As the death toll in the U.S. marked a new global high, topping 1,900 dead on Wedneday alone, President Donald Trump is back on the hunt for someone to blame. Facing criticism for initially downplaying the severity of the coronavirus crisis, Trump continues to point fingers at supposed enemies, both foreign and domestic:
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
In a White House press conference Tuesday evening, the president threatened to cut U.S. funds to the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming that the international body "missed the call" on the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has, for the moment, ceased calling COVID-19 "the Chinese virus," but his latest targeting of World Health officials was another chance to lash out at Beijing. Saying the WHO is in cahoots with Chinese officials, and failed to catch the spreading virus in Wuhan, China. Trump has previously blamed China for the spread, arguing that American officials could have acted faster if China's government had better shared information about the outbreak.
Another favorite target for Trump is Sweden, and Tuesday he claimed the country was "suffering very greatly" due to its herd-immunity approach. Sweden's state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell was quick to respond, telling Swedish Television on Wednesday that we should "pay little attention to Trump's bravados," and that New York is in a much more dire situation than Sweden.
HOME FRONT
Trump's decision to hold daily press briefings is also a chance to both bash the media (a favorite target) but also individual U.S. states for the shortages of medical equipment and other difficulties in responding to the crisis.
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