Austin mayor: Trump’s ‘ambiguous’ messaging ‘makes me angry’

Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) said Sunday President Trump’s “ambiguous” messaging on the coronavirus pandemic “makes me angry.” 

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Adler focused on Trump’s recent remarks that the coronavirus would eventually “disappear” and “99 percent of [cases] are totally harmless.”

{mosads}“It makes me angry,” the mayor said. “You know, I understand he has a tough job, but it is dangerous not to be sending a clear message to Americans.”

“When they start hearing that kind of ambiguous message coming out of Washington, there are more and more people that won’t wear masks, that won’t social distance, that won’t do what it takes to keep a community safe,” he added. 

Adler also said he has “to hope that people are going to listen” to health experts’ recommendations. He predicted that if his city doesn’t “change the trajectory,” hospitals are “within two weeks” of being overrun and intensive care units “could be 10 days away from that.”

Austin Mayor Steve Adler on infection numbers in his city: “If we don’t change the trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun. And in our ICU’s, I could be ten days away from that” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/uDOztrzX7c

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) July 5, 2020

Texas is one of several states experiencing jumps in coronavirus cases, with the state breaking records for the daily number of new cases two times in the past week. Other states, including California, Florida and Arizona, are also contributing to the country’s boost in cases.

Austin has confirmed 11,131 cases in the city, leading to 136 deaths, according to the city’s dashboard.