As Twitchy reported, President Trump in Monday evening’s coronavirus briefing said there must be a balance struck between keeping people safe from COVID-19 and keeping the American economy going. It’s practically the same thing that Gov. Andrew Cuomo said earlier in the day with no pushback, but now Trump is getting slammed and #NoDying4WallStreet is trending on Twitter.
The Washington Post seems to think Trump is being impatient by saying he “would love to have the country opened up and raring to go by Easter,” with media hacks suggesting he was setting a deadline. What’s ironic is that WaPo fact-checker Glenn Kessler thought he had to fudge a quote to get his point across:
“Hey, keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner.” Why Trump’s impatience to restart economy could be disastrous. via @thewanreport @ReedAlbergotti @JoelAchenbach https://t.co/iKdEdHwEf9
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) March 24, 2020
The quote comes not from Trump but from Bill Gates, who said, “There really is no middle ground, and it’s very tough to say to people, ‘Hey, keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner. We want you to keep spending because there’s maybe a politician who thinks GDP growth is all that counts.”
So it’s Bill Gates who said it and not Trump, with Gates sort of doing an Adam Schiff “parody.” Here’s the same quote attributed to Bill Gates if you want to remove the context:
“Hey, keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner.”
-Bill Gates
— Bribin’ Joe (@WeKnowEDKH) March 24, 2020
Bill Gates said that? Wow.
good editing …..
— Mallastheangry (@mallastheangry) March 24, 2020
Bill Gates said it. #FactCheckFail
— Orca (@OrcasRevenge) March 24, 2020
Never said it. This is similar to Schiff “quoting” the president on his call to the Prez do Ukraine. Never trust this clown
— Andy Herbert (@andy3herbert) March 24, 2020
Trump didn’t say this. Stop spreading misinformation.
— Gregg ? (@occhipig) March 24, 2020
You’re making up quotes now. you’re not even pretending to be a journalist anymore
— commonsense (@commonsense258) March 24, 2020
How many Pinocchios are you going to give that "quote"
— Glenn Amurgis (@gamurgis) March 24, 2020
This will not age well. We know you want this to happen.
— D@uNtle5s1099 (@BluSturmer81) March 24, 2020
That tweet really does make it sound like Trump said it, but was it just an accident?
Related:
‘More garbage hackery’: CNN’s Jake Tapper dishonestly spins Donald Trump’s remarks about getting America ‘opened up and just raring to go by Easter’ https://t.co/qqGaZIUpfG
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 24, 2020
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