During Friday’s daily briefing on the constantly-evolving circumstances around coronavirus, President Donald Trump once again angered his critics with an off-hand and seemingly inappropriate joke about models. The president has regularly come under fire over his handling of the pandemic, including his remarks and actions during briefings such as these.
“Thousands of people are going to die,” Trump said at one point. “You know what I wanna do? I wanna come way under the models,” referring to the numerous projections about how the virus could continue to spread. “The professionals did the models, I was never involved in a model. At least this kind of a model. But, you know what, hundreds of thousands of people, they say they’re gonna die. I wanna come under that.”
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As of Friday, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. have jumped to 275,586 as of Friday with 7,087 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, people were less than thrilled with the joke. Some have even recently rallied behind the call for doctors-only press conferences, in hopes that they would present viewers with necessary facts to stay safe and healthy during the ordeal.
Of course, they took to Twitter to let their feelings be known.
Trump riffs on “models”. pic.twitter.com/YEPiATQD7D
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 3, 2020
Did he just say what I think he said??????
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) April 3, 2020
On Thursday, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner took the podium during the briefing, which led to quite a few people questioning why he was fielding questions and not a medical professional or duly-elected official.
OH MY FUCKING GOD.
— Elizabeth C. McLaughlin 🩸🦷 (@ECMcLaughlin) April 3, 2020
Trump says “the models say 100,000 people could die. I’ve never been involved in the model. At least not *that* kind of model.”
He’s cracking jokes about banging supermodels in the same breath as talking about a six figure death count.
REMOVE HIM.
Today is the deadliest day so far: more than 1,300 Americans have died – nearly 7,500 in all.
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) April 3, 2020
Trump is joking about models.
Tiny hands covered in American blood. https://t.co/ob55w5Rgbb
“What the president asks is that all of the recommendations we make be based on data,” Kushner said at one point. “He wanted us to be very rigorous, to make sure we were studying the data, collecting data. A lot of things in this country are happening very quickly, and we want to make sure that we’re trying to keep updating our models and making sure that we were making informed decisions and informed recommendations based on the data that we’re able to collect and put together.”
Trump slips in a joke about banging a model into his discussion of mass mortality.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 3, 2020
“The professionals did the models. I was never involved in the models. At least *this* type of model.” — Donald J. Trump, joking about his flings with models, during a #COVID19 presser
— Johnathan S. Perkins (@JohnathanPerk) April 3, 2020
Nothing reassures the public like the president reminding us about his extramarital flings.
Outside the coronavirus briefing, Trump also rubbed a number of people the wrong way after he’d admitted to taking a second coronavirus test out of “curiosity,” despite the overwhelming shortages in many parts of the country.
Trump made an off color joke about being associated with models while he was blatting about 200,000 Americans dying.
— TatergatorUnbound🐊 (@tatergator4021) April 3, 2020
That’s your President, you MAGA hogs,.
Idiots 4 days ago: “Trump is displaying a much more serious tone here. I think he finally gets it.”
— Dick the Nick (@NickyFranchise4) April 3, 2020
Trump today: “I fuck models just so everybody knows.” https://t.co/NVLHJ8j7Mw
“This morning, the President was tested again for COVID-19, utilizing a new, rapid point-of-care test capability,” White House physician Sean Conely wrote in a memorandum. “He is healthy and without symptoms. Sample collection took just one minute, and results were reported back in 15 minutes. The President tested negative for COVID-19.”
People are dying, there is a shortage of medical supplies because the federal government refuses to help, and Trump is bragging about his sexual exploits with models
— Grad School Social Distancer (@darinself) April 3, 2020
Today is the deadliest day so far: more than 1,300 Americans have died – nearly 7,500 in all.
— James Eret (@Lordjim48My) April 3, 2020
Trump is joking about models.
Tiny hands covered in American blood.
“I think I took it really out of curiosity to see how quickly it worked and fast it worked,” Trump told reporters. “I’ve done them both. And the second one is much more pleasant … I can tell you that.”
**White House Press Conference**
— ecurrencyhodler (@ecurrencyhodler) April 3, 2020
Reporter: Can you tell us if the models for the Corona Virus have changed?
Trump: I can’t say. I don’t have any experience with models
Me: My God. He’s going to say it isn’t he?
Trump:…at least not with these kind of models.
Me: 🤦♂️
Just a reminder that less than an hour ago Trump cracked a joke about fucking models during a televised press briefing on the deadly pandemic sweeping across the country and killing thousands of Americans.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) April 3, 2020
On Friday, Trump also announced that the CDC was now recommending that people do wear face masks when venturing out for essential goods. While this was previously discouraged by the administration, there is new evidence that a high number of people infected with COVID-19 could be asymptomatic.
