During a Sunday press conference that was called to address the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Donald Trump said that the government has "tremendous control" over the situation, which is a narrative that's hard to buy.
Trump's opening leg of the presser seemed to harp on that subject, as well as talking about how the Federal Reserve will try to protect the U.S. economy from the pandemic's effects. In a statement that did seem to provide some instruction that you should consider, he echoed the concerns of business leaders he claimed to have spoken to (including heads of Target, Campbell's and Costco) by advising people to stop panic-buying food/supplies. The stores won't run out if everybody just relaxes, but otherwise it'll become a crisis of our own making.
“They have asked me to say, ‘Could you buy a little bit less please.’” Trump said of those retailers. “I thought I would never hear that from a retailer.”
Earlier in the address he said “You don’t have to buy so much. Take it easy. Relax.”
Despite past statements from the administration that things were fine and coverage was overblown, a national emergency was declared this past Friday, with $50 billion being freed up for people affected.
The president's assurance that the government has "tremendous control" over the virus was undercut just hours before the press conference, when Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC's This Week that things will get worse before they get better.
All you have to do to disagree that the disease's spread throughout the U.S. is something the government has "tremendous control over" is read just about anything else on the subject. From the cancellation of pretty much all sports, to the closure of schools, to the increasing restriction on any place where public gatherings may take place, you, like these people, may be skeptical that there's any semblance of containment at the moment:
