Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that the American people are tired of the media’s attacks on President Donald Trump and their campaign “to destroy” him “is pissing a lot of people off.”
Graham was referencing an exchange between Trump and reporters at Monday’s Coronavirus Task Force news conference where the president attacked the media for not giving credit to either himself or his team for managing the COVID-19 crisis.
Trump’s accusations are real, Graham told “Fox & Friends” when asked “Where does the truth lie?” (RELATED: Axios Founder Blames Trump, Rush Limbaugh And Fox News For ‘Spreading Nonsense’ About COVID-19)
“Well, number one, Mr. President, the American people understand what you’ve done for them,” Graham said. “And this effort to destroy Trump, no matter the cost to the country, is getting a bit old and is pissing a lot of people off.”
Graham said Trump has expertly managed the coronavirus pandemic in the United States because he “made four really important decisions to save American lives.”
The senator listed these decisions, beginning with Trump’s decision to “shut down travel to China and Europe in a way to keep hundreds of thousands of people being from being infected.” Graham’s second example was Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency “to give the country the tools to fight back: that was a major decision.” (RELATED: Gavin Newsom Praises Trump For Swift Action On Coronavirus)
The lawmaker continued, “He rejected the herd mentality of letting it run rampant through the country … a couple million people would have died if that had been the case.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman’s concluded his assessment of Trump’s coronavirus response by saying “the most important thing” that Trump has done was allowing the private sector to test and try to develop “drugs by giving FDA [Food and Drug Administration] waivers for therapies and vaccines to speed up the process.”
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 29, 2020. REUTERS/Al Drago
One of the results of this decision has been the availability of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for the potential treatment of the coronavirus.
“So I think the President has made really hard calls well, and we’re going to be well below the 100,000 minimum expected, and it’s due to his leadership and the American people working together,” Graham told Fox News.