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Trump says WHO is China-centric, 'really blew it' on coronavirus


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Trump says WHO is China-centric, 'really blew it' on coronavirus

 

2020-04-07T161911Z_1_LYNXMPEG361S0_RTROPTP_4_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-USA-WHO.JPG

FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside a building of the World Health Organization (WHO) during an executive board meeting on update on the coronavirus outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized the World Health Organization on Tuesday, accusing it of being too focused on China and issuing bad advice during the coronavirus outbreak.

 

"The W.H.O. really blew it," Trump said in a Twitter post. "For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"

 

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric rejected the criticism of the World Health Organization, which is led by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

 

"For the Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) it is clear that WHO, under the leadership of Dr Tedros, has done tremendous work on COVID, in supporting countries with millions of pieces of equipment being shipped out, on helping countries with training, on providing global guidelines - WHO is showing the strength of the international health system," he told reporters.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will look at putting a hold on the U.S. contribution to the World Health Organization, claiming "they've been wrong about a lot of things" related to the novel coronavirus.

 

Dujarric added that the WHO had also recently done "tremendous work" in putting its staff on the frontlines to successfully fight Ebola, an infectious and often fatal disease, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

The WHO did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Trump's remarks.

 

Trump also attacked the U.S. health department on Tuesday, accusing the inspector general of having produced a "fake dossier" on American hospitals suffering shortages of personal protective equipment on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak. Trump did not provide any reason for questioning the report on those shortages.

 

On Jan. 31, the United Nations health organization advised countries to keep borders open despite the outbreak, although it noted that countries had the right to take measures to try to protect their citizens. That same day, Trump's administration announced restrictions on travel from China.

 

U.S. conservatives have increasingly criticized the WHO during the global pandemic, saying it relied on faulty data from China about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

 

Last week, Republican Senator Marco Rubio called for the resignation of Tedros, saying "he allowed Beijing to use the WHO to mislead the global community."

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-08
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6 minutes ago, simple1 said:

At a certain point in time. When the info became clearer, so did the WHO advisories.

Yes this certain point in time came when it was obvious to those advisories that countries were ignoring their advice and imposing their own policies to deal with the outbreak and on seeing this the WHO did back flips. 

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6 minutes ago, donnacha said:


You misunderstood what I said.

I was responding to a comment noting that Trump has not apologized for something. I asked if he was seriously surprised, meaning that it would be a complete change of strategy for Trump. I can't remember every seeing him apologize for anything.

My comment included nothing that could be considered to "support this guy". You read something into my comment that was not there.

The level of hysteria surrounding all things Trump is interesting. This might be why his many critics are finding it hard to land blows in what you would think is an ideal situation. In the eyes of the general public, all the over-the-top stuff saps the credibility of the case against Trump. 

 

You misunderstood what I said. I agree with you! I was responding to your comment which I thought was valid, not you personally.

 

I will say this though, regarding the last paragraph you wrote above. Let's just withhold judgement on levels of hysteria until later this week. Let's see how the mop flops then eh?

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12 minutes ago, NumbNut said:

Let's just withhold judgement on levels of hysteria until later this week. Let's see how the mop flops then eh?


This could be Trump's Olympic-level personal challenge, like a trapeze artist doing his final death-defying stunt without a net.

Not for the first time, his opponents are convinced that this is it. Indeed, things are not looking good for him. In fact, they have never looked worse. How is it even possible that he could get re-elected when America is in a bigger economic, and facing a greater existential threat than at any time in its history?

Whichever way this goes, it will be spectacular and fascinating to watch.

 

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2 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

oh you mean things change as we get more data and information, welcome to the real world 

Welcome to the world of internet where unverified information rules and people typing gooble de goock think it's real!

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