In separate interviews this week, Sen. John Barrasso voiced his support of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Barrasso, appearing on FOX News and on MSNBC, said the lowering of the death rate projections is proof of an administration that has successfully run the national effort to combat the virus.
“We have been successful in flattening the curve here in Wyoming,” Barrasso told FOX News’ Bill Hemmer. “We have the fewest number of cases and this was our first death.”
“We also know that it was predicted that there would be hundreds and hundreds of deaths [in Wyoming] and we are much, much lower than that,” he said.
The senator credited social distancing and the fact that residents are complying with recommendations that they stay close to home as the main reasons for the success in “flattening the curve.”
He echoed that on Tuesday in an interview with Politico but cited national projections.
“The fact that we’ve from gone 1.5 million to 2 million projected deaths to less than 100,000 is a direct result of the response of the administration and the American people,” he said.
Some Republicans have criticized the president for his daily sparring with reporters during his task force updates.
On Monday, the briefing got particularly combative when the president and CBS News reporter Paula Reid took turns yelling at each other.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told the New York Times that Trump “sometimes drowns out his own message” and a “once-a-week-show” could be more effective.
When asked if Barrasso agreed with Graham’s sentiment, Barrasso told MSNBC’S Andrea Mitchell that he thought the daily briefings were “very helpful” and looks forward from hearing from Trump and the medical experts.
“Well, I think the president should open and then turn to the medical experts,” he said. “I don’t know if all the questioning back and forth adds as much as the opening statement and then the discussion with the medical experts.”
