Donald Trump held another one of his daily coronavirus press conferences where the White House staff tell the Dear Leader how amazing he is on live television. It also gives Trump a chance to rage at the press live, one of his favorite pastimes.
Today, NBC's Peter Alexander actually gave Donald Trump a chance to show a tiny bit of empathy, asking him the most simple question possible: There are 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, and millions who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?"
The problem with Alexander's question was that it came with some unhappy facts about infections and death rates, right after Trump was challenged on his happy talk about antimalarials treating the virus.
Trump could have said something reassuring, like "we want everyone to stay calm" and "we know that this is a scary time, but we are working around the clock to do everything we can to stop the spread and keep people safe".
But, of course, Donald Trump says the exact wrong thing, choosing to attack, telling Peter Alexander "I say you're a terrible reporter."
Reporters and others exploded on Twitter:
At the end of the presser, Pence managed to answer that question well:
Keep up the good work, Peter. We need more journalists to keep asking the real questions.
