MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough claimed Wednesday that everyone but President Donald Trump had seen the coronavirus pandemic coming “in early January.”
Scarborough made the statement on “Morning Joe,’ saying in response to claims that no one could have seen this coming, “Everybody saw this coming, everybody saw this coming in early January.” (RELATED: Flashback: Scientists Warned That Bats And Chinese Wet Markets Could Foster The Next Pandemic — In 2013)
WATCH:
Scarborough on Trump and the Coronavirus: Unlike him, “Everybody saw this coming in early January” pic.twitter.com/rB2ZZNgzb6
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 1, 2020
But as some were quick to point out, even Scarborough himself wasn’t talking about coronavirus in early January.
Brazen lie from @JoeNBC.@Morning_Joe did not mention the coronavirus until Jan 24, when a guest said “we don’t need to be overly concerned yet in the U.S.” and “Americans [should] take this as a wake up call for seasonal flu.”
Joe himself didn’t mention coronavirus until Feb 7 https://t.co/qECFnUBBJg
— Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) April 1, 2020
The first mention of coronavirus on “Morning Joe” did, in fact, come on January 24 — when cohost Mika Brzezinski read a news report out of China after the 26th death was reported in Wuhan.
The topic received just a few minutes of coverage that day, at which point the conversation returned to Trump’s impeachment trial.
WATCH:
Just ten days earlier, the Chinese government was still pushing the narrative, aided by the World Health Organization, that the novel coronavirus was not transmissible from person to person.
Scarborough did give Trump credit for extending the social distancing guidelines, saying that it was likely to keep many Americans safer.