- The Washington Times - Sunday, June 21, 2020

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro defended President Trump’s comments about testing on Sunday, saying his remarks at the rally were made in a “light moment.”

“Come on now Jake [Tapper], you know that was tongue-in-cheek,” Mr. Navarro said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I know that was tongue-in-cheek … come on, it was a light moment.”

Mr. Navarro said that the president takes the pandemic and the death toll “absolutely seriously.”

At his rally in Tulsa on Saturday evening, Mr. Trump defended his performance and said widespread testing is making him look bad.

“You’re gonna find more people, you’re gonna find more cases. I said to my people, ’Slow the testing down, please,’” he said.

Mr. Trump faced a wave of backlash and criticism for holding the crowded rally without social distancing despite cases of COVID-19 still rising the country.

The U.S. has tested over 25 million people for the coronavirus. There are more than 2.2 million confirmed cases and about 120,000 deaths in the country, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.

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