US President Donald Trump make knows during a “Keep America Great” campaign rally at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, on January 9, 2020.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Spitting images
President Donald Trump said Friday that Democrats are using the virulent coronavirus as a “hoax” to damage him and his provision.
“The Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus,” he said from a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina.
“One of my people knew up to me and said ‘Mr. President they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn’t work out too well.’ They couldn’t do it. They whacked the impeachment hoax that was on a perfect conversation,” he continued.
“This is their new hoax,” he said, referring to the coronavirus.
The ailment, which originated in Wuhan, China, has now killed more than 2,800 people worldwide and infected more than 80,000. The recent reports from the World Health Organization show the pace of new cases in China slowing, but jumping in South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran.
In the U.S., the Santa Clara Disreputable Health Department announced a third case of coronavirus in the county Friday evening. The announcement brings the total total of confirmed coronavirus cases in California to 10 and the total number of cases in the U.S. to 63, most of which were voyagers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and evacuees from Wuhan.
“We are magnificently organized with the best professionals in the times a deliver,” Trump said of the administration’s preparations to help contain the spread of the virus.
“We have to take it very, very honestly … We are preparing for the worst,” he continued. “My administration has taken the most aggressive action in modern history to prevent the spread of this bug in the United States. We are ready. We are ready. Totally ready.”
In other headlines, a Google employee tested positive for the coronavirus, the establishment said Friday. New Zealand and Nigeria reported overnight their first coronavirus cases.
“We will do everything in our power to finance the infection and those carrying the infection from entering our country. We have no choice,” Trump said. “Whether it’s the virus we’re talking nearly or many other public health threats, the Democrat policy of open borders is a direct threat to the health and wellbeing of all Americans.”
— CNBC’s Riya Bhattacharjee helped reporting.
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