White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is being questioned on President Donald Trumpâs messaging amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As Meadows was asked about the pandemic, CBSâ John Dickerson noted that the president âseems to be rowing in the opposite direction of his health experts,â specifically noting âcontradictingâ messages Trump has made on Twitter in contrast to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
âWhy is his message on this so different than what his public health officials ?â Dickerson asked during Sundayâs âFace the Nationâ interview. âShouldnât they be in line?â
However, Meadows pushed back, saying that Trumpâs messages are not different than public health officials. He went on in his defense to note the daily press briefings on the coronavirus response returning.
When Meadows turned to testing, Dickerson interjected, adding, âTesting is important. Testing has to take place.â
Dickerson continued, âThe president being in a debate with Dr. Fauci doesnât get people focused on what you listen to all of his public health experts saying on all the other channels. The presidentâs got his channel. On the other channels you have health officials telling people wear masks.â
The White House chief of staff then added, âThe facts are this, as we continue to test, we continue to look at areas that we need to be concerned about. Nursing homes, long term care, those that have three comorbidities.â
âWeâre finding more and more asymptomatic people. But the real result is weâre not going to test our way out of this,â Meadows added. âWeâve got to get a therapeutic, weâve got to make sure that we have a treatment and weâre making great progress.â
Watch Meadowsâ interview below:
Dickerson did not back down as he continued to press Meadows, saying, âThere is no better megaphone in the country than the president,â adding, âThe things heâs concerned about donât seem to be the same things his public health officials are concerned about.â
Meadows, however, declared that he does not âagree with your characterization there.â
Recently, Trump sparked controversy when he promoted a video with a false claim about a âcureâ for COVID-19 and that suggested, âYou donât need a mask.â The president also reposted a tweet that accused Fauci of misleading the American public.
Fauci, however, brushed it off, previously saying during a âGood Morning Americaâ interview, âI donât know how to address that. Iâm just going to certainly continue doing my job.â
