***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***
Shortly before President Trump addressed the nation on Wednesday to explain what his administration was doing to prepare for the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19), ABC’s World News Tonight and CBS Evening News decided to give a megaphone to Democratic lawmakers so they could suggest the administration wasn’t taking the virus seriously.
“Tonight, President Trump under pressure to show that he is in command of America's response to the growing international crisis,” declared ABC special correspondent Kyra Phillips (emphasis hers). After reading from a tweet the President post to reassure the American people, Phillips tried to contradict him with this soundbite of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar: “America's risk is low at the moment. That could change quickly.”
Though she said the concern was bipartisan, Phillips clung tightly to the fearmongering of congressional Democrats:
PHILLIPS: Democrats are frustrated.
REP. ANNA ESHOO (D-CA): I believe that the administration's lack of coordination for the coronavirus response is on full display. We all know that.
PHILLIPS: Sources telling us the President has been closely watching the diving Dow. The administration has asked Congress for an additional $2.5 billion to respond to the coronavirus threat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that's not nearly enough.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): What he's doing is late, too late, anemic. Hopefully, we can make up for the loss of time.
(...)