Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Remarks by Trump, Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing, 04-16-2020
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 16, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
6:06 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Our nation is engaged in a historic battle against the invisible enemy. To win this fight, we have undertaken the greatest national mobilization since World War Two. And that’s exactly what it’s been.
We’ve marshaled every instrument of American power, and we’ve unleashed our most potent weapon of all: the courage of the American people.
These have been trying times. A cruel virus from a distant land has unfairly claimed thousands of precious American lives. To every citizen who has lost a cherished loved one: Your pain is our pain. We mourn as one national family. Our country has come together. We draw solace from the faith that God has received, and the departed — He has taken the departed into his eternal and loving embrace. They will never be forgotten.
{snip}
Governors will be empowered to tailor an approach that meets the diverse circumstances of their own states. Every state is very different. They’re all beautiful. We love them all. But they’re very, very different. If they need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that. And if they believe it is time to reopen, we will provide them the freedom and guidance to accomplish that task — and very, very quickly — depending on what they want to do.
{snip}
Please, Mike.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. The members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force today joined the President to meet with a bipartisan group of members of the House and of the Senate to get their counsel on the development of what the President unveiled to America’s governors this afternoon.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, what’s your message to those protesters we’re seeing — we saw a lot in Michigan, but in other states — that are saying that they are refusing to comply with the stay-at-home orders issued by governors and local officials? I mean, isn’t it important for everybody to go along with this as we go through these phases?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, they’ve been going through it a long time, Jon, and it’s been a tough process for people. You know, I told you this: There’s death and there’s problems in staying at home too. It’s not just, “Isn’t it wonderful to stay at home?” They’re having — they’re suffering. This country wasn’t built on that principle; it was built on an exact opposite principle, actually.
And I watched, in one particular state, where they were — they want to get back. They want to get back. They were very strict sanctions that were put on people; that was probably the most strict of all.
But, I just think the American people have been incredible. When you look at —
Q But would you urge those —
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, when you look at what they’ve done, when you look at what they’ve been through, when you look at all of the death and all of the problems and all of the sickness, when you look at what’s happened, I just think the American people have been incredible.
Q But would you urge those protesters to listen to local authorities?
THE PRESIDENT: I think they’re listening. I think they listen to me. They seem to be protesters that like me and respect this opinion. And my opinion is the same as just about all of the governors.
They all want to open. Nobody wants to stay shut, but they want to open safely. So do I. But we have large sections of the country right now that can start thinking about opening. There’ll be some mitigation and they’ll keep it going for a period of time — including masks, by the way — in areas that you wouldn’t even think.
I asked a question today. I said, “Why would they wear masks in Wyoming or Montana or North Dakota?” And that’s if somebody should come in from an area that isn’t so successful, in terms of what they’ve done.
So, that will be a governor’s choice, and we’ll have no problem with it.
Q Mr. President, you spoke this afternoon with your new congressional advisory groups — 32 bipartisan members of the House, 65 bipartisan members of the Senate — one of the big topics was the fact that the Small Business Association loan pot of $350 billion has hit the cap. It’s exhausted. There’s nothing moving on the $250 billion to replenish it.
What did you tell those bipartisan groups today about getting the move on to get some more money into the hands of small businesses?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. So, just for the viewers watching this or hearing you ask that question: “Exhausted” is a good thing, not a bad thing. It went quickly. It is so popular. The banks have been incredible, including 4,000 community banks. Four thousand. Most people didn’t know you had that many banks. Four thousand —
Q The bad thing is they still need a loan, though.
THE PRESIDENT: What they want is people want to keep this going. And we’re doing it to keep the small businesses open and to keep the workers paid. And we have a $250 billion request. The Democrats like it. The Republicans love it. And to be honest, I think it’s going to — something is going to be happening. I hope so, because this is a very popular program. It was really executed flawlessly.
