Iran Press/ America: The Trump administration official responded Sunday morning on CNN's State of the Union to Trump telling Tulsa, Oklahoma rally-goers Saturday that he directed his health officials to "slow the testing down, please," in order to discover fewer cases.
Navarro insisted the president was only joking in a "tongue-in-cheek" fashion, before redirecting the conversation and culpability for the pandemic toward the Chinese government.
State of the Union host Jake Tapper asked Navarro if the Trump administration and U.S. health officials are preparing for a potential breakout of COVID-19 in the fall, particularly as the presidential election draws closer.
"Of course," Navarro replied. "You prepare for what can possibly happen. I'm not saying it's going to happen. But of course, you prepare. I'll tell you what. We're a lot more prepared under this president than we were when China foisted this on us to begin with."
"China hoisted this on us," the White House advisor continued. "China created this virus, they hid the virus and they sent over hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens here to spread that around and around the world. Whether they did that on purpose -- that's an open question -- but that's a fact."
Chinese and U.S. officials have repeatedly accused the others' government of facilitating the spread of the coronavirus late last year. Speaking at his first campaign rally since the start of the pandemic on Saturday, Trump repeatedly referred to the virus as the "China virus" and "Kung flu."
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry officials and state-run media in the Communist country have likewise accused the Trump administration of simply botching the U.S. response.
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