Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Abandons Rosy Forecast: Pandemic To 'Get Worse Before It Gets Better'
The New York Times: Trump, in a Departure, Says Virus Will Get Worse
President Trump abruptly departed on Tuesday from his rosy projections about the coronavirus, warning Americans from the White House briefing lectern that the illness would get worse before widespread recovery. “It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better,” Mr. Trump said. “Something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is.” (7/21)
The Associated Press: Trump Says Virus In US Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better
President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that the “nasty horrible’” coronavirus will get worse in the U.S. before it gets better, but he also tried to paint a rosy picture of efforts to conquer the disease that has claimed more than 140,000 American lives in just five months. He also professed a newfound respect for the protective face masks he has seldom worn. He pulled one from his pocket in the White House briefing room but didn’t put it on. (Miller 7/21)
Los Angeles Times: Trump Says Coronavirus Will 'Get Worse Before It Gets Better'
President Trump, six months into a deadly pandemic and less than four months from Election Day, conceded Tuesday that the coronavirus would “get worse before it gets better” and urged all Americans to wear face masks “whether you like the mask or not.” “If you can, use the mask,” he said. “Think about patriotism.” (Stokols, 7/21)
CNN: Fact Check: At His First Coronavirus Briefing Since April, Trump Repeats A Handful Of Classic False Claims
In his first coronavirus briefing since April, President Donald Trump got a little more accurate about the state of the pandemic in the US -- but also continued to make some of the same false claims and promote some of the same misleading narratives of his previous moments in the White House briefing room. (Dale, Subramaniam, Cohen and Wright, 7/21)
Politico: Fauci: I Was Not Invited To Trump’s Coronavirus Briefing
Anthony Fauci, one of the most recognized and trusted faces of the federal coronavirus response, said on Tuesday he was not invited to join President Donald Trump later in the day at a news briefing on the White House pandemic response. Trump announced on Monday he would return to the White House lectern to deliver regular news briefings on the coronavirus — a staple this spring in the early months of the pandemic in the U.S. Those briefings often meandered off topic into campaign-style diatribes, and Trump has continued to use news conferences to express his disdain for his Democratic rivals since the last coronavirus briefing in April. (Choi, 7/21)
Also —
The Hill: Pelosi Calls Coronavirus The 'Trump Virus'
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dubbed the coronavirus the “Trump virus” on Tuesday evening, ratcheting up her rhetoric over President Trump’s handling of the pandemic. "Well, I think with the president's comments today, he recognized the mistakes he has made by now embracing mask-wearing and the recognition this is not a hoax. It is a pandemic that has gotten worse before it will get better because of his inaction," Pelosi said on CNN's "The Situation Room." (Axelrod, 7/21)
