President Trump on Monday scolded a reporter who accused him a belittling the deaths of Americans from coronavirus, telling the reporter to “ask China” why people are dying.
Mr. Trump and White House reporters routinely clash but seldom as bitterly as the exchange over the more than 80,000 lives lost to COVID-19.
Weijia Jiang, a CBS News White House correspondent, asked Mr. Trump why he repeatedly boasted that the U.S. has outperformed other countries in the amount of testing for coronavirus.
“Why does that matter?” she asked at a press conference in the Rose Garden. “Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives and we are still seeing more cases every day?”
Mr. Trump replied: “Well, they are losing their lives everywhere in the world and maybe that’s a question you should ask China. Don’t ask me. Ask China that question. Ok? When you ask them that question you might get a very unusual answer.”
Questions persist about whether Beijing promptly and appropriately responded when the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, before the virus became pandemic.
Ms. Jiang, who is of Asian descent, appeared to take offense.
“Sir, why are you saying that to me specifically about China,” she said.
Mr. Trump said he wasn’t saying it “specifically to anybody.”
“I’m saying it to anybody who would ask a nasty question,” said the president.
Mr. Trump refused to take a question from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins before abruptly ending the press conference.
