Monday, March 16, 2020

Trump flicked a Google statement onto the floor during a live press conference in an apparent rebuke of a botched coronavirus website rollout

Business Insider•March 15, 2020
President Donald Trump lets go of a piece of paper containing a Google statement, during a press conference at the White House, March 15, 2020.

The White House


President Donald Trump bemoaned the news coverage about the confusion behind his unveiling of what was purportedly a Google-led effort to develop a coronavirus-screening website.


Trump held in his hand what appeared to be a Google statement, in tweet form, that he claimed vindicated his prior remarks.


"As you know this is from Google, they put out a release," Trump said, holding the statement in his left hand before flicking it to the ground.


"You guys can figure it out yourselves, and how that got out," Trump added. "I'm sure you'll apologize. It'll be great if we can really give the news correctly.

President Donald Trump on Sunday afternoon bemoaned the news coverage about the confusion behind his unveiling of what was purportedly a Google-led effort to develop a nationwide website that screened people for the coronavirus.

"I want to thank the people at Google and Google Communications, because as you know, they substantiated what I said on Friday," Trump said of the remarks he made in the Rose Garden just two days prior.

"The head of Google ... called us and he apologized, I don't know where the press got their fake news, but they got it some place," Trump added.
trump before

Trump held in his hand what appeared to be a Google statement in tweet form on how the company was partnering with the federal government to develop "a nationwide website that includes information about COVID-19 symptoms, risk and testing information."

"As you know this is from Google, they put out a release," Trump said, holding the statement in his left hnd. He then flicked the paper onto the floor.

—David Choi (@choibboy) March 15, 2020

"You guys can figure it out yourselves, and how that got out," Trump added. "I'm sure you'll apologize. It'll be great if we can really give the news correctly.

On Friday, Trump claimed that Google had 1,700 engineers working on a coronavirus-related website, one that would allow people to "to determine if a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location."

"Google is going to develop a website — it's going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past," Trump said on Friday.

The project, however, was being developed by Alphabet-affiliated Verily, which reportedly employs 1,000 employees. The Verge reported that the 1,700 engineers Trump mentioned were Google workers who would volunteer for the project.

Despite Trump's statement that it had made "tremendous progress" in the nationwide effort, a Google communications representative told The Verge that the company was still "in the early stages of development" for the San Francisco area.

A Verily representative reportedly added that the "triage website" was initially expected to go out for health care workers and that after the announcement, it was going to roll out to the entire public.

Google later announced in its statement that the company was "fully aligned" and would "continue to work" with the government to combat the coronavirus.

Trump followed up his press conference by retweeting a statement from Google Communications, which laid out that the company's goals to expand the project "more broadly over time."

—Google Communications (@Google_Comms) March 13, 2020

President Trump railed against news reports that shed light on his comments on Sunday, alleging that the media "never called Google" to verify his distinct description of the project.

"Even in times such as these, they are not truthful," Trump said on Twitter. "Watch for their apology, it won't happen. More importantly, thank you to Google!"

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