As the coronavirus pandemic continues to claim thousands of lives across the United States, Donald Trump has come under fire from his opponents and the people for his handling of the outbreak. In a bid to amend his rundown reputation, the president pressed on why he did not do everything he should've done to quell the spread of the virus.
Pushing back at an undecided voter who accused Trump of taking the foot off the gas on coronavirus mitigation, and another querier who claimed the president downplayed the virus in the early days of the pandemic; Trump adopted his usual defense mechanisms, pushing the questioners back.
During the recently concluded ABC News town hall event in Philadelphia, health researcher from Bethlehem in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Paul Tubiana said he voted for the current president in 2016 and even supported him until he noticed a change in the White House's response earlier this year.
"I'm conservative, pro-life, and diabetic," Tubiana told the president, adding that he has had to dodge pedestrians who aren't willing to wear facemasks or follow social distancing guidance, provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. He told Trump that he thought he was doing a good job with the pandemic until May 1, when the president took his foot off the gas pedal.
Tubiana asked Trump why he threw vulnerable people like him under the bus. As expected, Trump rejected the allegation, claiming they did not, insisting that they worked really hard on the pandemic, Fox News reported.
Trump blamed China for letting it happen, and then recounted the works of his administration towards producing personal protective equipment, and ventilators. He even accused former President Barack Obama of leaving "the cupboards bare" when he left office in 2017.
The president went on to say that the previous administration would have taken years to have a vaccine due to the FDA and other approvals. Trump then asked Trubiana if he was from New York City, and the self-proclaimed conservative, pro-life responded saying he was born there, but currently lives in his community located 80 miles west of there for about two decades.
Referencing Trubiana's hometown, Trump said that he provided the city and state residents with a hospital ship while helping the local authorities set up a military field hospital in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, but admitted they weren't used as heavily as they could've been. Pulling a small device from his suit pocket, he then said it was a new groundbreaking test that Abbott Laboratories has produced; describing the small cardboard test he was holding as "very simple and very accurate."