During a row with CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta, Donald Trump implied that doctors and elected officials state that they do not have enough protective hear and other necessary medical supplies just to get on television during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump went after Acosta during a coronavirus press briefing over the shortage of PPE, which includes essential gear and items including hand sanitizer, gloves, aprons, and face masks.
During the briefing, Acosta stated, “we hear from a lot of people who see these briefings as sort of ‘happy talk’ briefings. And some of the officials don’t paint as rosy a picture of what is happening around the country. If you look at some of these questions – do we have enough masks? No. Do we have enough tests? No. Do we have enough PPE? No.”
Trump rudely interjected: “Why would you say that? The answer is yes. I think the answer is yes.”
Acosta than spoke up about the doctors and other medical officials who have vented their frustrations about the lack of essential equipment on CNN.
The president hit back: “A lot of it is fake news.”
Acosta said: “Doctors and medical officers come on our air and say ‘we don’t have enough tests, we don’t have enough masks’.”
Trump chipped in: “Well yeah, depending on your air they are always going to say that because otherwise, you are not going to put them on.”
Doctors and healthcare workers all across the country are facing dangerous shortages of face masks that protect them from COVID-19. Doctors fear that the lack of equipment will prevent them from providing life- saving care if they fall ill.
According to John Hopkins University, the United States is the first country to surpass 2,000 people dying from the coronavirus in one day.
America does not have a national health service and that puts people who contract coronavirus in the US at greater risk than those in the UK or Canada.
Americans also face the risk of running up medical bills for COVID-19, which could cost them tens of thousands of dollars in debt. The situation has been made more difficult by the fact that many Americans have lost their jobs due to the virus leaving them without health insurance.
