Booker: Trump ‘Putting People’s Lives at Risk’ by Denying Severity of Coronavirus

Wednesday on MSNBC, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) accused President Donald Trump of putting people’s lives at risk by “denying the severity” of the coronavirus outbreak.

Anchor Ari Melber said, “Let’s begin with what many viewers have just seen, which was a presentation by the president making all kinds of arguments including continuing to hype or float the idea of getting back to normal soon and his own experts at that very podium, the ones you’ve been hearing from in Congress as well, who seem to be trying to condition all of us for a long and careful road ahead. Your view, your reaction.”

Booker said, “Well, again, you said it, we need to be looking at science and data and not looking at wishful thinking. We need leaders that can speak in a sober manner and a candid way to folks. We know, looking at other countries, there has not been another country that has suddenly just come out of this in a matter of weeks. Even Wuhan still has many people in China under some sense of lockdown or some sense of sheltering in place or social distancing. So we have to be candid with folks and deal with what’s coming.”

He continued, “Now, the challenge for me as a senator from New Jersey, a state that has the second most cases, the state that is in the New York metropolitan area, is that we do not have the resources right now. There’s a lot of heroic actions going on from our governor to hospital officials to expand capacity, but we need more help and support from the federal government.”

He added, “And to have a president who is standing in the most powerful position in the land, whose not only not using his power like the Defense Production Act, but is actually denying the severity of what we’re facing, it’s unacceptable, and it’s putting people’s lives at risk. We must get more ventilators, more protective equipment, and do more to support our hospitals. I’m very grateful about the bill that I hope we’ll be voting on very soon in the United States Senate. But dear God, this is a time for leadership, for strong leaders to step forward, take responsibility for what’s going on in our nation, and provide real direction and solutions to help to make sure we protect people.”

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