My enemies want me to keep the country closed so I lose the election: Donald Trump claims 'fake news' is pushing need to lockdown in the face of coronavirus out of hatred of him
President Donald Trump complained the 'fake news' wants him to keep the economy shut down so he loses re-election this fall
'The media would like to see me do poorly in an election,' he said at the daily White House coronavirus briefing
President Trump has grown visibly frustrated with stories critical of his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic
By EMILY GOODIN, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.
25 March, 2020
President Donald Trump on Wednesday complained the 'fake news' wants him to keep the economy shut down so he loses re-election this fall.
'The media would like to see me do poorly in an election,' he said at the daily White House coronavirus briefing.
President Trump repeatedly refers to news stories he doesn't like or are unflattering to his administration as 'fake news' and he has grown visibly frustrated with stories critical of his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The White House has come under fire for the lack of surgical masks and ventilators needed by health care professionals.
President Donald Trump complained the 'fake news' wants him to keep the economy shut down so he loses re-election this fall
Trump calls out 'fake news' for politicizing coronavirus response
Additionally, the president has advocated reopening businesses by Easter Sunday to help the tanking U.S. economy but several medical experts have cautioned that could be too early to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump complained about the media several times on Wednesday, both in his briefing and on Twitter even as he tweeted he was too busy in meetings for this.
'I have been packed all day with meetings, I have no time for stupidity. We’re working around the clock to KEEP AMERICA SAFE!,' he wrote.
And he snapped back at a reporter who asked him about the issue.
'I think there are certain people who would like it not to open so quickly and they think that would be very good as far as defeating me at the polls,' he told CBS' Paula Reid in response to her question.
'There are people in your profession that would like that to happen. I think it's very clear -- I think it's very clear that there are people in your profession that write fake news,' he told her. 'You do.'
President Trump has staked his re-election bid on a strong U.S. economy. But the stock market tanked after business shut down and people stayed home to avoid spreading the coronavirus. The market wiped out all the gains made since Trump took office.
Additionally some experts have predicted the U.S. could see 20 per cent or 30 per cent unemployment as part of the fallout.
Trump defended his administration's response to the coronavirus. His team came under fire early on for not responding aggressively enough and for not getting enough medical supplies to hard-hit areas of infection.
'They would love to see me for whatever reason because we've done one hell of a job,' he said, adding on to his complaints about the media. 'Nobody's done the job we've done, and it's lucky you have this group here for this problem or you wouldn't even have a country left.'
Before he went before the cameras at his daily briefing, Trump fired off a tweet to complain about his press coverage.
'The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success. The real people want to get back to work ASAP. We will be stronger than ever before!,' he wrote.
Trump on Tuesday went all in on having Easter as the deadline to reopen the country's economy, calling it a 'beautiful time,' although he declined to name what kind of data he'd be looking at to make a decision.
He said the Easter deadline - which is April 12, in nineteen days - was his idea.
'I thought it was a beautiful time. A beautiful timeline,' he said at his daily White House briefing on the coronavirus outbreak.
But he didn't answer when asked what kind of data he based his decision on.
'It was based on a certain level of weeks from time we started and it happened to arrive, we were thinking of terms of sooner. I'd love to see it come sooner,' President Trump said.
The president, however, appeared to temper those words on Wednesday, saying he wouldn't make hasty decision and would consult with Dr. Tony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the day-to-day response on the coronavirus.
'I'm not going to do anything rash or hastily,' he said.
He warned some areas of the country that are battling high rates of infection would likely stay under stricter guidelines.
'People want to get back to work. I get it from both sides in all fairness and maybe it's a combination of both - Tony said before, combination of both is sometimes very good but there are areas that possibly they won't qualify and there are other areas where they qualify almost now. We will have to see what happens but it will be an interesting period of time. I would like to get our country back,' he said.
President Trump has grown visibly frustrated with stories critical of his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic
President Trump has been clear he's worried about the economic affect coming from all the businesses being shuttered because of the pandemic. Numerous states have closed restaurants, gyms, bars, and clubs. The hospitality industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. States like California and New York have advised people to stay home as much as possible.
A decision on the matter is expected early next week, which would mark the end of the '15 Days to Slow the Spread' recommendations released last week.
Those guidelines recommended no gatherings over 10 people along with eating take out and not going to bars.
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