Trump Says We’re “Very Ready” for CoVid-19 Coronavirus

President Trump held a press conference on Wednesday to discuss America’s response to a potential coronavirus outbreak. He did his best to alleviate the widespread hysteria that’s sweeping the country.

“We’re very, very ready for this, for anything, whether it is going to be a breakout of larger proportions or whether or not we’re at that very low level,” Trump told reporters, “The risk to the American people remains very low.”

Trump said Vice President Mike Pence would lead the federal response to the virus. He said Pence would be working in coordination with a team of doctors and advisers that will help coordinate the U.S.’s containment efforts.

Pence took the pulpit to update the press on the latest efforts. “In recent days, the White House met with over 40 state, county, and city health officials from over 30 states and territories to discuss how to respond to this potential threat of the coronavirus,” Pence said, “We’ll be working with them in renewed ways to make sure they have the resources to be able to respond.“

CDC Press Conference Stokes Widespread Fear

The press conference came just a day after CDC officials warned that it expects the coronavirus to spread in the U.S. and that it could result in a potential pandemic.

According to the Wall Street Journal, President Trump was angered by the CDC’s statement. The CDC seemed intent on promoting fear rather than quelling it, and it’s easy to see why he may have seen the comments as counter-productive. Trump had been trying to project confidence that the number of U.S. cases would be limited and that the virus would be relatively contained.

No matter what he does, this president seems to meet resistance on every front. For conservatives, It’s no surprise that the CDC predicted a possible pandemic while Trump was trying to keep the public calm. It seems like there are legions of unelected federal bureaucrats waiting to jump on any opportunity to make this President’s job more difficult.

Democrats Criticize U.S. Response

Democrats can never pass up an opportunity to criticize Trump either, so several seized the chance to cast a negative light on the federal response. As usual, the left side of the aisle is using the crisis as leverage to push for more spending.

The Dems pointed out that the White House’s recent budget proposal includes significant cuts to the CDC and HHS, two agencies that are overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus. Lawmakers also criticized the administration’s emergency response package, which is currently being negotiated on Capitol Hill.

Negotiations on a possible funding package for the country’s coronavirus response began on Wednesday. However, the Trump administration’s proposal for a $2.5 billion response wasn’t enough for some lawmakers.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) said that negotiations will continue, but that more money is needed to fight a potential crisis. “We will make sure that we’ve got the resources without any doubt,” he said.

Some Democrats are pushing to more than triple the figure proposed by the White House. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) put in a proposal for an extravagant $8.5 billion emergency spending package on Wednesday. However, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said he predicts the revised funding package would be closer to $4 billion.

President Trump doesn’t seem to be worried about the emergency funding package one way or the other. He said he’d let congress set the amount and, whatever it is, “we’ll take it.”

There’s no way Trump can satisfy the left. If he said the virus was a huge problem and threw billions at prevention programs, the Democrats would say he is overreacting. He tried to keep calm and project confidence, so the left-wingers and deep-state bureaucrats are pushing the other way.