With Democrats and their media enablers now going to every length to politicize the Chinese virus COVID-19, using the pandemic as a club to beat President Trump over the head, Dr. Deborah L. Birx continues to be a voice of reason.
Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, went to bat for the president amid hysteria from New York’s Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo over talk of possibly quarantining his state, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus.
“I think Trump wanted the whole of America to know where the virus is and where it is expanding rapidly,” Dr. Birx said Saturday evening.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Justice with Judge Jeanine” after a “strong travel advisory” was settled on, instead of a quarantine, she noted that the coronavirus is “much more transmittable than flu” and warned that “we don’t think any city will be spared from this virus.”
Birx also explained the rationale behind the initial consideration for a quarantine of New York and the ultimate decision made.
“I think President Trump wanted all of America to know where the virus is and where it is expanding rapidly and really felt like everybody had to be aware and have a travel advisory,” she said. “I’ve been talking to the governors. It was clear the governors felt together that they could actually keep their people safe and at home, like they all have asked their people to shelter in place and keep themselves safe.”
Birx stressed that the president “wanted everyone to know where this virus is, so people would be aware if they’re going to travel to that area that that area had a very significant amount of COVID-19 or the coronavirus.”
“It’s really to make Americans aware about traveling to New York and also make it clear to the people in the area to protect themselves following the guidelines to really stay home and hunker down, stay at home and wash their hands and not touch their face,” she added.
As of early Sunday, there were 123,781 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., according to WorldOMeter, with nearly 54,000 confirmed cases in New York alone. The overall death toll in the U.S. is at 2,229, with 883 deaths in the city.
Earlier in the day Saturday, Trump said, “Some people would like to see New York quarantined because it’s a hotspot — New York, New Jersey maybe one or two other places, certain parts of Connecticut quarantined. I’m thinking about that right now.”
“We might not have to do it, but there’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine, short term — two weeks, for New York, probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut,” he added.
With the nation finding itself in uncharted waters, Trump was essentially thinking aloud in response to the “heavily infected” tri-state area.
In an appearance on CNN, Cuomo likened this consideration to a “civil war.”
“If you start walling off areas all across the country it would just be totally bizarre, counter-productive, anti-American, anti-social,” Cuomo said.
“This is a civil war kind of discussion,” he added, ramping up the hysteria. “I don’t believe that any administration could be serious about physical lockdowns of states.”
The real irony here being the Democratic governor expressed concern for the state’s economy as part of his opposition to the idea — the hair-on-fire media raked Trump over the coals for expressing similar concern for the U.S. economy.
“New York is the financial sector,” Cuomo said. “You geographically restrict a state, you would paralyze the financial sector.”
In the end, it turned out to be much ado over nothing, as the president announced in a tweet Saturday evening that there would be a strong travel advisory issued rather than a quarantine.
He tweeted: “On the recommendation of the White House CoronaVirus Task Force, and upon consultation with the Governor’s of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, I have asked the @CDCgov to issue a strong Travel Advisory, to be administered by the Governors, in consultation with the Federal Government. A quarantine will not be necessary. Full details will be released by CDC tonight. Thank you!”
….Federal Government. A quarantine will not be necessary. Full details will be released by CDC tonight. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2020
To the chagrin of the media, which is quick to portray the president as being reckless in his decision making in response to the national crisis, Trump’s actions continue to prove that he relies heavily on the advice of the experts around him.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
[email protected]
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
