CNN anchor Chris Cuomo attacked President Donald Trump for spreading “bulls**t” on coronavirus Tuesday, but the clip he aired cut out half of what Trump actually said.
Cuomo focused in on comments Trump made during Tuesday’s coronavirus press conference — namely that he was “a cheerleader for the country” and that he didn’t “want to create havoc and shock and everything else.” (RELATED: ‘Beating Me Like A Pinata’: Chris Cuomo Says Chills From Coronavirus Fever Left Him With A Chipped Tooth)
He then cut away to suggest that was proof that Trump was lying to the public in order to make them feel better.
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“That was the most asinine statement of leadership I have ever heard,” Cuomo said. “And I can’t even dismiss it on the president having a 102 fever like I do. That’s clear thinking from him — I’m a cheerleader, so, I’m going to lie to you about the realities that your parents, your loved ones and your kids face.”
“I’m not going to prepare the way I should because it reinforces the bulls**t I’m telling you, and I’m going to hope that you’re okay with it,” Cuomo continued. “We have to do better than that. This president must do better than that. The good news is, he can. The bad news is, he refuses to.”
But amid the comments in the clip Cuomo shared, President Trump detailed the moves he had made in late January — while many public officials‘ were still encouraging Americans to go out and attend large public events — and Cuomo made no mention of that. The only indication that the clip was edited at all was a quick flash between Trump’s comments.
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“I am a cheerleader for this country. I don’t want to create havoc and shock and everything else,” Trump began, giving the comment from the beginning of Cuomo’s clip.
“But ultimately, when I was saying that, I’m also closing it down,” Trump went on to make a comment omitted by Cuomo’s video. “I obviously was concerned about it because I closed down our country to China, which was heavily infected. I then closed it down to Europe. That’s a big move, closing it down from China and then closing it down from Europe and ultimately closing it down to the U.K. It was right about that time.”
And Cuomo’s clip picked up again as Trump continued, “But I’m not going to go out and start screaming that this could happen, this could happen.”
Trump’s conclusion was also left out of Cuomo’s clip: “So again, as president, I think a president has to be a cheerleader for their country. But at the same time I am cheerleading, I’m also closing down a very highly infected place, specifically the location as you know in China that had the problems. We’re closing it down, but we closed it down to all of China, then we closed it down to all of Europe. Those were big moves.”