Trump promises his coronavirus plan is 'prepared for the very worst'
President accuses Democrats of 'politicizing' coronavirus
On the eve of the Democratic presidential primary and one day after a press conference on the threat of coronavirus, President Trump was in North Charleston, S.C. Friday for a "Keep America Great" rally, promising those in attendance that his administration is "prepared for the very worst" with the coronavirus in between his jabs at his Democratic rivals.
"We are magnificently organized, with the best professionals in the world," Trump told the cheering crowd, "We’re prepared for the absolute worst. You have to be prepared for the very worst, but hopefully, it will all amount to very little.”
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Trump gave credit to his travel ban at the end of January to contribute to the containment so far of the disease in the U.S. "So far we have lost nobody to the coronavirus in the United States," said Trump, but cautioned, "it doesn’t mean we won’t."
To date, there are 61 reported cases in the U.S. but no deaths. There are some 83,300 cases worldwide with 2,866 deaths (only 78 of those deaths occurred outside of China). Some of the president's actions on the disease has been criticized by Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for $8.5 billion in emergency funding saying the White House's plan for $2.5 billion was insufficient.
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At the rally, Trump said, "the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus.”
Not unexpectedly, he took swipes at several of the candidates competing for votes in Saturday's primary. One of his main targets was former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg who has engaged in a verbal and social media war of words with the president this week. At the rally, he told his supporters, that Bloomberg "doesn't have a chance."
Following some cheers, Trump added, "I hear Mini Mike, by the way, has left. He ‘s basically given up that’s what I hear. He gave up.”
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According to Bloomberg's web site, he remains in the race with several events scheduled in the days ahead including a Saturday event in Virginia, a "Super Tuesday" state with 124 delegates up for grabs on March 3. Virginia is one of 14 states holding a primary that day.