Dem Sen. Murphy: Trump Was More of an ‘Apologist’ for China Than W.H.O.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said that the World Health Organization was “too cozy with China” in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, but President Trump “was the chief apologist for China’s early reaction to the virus.” And it is “hard to understand how the W.H.O. would have come out and contradicted Donald Trump in January and February. Because the United States is its chief patron, the W.H.O.’s biggest donor.”

Murphy stated that the U.S. has “to be part of a global effort here. Because even if we do significantly turn the corner in the United States, if it still exists in Africa or in Brazil, we are still at risk. And then, we have to develop a vaccine. And right now, we are not part of the global organizations that are working on the vaccine. That means if we don’t find it first, if one of those global organizations does, we don’t have a seat at the table to make sure that we get our share of it. And then, you’re right, that the W.H.O. was too cozy with China in those early days. But nobody was cozier with China in January and February than Donald Trump. He was the chief apologist for China’s early reaction to the virus. And frankly, it’s kind of hard to understand how the W.H.O. would have come out and contradicted Donald Trump in January and February. Because the United States is its chief patron, the W.H.O.’s biggest donor. So, we have to remember that nothing the W.H.O. was saying was as friendly and as apologist as the things that Donald Trump was saying about China.”

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