Covid-19 is ‘the Trump virus,’ says US House speaker

Covid-19 is “the Trump virus,” says US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, asserting that President Donald Trump has “recognized the mistakes he has made.”

Trump has himself come up with various names for the virus, mostly in an attempt to blame China for the onset of the pandemic, calling it “the Kung Flu,” “the Wuhan virus” or simply “the Chinese virus.”

“Well, I think with the president’s comments today, he recognized the mistakes he has made by now embracing mask-wearing and the recognition this is not a hoax. It is a pandemic that has gotten worse before it will get better because of his inaction,” she said. “In fact, clearly, it is the Trump virus.”

The House speaker was, however, targeting Trump due to his refusal to call for wearing masks and calling covid-19 “a hoax.”

“We’re approaching 4 million. We’re approaching 4 million people infected, people affected by this, infected by it, and a large number, like 140,000, who have passed away. If it’s important to wear a mask now. It would have been important to wear it in March instead of telling us that by April we would all be going to church together. I wish that were the case, but he had no scientific basis for that,” Pelosi said. “If they don’t return to science and governance — and that’s a way that we can overcome this. We have hope and prayers for a vaccine. God willing that will be soon. But it is still months away, and people will die. So let’s hope that the president comes closer to embracing the reality of this pandemic, this Trump virus.”

Trump shifted his stance on the pandemic Tuesday by holding the first White House press briefing focused on the pandemic since April and acknowledging that the virus is here to stay for now.