President Donald Trump bemoaned the economic impact of the coronavirus at a Fox News virtual townhall Tuesday, saying the reaction to the disease was to “turn off the country.”
Trump also described his shock when advisors gave him their recommendations for handling the virus, particularly due to how well the economy was doing at the time. (RELATED: Germany Bans Meetings Of More Than Two People)
“They came in and they said to me, ‘sir, we’re gonna have to close the country,'” Trump said. “Are you serious about this? We are going to take this country that’s fully employed, where we have 160 million people working, and you’re telling me we have to close it?”
Our people want to return to work. They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2020
Trump’s comments came before he announced that his goal was to have the country back open by Easter, or April 12. (RELATED: VP Pence And Wife Test Negative For Coronavirus)
“We can socially distance ourselves and go to work, and you’ll have to work a little bit harder,” Trump said. “You can clean your hands five times more than you used to. You don’t have to shake hands anymore with people.”