President Donald Trump’s mental decline was on full display at his press briefing on Monday, claiming that he hasn’t left the White House in months despite holding six campaign rallies in February and March as the coronavirus pandemic intensified. Of course, he lied, and was called out in real time.
Asked by PBS NewsHour reporter Yamiche Alcindor why he held a campaign rally during the worsening pandemic, as he says, he “acted very early” to combat virus, Trump resorted to questioning whether the rally had actually taken place.
“I don’t know about rallies, I really don’t know about rallies,” Trump said.
“I know one thing, I haven’t left the White House in months, except for a brief moment to give a wonderful ship, the [USNS] Comfort,” he said.
Don't Miss
When Alcindor pointed out that he had held a campaign rally on March 3, Trump said: “I don’t know, did I hold a rally? I’m sorry, I hold a rally. Did I hold a rally?”
Trump held five campaign events in February and one in March.
Watch the bizarre exchange below:
WATCH: @Yamiche asked President Trump why he held a campaign rally in March as the coronavirus pandemic intensified if, as he says, he "acted very early" to combat virus.
"Did I hold a rally? I'm sorry I hold a rally." pic.twitter.com/4Vn3uzRTrx
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) April 21, 2020
In late February, Trump labeled the virus a “hoax” during a South Carolina rally. On March 9, when more than 500 people had been diagnosed with COVID-19, he compared coronavirus to the “common flu.”
Trump subsequently canceled his upcoming rallies “out of an abundance of caution” after the outbreak was declared a global pandemic.
