Things got really spicy on Wednesday night’s episode of Don Lemon Tonight, following Donald Trump’s prime-time address regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus). The CNN host invited former Ohio governor John Kasich on to discuss the remarks made from the Oval Office. When the 2016 presidential hopeful praised Trump for doing a “fine” job, Lemon lost it.
Just hours before, Trump spoke to the nation about a virus that he called a “foreign threat” and imposed a nondescript travel ban on European nations. Though his remarks were intended to clarify the ongoing crisis and efforts made by the federal government to deal with the recently named pandemic, even more questions persisted once the broadcast was over.
Still, when speaking to Lemon, Kasich said, “He did fine,” referring to Trump. “What I saw tonight is what I anticipated before he delivered the address.” Mr. President, you’ve got to be serious. You’ve got to warn the country. We have to move forward. And just stick to the script and read what’s on there. And that’s exactly what he did.”
Though Kasich thought it was “fine,” Lemon thought that the administration’s inability to effectively communicate what was happening regarding travel, schools or even who would pick up the cost of the testing for this potentially fatal virus made his address both frustrating and irresponsible.
“I just got to say if the President came out to calm people’s fears, he didn’t do a good job of it, because they’ve had to come back and clarify it several times,” Lemon pointed out. “And this has been going on long enough for them to get it straight. We need straight, accurate information from this president and this administration. And I don’t understand why you are tiptoeing around it. He came out. Gave an address that usually—that happens very rarely. And he doesn’t get it right?”
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 11: US President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Oval Office about the widening coronavirus crisis on March 11, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump said the US will suspend all travel from Europe – except the UK – for the next 30 days. Since December 2019, Coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected more than 109,000 people and killed more than 3,800 people in 105 countries. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
Kasich doubled down on his assessment of the address and said again that it was fine and he believed the commander-in-chief had the right tone because he didn’t play around with putting blame on Democrats.
Regardless of what Kasich thought, Don Lemon’s position was very clear: Donald Trump, with all of his inability to answer pertinent questions and incompetence during a very serious health crisis, should have simply kept his prime-time address to himself.
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