Bernie Sanders knocks self-described 'great genius' Trump on his lies about the coronavirus

Tonight’s Democratic debate is a bit of a mishmash. But there have been some highlights and one was when Sen. Bernie Sanders hit at Donald Trump for completely screwing up efforts to protect Americans from the spread of the coronavirus and other infectious diseases. Trump’s budget cuts to our health infrastructure, along with his completely baffling lies about the facts and science around COVID-19, pose an increasingly serious threat to the United States and the world.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: In the White House today, we have a self-described ‘great genius’—self-described—and this great genius has told us that this coronavirus is going to end in two months. April is the magical date that this great scientist we have in the White House has determined—I wish I was kidding. That is what he said. What do we have to do? Whether or not the issue is climate change, which is clearly a global crisis requiring international cooperation, or infectious diseases like coronavirus, requiring international cooperation. We have to work and expand the World Health Organization. obviously, we have to make sure the C.D.C., the n.i.h., our infectious departments, are fully funded. This is a global problem, we have to work with countries all over the world to solve it.

It was a fleeting moment of levity from the Vermont senator in an otherwise contentious and oftentimes messy debate.