U.S. President Donald Trump defended on Wednesday his remarks in an earlier interview that he wanted to downplay the coronavirus threat to the U.S. public, arguing that he is a cheerleader for the country and did not want to create panic.
I wanted to always play it down, I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic, Trump told Bob Woodward, author and associate editor of The Washington Post, in an interview on March 19, according to revelations in Woodward's new book Rage, reports Xinhua.
Facing criticisms following reported revelations in the book, which is due for publication this month, Trump insisted he was right to keep his concerns about the pandemic private.
We don't want to instill panic, we don't want to jump up and down and start shouting that we have a problem that is a tremendous problem, scare everybody, Trump told reporters at the White House, we had to show calm.
The fact is I'm a cheerleader for this country, I love our country, Trump said. And I don't want people to be frightened, I don't want to create panic, as you say. Certainly, I'm not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy.
Trump said he downplayed the threat of the virus also because he didn't want pricing to go up to a level that becomes almost unaffordable.
The president dismissed the reports of his own remarks as another political hit job.