The first day, they changed an application a little bit. There was — but when you look at what Bank of America did and what Wells Fargo did, and Citi and a lot of the banks — but when you ask —
Q So what’s the hold-up now?
THE PRESIDENT: — when you look at what all of the community banks did, it’s been really incredible.
Well, we’re negotiating with Democrats, and they should, frankly, approve it quickly. This is a great thing for our country. It’s a great thing for small business and for the workers. And we’re having a hard time getting them to approve it. I think it’s going to happen. It should happen really unanimously. But they’re trying to get things and we’re not too happy with what they’re trying to get.
Please, go ahead.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.
Q — when you see yourself getting back to campaigning then? I mean —
Q Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: This is — this is not campaigning. I want to make the country better. I don’t care about campaigning. This is — this is about making our country better. I think this team has been incredible, whether it’s Army Corps of Engineers, whether it’s FEMA.
One thing that happened on the call today that I noticed more than anything is Pete Gaynor. So many governors that, “I want to thank you.” Pete Gaynor called up. They had tornadoes in a big part of our country this weekend — this week. And they were all saying that he has been unbelievable. They called one after another. They were thanking us for — that’s FEMA. And they were thanking us.
No, I want to heal this country. This — this is a war. We’ve been through a war. We have an invisible, as opposed to a visible, enemy. I think, in many ways, the invisible enemy is much more dangerous, is much tougher.
In the G7 today, I went through country after country. We were there. We all get along great. Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe — Prime Minister of Japan — and all of them. And their — their countries have been devastated by this. Their economies have been devastated by this. A hundred and eighty-four countries all over the world.
And we went through one after another. And I was angry because it should have been told to us. It should have been told to us early. It should have been told to us a lot sooner. People knew it was happening, and people didn’t want to talk about it. I don’t know why, but we’re going to get to the bottom of it. But people should have —
Q Angry with China? Or — I mean —
THE PRESIDENT: People — I’m not saying anything. I’m saying people should have told us about this. They should have told the rest of the world too.
{snip}
END
7:19 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 16, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
6:06 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Our nation is engaged in a historic battle against the invisible enemy. To win this fight, we have undertaken the greatest national mobilization since World War Two. And that’s exactly what it’s been.
We’ve marshaled every instrument of American power, and we’ve unleashed our most potent weapon of all: the courage of the American people.
These have been trying times. A cruel virus from a distant land has unfairly claimed thousands of precious American lives. To every citizen who has lost a cherished loved one: Your pain is our pain. We mourn as one national family. Our country has come together. We draw solace from the faith that God has received, and the departed — He has taken the departed into his eternal and loving embrace. They will never be forgotten.
{snip}
Governors will be empowered to tailor an approach that meets the diverse circumstances of their own states. Every state is very different. They’re all beautiful. We love them all. But they’re very, very different. If they need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that. And if they believe it is time to reopen, we will provide them the freedom and guidance to accomplish that task — and very, very quickly — depending on what they want to do.
{snip}
Please, Mike.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. The members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force today joined the President to meet with a bipartisan group of members of the House and of the Senate to get their counsel on the development of what the President unveiled to America’s governors this afternoon.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, what’s your message to those protesters we’re seeing — we saw a lot in Michigan, but in other states — that are saying that they are refusing to comply with the stay-at-home orders issued by governors and local officials? I mean, isn’t it important for everybody to go along with this as we go through these phases?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, they’ve been going through it a long time, Jon, and it’s been a tough process for people. You know, I told you this: There’s death and there’s problems in staying at home too. It’s not just, “Isn’t it wonderful to stay at home?” They’re having — they’re suffering. This country wasn’t built on that principle; it was built on an exact opposite principle, actually.
And I watched, in one particular state, where they were — they want to get back. They want to get back. They were very strict sanctions that were put on people; that was probably the most strict of all.
But, I just think the American people have been incredible. When you look at —
Q But would you urge those —
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, when you look at what they’ve done, when you look at what they’ve been through, when you look at all of the death and all of the problems and all of the sickness, when you look at what’s happened, I just think the American people have been incredible.
