The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
March 18, 2020

Rewriting History, Trump Says "I've Always Known" About Pandemic
----------------------------------------------------------------

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had "always known" that the
coronavirus outbreak was a pandemic, contradicting dozens of public
statements he's made since January downplaying the threat of the virus.

President Donald Trump: "I've always known this is a - this is a real -
this is a pandemic. I've felt it was a pandemic long before it was
called a pandemic." 

In previous weeks, Trump said his administration had shut down the
virus; suggested people sick with the virus could go to work; said the
virus would "miraculously" go away in April; said the numbers were
"going to get progressively better"; and tweeted, "The risk is low to
the average American." Trump has falsely claimed, "Anybody that wants a
test can get a test."


.