President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed he’d been “sailing to an easy election” victory before the coronavirus pandemic, despite trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the polls well before the public health crisis began.
Trump bragged to supporters at a campaign rally in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that the 2020 election “was going to be so easy.”
“I probably would’ve not been here tonight,” the president continued. “I would’ve said, ‘No we don’t have to bother.’ Now we have to work against a guy that doesn’t know where he is. I can’t believe it.”
Trump also pondered whether China, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated, intentionally spread the contagion that has now killed more than 190,000 people in the U.S. He offered no evidence to back up his suggestion.
Check out Trump’s comments here:
Trump has faced widespread criticism for his administration’s mishandling of the pandemic, which he has claimed deserves “very high marks.”
He has repeatedly downplayed the risks posed by COVID-19, touted unproven treatments and discouraged measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, such as wearing masks.
Critics on Twitter accused the president of showing contempt for his supporters with his latest comment about possibly not showing up for them:
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