Q But would you urge those protesters to listen to local authorities?
THE PRESIDENT: I think they’re listening. I think they listen to me. They seem to be protesters that like me and respect this opinion. And my opinion is the same as just about all of the governors.
They all want to open. Nobody wants to stay shut, but they want to open safely. So do I. But we have large sections of the country right now that can start thinking about opening. There’ll be some mitigation and they’ll keep it going for a period of time — including masks, by the way — in areas that you wouldn’t even think.
I asked a question today. I said, “Why would they wear masks in Wyoming or Montana or North Dakota?” And that’s if somebody should come in from an area that isn’t so successful, in terms of what they’ve done.
So, that will be a governor’s choice, and we’ll have no problem with it.
Q Mr. President, you spoke this afternoon with your new congressional advisory groups — 32 bipartisan members of the House, 65 bipartisan members of the Senate — one of the big topics was the fact that the Small Business Association loan pot of $350 billion has hit the cap. It’s exhausted. There’s nothing moving on the $250 billion to replenish it.
What did you tell those bipartisan groups today about getting the move on to get some more money into the hands of small businesses?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. So, just for the viewers watching this or hearing you ask that question: “Exhausted” is a good thing, not a bad thing. It went quickly. It is so popular. The banks have been incredible, including 4,000 community banks. Four thousand. Most people didn’t know you had that many banks. Four thousand —
Q The bad thing is they still need a loan, though.
THE PRESIDENT: What they want is people want to keep this going. And we’re doing it to keep the small businesses open and to keep the workers paid. And we have a $250 billion request. The Democrats like it. The Republicans love it. And to be honest, I think it’s going to — something is going to be happening. I hope so, because this is a very popular program. It was really executed flawlessly.
The first day, they changed an application a little bit. There was — but when you look at what Bank of America did and what Wells Fargo did, and Citi and a lot of the banks — but when you ask —
Q So what’s the hold-up now?
THE PRESIDENT: — when you look at what all of the community banks did, it’s been really incredible.
Well, we’re negotiating with Democrats, and they should, frankly, approve it quickly. This is a great thing for our country. It’s a great thing for small business and for the workers. And we’re having a hard time getting them to approve it. I think it’s going to happen. It should happen really unanimously. But they’re trying to get things and we’re not too happy with what they’re trying to get.
Please, go ahead.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.
Q — when you see yourself getting back to campaigning then? I mean —
Q Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: This is — this is not campaigning. I want to make the country better. I don’t care about campaigning. This is — this is about making our country better. I think this team has been incredible, whether it’s Army Corps of Engineers, whether it’s FEMA.
One thing that happened on the call today that I noticed more than anything is Pete Gaynor. So many governors that, “I want to thank you.” Pete Gaynor called up. They had tornadoes in a big part of our country this weekend — this week. And they were all saying that he has been unbelievable. They called one after another. They were thanking us for — that’s FEMA. And they were thanking us.
No, I want to heal this country. This — this is a war. We’ve been through a war. We have an invisible, as opposed to a visible, enemy. I think, in many ways, the invisible enemy is much more dangerous, is much tougher.
In the G7 today, I went through country after country. We were there. We all get along great. Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe — Prime Minister of Japan — and all of them. And their — their countries have been devastated by this. Their economies have been devastated by this. A hundred and eighty-four countries all over the world.
And we went through one after another. And I was angry because it should have been told to us. It should have been told to us early. It should have been told to us a lot sooner. People knew it was happening, and people didn’t want to talk about it. I don’t know why, but we’re going to get to the bottom of it. But people should have —
Q Angry with China? Or — I mean —
THE PRESIDENT: People — I’m not saying anything. I’m saying people should have told us about this. They should have told the rest of the world too.
{snip}
END
7:19 P.M. EDT
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
