Did Trump Order Coronavirus Testing Slowed Down? President Declines To Answer Direct Question

President Trump said Monday the U.S. has more coronavirus cases than any other country because of the number of tests being conducted but refused to say whether he ordered the testing regime slowed down.

During his campaign rally Saturday night, Trump said: “Slow the testing down, please,” saying the more tests that are conducted, the more cases that will be found.

By early afternoon Monday, the U.S. had 2.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus – a 9% positive test rate and 25% of the world total – and more than 120,000 deaths.

Trump talked around the issue when asked to confirm he had ordered testing slowed.

“We do more testing than any country in the world by far, 25 million so far. Other countries do 1 million. … If we did slow it down we wouldn’t show nearly as many cases,” Trump said, adding that the country had done “too good a job” of testing.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters the president’s Saturday comment was “made in jest” in response to media coverage.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Trump is desperate to slow testing.

“The president’s efforts to slow down desperately needed testing to hide the true extent of the virus mean more Americans will lose their lives,” she said in a statement, noting a hearing this week by the Energy & Commerce Committee will hear about administration effort.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, and Sen.Patty Murray, D-Wash., Monday accused the administration of failing to spend $14 billion authorized for coronavirus testing earlier this year, but Michael Caputo, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the agency was still awaiting clarification of Congress on how to spend the funds.

The administration has been faulted for its response to the coronavirus pandemic early on and Trump continually has downplayed the severity of the outbreak and pushing for the economy to reopen fully.

Trump also Monday denied his decision to hold indoor rallies with no social distancing protocols in place posed any kind of threat to attendees despite increasing infections.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m making a speech tomorrow for a group. … I’m not worried about it, no, not at all,” Trump said.