- White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that the US would not “control” the coronavirus, in the face of rising infections across the country and over 225,000 deaths from the highly contagious disease, according to CNN.
- “We are not going to control the pandemic,” Meadows said. “We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas.”
- Meadows made his comments after a week that saw some of the highest numbers of new COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started in the US.
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White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Sunday said that the United States would not “control” the coronavirus, in the face of rising infections across the country and over 225,000 deaths from the highly contagious disease, according to CNN.
Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” Meadows pushed back against questions about the spread of the virus.
“We are not going to control the pandemic,” he said. “We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigation areas.”
When asked by Tapper about why the country won’t contain the coronavirus, Meadows seemingly downplayed the severity of the virus.
“Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu,” he replied.
—State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 25, 2020
Tapper pressed Meadows as to why the US can't contain the virus.
Meadows said that the Trump administration is "making efforts to contain it."
"What we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors, whether it's therapies or vaccines or treatments, to make sure that people don't die from this," he added.
The comments from Meadows came as coronavirus cases have increased dramatically over the past week, especially in the Midwest. This past Friday, the US set a one-day record for new cases of the disease, with more than 85,000 people testing positive, according to The New York Times.
When grilled about why Vice President Mike Pence was campaigning across the country while at least four of his staff members have recently tested positive for the coronavirus, Meadows defended Pence by saying he was "essential personnel."
