The United States is the worst-hit country by the pandemic with over a million cases and over 73,000 deaths and counting. Speaking to the press, President Donald Trump described the pandemic as being worse than the attack on Pearl Harbor or 9/11.
BBC reports that Trump spoke to journalists at the Oval Office Wednesday. The President stated that the pandemic was the worst attack that the United States had ever seen. Trump even compared the pandemic to the attack on Pearl Harbor and 9/11. “This is the worst attack we’ve ever had. This is worse than Pearl Harbor, this is worse than the World Trade Center. There’s never been an attack like this,” said Trump.
Trump then noted that the coronavirus outbreak could have been stopped, pinning the blame on China for not containing the pandemic properly. “Could’ve been stopped at the source. Could’ve been stopped in China. It should have been stopped right at the source. And it wasn’t.”
When asked whether the virus was an act of war, Trump instead said that the outbreak was America’s enemy, rather than China. He explained that he viewed the pandemic as an invisible enemy. The Trump administration has often criticized China for failure to contain the virus when it first broke out in Wuhan, China back in December 2019. Trump believed that the virus originated in a Wuhan lab, further echoed by his aides, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
However, the Chinese state government in Beijing responded that this was the US trying to distract the public from their own failure to act quickly. The Trump administration has since been criticized on both sides for their delayed response to the virus.
Meanwhile, Trump is keen on reviving the country’s economy as it is partially tied to his chances of reelection. The coronavirus has caused the stock market to crash resulting in the country’s worst economic state in decades, and lawmakers scrambled to develop a stimulus plan. The pandemic has caused many Americans to get laid off and the unemployment data that will be turned in within the week appears to suggest that the country is in for an economic slump.
Major companies, such as GE, Airbnb, and United Airlines have since announced layoffs of thousands of positions.