Trump to declare national emergency over coronavirus at news conference Friday: report

Trump to declare national emergency over coronavirus at news conference Friday: report
President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence, takes questions from reporters during a Coronavirus Task Force update Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo D. Myles Cullen)
David Badash
and
 The New Civil Rights Movement
March 13, 2020

President Donald Trump will hold a news conference Friday afternoon at 3 PM ET, during which he will announce he is declaring a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, as Bloomberg News’ Jennifer Jacobs reports:

Trump cheerily tweeted “Topic: CoronaVirus!” when announcing his news conference earlier Friday.

The President has been under fire from all sides over his mismanagement of the national health crisis. But he is now under fire not only for incompetent mismanagement but over new reports that he worked to intentionally diminish the ability of medical professionals to test for coronavirus in a deliberate attempt to keep the number low which he thought would help his re-election campaign.

Democrats have been urging Trump to declare a national emergency, and earlier today The New York Times blasted Trump for not having yet done so:

Report typos and corrections to: feedback@alternet.org.

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