President Donald Trump defended his past misstatements about the coronavirus Sunday, saying he "will be right eventually" in a contentious and freewheeling interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace.
Wallace went through a number of Trump's early statements about the coronavirus, including his remark in January that the virus amounted to "one person coming in from China, and we have it under control," and his comment in February that the number of cases would soon be "close to zero." Wallace also mentioned Trump's insistence this month that "at some point [the virus is] going to sort of disappear."
"I will be right eventually," Trump responded. "You know, I said, 'It's going to disappear.' I'll say it again."
Asked whether having been wrong before discredits him, Trump said: "It's going to disappear, and I'll be right. I don't think so."
He added, "You know why? Because I've been right probably more than anybody else."
Coronavirus cases having spiked throughout the country in recent weeks, presenting record numbers of new cases as well as jumps in hospitalizations. Trump downplayed the increases as "embers," although he acknowledged that Florida has become "more flamelike" and that there has been "somewhat of a surge in certain areas."
The president then claimed without evidence that many of the cases "are young people that would heal in a day" and that "they have the sniffles, and we put it down as a test."
"Well, cases are up — many of those cases shouldn't even be cases," he said, asking at one point to be shown "the death chart."
More than 141,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, according to NBC News' tracker.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, responded later Sunday, saying: "The past six months have proven again and again that it's Donald Trump who doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to COVID-19.
"He said the virus would disappear. He said anyone who wants a test could get a test. He said the virus was under control. When it comes to the coronavirus, you can't believe a word he says," Biden said, adding, "Mr. President, your ignorance isn't a virtue or a sign of your strength — it's undercutting our response to this unprecedented crisis at every turn and it's costing Americans their jobs and their lives."
In the interview, Trump repeated his longstanding frustration with the higher levels of testing, saying, "In a way, we're creating trouble." He also suggested that some other countries have had less severe outbreaks than the U.S. because they "don't test."
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Trump also again threatened to withhold funding from schools if they did not fully open and said he would consider not signing the next coronavirus relief measure if it does not include a payroll tax cut.
About masks, Trump said that he wants "people to have a certain freedom" and that "masks cause problems, too," although it was unclear what he was referring to. Public health experts have said wearing masks in public is one of the best tools people have to cut down on transmission of the virus.
Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he does not believe masks are "optional for people who want to protect themselves and people around them."
Trump's exchanges with Wallace on the coronavirus were only the tip of the iceberg in the lengthy interview, which featured a number of eyebrow-raising moments.
Some of the exchanges centered on Confederate flags and the renaming of military bases named for Confederate leaders. Trump said he might veto the National Defense Authorization Act because it calls for the bases to be renamed. The military recently effectively banned the Confederate battle flag on bases.
