Donald Trump Late to Tuesday Coronavirus Briefing, and Social Media Sounds Off

President Donald Trump showed up late to Tuesday's coronavirus briefing, which, like much of his [...]

By Christian Long

President Donald Trump showed up late to Tuesday's coronavirus briefing, which, like much of his handling of the pandemic, has landed him a wave of criticism online. While the president did recently extend social distancing guidelines, he has repeatedly been accused of minimizing the threat of the virus and his being tardy hasn't reassured any of his critics.

Yesterday, during a press conference in The White House Rose Garden, Trump came under fire for both spending time talking about his hair as well as trotting out a number of CEOs to speak about the crisis. This included MyPillow boss Mike Lindell, which was widely lauded on social media as well. He similarly trotted out a number of high-profile CEOs on March 13, which was the day he declared coronavirus as a national emergency and came under fire for that, as well.

Given the increasing number of confirmed cases in the U.S., which currently stands at 163,539, according to The CDC, his inability to begin on time left many feeling frustrated. Especially in a time where people are anxious to return to normal. Of course, they took to Twitter to vent their feelings about the ordeal.

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Trump first declared coronavirus a National Emergency on March 13, to, in his words, "unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency."

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"Two very big words," the president continued. "The action I am taking will open up access to $50 billion... for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease."

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Less than a week after the declaration, a photographer spotted that Trump had crossed out the word "corona" in coronavirus, and replaced it to read "Chinese virus," a phrase he has been lauded for using.

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"It comes from China," Trump said about his reasoning. He went on to claim that the phrase "is not racist at all" and calls it that because he wants "to be accurate."

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Trump bringing Lindell to the podium yesterday also cost him the support of veteran sports radio host Mike Francesa.

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"You get the guys in the metropolitan area and ask the cops in New York if it's right, right now," Francesca said on WFAN. "Ask the firemen in New York who are answering those police calls, answering those ambulance calls if it's right, right now. Ask the nurses and the doctors in the hospital if it's right, right now. They know it's not. They don't have the supplies they need. So don't give me the My Pillow guy doing a song and dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens!"

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