Friday afternoon, Donald Trump again addressed the ongoing issue with coronavirus. He'd previously addressed the nation in a televised address on Wednesday night, where he sketched out a number of policies, some of which were clarified (or corrected) in today's address from the White House Rose Garden. He also announced he'd be enacting the Stafford Act, enabling him to increase funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also known as FEMA.
"To unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency," Trump said. "Two very big words. 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."
Given that the Trump administration's approach to coronavirus has come under criticism in recent weeks, today was no exception. In particular, people have been openly critical of the fact that, after declaring a national emergency, the president brought out a number of corporate CEOs as part of the address.
It didn't take long before those criticisms found their way onto Twitter, believing the move was a bizarre edition to what should have been a serious matter.
Veteran and outspoken Trump critic Jon Zal accused the president of mishandling a pandemic.
Physician and lecturer Dr. Jack Brown pointed out that the whole ordeal felt like a hollowed-out commercial.
Comedian Noel Casler, meanwhile, jokingly wondered why there weren't more CEOs in the Rose Garden.
Pollster Matt McDermott was in utter disbelief at what he was witnessing.
Along with many others, author Derek Cressman observed that the whole thing looked like an obvious publicity stunt -- and spoke to Trump's ulterior motives.
Others, like journalist John R. Stanton, just outwardly ridiculed Trump's decision outright.