The Trump administration has often been criticized by both sides for their slow response to the coronavirus pandemic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been especially vocal about her discontent with the response and accused President Donald Trump of “fiddling” while the deaths from the coronavirus increase.
CNN reports that in an interview in State of the Union, Pelosi said that Trump’s denial of the severity of the pandemic in the United States cost was “deadly.” Pelosi continued to question the timeline of Trump being informed of the possibility of an outbreak in the country and its consequences should it happen. “I don’t know what the scientists said to him, when did this President know about this, and what did he know? What did he know and when did he know about it? That’s for an after-action review. But as the president fiddles, people are dying. And we just have to take every precaution,” said Pelosi.
Her expression on Trump is a reference to Roman emperor Nero, who was, according to legend, playing the fiddle as the city of Rome was burning, showing his disregard for his own people and his empire.
Anchor Jake Tapper then asked Pelosi if she thinks that Trump’s early downplaying of the severity of the coronavirus cost lives, the House Speaker said yes. “Yes, I am. I’m saying that.”
Pelosi then went on to explain that 20 days prior, Trump was insistent on his belief that everything was fine. However, at the time, there were already 500 cases of COVID19 in the country with 17 deaths. “And in that 20 days, because we weren’t prepared, we now have 2,000 deaths and 100,000 cases,” said Pelosi.
Trump then responded to Pelosi’s criticism in an interview with Fox & Friends. Trump referred to Pelosi as a disgrace to the country and likened her to a “sick puppy.”
“It’s a sad thing. Look, she’s a sick puppy, in my opinion. She really is. She’s got a lot of problems,” said Trump, who then recalled and mocked the statement Pelosi made during the aftermath of the impeachment trial, that she was praying for him. “I guess now when she says, oh, I pray for the president, I pray for the president so much. Well, I don’t think that’s true. What a statement to make. What a horrible statement to make,” said the President.