Today Trump Slammed China Over COVID-19 Transparency, In January, he Lauded Them

During Tuesday’s coronavirus press briefing Donald Trump took aim at people, organizations and countries who he felt made the pandemic worse for the United States. This included the World Health Organization. He announced that he would be cutting funding for the specialized agency.

The President also had sever vitriol for China, where the disease originated. While he slammed the country this week, he had tweeted its praises back in January.

A furious Trump lamented that the WHO had failed to spot China’s lack of transparency earlier. He told reporters, “Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into china to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death.”

The President also boasted that his “travel ban” on China had saved “thousands and thousands of lives.” According to a New York Post report, over 430,000 people have traveled from China into the United States since COVID-19 first surfaced.

Trump’s rhetoric on China’s transparency on the virus was far different back in late January. In a now deleted tweet, the President wrote, “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi.”

Did Trump just say he never praised China's transparency in their handling of the crisis? pic.twitter.com/QNB1fR3beM

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) April 14, 2020