3:22 p.m. ET, June 23, 2020
Witnesses do not raise their hands when asked if they agree with Trump’s past assertion of Covid-19
Rep. Peter Welch speaks to the witnesses.
Pool
During his questioning of the witnesses, Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, asked the US health experts to raise their hands if they agreed with past statements made by President Trump about the Covid-19 pandemic.
When asked if they agreed with Trump's comments from
February that the virus would disappear "like a miracle," all four witnesses did not raise their hands.
When asked if they agreed with Trump's past assertions that the virus was comparable to the "common flu," Dr. Anthony Fauci, responded, "It is not the common flu."
Aside from Fauci, Dr. Robert Redfield, from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Brett Giroir, from US Department of Health and Human Services and Dr. Stephen Hahn, from the Food and Drug Administration are testifying today before the House on the Trump administration's response on the coronavirus pandemic.
What Trump has said: At the coronavirus
briefing on Feb. 26, Trump said: "This is a flu. This is like a flu"; "Now, you treat this like a flu"; "It's a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for. And we'll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner."
On
Feb. 27, Trump told attendees at an African American History Month reception in the White House Cabinet Room that "It's going to disappear. One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear."
The President added that "from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better. Could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows."