President Donald Trump said coronavirus testing in the United States is so much more effective than testing in other countries that it makes it look “like we have more cases.”
Trump’s comment came Monday after a Saturday rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at which he said he told his administration to “slow down” COVID-19 testing. He’s since faced backlash, mainly from Democrats, as a reported 120,000 deaths have occurred nationwide related to the virus.
Our Coronavirus testing is so much greater (25 million tests) and so much more advanced, that it makes us look like we have more cases, especially proportionally, than other countries. My message on that is very clear!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020
“You know testing is a double-edged sword. Here’s the bad part … when you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people — you’re going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down please,” Trump said at his rally in Tulsa on Saturday night.
However, after contradicting claims between Trump and health officials, it’s unclear if testing was slowed down or sped up at the time, CNN reported.
“Come on now, that was tongue in cheek. That was a light moment for him at a rally,” White House Trade and Manufacturing Adviser Peter Navarro told CNN on Sunday.
Another official said Trump was frustrated by press coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reported. (RELATED: Oklahoma Health Official Worried About Trump Rally During COVID-19 Pandemic)
“What you heard from the President was frustration — frustration in the sense of that we are testing, I believe we’ve tested over 25 million Americans. We’ve tested more than any other country in this world,” acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf told CBS on Sunday. “Instead, the press and others, all they want to focus on is an increasing case count.”
Over the weekend, 23 states saw an increase in positive test results, eight states saw an increase in new cases and 18 states saw a decline in new cases, according to Johns Hopkins data.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.