briefings are the new rallies
Trump airs campaign-style video praising his response to COVID-19 during daily briefing
President Trump lashed out at the media during Monday's coronavirus briefing, brushing aside criticism as he touted his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the weekend, The New York Times published an article detailing how Trump was warned about the potential for a pandemic in January but failed to fully comprehend the severity of what was to come. In response, Trump took time out of his daily coronavirus briefing to play a campaign-style video praising his response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, which as of Monday night has left more than 23,000 people dead.
The video was accusatory in some parts, claiming at one point that "the media minimized the risk from the start," and congratulatory in others, with clips of governors applauding Trump's response to the pandemic. Trump said the video was put together by White House social media director Dan Scavino and other staffers shortly before the briefing.
Trump had several testy exchanges with reporters during Monday's briefing, and was on the defensive throughout, declaring that in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, "everything we did was right."