Trump Admits He Instructed His Team To ‘Slow The Testing Down’ To Find Fewer Coronavirus Cases

President Trump on Saturday admitted he instructed members of his administration to “slow the testing down” in an attempt to reduce the total number of reported COVID-19 infections in the United States.

“COVID. To be specific, COVID-19. That name gets further and further away from China, as opposed to calling it the Chinese virus,” Trump told the crowd. “We – I – did a phenomenal job with it.”

Trump said he told his administration, “slow the testing down, please” reiterating his false argument that higher test numbers led to higher case counts.

He then imitated a doctor talking about a 10-year-old with “sniffles” who would conclude “that’s a case!”

The president said the governor of New Jersey told him only one person under the age of 18 died, which the president said shows that young people have a “great immune system”

“Let’s open the schools please!” he demanded.

Here's Trump at his Tulsa Rally downplaying the coronavirus as the "sniffles," and admitting: "I told my people, slow the testing down!"pic.twitter.com/VOy6jsFAYI

— Bill Maxwell 😷 ByeDon2020 (@Bill_Maxwell_) June 21, 2020

UPDATE:

Reminds me of the time Trump said he was being “sarcastic” when he wondered if disinfectants could be injected as a virus treatment.

In both cases one is left to wonder why jokes are appropriate amid a deadly pandemic.

— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) June 21, 2020