Fox News, Not Doctors, Convinced Trump To Extend Social Distancing Restrictions

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It was watching Fox News, not the meetings with doctors and healthcare experts, that convinced Trump to extend the social distancing restrictions.

Jonathan Swan of Axios said on MSNBC, “The Oval Office meeting on Sunday afternoon I think has been a little overdramatized. I’m told by people who are familiar with his thinking he made up his mind effectively before that it was sort of a final meeting where Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx presented the statistics, but he’s already made up his mind, and really on Friday, it was just a question of how long. There were several factors One the television he was watching, the images he was seeing out of New York on Fox brought this home. Obviously, the numbers he heard, but He had assurances from the Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin that the stimulus package would be enough to sort of cushion the employee in the short term and he felt this was a less risky option of extending it rather than taking the blame for an untold death count.”

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Trump decided to extend the social distancing restrictions after watching Fox News. pic.twitter.com/HrCJVJ9sFt

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 30, 2020

The stimulus checks aren’t going to be enough to cushion the blow for another month, because most people won’t be receiving their payments for weeks.

Trump didn’t make his decision based on experts and scientists. He decided to do the right thing for the country because the images that he saw on Fox News upset him.

Donald Trump is making life and death decisions based on what he sees on TV, which is why this nation must rely on state and local officials instead of the president.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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