In one of the latest briefings, President Donald Trump claimed that he had absolute authority as president to lift the nationwide lockdown the country is in due to the pandemic. Now, Trump decided to backtrack on those comments.
NBC reports that during the Tuesday White House briefing, Trump said that he is fine with the governors’ making the decision when to reopen their respective states. This was a stark contrast to his previous comments, claiming that he had total authority as president to override orders set by state governors to lift the lockdown the United States is currently experiencing.
“I will be authorizing each individual governor, of each individual state, to implement a reopening and a very powerful reopening plan of their state in a time and manner most appropriate… ‘Cause certain states are in a much different condition and in a much different place than other states,” said Trump during the briefing. The President added that the federal government will be there to assist in any way they can.
“The governors are going to be opening up the states. They’re going to declare when. They’re going to know when. Some can open very shortly.”
The president’s backtrack in comments follows after news of governors collaborating on plans on how to reopen their states as well as the economy should the need arise to challenge Trump’s claims that go against the US Constitution. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also criticized Trump’s previous remarks, saying that the president is “spoiling for a fight.”
The coronavirus has also affected the sports world, and Trump has also revealed that he misses watching live games. “We have to get our sports back,” said the president during the briefing. “I’m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old.”
Trump added that because of the pandemic, he has not had the time to watch. “I would say maybe I watch one batter then I get back to work.”
Part of the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing that was covered focused on how to reopen the country when the pandemic blows over or when the crisis gets better. He has announced he will be putting together a group of people who could help revive the economy as the country recovers from the coronavirus.