CDC 'really let the country down' on COVID-19 testing, says White House adviser Peter Navarro

The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency." And on Feb. 7, Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping "is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counterattack on the Coronavirus." Stephanopoulos asked Navarro about the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's criticism that Trump was "trying to play this China card," and blame that country for the pandemic, after initially "praising the Chinese government." "Yeah, well Joe Biden's has got 40 years of sucking up to the Chinese, including the eight years as vice president," he said. He said the election will "have Joe Biden, long friend of China" against Trump, "the only president in modern history to stand up to China."Navarro defended Trump's early praise of Xi – which the president has said he made because the two countries were in the middle of trade negotiations – arguing "it's great that we have a president that can get along with all world leaders." And he pushed back at the suggestion that the White House had squandered the month of February by downplaying the threat posed by the coronavirus, saying Trump's response started on Jan. 30."So don't tell me we lost February, because I was there. When asked about former President Barack Obama's criticisms of the Trump administration, Navarro said he was "glad Mr. Obama has a new job as Biden's press secretary." He said the Obama administration had been too conciliatory toward China and displayed a "kumbaya incompetence, in which we saw millions of manufacturing jobs go off to China." And Navarro predicted that "going into November" the election "is not going to be about the pandemic.