Politico | Trump team says history will vindicate US president on coronavirus

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Nolan D. McCaskill on politico.com on September 13, 2020.

President Donald Trump’s allies on Sunday blamed anybody but him for his handling of the deadly virus that has killed more than 193,000 Americans.

In interviews across the morning political talk shows, Trump officials portrayed the president as a calm leader throughout the pandemic and singled out China, corporate media – including CNN and Jake Tapper, specifically – and Democrats for lying and politicising the coronavirus.

The chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Trump advisers were asked about last week’s revelation that the president told The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward in February and March that the virus was deadlier than the flu and that he downplayed it publicly to avoid causing panic – something Trump continued to do well after his Woodward interviews.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the president has been calm, steady and methodical throughout this crisis, comparing his leadership throughout the pandemic to that of President George W Bush in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

“Think of what would have happened if he’d have gone out and said: ‘This is awful. We should all be afraid. We do not have a plan,’” McDaniel told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press. “The president was calm and steady in a time of unrest and uncertainty. And I think history will look back on him well as how he handled this pandemic.”