMING A PANDEMIC IN THE UNITED STATES…
- Trump’s China Travel Ban Did Not Stop The Spread Of The Coronavirus In The United States. “In reality, the argument strings together a series of falsehoods and bizarre logic. The first and largest lie is Trump’s claim that Biden opposed his travel ban as racist. Biden did not oppose the travel ban, and Trump’s campaign has produced no statement by him opposing the ban. In place of evidence that he ever did, Trump has quoted Biden describing him promoting ‘xenophobia’ in general, but Biden’s comment was not specifically directed at the travel ban. (Biden made that remark at about the same time of day the travel ban was instituted, and apparently without even knowing that Trump did it.) Biden also appears in Trump’s ad saying, ‘banning all travel will not stop’ the coronavirus. The best evidence for this point of view is that the coronavirus still made it to the United States. Of course the travel ban didn’t stop the coronavirus. Trump’s ad is attacking Biden for a prediction that was correct. It was Trump’s apparent belief that the travel ban permanently halted the coronavirus’s progress that contributed to his disastrous complacency over the following weeks. Trump’s campaign is anchoring the debate on an specific argument — will the China travel ban by itself stop the coronavirus?” [New York Magazine, 4/14/20]
…AND HE IMPLEMENTED A TRAVEL BAN FROM CHINA AFTER 46 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES HAD ALREADY IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS
- Trump Implemented A Travel Ban On China After 46 Countries And Territories Had Already Imposed Bans. “According to Kiernan, co-creator of the ThinkGlobalHealth tracker on travel restrictions on China, 46 countries and territories (Macau and Hong Kong) imposed travel restrictions on China that came into effect before the United States’ restrictions did. (Although the U.S. announced its travel restrictions on Jan. 31, they did not go into effect until Feb. 2.) Twelve other countries’ travel restrictions against China came into effect on Feb. 2, the same day as the U.S.” [Factcheck.org, 4/6/20]
TRUMP’S TRAVEL BAN DID NOT STOP PEOPLE FROM ENTERING THE UNITED STATES FROM CHINA
- The New York Times Reported That At Least 430,000 People Had Arrived In The United States From China Since January And 40,000 Had Entered Since Trump Declared A Travel Ban On January 31st. “Since Chinese officials disclosed the outbreak of a mysterious pneumonialike illness to international health officials on New Year’s Eve, at least 430,000 people have arrived in the United States on direct flights from China, including nearly 40,000 in the two months after President Trump imposed restrictions on such travel, according to an analysis of data collected in both countries. The bulk of the passengers, who were of multiple nationalities, arrived in January, at airports in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Newark and Detroit. Thousands of them flew directly from Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak, as American public health officials were only beginning to assess the risks to the United States.” [The New York Times, 4/4/20]
FLIGHTS FROM CHINA WERE STILL ENTERING THE UNITED STATES IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH, WITH UNCLEAR SCREENING RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE
- The New York Times Reported That Hundreds Of Flights From China Were Still Entering The United States During February And March. “Flights continued this past week, the data show, with passengers traveling from Beijing to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, under rules that exempt Americans and some others from the clampdown that took effect on Feb. 2. In all, 279 flights from China have arrived in the United States since then, and screening procedures have been uneven, interviews show.” [The New York Times, 4/4/20]
DESPITE THE FOCUS ON CHINA, THE WORST OUTBREAKS IN THE UNITED STATES ORIGINATED IN EUROPE
- Researchers In New York Concluded That The Outbreak In The New York Area Originated In Europe And Had Been Spreading Since Mid-February, Nearly A Month Before Trump’s European Travel Ban. “New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia. ‘The majority is clearly European,’ said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-wrote a study awaiting peer review. A separate team at N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine came to strikingly similar conclusions, despite studying a different group of cases. Both teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March. The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place.” [The New York Times, 4/8/20]
TRUMP’S EUROPE TRAVEL BAN WAS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE
- Coronavirus Was Already Spreading In The United States When Trump Issued A Europe Travel Ban On March 11. “On Jan. 31, President Trump barred foreign nationals from entering the country if they had been in China during the prior two weeks. It would not be until late February that Italy would begin locking down towns and cities, and March 11 when Mr. Trump said he would block travelers from most European countries. But New Yorkers had already been traveling home with the virus.” [The New York Times, 4/8/20]