As the number of coronavirus infections soars in the United States, Donald Trump has defended his claims that the disease will eventually "disappear". He also said he was opposed to the idea of imposing the wearing of masks at the national level.
"I'll be right in the end. You know, I said, "It will go away." I will say it again, "said the President in an interview with Fox News Sunday, broadcast on Sunday. "It will go away and I will be right," he insisted.
More than 60,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the country in 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University count on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to about 3.7 million.
For the American president, "many of these cases (the new ones, note) are young people who would heal in one day". "They have a runny nose and we count it as a test (...). Many of these cases should not even be cases, "he said, explaining the disparity in figures with Europe, where the number of infections has dropped sharply, by the number of tests. “They don't screen. They do not track, "he said.
As for the death rate, the president said his country had "one of the lowest rates, possibly the lowest in the world," which some experts dispute.
Would he consider asking to wear the mask at the national level to try to stem the pandemic, when several cities and states made it compulsory in public places? "No, I want people to have some freedom (...) and I don't agree with the claim that if everyone puts on a mask everything is going to disappear," he replied.
The Republican billionaire is very reluctant to wear a mask and has only appeared once in public with this protection.
"Before," everyone was saying "don’t put on a mask", suddenly everyone has to wear a mask, and as you know masks cause problems too. Having said that, I believe in masks. I think masks are good, ”he said.
The United States has so far deplored 140,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
"Your ignorance is not a virtue »
His rival, Democratic candidate for the White House Joe Biden, sharply attacked these new statements by Mr. Trump. "When we talk about coronavirus, we must not believe a word of what it says," said former Barack Obama vice president in a statement.
“Mr. President, your ignorance is not a virtue or a sign of your strength. It undermines our response to this unprecedented crisis and costs Americans their jobs and their lives, ”he added. "It is high time for President Trump to listen to someone other than himself on how to fight the virus, because after six months of deadly mismanagement, it is starting to become even more out of control, ”he concluded.