BECAUSE PEOPLE MOVE. I’M NOT OPPOSED TO REGIONAL
FOCUSED POLICIES THAT ARE DRIVEN
BY DATA AND SCIENCE.
I JUST THINK WE HAVE TO BE
CAREFUL ABOUT HOW FAR WE PUSH
THAT.
THAT. >> THE WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS
TASK FORCE SEEMS TO BE
DISBANDED.
DISBANDED. WE WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO THOSE
END-OF-DAY TWO-HOUR PERFORMANCES
ANY MORE, UNTIL, I GUESS, DONALD
TRUMP GET TOOS BORED AND DECIDES
TO TRY SOMETHING ELSE ON
TELEVISION.
TELEVISION. >> YEAH, LAURNSZWRENCE.
I APPRECIATED YOUR OPENING TO
THE SHOW TONIGHT.
IT’S GRIM, AND I THINK
APPROPRIATELY GRIM GIVEN WHERE
WE ARE AND GIVEN THE
EXTRAORDINARY BACK-TO-BACK
EXTRAORDINARY BACK-TO-BACK NATURE OF THE LAST FEW DAYS
WHERE WE LEARN ABOUT ON THE ONE
SIDE PROJECTIONS AND MODELS AND
FORECASTS WITHIN THE
ADMINISTRATION THAT SUGGESTS
THAT MAY AND JUNE COULD BE
EXTRAORDINARILY UGLY IN THE
UNITED STATES WHEN IT COMES TO
CORONAVIRUS AND THE VERY NEXT
DAY, THE WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES
THAT IT’S SHUTTING DOWN THE
CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE.
I AGREE WITH YOU.
I THINK THE TASK FORCE AND IT’S
PUBLIC RELATIONS ORIENTATION HAS
BEEN CLOSE TO USELESS IN TERMS
OF GETTING ANYTHING DONE.
ON THE POLITICAL SIDE, TO SEE
DONALD TRUMP AT THIS MOMENT
HAVING WHAT CAN ONLY BE
DESCRIBED AS A MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED MOMENT, IF THAT IS
IN FACT WHERE WE’RE GOING,
SHUTTING DOWN THE CORONAVIRUS
TASK FORCE, SAYING A LOT OF
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GET HURT
GOING FORWARD, BUT WE MUST
REOPEN THIS ECONOMY.
THE ECONOMY IS KEY TO HIM
POLITICALLY.
POLITICALLY. AND AT THIS POINT, HE SEEMS TO
BE ESSENTIALLY SAYING I DON’T
CARE ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH TO THE
EXTENT I EVER CARED ABOUT IT.
WE’RE IN A RENEWED PHASE.
I THINK IT’S DANGEROUS FOR THE
COUNTRY AND RECKLESS FOR THE
PRESIDENT IF HIS HOPE IS TO GET
RE-ELECTED.
RE-ELECTED. >> JOHN, I THINK ONE OF THE LAST
NUMBERS THAT DONALD TRUMP IN HIS
OWN IMAGINARY PROJECTIONS
OFFERED IN THE WHITE HOUSE
BRIEFING ROOM WAS 50,000.
HE WAS SAYING THAT HE THOUGHT
THEY MIGHT HOLD TOTAL AMERICAN
DEATHS TO 50,000.
IS IT JUST THAT DONALD TRUMP
DOESN’T WANT TO GO INTO THAT
ROOM ANYMORE WHEN THE NUMBERS
ARE GOING UP AND UP, AND HIS
ADMINISTRATION HAS SOME
PROJECTIONS THAT INDICATE THE
DEATH RATE COULD BE DOUBLING IN
JUNE AND THEY COULD BE
ANNOUNCING 3,000 PER DAY?
>> YES.
>> YES. I THINK, YOU KNOW, LAWRENCE, WE
TALKED ABOUT VARIOUS STRATEGIES
OR TACTICS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP
HAS TRIED IN THE COURSE OF 2020
IN RESPECT TO COVID-19.
THE FIRST WAS DOWN PLAYING.
THEN WE HAD BLAME SHIFTING.
NOW MORE RECENTLY, WE’VE BEEN IN
THE MOMENT OF GOAL POST
SHIFTING, WHERE THAT 50,000
PROJECTION THAT HE GAVE THAT ONE
DAY IN THE WHITE HOUSE WAS -- WE
GOT TO 50,000 THAT WEEK.
IT WAS LIKE A MONDAY THAT HE
SAID IT MIGHT ONLY BE 50,000
DEATHS AND WE CROSSED OVER THE
50,000 THRESHOLD WITHIN FOUR
DAYS OF HIM SAYING THAT.
WE’VE SEEN HIM PUSH THAT GOAL
POST FURTHER AND FURTHER DOWN
THE FIELD.
THE FIELD. IT’S NOW APPARENTLY HE’S SETTING
100,000 AS THE PARKER.
I THINK EVEN DONALD TRUMP, WHO
NEVER TIRES OF MENDACITY OR
LYING, NEVER TIRES OF INNEW
HAMPSHIRE
OF GOAL POST SHIFTING, HIS ARMS ARE GETTING TIRED AND IT’S
GETTING TO THE POINT WHERE EVEN
BY HIS STANDARDS IT’S TOO
LUDICROUS TO CONTINUE WITH THIS
EFFORT AND IT’S NOT ONLY
LUDICROUS BUT COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.
>> DOCTOR, LET ME GET YOUR
REACTION TO THE APPARENT CLOSING
DOWN OF THE WHITE HOUSE TASK
FORCE.
FORCE. THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO THEIR
WORK BEHIND DOORS.
IS IT GOING TO MATTER THEY DON’T
HAVE THAT PUBLIC DISPLAY EVERY
DAY?
DAY? >> LAWRENCE, I AGREE WITH YOU A
LOT OF WHAT WAS SHARED IN THOSE
TWO-HOUR LONG EVENTS WAS NOT
VERY USEFUL, BUT SOME OF IT WAS.
ESPECIALLY WHEN DR. FAUCI AND
DR. BIRX SPOKE.
THAT WAS USEFUL INFORMATION.
AND THE SIGNAL TO THE COUNTRY
OF, YOU KNOW, WE’RE NOT DOING
THAT ANYMORE IS REALLY HARMFUL.
THE WAY I DESCRIBED THIS IS WE
ARE, TO USE A BASEBALL ANALOGY,
WE ARE IN THE SECOND OR THIRD
INNING OF A BASEBALL GAME.