Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'I Don't Kid': Trump Stands By Statement That He Ordered A Testing Slowdown
Politico: ‘I Don’t Kid’: Trump Says He Wasn’t Joking About Slowing Coronavirus Testing
President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted he was serious when he revealed that he had directed his administration to slow coronavirus testing in the United States, shattering the defenses of senior White House aides who argued Trump’s remarks were made in jest. “I don’t kid. Let me just tell you. Let me make it clear,” Trump told reporters, when pressed on whether his comments at a campaign event Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., were intended as a joke. (Forgey, 6/23)
CBS News: Trump Says He Wasn't Joking About Testing Slowdown: "I Don't Kid"
President Trump doubled down on his recent comments about ordering his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, contradicting several White House officials who defended his remarks by claiming they were made in jest. During a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, Mr. Trump said, "When you do testing to that extent you're going to find more people, you're going to find cases. So I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please.' They test and they test. We got tests for people who don't know what's going on." (Segers, 6/23)
ABC News: Trump Says 'I Don't Kid' After Aides Argue He Was Joking About Slowing Coronavirus Testing
President Donald Trump flatly contradicted his aides on Tuesday when he said he does not "kid," after they had for days been arguing he was joking when he said at a weekend campaign rally he had told officials to slow down coronavirus testing. It was yet another instance of the White House scrambling to come up with language to play down one of his comments that had triggered a firestorm, only to have Trump himself, in the end, providing a completely different explanation. (Gittleson, 6/23)
Los Angeles Times: Trump Administration Has Considered Ending COVID Emergency
The Trump administration, eager to claim victory over the coronavirus, has been considering scaling back the national emergency declared earlier this year to control the pandemic, according to healthcare industry officials who have spoken with the administration. The prospect has stoked alarm among public health leaders, physicians, hospital officials and others who are trying to control the outbreak and fear that such a move would make it more difficult for state and local governments and health systems to keep the coronavirus in check. (Levey, 6/23)
AP: AP FACT CHECK: Sober Science Weighs In On Trump's Virus Take
The U.S. government’s top public health leaders on Tuesday shot down assertions by President Donald Trump that the coronavirus pandemic is under control and the U.S. is excelling in testing for the virus. The pandemic that Trump has said is “fading” is actually surging in many states, they said, and the need to expand testing is “critical.” Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health authorities also refuted Trump’s statement that he told them to ease up on testing because it looks bad to bring more sickness to light. (Woodward and Yen, 6/23)
