Trump says celebrities shouldn't get first coronavirus tests, 'but perhaps that's been the story of life.'

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House.

• NBC's Peter Alexander asked President Donald Trump about professional athletes being able to get tested for the coronavirus quickly - even if they have no symptoms - while other Americans are encouraged not to get tested because of a shortage.
• "How are non-symptomatic professional athletes getting tests while others are waiting in line and can't get them?" Alexander asked. "Do the well-connected go to the front of the line? ... Should that happen?"
• "No, I wouldn't say so. But perhaps that's been the story of life," Trump replied. "That does happen on occasion."
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President Donald Trump kept his penchant for massaging the numbers and painting a rosy picture on the sidelines during a key exchange of Wednesday's White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Trump, 73, was asked by NBC's Peter Alexander about professional athletes in leagues like the NBA and NHL and "the well connected" to be able to get fast-tracked coronavirus testing, even if they have no symptoms.

"How are non-symptomatic professional athletes getting tests while others are waiting in line and can't get them?" Alexander asked. "Do the well-connected go to the front of the line? ... Should that happen?"

"No, I wouldn't say so. But perhaps that's been the story of life," Trump replied. "That does happen on occasion. And I've noticed where some people have been tested fairly quickly."

Trump then cut Alexander off to once again, at least implicitly, blame the Obama administration over a shortage of tests.

"Look, we inhere ted a very obsolete system," Trump said. "This was a system that was out of date, obsolete, or, it was a system that was never meant to take care of the kind of quantity, the number of people that we're talking about - millions and millions of people."

WATCH: President Trump said "that's been the story of life" when asked why "non-symptomatic, professional athletes" are getting tested for COVID-19, while "others are waiting in line and can't them." https://t.co/lZLQU4lGAP pic.twitter.com/wAEd7bzk6C

- NBC 7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) March 18, 2020

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