New report says Jared Kushner had been been telling Trump the media was exaggerating the crisis.
In the early weeks of the outbreak Trump attempted to downplay the severity of the illness, comparing it to the common flu, describing it as a "hoax" concocted by Democrats at a campaign rally in February, and assuring Americans that the outbreak would "disappear."
He was reportedly furious about stark warnings made by health officials about the likely negative impact of the disease, and blamed them for spooking financial markets as he geared up his reelection campaign.
According to The Times, Kushner — who has reportedly been playing a key role in the US response to the outbreak — had been telling the president around this time that the media was exaggerating the threat posed by the virus.
Trump has repeatedly sought to blame the media for exaggerating the crisis, echoing what Kushner was reportedly telling him, and as recently as last week blamed the "fake news media" for seeking to "inflame the CoronaVirus [sic] situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant."
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-downplayed-coronavirus-threat-early-142827096.html
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