House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a new name for the coronavirus — the “Trump virus.”
The California Democrat doubled down on the remark on Tuesday despite CNN’s Wolf Blitzer seemingly giving her a chance to clarify her rhetoric on the deadly contagion.
“I think with the president’s comments today [encouraging masks], he has recognized the mistakes that he has made by now embracing mask-wearing and the recognition this is not a hoax, it is a pandemic that has gotten worse before it will get better because of his inaction and, in fact, clearly, it is the Trump virus,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
“Well, what do you mean when you say the ’Trump virus’?” Mr. Blitzer replied.
“The Trump virus,” the congressman reiterated. “If he had said months ago, ’Let’s wear a mask, let’s socially distance,’ instead of having rallies or political whatever they were, then more people would have followed his lead. He’s the president of the United States, instead of being a bad example, making it like a manhood thing not to wear a mask.”
White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway cringed at the remark during a Fox interview Wednesday interview.
“I think it’s really disappointing to hear the speaker of the House – the highest-ranking woman in our nation’s government — call this the ’Trump virus’ and not the ’China virus,’” she told Martha MacCallum during an “America’s Newsroom” interview. “She’s hardly been a profile in courage on this virus all along. She’s the one encouraging people to go out into Chinatown in San Francisco. She trips over the poor homeless population in her own San Francisco, I guess, to make these silly appearances a couple [of] times a week.”
President Trump said Tuesday that wearing a mask is a good idea because they “have an effect, and we need everything we can get.”
Roughly 142,000 Americans have died due to the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China.
Speaker Pelosi on coronavirus:
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 22, 2020
“Clearly it is the ’Trump Virus’” pic.twitter.com/CdI42YJ2h4
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.