Donald Trump argued on Tuesday that Americans die every year from the flu, and the U.S. doesn’t shut down the economy because of it.
“We lose thousands and thousands of people a year to the flu, and we don’t turn the country off,” Trump told Fox News correspondents during the Tuesday’s virtual town hall.
The celebrity in chief’s goal is to have everything return to normal by April 12, Easter Sunday.
“I give it two weeks, we’ll evaluate it and give it more time if we need a little more time, but we have to open this country up. I’d love to have it open by Easter,” Trump said. “It’s such an important day for other reasons. I would love to have the country opened up by Easter.”
With Easter, less than three weeks away, Trump would reopen the U.S. at the same time, it’s projected that New York will reach a peak level of cases.
Medical professionals and infectious diseases experts warn the nation will see a rapid increase in cases if Americans return to crowded events.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“Look, you’re going to lose several people to the flu. But you’re going to lose more people by putting a country into a great recession or depression. You’re going to lose people. You’re going to have suicides by the thousands. You’re going to have all sorts of things happen,” Trump says. “You can’t just come in and say, let’s close up the United States of America, the biggest most successful nation in the world by far.”
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A White House official said the Donald does not see Easter as a date where the country is open for business like usual, but a date where the economy could begin to speed up again.
