Trump, who has previously called the coronavirus 'a hoax' and compared it to the flu, now says he's 'always viewed it as very serious'

REUTERS/Leah Millis

US President Trump gives a press briefing on the coronavirus in Washington D.C. on March 16, 2020.

• At a White House briefing Tuedsay, Trump claimed that he had always taken the threat of coronavirus seriously.
• In the past, Trump has called the coronavirus a "hoax" used by Democrats to try to hurt him politically, and inaccurately compared it to the flu.
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At a Tuesday press conference dedicated to the government's coronavirus response, President Donald Trump claimed that he's "always viewed it as very serious."

Trump's response was prompted by a question from NBC News' Kristen Welker, who asked about whether his tone on coronavirus had shifted to a more "somber" one.

"I have seen that where people actually liked it, but I didn't feel different. I've always known this is a real - this is a pandemic," Trump said, adding that he "felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic."

In fact, at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, Trump repeatedly downplayed threat, inaccurately comparing it to the flu and telling his supporters that it was a "hoax."

At a Feb. 28 rally in Charleston, S.C., Trump told thousands of cheering fans that "the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus."

"One of my people came up to me and said, 'Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.' That did not work out too well." Trump told his supporters. "They could not do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. ... They tried anything. ... And this is their new hoax."

When criticism of his adminitration's response ramped up, he tried to compare the coronavirus to the flu.

As late as March 9, Trump continued to claim that the flu was more dangeorus than the coronavirus (a fact refuted by his own top expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said Congressional testimony that the coronavrius was ten times more fatal) and that that Democrats and the press were inflaming the public reaction to the cononvirus, which his administartion is now taking "unprecedented" steps to curb.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, "The risk is low to the average American."

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

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