GOOD EVENING, GANG, AND WELCOME TO YOU ALL.
AND, ASHLEY, I’D LIKE TO BEGIN
WITH YOU.
WITH YOU. IS THERE ANY DEGREE OF FEAR THAT
YOU’RE PICKING UP IN THE WHITE
HOUSE THAT THE FACTS ARE GOING
TO SUPERSEDE THE PLOT LINE THE
PRESIDENT IS GIVING THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE?
PEOPLE? IS THERE ANY DEGREE OF SURPRISE
THAT WITH ALL THIS GUY HAS
SURVIVED AND PUT BEHIND HIM TO
WAKE UP EVERY DAY, THIS IS
SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
ROAD IN FRONT OF HIM?
>> WELL, THERE’S CERTAINLY
ALREADY A LOT OF INTERNAL
INFIGHTING AND FINGER-POINTING
AND RECRIMINATIONS, AND ONE OF
THE THINGS THAT’S NOTABLE IS AS
YOU SAID, ALL THIS PRESIDENT HAS
FACED, A LOT OF THOSE ARE CRISES
OF HIS OWN MAKING.
AND THIS IS A LITTLE BIT OF
SELF-SABOTAGE.
SELF-SABOTAGE. AND THIS IS THE RARE CRISIS FROM
OUTSIDE, FROM ABROAD.
AND THERE IS A SENSE NOT
NECESSARILY IN THE WHITE HOUSE
BUT CERTAINLY
BUT CERTAINLY ADMINISTRATION-WIDE, THAT THERE
WAS A PERIOD OF SEVERAL WEEKS
FROM WHEN WE FOUND OUT THAT
THERE WAS THIS VIRUS, THIS
CORONAVIRUS IN THE WUHAN
PROVINCE OF CHINA TO WHEN THE
PRESIDENT FINALLY APPOINTED, YOU
KNOW, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE TO
HEAD THIS TASK FORCE, THAT THAT
TIME WAS JUST SQUANDERED.
YOU CAN GO THROUGH AND PINPOINT
DISCRETE INSTANCES OF WHEN THE
TESTING DIDN’T WORK, WHEN THE
TESTING CRITERIA WAS TOO NARROW,
AND THERE’S ALSO TALK OF HOW THE
WHITE HOUSE, ESPECIALLY THE
PRESIDENT, DIDN’T REALLY TAKE IT
SERIOUSLY WHEN IT WAS A PUBLIC
HEALTH CRISIS.
HEALTH CRISIS. IT TOOK FOR IT TO BECOME A
POLITICAL CRISIS.
POLITICAL CRISIS. SO THAT WOULD BE THE STOCK
MARKET PLUMMETING.
MARKET PLUMMETING. THAT WOULD BE WHAT THE PRESIDENT
VIEWED AS ALARMIST RHETORIC FROM
HIS AIDES SAYING IT’S NOT A
QUESTION OF IF, BUT WHEN.
THAT
THAT THAT THE PRESIDENT AND THE WHITE
HOUSE REALLY GOT ENGAGED, WHICH
FRANKLY STARTED ABOUT A WEEK AGO
YESTERDAY.
YESTERDAY. >> JONATHAN LEMIRE, LET’S KEEP
GOING ON THIS THEME.
THE PRESIDENT WORKED THE WORD
"FLU" INTO THE FOX INTERVIEW
LAST NIGHT.
LAST NIGHT. HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO
CREATE THIS ALTERNATE UNIVERSE,
IN SOME CASES USING HIS OWN
STATS AND HIS OWN FACTS.
BUT TO ASHLEY’S POINT, THIS
BUMPS AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH,
WHICH ALL OF US HAVE A STAKE IN.
>> SURE.
>> SURE. HIS ENTIRE LIFE AS A CELEBRITY
REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER WHEN HE
WAS CALLING IN COMPLETELY MADE
UP STORIES TO THE TABLOIDS TO
HIS TIME AS A POLITICIAN AND
THEN PRESIDENT, HE TRIES TO
ASSERT HIS OWN REALITY.
HE OFTEN USES HIS OWN SET OF
FACTS TRYING TO CREATE THAT
REALITY, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY
SOMETIMES FLIES IN THE FACE OF
WHAT THE REST OF US ARE
EXPERIENCING EVERY DAY.
CERTAINLY THIS IS ONE WHERE BUY
SHEER FORCE OF PERSONALITY, HE
HAS OFTEN GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT.
BUT THIS IS A MOMENT WHERE, AS
YOU SAY, IT MAY BE HARDER.
WE’RE SEEING IT ALREADY NOW.
HE’S DOWNPLAYING THE CRISIS.
OKAY, THAT’S STANDARD FOR A
POLITICIAN.
POLITICIAN. BUT HE’S DOING SO IN A CASE
WHERE HE’S MISSTATING THE
NUMBERS HERE.
NUMBERS HERE. HE’S BEEN CONSISTENTLY SAYING
THERE ARE FAR FEWER PEOPLE
AFFECTED BY THIS THAN ACTUALLY
ARE.
ARE. HE HAS THREE TIMES IN THE LAST
FEW DAYS BEEN PUBLICLY CORRECTED
BY HIS ADVISERS WHEN HE
SUGGESTED THAT A VACCINE MIGHT
BE ON THE MARKET FOR AMERICANS
TO USE WITHIN A MATTER OF MONTHS
AND HAD TO BE TOLD, LIKE, NO,
IT’S GOING TO BE A YEAR OR MORE
MOST LIKELY.
MOST LIKELY. HE IS, TO ASHLEY’S POINT, HE WAS
SLOW TO REACT IN PART BECAUSE HE
DIDN’T WANT TO PUBLICLY TALK
ABOUT IT BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT
TO UPSET THE MARKETS OR UPSET XI
JINPING IN CHINA AND OBVIOUSLY
CRITICIZE THEIR HANDLING OF THIS
VIRUS HERE BECAUSE PRESIDENT XI
IS SOMEONE HE’S WORKED AS AN
ALLY.
ALLY. THEY’RE STILL WORKING ON A TRADE
DEAL TOGETHER.
DEAL TOGETHER. HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE SEEN AS
EMBARRASSING HIM.
EMBARRASSING HIM. BUT THIS IS A MOMENT WHERE HIS
SUPPORTERS EVEN, THOSE WHO
PERHAPS GET THEIR NEWS FROM FOX
NEWS AND OTHER CABLE NETWORKS,
WHO ARE INCLINED TO BELIEVE THE
PRESIDENT OVER THE MORE -- YOU
KNOW, THE MORE, QUOTE,
MAINSTREAM MEDIA, WHO ARE
INCLINED TO TAKE HIS WORD FOR IT
EVEN WHEN HE’S CONTRADICTED BY
MOST OTHER SOURCES.
IF PEOPLE AROUND THEM ARE
GETTING SICK, IN THEIR LOCAL
NEWSPAPERS PEOPLE ARE GETTING
SICK, IF THEIR LOCAL DISTRICT
HAS TO CLOSE, THAT’S GOING TO BE
VERY DIFFERENT.
VERY DIFFERENT. THEY’RE GOING TO BE IMPACTED BY
THIS.
THIS. THEY’RE GOING TO SEE THE MARKETS