Trump Blames Media for Perception of Unpreparedness

In a press conference about the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump was asked why the country was not prepared with more tests.

The President said the country was prepared. "The only thing we weren't prepared for was the media. The media has not treated it fairly."

The President cited his ban on people coming in from China, and said the media had called him "racist and other words" for doing so. He said had he let in those tens of thousands of people from China, "we wouldn't even recognize it compared with where we are."

He said other countries are now following his lead but that the media doesn't acknowledge that he was the first. "They know it's true but they don't want to write about it," he said.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.