Saying “most of the country is corona free,” referring to the coronavirus, Trump made a rambling statement to tout a new initiative to bring pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States, as well as whining that he’s not popular.
In an appearance in which he veered off script and appeared unsteady on his feet with slight tremors in his stance particularly early in his statement, Trump frequently interjected words or phrases in his prepared statements as if he couldn’t read the prepared text.
Trump announced that the federal government will provide a $760 million loan to create Kodak Pharmaceuticals, resurrecting the photography brand. It’s a government-sponsored start-up that will compete with private companies already operating in the US.
Trump went on to cite figures about future production of PPE and testing, including 8 million test kits per month, 400 million gloves, 56 million test swabs per month, and said there would be 200,000 ventilators “soon.”
Repeatedly referring to the coronavirus as “the China virus,” Trump veered into touting his administration’s paramilitary response to unrest by claiming if he didn’t intervene in Portland, “you’d have a billion dollar courthouse that was burned out.”
Trump was asked if he would be in Charlotte to make his acceptance speech at the RNC, Trump would not commit, saying “we’ll be making an announcement very soon.”
Claiming that he’s “read a lot about hydroxy,” Trump addressed his retweeting a video earlier in the day that promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine that featured specious scientific claims, Trump said, “The Internet wanted to take them off.” He said the opposition to the drug was solely because he endorsed it, ignoring the multiple scientific studies that show hydroxychloroquine ineffective an in many cases dangerous to patients. “It can only be my personality,” Trump said.
When commenting on Drs. Birx and Fauci, Trump lamented, “They’re highly thought of, but no one likes me.” He went on to say, “He’s [Fauci] got a high approval rating; why don’t I?”
Asked about his administration’s new policy regarding DACA, Trump said that he will introduce a program that will make “DACA and everyone happy.”
Relating to extending federal unemployment benefits, Trump responded (in entirety), “We’re going to take care of people.”
Trump also again supported the video “the Internet” took down in which a doctor—who is known for conspiracy theories including that drugs are developed based on alien technology, masks do not work and scientists are trying to create a vaccine that would prevent people from becoming religious—Trump said “I thought she had important things to say [about hydroxychloroquine].”