Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed Monday that the media would have attacked President Donald Trump for overreach if he had closed things down earlier to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force, unintentionally spurred renewed criticisms when he told CNN’s Jake Tapper that — hypothetically speaking — earlier mitigation might have saved more lives. (RELATED: Our Reckless Media Isn’t Built For Anthony Fauci’s Careful Words)
Watters, during a segment of “The Five,” explored what he thought might have happened if Trump had implemented stricter measures earlier.
WATCH:
“Look at what the media’s perfect scenario would have been,” Watters began. “They would have said Donald Trump, in the middle of a Senate impeachment trial, should have sent the senators home to their districts to shelter in place. Donald Trump would have told all the voters of the country, don’t go to the polls in South Carolina on Super Tuesday, stay home and shelter in place?”
Watters went on to point out that many were suggesting that he should have taken action before there was even one coronavirus death on American soil.
“He would have said in February, before one person died, remember, first death March 1st, don’t go to Easter church services. You’re not going to be allowed to go,” Watters continued, asking, “Could you even imagine the reaction if Donald Trump would have done that in February? You can see the headline from the New York Times right now: ‘American Despotism.’ Right? And Donald Trump would have tweeted ‘Fake news’ and we will all would have had a big laugh about it.”
Watters concluded by pointing out that in those early days, no one had been calling for Trump to take more drastic action.
“They weren’t saying anything the whole month of February, they were talking about mini-Mike and whether he needed a platform to stand on in a debate,” he said. “That was not in the country’s head. So to go back and look at this and say, oh, would’ve, could’ve, should’ve, these are johnny-come-latelys.”