President Donald Trump still doesn’t realize how easy it is to fact check the outlandish claims that come out of his mouth. During his Apr. 20 COVID-19 update at the White House, he had his feet held to the fire once again by the press corps for doing next to nothing in February to prepare Americans for the outbreak. PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor led a line of questioning about it, and Trump fired back that “I did take it very seriously.” She then reminded him, “You held rallies in February and March and there are some Americans who say…” before he cut her off and claimed, “I don’t know about rallies. I really don’t know about rallies.”
He then continued, “I know one thing. I haven’t left the White House in months except to give a wonderful ship The Comfort…” before Yamiche interrupted and told him, “You held another rally in March.” “Did I hold a rally? I’m sorry I hold a rally. Did I hold a rally? Let me tell you, in January when I did this, we had virtually no cases and no deaths,” the president responded. Trump did in fact hold a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 2, just as Yamiche pointed out.
Throughout the month of February he also held rallies on Feb. 10 in Manchester, N.H. Feb. 19 in Phoenix, Feb. 20 in Colorado Springs, CO. Feb. 21 in Las Vegas and Feb. 28 in Charleston, S.C. So those are SIX out-of-state rallies far away from the White House in Feb. and March that Trump appeared to be playing dumb about. So PANTS ON FIRE about not leaving the White House in “months.” He also went on golfing trips to Florida on Feb. 1 and 15, and March 7 and 8 at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Twitter lit up at his obvious fib about not knowing about his own rallies. User @baginski_lisa commented, “Another lie, non-answer from Trump. Gaslighting a top national reporter is not acceptable. We have mass death, mass graves. Trump is inciting his base to infect each other & everyone else after we have worked so hard to contain it. He must be removed.” @DmJ43 asked, “Whoa, what’s this? The Zombie defense?” about Trump pretending not to know about his own rallies. User @JeanHinkleKlele added, “Another case of convenient situational amnesia.
Trump: "I did take it very seriously."
Reporter: "You held rallies in February and March –"
Trump: "I don't know about rallies. I really don't know about rallies." pic.twitter.com/WMNcqWPKaz
— The Hill (@thehill) April 20, 2020
Also Trump getting caught in a lie is pretty amazing to watch.
Trump: "I haven't left the White House in months." @Yamiche: "You held a rally in March." pic.twitter.com/sEu1v5KTYK
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) April 20, 2020
Twitter user CountryOverConman pointed out, “Reporters weren’t playing today. Everyone has HAD IT with this guy’s whole schtick.” User JackieB pointed out how at his Feb. 28 campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump tried to politicize the coronavirus, claiming it was the Democrats’ “new hoax” following his impeachment trial. He told the crowd, “The coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. This is their new hoax.” User @TheReckoning11 added, “And they say Biden has dementia. Trump can’t even remember holding rallies last month.”